Incharge - 18+

Chapter 6

new added chapter x

Meghan Leary

"Loosen up, we're here now!"

An exceptionally drunk Emmy threw her arm over my shoulder and dragged me over towards a makeshift dance floor. People were squeezed together, drinks were spilling on the floor and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Emmy, you're lucky I even came, you know I hate super crowded rooms. My social battery is currently nil."

She brushed me off playfully and ran off without me to the centre of a forming dance circle. Oh god.

I concluded that drunk Emmy currently wasn't my problem and that at the end of the night - like at most parties - Scarlet and I would be dragging her drunk ass to bed.

I pulled away from the hot writhing bodies of the dance floor and made my way over to a quieter corner near the back of this strange room. My head was pounding and I felt like I was burning up, my body slick with sweat.

The party in front of me seemed surreal. I felt like I was a watching the events around me unfold and that I was frozen to my secluded spot.

"Hey pretty girl, pink looks good on you baby."

I snapped back to reality to register who was attempting to hit on me. I had to slightly crane my head up to meet the eyes Cory Matthews.

He too looked like the room was one hundred degrees as his skin shone like bronze under the flashing lights. His sloped grin looked a mixture of stupid and cute as it plastered across most of his face. We were still for a beat when the light hit his face again, this time illuminating his deep coloured eyes which conveyed a coy glint of teasing.

"Not today Cory, I'm not in the mood to deal with you or the words that come out of your mouth."

I tried to swat him away but instead find his hand gripping my wrist to stop me. I was so far past caring that I attempted to push past Cory, and leave him in my dark corner. Attempt is the perfect word to use as instead of being successful I found myself stumbling slightly into his side as I passed.

I hadn't realised that Cory had kept a grip of my wrist but I did when he squeezed on it tighter to prevent me from falling over. He spun me around to face him and again and placed the back of his other hand to my forehead.

Did he just check my temperature? Oh my god. Cory Matthews was checking up on me. What's more startling is that he was making sure I was okay while he was drunk.

"Come on Megs, let's go outside for a minute. You're burning up in here."

Cory moved his hand from my wrist to slip it into a grasp with my (disgustingly) sweaty palm. Maybe I was a little unwell and freaking out that I was in a crazy room stuffed full of people but my temperature and heartbeat spiked higher when Cory guided me through the party.

I mindlessly allowed Cory to navigate the twist and turns of people and pull me up the stairs to the front of the abandoned stables. As the newly chilled September air hit my face, I immediately felt better. It was far less stuffy above ground than in of some hidden rooms in the basement of an old building.

Cory didn't let go of my hand until we reached a bench to which he sat me down on and crouched down in front of me. He appeared to scan my face - to once again check if I was okay.

"Too much for you?"

"Just not much of a party girl. Boring, huh?"

The corner of his lip tugged up into a smile, "I don't believe you're boring. There's got to be something different about you."

I snorted, "Like what?"

Cory rubbed his chin as if he were deeply contemplating my question. "You are Irish and your last name doesn't begin with an 'O' - that's pretty different."

A small laugh let slip from my mouth, "Funny you should say that - Leary did originally start with an 'O'. Some old feud between farmers with the same name or something made the name change."

"See?"

The deep brown of his eyes peered into mine but I couldn't reciprocate the expression, only lower my eyebrows in question.

"What?"

"Your name has a story, you can't be boring if your name has a story."

I shrugged, the only sign of agreement I would hand to Cory. Maybe he was right, but I wasn't too worried about being interesting. I'll be interesting to the right person no matter what.

Cory moved up beside me on the bench to which I swivelled around to face him. We chatted for what felt like hours as the sun set progressed from fluffy pinks to midnight purples. It wasn't until the faint thump of music died down that we stopped to wonder how long we had been out for and what was going on in the party.

"Maybe they broke a speaker?" I suggested haphazardly.

"Nah, they'll be announcing No. 1 now."

And that's when it hit me. Cory had been going for No. 1 for years and tonight was his big shot. I had totally stolen Cory away from the party and now he wouldn't be No. 1.

"Oh god. I'm so sorry you stayed out with me! Why didn't you go back in? You were in the top running to win as well!"

Now it was Cory turn to shrug. "You weren't well - letting you pass out to win a partying title doesn't exactly reflect well on my conscious."

"But assigning the ski trip rooms - what are you going to do?"

Everyone knows that No. 1 was given this power more recently; only six years ago. This was when Harrowhill started an annual ski trip over to the French Alps and the current students wanted to cause havoc.

"I'll pull some strings, call in a couple of favours. Worst comes to worst and I have to share a room with a couple of other guys. It'll be like when we used to share hotel rooms before match days in the junior years."

A loud sound of whooping and clapping came from the stables. I moved to stand up and Cory's hands gripped my waist to steady me.

I rolled my eyes at him, "I can stand, thanks."

Cory pulled his hands away and shoved them in his pockets, clearing his throat. "'Course. Want to see what the excitement is about?"

I trailed after him, breathing in the smell of cologne and a little alcohol. I exhaled, "Sure."