Protect you.

Chapter 1

 I slowly walked to Megan’s grand front door, the smell of alcohol already over powering my nostrils. I just needed to let loose and have a good time, well that’s what Jess told me. I slowly reached for the door handle, feeling the cold metal against my hand, only to be greeted by Megan. Her long blonde waves cascaded down her back to her hips as she saw me, her best friend. 

Before I had chance to even say hello she enveloped me in a tight hug, slowly cutting off the feeling in my body. “Meg, t-too t-tight!” I exclaimed, forcing her off of me. She smiled shyly knowing that she was over excited, bowing her head in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.

 “Hey, Fleur!” she squealed, putting emphasis on my terrible name, I politely chose to ignore her mistake. “Tonight is going to be amazing, literally everyone is going” she continued. I suppose that at college you could call Jess the popular type, the one that is like the girls in all of those American chick-flicks with amazing hair and that is friends with everyone, including me. I don’t really like the idea of being ‘popular’, I’d much rather spend a night in with the likes of Shakespeare or Austen, but instead I follow my crazy friend to all of the ‘cool’ parties, silently praying that they get cancelled. Megan pulled me through the door way into her massive living room. The place was filled with red plastic cups, various empty alcohol bottles and many scantily clad girls. Tonight was going to be a long night!

I searched the faces of the party goers, watching their hands desperately cling on to the bodies of strangers. The idea of feeling comfortable in the arms of another seemed alien to me, yet managed to evoke a certain feeling of jealousy. Megan dragged me further into her maze like house, pulling me into a corner of her dining room; although the absence of a family table caused the room to engulf the many pre adult bodies. I looked around at the faces of people that occupied the corner, most of which looked friendly enough.

“Hi guys” Megan’s voice chirped, catching the attention of all but one of the members of the group. “Fleur, this is Jayne, Millie, Brad, Drew, Nick, Charlie and Sophie.” She said, nodding her head at each person as she said their name. Jayne had jet black hair that fell into messy waves and Millie’s brunette hair fell around her shoulders, framing her petite face whilst she sat on the lap of a baby faced looking boy, whose hair was slightly matted and pointing in every direction. Next was Drew, his ashy blonde hair neatly spiked into a quiff, his black shirt allowed his tanned arms to be shown, his many tattoos peaking out from under the fabric. Nick and Charlie looked similar to the others, tattoos and somewhat messy hair as well as denim jackets and band shirts that decorated there chests. Although, besides some of their more harsh exteriors, they all appeared to be happy, apart from one. The boy that sat in the large alcove had nearly separated him self completely from the group, his head facing down and arms folded across his chest which was hidden by a plain black shirt. His arms were, like the other boys, decorated with several markings, but none that I could really make out. His head was covered in a mass of chocolate curls which still had track marks from fingers going through it. The boy was grumpy to say the least, only nodding his head to acknowledge my existence.

“Well that’s Harry; he’s a little moody because he likes people to think that he is indie.” Megan laughed whilst Harry threw up his up his middle finger, still not showing me or anyone his face.

 After having been introduced to several of Megan’s friends, I slowly backed away from the stupid drinking games that were about to commence. I walked past many people that appeared to be either comatose or playing tonsil tennis with a complete stranger. I was about to continue my short journey to the kitchen, when I suddenly felt a warm, clammy hand touch my exposed shoulder. Whilst I was wearing a longer dress than most, I wished that Megan had picked out a dress that actually had straps, but she was never one for listening. The mysterious hand began to turn me around, forcing me to the hard wall. Slowly the face of a drunken boy began to appear, his eyes staring through me, the alcohol completely taking over his body. I turned to escape the hands of the strange male, but did not succeed. He moved his left hand to the space next to my head, his clouded lust filled eyes not leaving my harsh gaze. “That dress looks good, but, I bet its better off” his speech slurred, a sly smile plastered on his face.  He slowly started to bow his head as he attempted to kiss my cheek. I forcefully brought up my small hand, which met with his cheek, causing him to lose his balance, stumbling into the wall opposite. I’m glad he was highly intoxicated; other wise I doubt my weak excuse of a slap would have had its desired effect.

