Take Me There

Shinners and Changes

Chapter Ten

 "I saw you dancing with pretty boy earlier," The guy slurred, putting both of his hands on either side of me, trapping me against the wall. "Don't you wanna dance with me like that?"
 His breath reeked of booze which caused me to turn my head to the side, squeezing my eyes shut as I did so. Obviously he didn't like this because a second later, he was grabbing my chin and yanking it so that I was looking at him.
 "What do you want?" I practically whispered, wishing that my voice didn't sound so pitiful.
 He grinned widely and cast his eyes downward until they slowly reached my face again. "How about a quickie?"
 I tried to push past his hands again as I shook my head, hoping that tears didn't start to spill out of my eyes. He instantly grabbed my waist and pushed me back against the wall, my head hitting it firmly.
 "Just let me go," I said, reaching up to feel the back of my head that I knew was going to have a knot, "I won't tell or anything. Just let me leave."
 He suddenly put his lips on my neck, his breath hot and moist against my skin. "I don't care who you tell."
 His hands grabbed my wrists and pinned them to my sides as his nose and lips grazed my jaw. I leaned my head back against the wall and squeezed my eyes shut as tears began to escape.
 This could not be happening. It just couldn't.
 Whenever he let go of one of my wrists and began to slid his hand under the waistband of my shorts, I instinctively raised up my knee and made contact with his anatomy.
 Hard.
 He immediatley keeled over but kept a hold of my wrist, moaning in pain as he did so. I tried to pry myself from his hold, but the asshole was strong and tears continued to leak out of my eyes whenever I realized he wasn't going to let go easily.
 "You bitch," He said, standing up straight. His eyes looked red with anger and before I even knew it, he was rearing back and punching me square in the face.
 "Ohmygod," I whimpered, my knees going weak from the blow. I felt like all of the wind had been sucked out of me in a split second and I couldn't catch my breath. I reached for my face, trying to make sure nothing was broken as hot tears streamed down my cheeks.
 "Get the fuck off of her!" A familiar voice suddenly yelled, throwing the perverted asshole off of me and into the hallway.
 "You sick fuck!" Kiptyn practically screamed, holding the guy buy the throat and hitting him a few times in the face. I was pretty sure I heard some sort of crunching noise.
 I slowly began to stand up and regain my composure although my face felt like absolute hell. I stumbled into the hallway and my eyes widened as Kiptyn began to kick the pervert in the ribs as he lay on the ground. He was moaning and groaning incoherent words, trying to cover his face.
 "Don't you ever fucking touch her!" Kiptyn yelled, his face red with anger and the vein in his forehead twitching.
 "What the hell is going on?!" Sadie suddenly screamed, running towards me while Jase ran towards Kiptyn.
 "Dude, Kiptyn, get the hell off of him!" Jase yelled, grabbing Kiptyn by the neck and trying to pull him away.
 "Let me fucking go!" Kiptyn yelled, "I'm going to kill this mother fucker!"
 I hadn't even realized that I'd backed myself against the wall, my eyes wide with fear. I felt like the walls were closing in on me and I was beginning to see black spots in my vision. My head was throbbing and tears were still streaming down my cheeks.
 Sadie was suddenly standing in front of me. "Dallis, what the hell happened to your face?"
 I touched my cheek at the mention of my face, the throbbing pain almost too much to bare. I looked at Sadie with wide eyes. "It hurts."
 Sadie suddenly turned around and looked at the guy who was still laying on the floor, his face covered in blood. Lyle and Cealy were back in the hallway by now, Cealy's hand covering her mouth while Lyle and Jase continued to try and calm Kiptyn down.
 "He did this to you?" Sadie asked, pointing at the asshole.
 I nodded my head as the walls got closer. My head was spinning and I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was a mix of the alcohol, the shock, and the bump that was forming on the back of my head. I really wasn't sure.
 "Sadie, look at her," Cealy said as she walked closer to me. "She's practically incoherent."
 I glanced at Cealy but she was blurry. Suddenly everything was blurry. My knees were beginning to go weak and I felt like I couldn't manage to hold myself up. I looked back at Sadie and saw nothing but fear.
 "She's about to black out!" Cealy said.
 I guess she was right, because the llast thing I remembered was someone gripping the back of my head as my legs went out from under me.
 

