Presence

Chapter Eight

Cinco by Ofelia K

Side came over at six to walk over to the school. I had sort of dressed up, wearing a button down shirt, but only so I could cover my wrist without wearing a sweatshirt. I now had five fresh cuts on my left wrist and I hated myself for allowing myself to do it. They stung like mad as the shirt rubbed against the gashes. I'd forgotten the immense pain of them, but strangely, I enjoyed it. Every time I'd get a shiver of pain, I was reminded of every moment of my life that had led me to this point.

"Ready to partay?" Side asked as he strode into my room. I forced a smile to adorn my lips and nodded. I grabbed my phone and we headed for the dance.

We saw the lights coming from the quad as we approached the school. There was loud rap music, I think a song called "Red Nose" although I couldn't really make out the words because of how loud it was. I showed my ID to the person checking us in, who just so happened to be my math teacher, and then we were into my first ever high school dance.

"G! Side!" Someone yelled. Shadow strode up to me and grabbed my hands. He looked stunning with the lights shining behind him and casting different colors on his face. He shook his hips and sang along to the song, "she gon' shake it, like a red nose. Like, like, like, like a red nose."

I allowed him to drag me closer and closer to the center of a mass of people congregated on the dance floor. The entire situation was too much for me, but I didn't want to disappoint Shadow. I'd already done that today and look what that had gotten me. Three new scars to add to my collection.

I swallowed my anxiety and moved in time with Shadow. We finally met up with the rest of the crew. Joel and Hova were standing behind who I supposed were their girlfriends, moving in time with each other, bodies pressed close. I felt Shadow grip my waist and lean his head in toward my neck. He kissed a spot just behind my ear and I melted into his arms. Shadow moved behind me and took dominance, something I didn't mind. He wrapped both his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. I could feel him pressed against me and his presence calmed me like it had the first day we'd met. I felt safe in his arms.

We stayed like that until Shadow yelled that he needed to get some air. He gripped my hand and pushed his way through the crowd with me in tow. He found a spot on the bench and we sat together, hands still entwined. And for the first time I didn't care that people were looking at us more than they would any other couple.

"Want some water?" Shadow asked.

I nodded and he said he'd be right back. I nodded again. It seemed to be all I could manage.

I lost sight of him as Side and the guy called D4 came up to me. Side was giggling and smiling broadly. He came up to me and threw his arms over my neck as a greeting.

"Gggg." He said and it was longer than it should have been. "This dance is the bomb."

I laughed and nodded. "Sure is Side. How you doing?"

"I'm doing fantastic. I'm high as fuck right now."

I laughed again as I looked at D4.

He shrugged and said "he barely had any."

"I can believe that."

"Let's go dance some more. I gotta find that girl from my health class. She said she'd dance with me." Side said and grabbed my hand.

"Let me wait for Shadow-"

Side cut me off "no, let's go now."

"He'll find you G, don't worry." D4 said.

Side led the way back into the circle. We stopped by some people I didn't know, but they acknowledged D4 so I assumed they were his friends. Side was going mad, but I felt uncomfortable without Shadow.

"Here dude," D4 offered me a thin dark tube. "It's a jewel. It'll calm you down."

I took it gingerly and contemplated it. Then I raised it to my lips and breathed in. I coughed slightly as I breathed out again. My mind was spinning. D4 mimed for me to take another hit so I did and my mind soared. It was the strangest yet most exciting experience I'd ever had. Everything looked different and slowed slightly, but I felt awesome.

They turned on a song and I suddenly knew all the words, even though I'd never heard the song. Everyone seemed to be dancing with someone else against them so it felt only right that D4 grab my waist and bend me into him. Everything was so blurry and wonderful and D4's dick was so hard on my ass and it felt nice and somewhere in my mind I knew something was wrong but I couldn't figure out what it was. Then I felt familiar hands pulling me away from D4 and I stumbled into them. I looked slowly up into Shadow's shining green eyes and I remembered what was so wrong. My gut fell to the ground.

"Shadow," I breathed.

He pushed me aside and someone else caught and supported me. Shadow pulled back his fist and planted it firmly between D4's eyes. D4 stumbled backward and Shadow pursued him. He punched him again in the jaw and this time D4 went down. But that wasn't good enough for Shadow. He straddled D4, pausing for a moment when he felt the hardness there, and then went to town on D4. I tried to stop him, but someone was holding me in place. Instead I screamed his name, over and over. Then D20 was there and he ripped Shadow away from D4. Shadow's thin build was no match for D20's toned one, so he backed away.

I felt tears on my cheeks now, and the high was wearing off and I felt weak again. Weak and stupid and worthless.

Shadow came to me and wrapped his arms around me. I fell into him and whispered over and over, "I'm sorry."

The music had stopped and the administrators were coming to see what was happening. Shadow pulled me to the exit and out to the parking lot. He helped me into his truck and I pulled my legs up to my chest and hugged them tightly. Shadow got into the driver's seat, but he didn't put the keys in the ignition.

I finally looked up and towards him. He was gripping the steering wheel with both hands and staring out the front windshield. His knuckles were covered with slowly drying blood, and his face and shirt were also slightly splattered with it. I inhaled sharply at the sight and he turned his head to look at me.

His eyes looked broken, betrayed. It broke my heart.

So, I ran.

But I wasn't the only one.

He yelled my name as he raced after me.

I got to the park by my house before I collapsed onto my knees in the damp grass. Shadow caught up to me and knelt before me. He gripped my face with both his hands and lifted it to his. He kissed me like he'd never kissed me before. It wasn't only a kiss, it held everything he felt for me and I felt for him. It tasted like tears and blood and it was the most real feeling I'd ever experienced.

"You can't keep running from me, G," Shadow said when we pulled apart. "I'll always catch you."