The Silence Between Names

Chapter Thirteen: the Walk of Shame

Head spinning, my eyes fluttered open. I felt as though someone had chucked a brick to the side of my head. Groaning, I rubbed my head and tried to focus on my surroundings. I was in a bed that I didn't recognize. Worse, I was in clothes that I didn't recognize. Frantic, I tore open the covers, and noticed my underwear was still on. A sigh of relief washed over me. Slipping out of bed, I felt as though I was walking on water. I could barely stand, my arms flailing in the air as I hit the carpet floor. My eyes scanned the room, which was a beige color, with pretty casual and modern decorations. The bathroom door opened, and a figure emerged, drying his hair with a towel. Walker Davidson.

Shit.

"What the fuck.."

He gave me a disapproving look. Grabbing me by the arm, he lifted me with such ease it caught me off guard. He set me back on the bed.

"You got roofied. I'd let you sleep in the guest room, but I didn't want you to choke on your own vomit." He said dryly.

Oh, great.

The oversized t-shirt surely belonged to him. I rubbed my shoulders nervously.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think-" he cut me off.

"Clearly. Have you never been out before? What kind of idiot girl takes a drink from a total stranger? I mean, were you really that desperate for attention?"

I shrank back. His words were poisonous as they tore into me. 

His expression didn't change. It still remained hard, cold look I'd always seen.

"I'm hardly desperate." I said.

He scoffed, and rolled his eyes, folding laundry that lie beside me on the bed. He stopped staring at me, as though he was waiting for me to do something.

"Why are you still sitting here? Go." He motioned towards the door.

Fired up with anger, I stared him down and leapt from the bed.

"You're an asshole." 

He said nothing, and kept his focus on his laundry. Storming out of the room, I headed down the hallway and up the stairs to the kitchen. I heard two voices above me, which both stopped dead still when I came into view. Jack's eyes wandered over me, and he had a look of sadness on his face.

"I'm sorry, Ava. I shouldn't have let you out of my sight."

I shook my head, pulling out the chair to the island and sitting up. Shawn kept his gaze down, not looking at me. I heard a high pitched voice enter the room shortly after me.

"Umm, Ava? How are you feeling my little damsel in distress?"

Confused, I raised a brow at her. Sitting next to me, Annie pulled out her phone and pressed play on the video pulled up on the screen of her pink sparkly phone. In the video, I recognized myself, barely able to stand. I cringed at the sight of myself. I stumbled different directions, before Mitch, the boy who had clearly spiked my drink, caught me in his arms. He pressed his face close to mine, and I felt my heart begin to race. Suddenly, Mitch was knocked on the ground. Walker's fist slammed into the side of Mitch's face, and like a rag-doll, his head hit the floor. Walker didn't stop there. His hands kept pounding into Mitch, over and over again. Everyone surrounding us backed up, afraid of the thick look of rage smeared across Walker's face. He kept going and going, until Mitch's face was blanketed in blood, which pooled in a puddle under his head. Shawn came into frame after running to Walker's side, gripping his shoulder with both hands and trying to drag him off of Mitch. Walker had set me on the chair, where I lay unconscious, and unable to speak or move. The bartender rushed over to Walker, and scolded him, after assisting Shawn to free him from Mitch. Walker stood up, coming back to the present moment. He took a breath, then pulled out a wad of cash from his wallet and handed it to the bartender, to which he complied, took the money, and shook his hand. Shawn left and headed over to Jack, explaining what had happened. The boys seemed like they were still having somewhat of a good time, and Walker hoisted me into his arms, cradling me like a baby. 

My mouth dropped open in shock. He had acted so gentle with me in the video, how could his words be so harsh in person? I looked back up at Annie who had the biggest grin spread across her face. 

"You are something, Ava." Shawn said between bites of his bacon.

I slid out from the table, and headed down the stairs, before I smacked into a figure in front of me. The girl from a few nights ago with Walker. I couldn't even keep track of all of them. Apparently, virgin to me, he had some sort of charm he possessed to get racks of women to sleep with him. She looked me up and down.

"Where's Walker?" 

I shook my head and told her I didn't know. Scoffing she yelled his name and headed past me. The sun hit the top of my head and stung my eyes when I stepped out onto the front steps of the house. Walker was in front of me, clutching the keys to his black Mercedes. He eyed me as I stepped out and waited for my ride to pick me up. 

"Your girlfriend's looking for you inside." I muttered, so he could just barely hear me.

Scratching the back of his fluffy-haired head, Walker scoffed and unlocked his car.

"She's not my girlfriend, but okay." He replied coldly, stepping into his car.

When my father pulled into the driveway, he held a stern look in his face, barely making eye contact with me. He stared down Walker. Unlocking the side, I slid into the passenger's seat, watching the clouds cover what was once the bright shining sun. My father remained silent, and I was under the impression he had a glimmer of an idea of what had taken place last night. He shook his head.

"Maybe this is our fault. We just haven't been around enough." 

His words cut deep. I tried not to say anything back, and kept my eyes glued onto the road. When we pulled into the driveway, I hopped out of the car and headed inside the house. My father slowly trailed behind me, setting his keys on the countertop and watching me slowly crawl up the stairs to nice, soft, canopy bed. When I reached my bedroom, I heard my father's footsteps slowly approach my bedroom. 

"Baby, I have to leave again. I'll let you know when I will be back in town." He came and sat on my comforter next to me. 

His words no longer had any sort of hold on me. I just turned on my side, facing my back to him. I heard the front door shut, engine roar, and zoom off. I was dancing with the eerie sound of silence again. I needed something to pull me out of this miserable Saturday. Something fun. Then, it hit me. Nothing was more fun that a good party. I rarely threw in my own home, but I might as well considering I was just gifted a gross amount of space and zero parental supervision. I might as well take advantage of it. I sent a text out to our group chat, and waited for the flood of excited texts from everyone. Then someone replied:

Theme? 

______

Sinners and Saints

I replied.

I began to prepare the house for the party. Taking a trash sack, I quickly stored all of the breakable belongings away, and tried to tidy it up best I could. I began to connect the neon and bright lights around the house and tie strands of them around the walls. Before I knew it, my home looked like a Bucks doppelgänger. I headed upstairs to get dressed. Sitting down at my vanity, I pulled down my hair and began to iron it into long, tight curls. I slipped into a red silky slip dress that fell far above my knee, and a pair of thigh-high black boots. I certainly looked like a sinner. I teased up my hair and headed downstairs to let in the pool of people eagerly waiting outside. In typical fashion, Annie was the first to the door, walking in with her white velvet dress on, and black heels. She was an angel if I'd ever seen one. Her hair was tied into a high pony, with a white silky bow around it. She smiled at me with her glittery makeup, and skipped inside, followed by a pack of people. I headed over the cabinets and pulled out some handles and shot glasses, before slamming down a few with Annie. The party was just getting started.