Complicated People, Complicated Love

Bad Party

Maya

     The party is weird, all older people, or I guess I'm their age. There's loud music and drinking. I feel the urge to grab a drink as I walk in, like it's a habit or something, but I don't, I'm way underage. I see strobe lights and people dancing in the duck lights, constant movement.

      "Hey," Archie says, coming up from behind me and handing me a drink. I smile with thanks, even though I know I'm not going to drink it. I look around, I see Riley and Farkle in the corner by a speaker making out, and Lucas is on the couch, looking bored, and maybe a little sad.

       I linger on Lucas. I want to go over to him, to hug him, to do something to make that look go away. I want him to be happy, I really do, so much. I still can't believe what he told me, that we were a couple. I mean, of course I like him, he's sweet and smart and hot, I can see us together, it just seems so weird to be with anyone, I still feel young. And I like Archie too. I do feel an urge to try to act my age, though, maybe tonight I can.

      Archie says something but I can't hear him. The music is so loud, he seems to understand that he's inaudible. He grabs my hand and leads me down a hall to our right. I think he's looking for a room so that we can talk. I look over my shoulder and make eye contact with Lucas. He looks worried and before I can make any sort of face to him, there's a wall in between us.

       I feel Archie pull me into a room. I look around and it's a bedroom. Archie closes the door. I don't know how I feel about this. I like Archie, he's cute and he's my friend, but I'm getting a weird feeling. He makes his way to the bed and sits down.

       "Hey, I need your advice," he says. I feel a weight lift off my chest, what am I thinking, he's my friend.

      "Of course," I say, sitting down next to him. He takes a sip of his drink. My dad wants to move us back to Australia. But I don't want to go," I don't really know how to respond.

      "I think, just tell him how you feel," that's the best I could come up with, I'm not really an advice person. He nods. He looks up at me and I smile a little. Suddenly I'm very aware of how close we're sitting. "Maya," he whispers.

       "Yeah?" I ask. My heart is thumping.

       "I have a confession to make." His eyes glance down to my lips. "I like you, I always have," I don't know what to say. On one hand I like it, but on the other, this confession makes me sort of uncomfortable. "Can I kiss you?" He asks. Oh god. I want him to, I think. I've never kissed anyone, I feel like I'm too young, but I know I'm not. I nod. Why'd I nod? He's moving in, what do I do? His eyes are closing, he's so close.

       I close my eyes and pucker my lips. I feel his on mine and it's such a weird feeling. It's squishy and warm and wet. I don't like it. I relax my lips and he pulls away. He's still close and his eyes open to look into mine. I wait for him to pull away more but instead he leans in again. His lips entrap mine, his mouth comes open again, wide, and when he pushes his lips to mine he slowly closes his mouth over mine. I cringe.

      I don't really know what to do. He doesn't seem to notice that I'm not kissing him back, he just keeps going, repeating the opening and closing. He puts his hand on my neck, pulling my head closer to his and making his lips feel harder against mine. He opens his mouth and I feel his tongue against my lips. Ew! People kiss with their tongues? He closes his mouth around his tongue, pulling it back in.

      I let him kiss me, if this is what teenagers do, I'll do it, I want to be a normal teenager, kissing can't hurt.

       I want to wipe my mouth but he starts kissing again. I hear his breath accelerate and his tongue is against my lips again, forcing them apart. And then, his tongue is in my mouth. It's wet and warm and disgusting. He rubs it against my teeth and I open my mouth to tell him to stop but he won't let go of my neck, keeping us attached at the mouth. He seems to think that me opening my mouth was encouragement because he adjusts himself until he's towering over me, laying me on my back, not letting me get up.

      His tongue is on mine, trying to get mine to move, rubbing itself on mine in circles. I put my hands on his chest, trying to push him off. He pulls up and smiles at me, his breath hot. He pulls off his shirt, breathing so heavy that I think he'll want to take a break if it's so tiring to kiss.

       "Hey, if you want to stops that's good," I say.

      He lowers his head again, fast. He's kissing me more, his mouth so wide I feel it on my chin. His body seems to move up and down because his lips are dragging up and down on my mouth. His tongue moves from my mouth to my neck.

    "Um, Archie, can we stop?" He seems to not hear me because he's in my mouth again. I mumble for him to stop but it's inaudible. I move to push him off but he's stronger than me. I don't like this. I try to scream but he doesn't care. He finally moves his mouth and I yell.

       I can still hear the music and it's dawning on me that people probably can't hear me. I don't stop though. Archie's hand is on my mouth as he kisses my neck.

       I bite his hand and he yells. I scream, "Lucas!" Archie's mad now and covers my mouth again. Before he can do anything though, the door opens and there's Lucas. His eyes are fiery and he takes one look at the situation and sprints towards Archie.

       Lucas bends down and rams his shoulder into Archie, sending them both flying across the bed. Lucas looks at me quickly, "Get out!" he yells as Archie's fist comes barreling towards his face. I gasp at the impact and hop off of the bed towards the door. I don't want to leave Lucas but I need to get help.

        I run out the door and down the hallway. I see Riley and Farkle at the same spot against the wall and run for them. "Help! Archie's beating up Lucas!" They pull apart and look at me confused. I'm frustrated by their slowness and pull both of them to the hallway, running as fast as I can.

       When I get to the room I see Archie in the corner, hugging his knees and Lucas on the floor by the bed. They're both bleeding a whole lot, blood dripping on the wood floors. Lucas is laying down holding his eye and his knuckles are oozing blood. He sits up and tries to stand only to rock on his feet. I run to him and catch him as he falls. I lower us to the ground and Riley and Farkle join us.

        "Are you okay!?" Farkle asks. Lucas nods. His eye is swollen and his cheek's bleeding.

        "I'm good, but he better not be," Lucas says pointing to Archie.

        "Wha-" Riley starts, looking confused.

        "We'll explain later," I say. I help Lucas to his feet and Farkle and I lead him out of the room. People stare at us as we weave through them and out the front door. We put Lucas in the front seat of Riley's car and I gently buckle him in.

      Lucas stops me by the shoulder, our faces inches apart. "I'm ok, but are you ok?" He asks me. I look down and nod, not sure if it's the truth.

       "I'm fine, Huckleberry," I don't now why I called him that, it just felt right.

       He smiles for a second. "Hey, you yelled my name for help, why my name?" He asks me.

       "I honestly don't know," I admit. I look down, only to see my hands resting on his knees. I'm about to pull them away but then I think, why? "You're the name that came to my head when I needed help. I guess I knew that if anyone was going to come, it would be you." I blush a little, sounding cheesy.

      "You got that right," he says, leaning his head back, looking tired. "When I saw you go down the hall with him I had a bad feeling. I stood outside the door to make sure nothing would happen, thank goodness I did too," I nod. I maneuver around his seatbelt and gently wrap my arms around his torso, leaning my head on his shoulder.

       "Thank you," I whisper.