Are You Dead?

4-Jocks

So far, everything was great. My friends were showing up, my crush was showing up, and just about everyone else that went to Brooke Wood High. My parent's beach house was a wreck already, and the party only started an hour before.

Luke was stumbling around, looking for some girls to hit on. He was drunk, but his charm and "I'll have laid you by the end of the night, and you know you want it" smile was still in tact. Luke was one to party, so was I, but he has been drunk many times. His words don't slur as much as others, his walk is almost perfectly fine, and he can still think straight. It's amazing. One time I even tested his drink, because I thought he was just faking. Nope. And tonight, he had already downed about four shots of Smirnoff and a bottle of Jack Daniels. How he holds down that much liqour, I'll never know.

I bit my lip as Ashton Henderson began walking toward me, a devilish smile playing in his lips. His eyes met mine as he got closer, and when his mouth opened to talk, I nearly fell over. My heart raced as he complimented me on my outfit. He tucked my hair behind my ear and slid his hand under my chin, tilting my head back. He flashed me his million dollar smile, and asked if I wanted to hang out with him sometime. Calmly, I nodded and blushed a bit. He grabbed my hand and took me to the back porch. An unexpected surprise came my way.

He kissed me.

Pressing me up against the wall, he lifted up my legs, and I wrapped them around his waist. With my arms around his neck, and my tongue in his mouth, I could taste the alcohol on his breath. We stopped swallowing each other to get air. He began looking over my shoulder, into the window, and apparently saw something he liked. His smile grew by the second and I noticed he saw someone he liked the looks of. And as soon as I knew it, I was dropped on the floor and stepped over by that big jerk. But before I could yell at him, he was back. Towering over me with his hand above me, gesturing for me to take it. I did and he hoisted me up off the hard wood of the porch.

His eyes stared down at me, with a look of fierceness watching my every move. He set me up onto the railing, and grabbed my face. He intensely meshed his lips with mine. No sparks. Nothing. After he dropped me I felt nothing more about him, other than him being another one of my party central make-out buddies. Again, he found something better than what he had sitting right there, and once again dropped me. But this time, when he let me go, I had gone right over the edge of the porch. My head hit hard against the dirt.

Oh great. I thought, the next thing I need is a concussion.

Everything went black.

******

I woke up in a warm bed, in a large bedroom, in what seem to be the beach house still. It was morning now, I could tell by the way the birds chirped outside the lit up window. My head was pounding and my stomach was queasy. My body felt sore and weak as I sat up. I hated hangovers. Looking around, I saw Luke. He was asleep on the love seat on the other side of the room. I slowly got up and went into the bathroom. He must have heard me, because when I came back out he was standing up, a look of deep concern on his face. He had always been there for me, and anyone who knew me knew that he was my best friend.

He ran his fingers through his wavy, auburn, hair and gave a nervous chuckle. He looked down at his shoes. When he returned his gaze to me, the concern in his eyes was even more noticeable.

"Arianna," his voice was shaky and hinted that he was upset. "I am so sorry. I told your mom I would protect you. I promised you that I would look out for you. I fucked up. I really fucked up, I should have been watching you last night. Damn it! And I knew Ashton--"

"Luke." I cut him off as tears began to form in my eyes.

"Yeah?"

"It's okay."

My heart was in my throat now, and I was hoping he couldn't hear it beating. The concern was still on his face. He knew I noticed it and he tried to look away. He tried so hard to hide his feelings, even though I was his best friend, but he ended up looking at me again and again. He walked toward me, intending to close the five feet we had between us. Once he was close enough, he wrapped his arms around me, engulfing me in a hug. He started stroking my head and hair, he knew it calmed me down. But when I winced, Luke pulled away almost immediately.

It was all coming back to me. The flirting, the alcohol, the make out session, Ashton Henderson and the way he let me fall over the railing to go to some other girl.

I ran my fingers over the back of my head. Sure enough, there was a large bump right where I hit my head. I looked at Luke and he ran his hand down my arm with reassurance. As he reached my hand I broke out in tears, collapsing to the floor. He quickly dropped to my side and once again wrapped his arms around me. Now aware of my soft spot, he rubbed my back instead.

"I'm so stupid! I can't believe I fell for that asshole!" I moved my hands up to cover my face. "I'm such a dumbass! I should have known that all popular guys are fucking pigs! Ugh!"

"Ari," he said calmly, when he knew I was finished. "You are not stupid. You are not a dumbass. And any guy out there would be lucky to have you. Ashton is stupid. He is a dumbass. If he's willing to make out then push away a beautiful, sweet, smart, fun, hilarious..." He took both my hands from my face and looked me straight in the eyes as he finished his "cheering up" speech. "And I just... I feel like.... umm..."

"Thanks Luke," my tears nearly stopped and my heart rate slowed. "I know you care and are trying to make me feel better, but we both know I'm just a giant bisexual slut. I hook up with anyone who stumbles into my eye sight with a look that I agree with. I make out with at least three people at parties and lord knows I'm not a virgin."

He sighed and put his hand on my knee. "Arianna, listen to me. You're too hard on yourself. You aren't a slut. You're just a amazing girl that the people fall for. And ya know what? The fact that you are bi is fucking awesome."

I smiled and gave him a hug. He stood up and then helped me off the floor. He ran down stairs for some ice, and then we got in the truck to take me to the hospital. I began feeling slightly nauseous. Luke pulled over and I hopped out of his old pick up truck. I didn't need to throw up but the fresh air was nice. I began pacing back and forth, and at that point Luke jumped out of the truck.

As Luke watched me pace, my heart started racing. I started seeing images of the note I'd received the day before. My mind was throwing thoughts around as if they were hot rocks. The thoughts and images came in an order. First it was the note, then my time with Ashton, then the dead flower, and lastly was the picture of me and Luke.

Getting the images out of my head took some effort. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle, but it was definitely difficult. I sat in the bed of his truck and looked out at the dark shadows near the trees. I heard Luke walking towards me but didn't see him. I was too focused on the trees. Something was off about them. And then I saw it. A figure. It was a man. He noticed me and ran into the trees even more.

"Luke we have to go now!"