Before wasting anymore time, I began to straighten my dress and head straight to the kitchen, knowing the treasures that I would find. I walked in to the vast space, that was Megan’s kitchen, my gaze falling on the single bottle of clear liquid. I searched for the cupboard that contained a small glass, placing it on the kitchen counter slowly so as not to draw attention to my presence. I quickly paced over to the island on which the bottle of alcohol was sitting, holding it as though it was liquid gold. I twisted the cap of the bottle and slowly began to measure out one shot of the transparent liquid. After placing the bottle down I lifted the small glass to my lips, allowing the strong smell to invade my senses. I tilted the glass to my open mouth, to feel the cold nectar fall down my throat, the strong taste only encouraging me to repeat this action.

 Suddenly the lights went out; I slammed my glass down with shock, praying that it wasn’t the wasted boy from my earlier encounter, the thought of seeing him made my hand pulsate with the memory of my attack. “Hello? Look, I already said no, so just piss off!” I yelled, my anger boiling. I was graced with no reply, but instead a light grunt, of which I presumed, was someone’s attempt at shielding their laughter at my stupid state. “This is not funny, just leave me alone…” My voice broke off as I felt two large hands clasp my waist, pulling me towards the unknown presence, locking me in place. The hands easily covering the majority of my hips. My back was pulled towards the front of a tall figure, their chest raising and falling steadily beneath my back. I stood still, frozen with the thought of what might happen next. What if they were a murderer, going in for the next kill. My breath hitched in my throat at what the mysterious figure, of which I believed was a man, would be capable of. That’s when he bent his head towards mine, his hair tickling my neck. Even though I knew I was not safe, I couldn’t help but feel excited by his actions. “I think we’re going to be very good friends, Fleur” he muttered in a low voice, almost too low to hear, full of seduction and cockiness. My hearts beat sped up with both fear and excitement as my name left his lips.

He moved my long, brown, wavy hair to one side so he could gain full access to my neck. Dark thoughts soon took over my mind, these thoughts telling me that he was going to pull out a knife and drain the life out of me. But what he did next shocked me, instead of harming he placed tender kisses down my neck, near to my collar bone; Each one causing my eyelids to cover my eyes, allowing me to revel in the odd situation. I was stunned, once again frozen by this stranger’s action.  I closed my eyes tighter, too shocked to open them; heat began to flush to my checks, even though it was pitch black I still knew that my checks would be glowing scarlet. He pulled away from my neck, leaving me standing alone, dwelling on my thoughts. He was gone, the stranger had left, yet I wanted him back.

I stayed there, waiting in the kitchen for something to happen, an explanation. But instead stood there waiting in the dark, my neck still tingling from the strangers messy kisses. I heard the loud buzz of the bass music that echoed through the house, making it feel as though the house was moving. Struggling to stand up right, I clutched onto the kitchen counter slowly edging my self in the direction of the light switch.

After finding the switch and allowing my tired eyes to adjust to the new found light, I grab the vodka from off of the side and began to smell the liquid. I knew that drinking was probably not the best idea, considering what happened last time, however, I thought that the alcohol would replace the emptiness that was invading my heart. It felt like I was a house with no doors or windows, without them you can’t get in, but only look at the empty space and wonder how long it will take for it to crumble and decay. I put the bottle to my lips and began to slurp the drink, causing a burning sensation to scratch at the back of my throat. The sensation wasn’t enjoyable but it wasn’t unpleasant either, so I decided to continue taking large gulps of the vodka. The burning became more prominent, my stomach began to churn. I ran to Megan’s toilet, pushing past the promiscuous girls and all-too-pleased boys that were ‘dancing’ with each other, although the dancing looked more like sloppy swaying and grinding, earning the girls throaty grunts from the boys.

I stumbled up the stairs and into the bathroom. The white walls looked pristine, the blue and gold tiles shining.  I rushed over to the toilet and lent over, after grabbing my hair so it was not in my face. I began coughing and heaving but nothing was happening, apart from with every pound of the music, a sharp stinging pain crashed through my head, causing me to clutch it tightly. I sat on the floor leaning against the radiator, the heat relaxing my tense muscles. I felt my eyes becoming heavier, my eyelids were slowly drooping. I straightened my legs out on the floor and took a deep breath. Sleep slowly began to creep in.