Sticks and Stones

Chapter Two

I found myself standing in front of a large, white house in the middle of a neighborhood I wasn’t familiar with.

Stacie waved at me and honked the horn, driving off in the direction we came from. I looked up at the house, the yard flooded with dancing teenagers and games of horseshoes. The music that was blaring sounded like hip-hop, but I wasn’t familiar with the artist. It wasn’t until a got knocked in the side by a flying horseshoe that I realized I was still standing on the sidewalk.

“Hey!” A tall, tan boy came running up to me, obviously angry. I stood awkwardly, half holding my hip and half trying to look nonchalant on a sidewalk with a horseshoe at my feet. He came up to me and held out his hand. Confused, I shook it.

“I’m Tyler.” I said, and he just stood there, staring at me. Suddenly, he burst out laughing and leaned over, grabbing the horseshoe at my feet and shaking it in his hand.

“I wanted this. But hey, I’m Malakai. But most people just call me Kai.” He ran the fingers of his free hand through his short brown hair and looked back at the group of men watching us curiously. I noticed that he had piercing, green eyes. When he looked back at me I blushed and looked down, hoping he didn’t notice me staring.

“Hey, um- Tyler? Do you want to come play with us? Were short one person anyways.” He jerked his thumb towards the group of guys and they all waved, shouting things I couldn’t understand over the music. I stared up at the house and desperately wished Stacie would come back, saying that it was a mistake to bring me here, and then take me back home. The front door opened, and I saw my one chance of escaping the crowds.

“Uhm, I’d rather just go in the house and find a snack . . .” I began to turn towards the house and walk away, when Malakai grabbed my arm and pulled me close to his face. He put his lips on my ear and a tremor went through my body.

“Go upstairs, the third door on the left. You can hide out there, if that’s what you’re looking for.” With that said, he jogged back to the group and started throwing horseshoes again, and I started up the walkway to the front door.

The inside of the house looked even bigger than it did from the outside. The walls were covered in family photos, but I didn’t take the time to look at them. I spent my time maneuvering through the crowds, trying to find the stairs. I felt someone touch my butt, and then I felt someone spill something on my shoulder. What it was, I wasn’t sure.

“Hey!” A girl shouted at me, putting her hand on my shoulder. She looked like she was no older than I was, with a short, blonde pixie cut hairstyle. She smiled at me held out her hand, which I now shook, hoping that that was what she had wanted. I noticed a scar running from her thumb down to her wrist.

“I’m Steph; you looked lost—are you trying to get somewhere?”

I nodded. “Where are the stairs? I need to get upstairs…” I looked around once more, and then she grabbed my wrist, pulling me through the crowd and blocking me from the drunk people trying to grab me. We finally ended up at the bottom of a large, winding staircase, and she turned and shook my hand again. She mouthed ‘good luck’ and left, eventually completely out of my sight. I sighed and trudged up the stairs, wishing that I had told Stacie that I was sick, or tired, experiencing “jet-lag”. I practiced my sick look while I searched for the third door, and stopped when I found it. I was painted white, when all the other doors were black. I recounted to make sure I had the right room, and then twisted the door handle and slipped inside.

The room was dark. I searched quickly for a light switch, and blinked when I had flooded the room with light. It was large, with a king sized bed in the far right corner. The walls were covered in posters and surf boards, with a random street sign on the bathroom door. The carpet was black, covered in clothing that had been strewn everywhere. I walked in and sat on the bad, surprised to find my self sinking into it and wiggling around. I stopped freaking out when I realized it was a waterbed, and cursed myself for being so naïve.

I was afraid to move around much, so I sat on the corner of the bed and drummed my fingers on the wooden bed frame. I could hear distant thumping of the music, and a lot of drunk chatter. I thought of a plan to escape and get home, but then I realized I had no clue how to get there. I rolled my eyes at the party in particular and went to pull my hair up into a ponytail, when my hair tie shot across the room and onto the other side of the bed. Sighing, I brought myself on my hands and knees on the floor, preparing to search for the small, black elastic.

 That’s when I heard the door open.

I heard thumping, and then a girls slight moan.

Oh great, I thought. I’m going to be stuck in here during this? I laid down on the carpet as far out of sight as I could, and hoped that they would decide to take it to another room.

“Rachael, I’m not going to do this.” My eyes widened when I heard Malakai’s familiar voice. The bed next to me moved, and I moved as far as I could under it, out of sight.

“But Kai—” A girl started, her voice whiny.

“We aren’t dating anymore, you know that. Why don’t you just go home?” He said, and I tried to resist laughing. He sounded so bored.

I heard a sniff and felt the bed shift again. Footsteps began towards the door.

“You know what? Fine. I’m done with you too. I’m so done, you’ll never see me again! Jerk!” The door slammed and I heard Malakai sigh. I heard a door open and close, and sat up, only to realize that he had gone into the bathroom.

            Realizing that this was my one chance to leave, I started towards the door quickly, and stopped when it opened before I could reach the handle. A tall, tan blonde in a strapless, tiny black dress walked in, and stopped suddenly when she saw me. We stared at eachother for a second, before the bathroom door opened again, and Malakai walked out.

            Only this time, he was shirtless.

            We all started talking at the same time.

            “You cheating bastard!” The blonde shouted at him, shoving me back and charged after him. He easily grabbed her fists mid-air and tried to say things in-between her profanities. He looked completely bored, almost as bored as he sounded.

            “I was only hiding out in here, I don’t even know—” I had managed to say, before the blonde looked at me, freed her fist from his grasp and punching me dead center in my nose. I felt the blood before I felt the pain, and then I fell down.

            The last thing that I saw were Malakai’s bright, piercing green eyes.