Loved and Free

Chapter 4: Mateo

Mateo's cousin, Pablo, invited him out. They went to ACE, a teenage honkytonk hangout place that resembled a bar. Mateo didn't drink so to him, it was almost perfect. He watched the performance of a teenage country band and taking their turns on a mechanical bull. He laughed and smiled at the kids, wishing he had this growing up instead of alcohol. 

He took a sip of, what they called a long neck bottle, which was a Coke in a glass bottle. He was fully enjoying himself. Although he was only twenty, he felt to old to be there. High school girls was coming up to him, asking him to dance. He smiled and turned them down. Although, most of the girls looked older, he knew that this ranch town had a lot of teenage girls and he didn't feel like going to jail. 

One girl came up to him. She had a shiny, silver, tiny dress on and strappy heels to match. Her hair was obviously straightened. She was a little short and had nothing to give on top but everything to give on bottom. 

"IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" She yelled at him. He smelled that she was spiking her drinks on her breath. She was swaying away with the music. 

He saw her open her eyes a little more and saw eyes that looked like a painting of a lost lake in the forest. Blues and greens swirling together. He smiled. "How old did you turn?" The words just easily slipped out of his mouth. 

She turned to him, looked him up and down, smiled a flirty smile, "Legal. I just turned eighteen. How old are you?" She inched a little closer.

"I'm twenty." He said. He watched as a group of six girls walked up to her. "Your entourage?" He asked her.

She smiled, "Friends. We have been looking for someone like you." She pointed her finger at him and pulled it down his chest, stomach, to his crotch. "Only you're not the age I need you to be." 

Another girl, obviously the ring leader of tonight, got beside him. "What's your name?" She whispered in his ear. The girl was less attractive than the drunk one. She had a resting face of pure mad and long, badly dyed red hair. She was little thicker than the other but she did have the curves. 

"Mateo." He said. 

She pushed some of his hair under his ear, "I'm sorry Mateo. Sara Beth gets sloppy when she drinks. I watch after the poor girl. It's her birthday though."

Mateo put his drink down, "I don't think anyone should drink." He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Oh! I don't drink. I'm too young and it ruins lives." Sara Beth started moving to another part of the club, falling over herself. "Oh man. I have to go, sorry." The girl with red hair said. Laughing she started after her friend.

Mateo was the first one to her rescue, where she threw up on his shoes. He found table and sat her down on one chair and him on the other. Some of the girls brought her water and towels. He helped clean her up. 

He finally saw her face fully. It was the daughter from one of the patients he helped with. She was coming to with a massive headache. He put on the clean towels on her head.

"Sorry. I don't normally drink in public." She said as she reached for the towel, "Thank you." She looked finally looked up at him. She smiled at him before looking around. The group of girls that once surrounded her were nowhere to be found. She began looking for her phone. "I'm sorry to ask but can I borrow your phone?" She asked Mateo.

"I will take you home, if you need me to. I really don't mind." Mateo told her while holding back her hair, "But why do you let these girls do this? Get you drunk and abandon you?" He did hand her his phone.

She began dialing a number, "I wasn't the only one drinking." She began a phone call with someone that didn't sound to happy, "If you wouldn't have ruined my party, I would be home right now." She said before she hung up. She turned to Mateo, "Do you know where the girls that were with me went?"

Mateo sat up as tall as he could and looked around. He saw them at the pool tables, talking to a group of guys. He pointed them out, "I mean I am just saying that friend don't try to get laid while one is puking. Especially on their birthday."

"You have clingy ass friends then." This girl said. Mateo watched and tried to guide her when she stood up, "Thanks for helping me." She put her number in his phone, "If you want to actually get to know me, my number is there. Sara Beth Shore. I would love to pay you back for your shoes."

Mateo smiled and walked up to the Sara Beth's friends with her. They all crowded around her and ask her to take shots and told her they would help her clean up before the boys saw her.

"Who is driving tonight?" Mateo said. He heard a lot of confusion and pointing, "I asked who is driving Sara Beth home tonight?" He said, a bit more sternly. 

Finally the red head walked up, "I am. Why?" She had new hickies on her neck and chest and Mateo could smell the tequila on her skin. 

"You are drunk. I will take her home." He said, "I need her belongings."

"The hell you are!" The girl screamed, "What are you trying to do? Date Rape her? Is that the only way you can get someone?" A lot of people started staring.

Mateo took a deep breath before his anger got the best of him, "No. She is drunk. You are drunk. Both of you, if not all of you are underage drinking. This place doesn't serve alcohol so you are already breaking two laws. You get behind the wheel of your car, that is three and risking your lives. I was going to take her home to make sure she gets home safely."

"Just like a pedophile." The girl stated. 

"What is like a pedophile, Tiffany?" Mateo saw another girl come behind him and take Sara Beth's arm. The girl looked nothing like and everything like Sara Beth. "I am taking my sister home. She is drunk thanks to you." 

A guy, taller than the girl, took Sara Beth and wrapped a coat around her shoulders. He looked at Mateo like he was ready to kill him, "We have her now, thanks." He said a harsh Scotland accent. 

Mateo shrugged his shoulders and walked away. He went back to his long neck bottle and watching of the people, mainly watching a fight between the people that brought the drunk girl here and her sister. 

Mateo watched the tall guy pick up Sara Beth and start walking out the door. The girl that came with him stopped by the barstool that Mateo was on.

"Hey you." She said. Thick country accent. Mateo turned his head, "Thank you for letting her borrow your phone. Those girls took her phone and won't give it back." 

"No problem. Just get her home safe." He said. The girl walked out of ACE while Mateo ordered another long neck bottle.