Unraveling April Sawyer

I

Warm bodies were pressed against each other, grinding and swinging to the beat of the music that were blasting loud through the speakers. The lights of the party were constantly shifting between vibrant colors and although the lighting effects might have been fascinating for a drunken mind, such as my own, it probably looked immature to the college students that was still sober as the night continued. The strong smell of sweat and perfume burned through my nostrils, but I barely noticed as I wrapped my dark painted lips around the Vodka bottle and tilted it to the sky.

I was never one to drink a lot; I was a lightweight gifted with terrible balance. Combined with a pair of six-inch heels, I could barely stand up straight, much less walk in a straight line. However it was the one year anniversary of the accident and the burning feeling of alcohol was the temporary cure to my redemption.

Slowly, I wobbled my way through the crowd, taking one step at a time, concentrating, so that I wouldn't fall. I didn't know where I was going, all I could remember was that I planned on doing something, but what was it? The throbbing pain in my head didn't allow me to think very long. Maybe I was getting myself another drink?

It felt like I had been here for mere minutes, but my bruising feet were painfully throbbing against the heels of my shoes and my acquaintances had stopped acknowledging me a long time ago, indicating that I had in fact been here longer than I thought. But I still wasn't ready to go home.

Deciding to test my balance, I picked up my left foot with the help of my hand. Unconsciously, I stuck my tongue out in concentration -an habit inherited from my mother- as I clumsily moved my fingers over the shoe, trying to find the buckle. My eyes widened and my mouth was opened in a silent scream as I suddenly stumbled. My arms shoot out, barely managing to grab on to the nearest shoulder in order to keep myself upright. The unknown person stood still, not even noticing the extra weight. I released my breath, but decided to leave my hand on the person's shoulder; thankful for the extra support. After several brave attempts of getting my gorgeous shoe of my foot, I succeed and signed in relief as the throbbing feeling dulled significantly.

After a quick foot massage, I quickly repeated the progress on the other shoe, not wanting to further disturb the person that I was still holding onto. Releasing my grip on the shoulder I bent down to where I had thrown my heels and collected them in my arms. Never mind I looked like a complete idiot, I refused to I lose another gorgeous shoes to the price of my discomfort.

All too fast for my drunken brain to comprehend, a person grabbed my arm, turning me around to face them. "April, are you drunk?"

Squinting my eyes, I could see that the concerned voice belonged to my best friend; Riley. With a brave and successful attempt to impress the students around her, her short brown hair had been curled to perfection. Her graphic-tee and thick glasses were long gone, replaced by a simple white dress that showed off her petite form. She looked beautiful, but her lips were tilted downwards in a frown and her brown doe eyes sparked with worry as her eyes ranked over my drunken state. 'I don't deserve that worry', I thought, looking down in shame. 'I don't deserve her.'

Realizing that Riley was still waiting for an answer to her earlier question, I looked up just in time to see her narrow her eyes at me. I shook my head vigorously and gave her lazy smile, not wanting to challenge my ability to talk. I desperately hoped that my friend wouldn't notice that anything was wrong, besides my obvious lie of not being drunk -even a blind man spot that one miles away. However, if she pressed any more regarding my current emotional condition, I was not sure whether or not I would spill my guts to her, both literally and theoretically.

"You're must definitely drunk", she stated.

Riley's statement couldn't have been more accurate; I was so drunk that I already felt the beginning of the headache that would great me the morning after. I didn't want to admit that, I didn't want to disappoint my friend again. She was too fragile for me to ruin her, she truly deserved a friend that was so much better than me. However, I was selfish enough to disregard that fact most of the time. "A little tipsy perhaps", I corrected her with a cheesy smile.

Riley raised a single eyebrow in response, seeing right through my failing attempt to redeem myself. "Come on", she said, grabbing my arm to drag me out of the lame 'back-to-school' party.

Even though the night was still too young for my my restless mind, I admired Riley's adoring nature. She was willing to offer her night to take care of me -her drunk, emotionally unstable best friend.

As we walked out of the front door, we were greeted by hostile shouts that sliced through the silence of the December night. In the middle of the lawn, just in front of the doorway, many guests of the party were crowded in a circle around a fight. My curiosity immediately spiked and refused to be left unnoticed by me.

Despite Riley's protest, I gently removed her strong grip around my arm, reassuring her that I would be right back. As I pushed myself through the crowd, I could faintly hear Riley muttering to herself under her breath and this time, I could no longer keep the adoring smile off my face.

I continued to push people out of my way, slowly came closer to the middle of the ring. Now, I was able to see the fight, but it was almost over. I recognize one of the fighters as Dylan Carter, a popular student in my school, but the other fighter had his head tilted down, his coal hair fell like a curtain over his face, concealing his identity. The two boys who were previously fighting each other were being held back by their friends, but curses and mean words were still leaving their mouths.

"Why did you fucking come back?" Dylan growled at the black haired fighter. I didn't know Dylan very well, but I was still surprised by the hostile words that left his mouth. Dylan was known for having an unbreakable golden reputation, always getting straight A's and being nice to everyone around him.

The other fighter laughed in response, tilting is head upwards. His black hair fell back from his face, revealing the face that haunted me in my nightmares. Immediately, my blood ran cold and multiple shivers ran through my body. At the same time, my hands become clammy, confusing my body by its irregularly changing temperatures. Only a moment later, my heart started beating at an irrational tempo. My breathing came in short gaps, as if I had just ran a marathon. No longer could I feel the effects of being drunk, but a headache began to form, pounding against my temples.

"Enzo Sukram", even in my own head the name came out as a whisper. I was too afraid of what he might do if he saw me right now.

The name was repeated in my mind, again and again, until I was no longer aware of the bodies that were pushing against my own, all trying to see what was going on. He had my full attention as he responded to the earlier question, "I have some unfinished business here", his full lips curved into a wicked, humorless grin and his dark, dark eyes held the unspoken hate that he wholeheartedly felt for me.

I wanted to run, I wanted to escape the loud obnoxious teenagers that surrounded me. Escape him, but it was already too late. As his eyes search the crowd, his eyes found mine, sealing my fate. As we stared into each other's eyes, no one else existed. I knew my fear was prominent on my face and I hated it. I hated showing my weakness in front of my greatest enemy, but no matter how hard I tried, I could reestablish my fake exterior longer than a mere moment. I was exposed and I couldn't hide. Enzo broke loose from the person holding him back and turned to fully face me. He was clad in dark clothes from head to toe, matching his dark persona. He raised his hand and waved while smirking wickedly.

I guess I've always had a thing for running away from fate, because the next thing I knew, my feet were pounding against the hard concrete, trying to get as far away as possible from Enzo Sukram.