Keeper

Chapter 40

That following Friday Ben insisted Harry and I tag along and go to one of his Friends' parties. And then he proceeded to explain how the guy wasn't actually his friend. And also how the guy didn't even go to our school. In fact he didn't even know if the guy was still even high school age. But he knew that it was legit because he was invited via Facebook.

At first I was weary, but of course Harry said 'okay' and I knew that it would be rude to verbally object. So I stayed quiet.

I could tell Ben was excited, most likely because he was finally doing something with his old friend. Or possibly because he finally had found two vulnerable victims. I couldn't tell. And I didn't ask.

The house in which the party was held, visually, was a ramshackle. The windows were cracked, the roof missing the occasional shingle. Weeds littered the front yard, the grass becoming overgrown and harshly unkept. If I wasn't too busy thinking about the possible array of criminals and drugs inside, I would've thought the house was abandoned or foreclosed, but never sold.

The stinging wind prodded at my exposed legs, and for a second I thought about begging Harry to take me home. I was already shaking uncontrollably after the lie I had told my father. I had said I was going over Anna's for a sleepover, but of course it took some convincing for him to let me go. Ever since I stayed the night with Harry while watching The Breakfast Club he's been prudent, and, for lack of a better term, "up both of our asses".

But Harry took my hand in his and leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Harley, I can tell you're tense. Just relax okay?" And then he smiled at me, and I smiled back. The kiss he then went ahead and planted on my forehead somewhat helped to relax the tension building up in my shoulders. And it sure as hell stopped the shaking.

We proceeded to follow Ben inside, who was already through the front door before we both could even blink. To my surprise, and probably to Harrys as well, there were no flashing lights, there were no loud dubstep remixes of once popular songs, it was all actually quite relaxed. The aura was inviting. In fact they were playing Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls, and for a second I thought I was back in Pre-K.

"See, it's not so bad." Harry said, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Much better than the last one." I spoke, using my one free hand to fix the hemline of my dress. What I was wearing wasn't anything fancy, just one of those casual day dresses that people wear. I mean I suppose people wear them during the day-that's at least what the sign said at the retailers. I'm not a big dress kind of gal. It was a deep sea colored blue, all flowing and all kinds of short. Too short for my liking I may add.

Heading into the kitchen, Harry grabbed a red cup from the hug stack pilled high atop the dining room table.

"What do you want to drink?" He asked, jokingly nodding towards the bottles of liquor I could honestly care less about.

"Water." I answered simply.

"Of course you would," Harry laughed as he rolled his eyes. But he did as I said and headed to the fridge, where he pulled out a water bottle.

"You're in luck," He smiled, handing me the chilled bottle. "It's the last one."

"Luck for once," I smiled back. "How refreshing."

"The hell you talking about?" Harry laughed, nudging me in the arm. "You're always in luck."

"Yeah, right."

"Well they don't hand out your fine assortment of chromosomes to just anyone, miss."

"That was cheesy."

"It was."

"Just because you happen to find me a 'fine assortment of chromosomes' does not mean jack shit, Sherlock."

'But you're still lucky."

"No I'm not."

"You have a family return to at night, right?'

I didn't answer.

"Yeah. Believe me. You are lucky."

Almost one full hour into the party and I had downed one bottle of water, while Harry had downed two cups of Rum and Coke, followed by a Redbull and Jager. Surprisingly enough the alcohol did not seem to affect him as much as I thought it would have, while everyone else around us appeared more than tipsy. Once again shocking me, Ben was among them. The whole goody-two-shoes image he had given me at the beginning of the year was now, at this point in time, non-existent. But of course his innocent face still remained.

Another half an hour in and we had moved over to the game-playing side of the party, where I really had no choice but to drink at last. But I didn't drink a lot. Just a few sips at a time. I knew that no matter what there had to be at least one sober person at this party, and I knew that it would have to be me. One of my favorite games that we played was called Kings Cup-technically a card game with lots of booze. In this game everyone needed to get in a circle, and everyone in this circle needed to have a drink in front of them. The game called for drink mix, beer or-as I remember-we did both. Honestly it was disgusting, but it was fun.

Of course after it all Harry excused himself to use the bathroom, and with a somewhat fuzzy head I drifted off, towards the direction of the music and the somewhat small crowd of people dancing. Minutes passed as I waited for Harry, and Just as I were about to call him strong hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me back towards their chest.

"Touchy, now are we?" I laughed, never bothering to turn around as I, too, wrapped my arms around Harry's.

He rocked us back and forth to the slow beat of the music, the pace of the drum constant like a heartbeat. The song was very quick, much too quick actually.

Because right after a fast-paced song began to play, and just as I was getting used to the slow rhythm of our bodies he changes it up, completely pulling me against him. I notice how more and more people crowd around, making the small space noticeably more stuffy and humid. I become so engulfed in the people around me that I don't even realize that I am awfully sweating, along with Harry.

As the song came to an end, and when I was spun hastily around on my heel, I came to realize that I had been dancing with a guy whose blue eyes I could not put a name to. But it wasn't Harry. That's all I knew. It certainly wasn't Harry.

"Hello beautiful," He sung, the smile showcasing his teeth much different than Harry's.

"I'm Sawyer. And yes, sorry, I suppose I am quite touchy."

Immediately I began to back away, shaking my head. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else-I'm sorry,"

His eyes lit up in fascination. "You're here with someone?"

I nodded.

"Oh shit," He laughed. "I'm sorry."

I nodded again, but this time with a smile. "No hard feelings."

"Good." He nodded, awkwardly reaching his hand out for me to shake. "Well it-a-it was nice to meet you-".

"Yeah," I said. "You too. I guess."

And not before turning away did he say,

"Not to sound crude or anything like that-but I have a feeling I will be seeing you again."