 "Jesus Christ, Dallis," Sadie said softly whenever I walked out of the bathroom. I'd spent the past thirty minutes sitting in the bathtub as the scalding hot shower ran over me. I'd scrubbed my entire body three times and my skin was a dark red color because it was practically raw.
 Apparently I'd only passed out for about a minute before I came to, but that was enough to scare the shit out of Sadie. Whenever I'd looked at her, she'd been crying which was something she rarely ever did. They'd all wanted to call the police and report the pervert, but I made them all promise that they wouldn't.
 I glanced in the mirror in front of the bed that Sadie was sitting on. My right cheekbone was turning a dark purple color and my eyes were both swollen and red.
 "This is horrible," I whispered, turning back to look at her. I held out my hands so that she could see the dark blue bruises that were already forming on my wrists.
 "You should have let us call the cops," Sadie said, her eyes still red from crying earlier.
 I shook my head, sitting down on the edge of the bed in my towel. My clothes were sitting beside me only because Sadie had picked out something for me to wear while I'd been cleaning myself up.
 "Kiptyn is still really pissed."
 I turned my head slightly. "Where is he?"
 "He's downstairs by the pool," Sadie sighed, "Jase and Lyle have been trying to keep him calm ever since we got back."
 I stood up then and walked into the bathroom with my clothes. I pulled on the tshirt and sweat pants and quickly towel dried my hair before running a brush through it. I walked out of the room and didn't respond whenever Sadie asked where I was going.
 I took the elevator down to the lobby and walked out of the back sliding doors to the pool. I immediatley spotted Lyle and Jase sitting in two lounge chairs while Kiptyn paced back and forth. He had a cigarette between his lips and his hands were gripping the back of his head.
 He looked beyond pissed.
 Jase jumped up whenever he saw me, practically jogging over to me since I obviously didn't walk fast enough. He put his hands on either side of my face and moved it to the left and right, examing my cheeks as he did so.
 "Kiptyn is going to freak the hell out whenever he sees this shit," He said softly.
 I frowned. "It hurts."
 Jase gave me a sympathetic look before placing an extremely soft kiss onto my cheek. I smiled slightly, thankful to have such an amazing friend.
 "Is that Dallis?" Kiptyn asked, beginning to walk towards us.
 I moved to the right so that I could see past Jase and glanced at Kiptyn. His eyes were wild with anger and he stared at me for a long second, as if he wasn't sure what to do or say.
 "I should go find that bastard and fucking kill him."
 I shook my head. "It's okay, Kiptyn."
 He gave me an incredulous look. "That purple and black bruise you're sporting on your face is not fucking okay, Dallis."
 "It will go away after a few days."
 He shook his head, rolling his eyes as he stomped on his cigarette. He was quiet for a few minutes, looking down at the ground.
 "You're okay, though?"
 I nodded my head, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I'll be fine."
 Jase walked away then, going to sit beside Lyle. I turned my attention back to Kiptyn and sighed. "How did you know?"
 He looked up at me, his eyebrows furrowed. "Know?"
 "That something was wrong."
 He rubbed his jaw, his face still burning with anger. "I saw the pervert walk back there a few minutes after you and whenever you didn't come back, I went to check on you."
 I felt tears beginning to press against the back of my eyes again. I still couldn't believe all of this was real. Once again, I looked like the pathetic damsel in distress that couldn't do anything right at all. I felt absolutely horrible.
 He ran a hand over the back of his neck in obvious frustration at the look of hurt that was clearly on my face. "I told you I was going to look out for you. I meant that."
 I stared at him for a second before stepping forward and wrapping my arms around his neck. I couldn't help it, I felt like I needed to hug him right then. Yeah, he was an absolute asshole, but without him, I probably would have unwillingly lost my virginity.
 I felt tears welling up in my eyes again, but they started to disperse whenever Kiptyn wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tightly to his chest. The smell of cigarettes on his clothes didn't even seem to bother me. The smell on his tshirt was almost comforting.
 "I'm so sorry that this happened to you," His voice was muffled into my hair, but I didn't care. He was here and he was wrapping his arms around me and making me feel safe. That was all I cared about.
 Tears were beginning to leak out of the corners of my eyes and I hated it. I didn't want to seem weak, especially not in front of Kiptyn. But at that moment, I felt like he wouldn't care. I knew right then that something was changing between us. It wasn't just the fact that he'd pretty much saved me. Something was changing between us and I wasn't sure what it was yet.
 The second I thought that his grip was beginning to loosen, I tightend mine around his neck, burrying my face into his tshirt even further. He seemed to understand that I needed him to hug me, because he tightened his hold on me and even kissed my hair.
 Yes, Kiptyn Cross kissed my hair.
 He actually knew how to show affection.
 Kiptyn Cross knew how to show affection.
 And sympathy.
 This was a night full of surprises.