Unhinged » murder ff

Chapter Five

       Ethan (picture) was a tall, tanned and muscular boy with curled, black hair and a face that looked way older than its real age. He was actually 16, as was Grayson, and as he trotted over to me with the short girl at his side, I felt a twinge of jealousy, and cringed into the velvety-red leather seat I was in. He finally reached me, and immediately bent down, his breath fanning my face in a heatwave of watermelon and cherry. I flushed and turned away from him, shoving him back. '' So good to see you! '' he grinned once more, the tattoo on his neck rising slightly.

'' Never saw you as one for tattoos, Ethan...'' I mumbled, glancing nervously back at the bartender. She was back to cleaning, looking slightly disappointed. 

'' You actually remember my name? Hm, that's a first, '' he took my silence as a hint and continued on. '' Well, you haven't met my two-'' he glanced at the short, pale girl with messy chestnut brown hair and bright big blue eyes, ''-friends, so let me introduce them. '' the girl cringed at the use of the first word and sighed as Ethan pointed at her. '' This is Emma, and this, '' he pointed at the boy, who smiled and waved at me. He seemed friendly enough, so I gave an embarrassed smile back at him. He was gorgeous. '' is James. Very friendly, both of them. '' I kept my eyes fixed on James as Ethan talked, and James kept his eyes on me. We both gave nervous little grins and looked down as he finished talking, Emma giggling. '' Oh, and..I saw you come in with my brother. '' he said, and my world stopped spinning for a whole minute. Brother? Grayson - Ethan's brother? 

Just then and almost on cue, Grayson walked over and sat beside me, glaring at Ethan. He then stood and grabbed my hand, pulling me up. '' We shouldn't have come here. '' Grayson mumbled, and Ethan stepped in front of us, taking Grayson's head between his pointer and middle finger, supporting with his thumb. 

'' Be a loving brother, would you, Gray? Besides, Jae and I are old friends, '' he looked down at me with a sort of scary kind of friendliness, and smiled. '' aren't we? '' 

'' We're going, '' I growled, slapping Ethan's hand away and giving an apologetic look at James, who was looking straight at me. I began to lead Grayson and myself toward the door when Ethan once again blocked us. This time, a new voice popped in.

'' Leave the girl alone, '' I looked down and saw a slightly shorter than normal, dark skinned boy with puffy hair and medium sized brown eyes glaring up at Ethan, who gave the boy a thoughtful look. 

'' Jordan, '' Ethan sighed. '' Go get Brooklynn to fix you a drink or something. You're not you when you're thirsty, '' Ethan shoved a ten dollar bill at Jordan, who punched him in the arm pretty hard, enough to make Ethan flinch and his free hand fly up to clutch the bruising spot. '' Alright, Alright...'' he growled painfully, glaring at the three of us before walking away. James lingered and quickly ran over to me, leaning down and pulling me into a hug. He was extremely warm, and I felt like I would melt at any second, clutching the back of his shirt. James smelled of cinnamon and pumpkin spice, which was very, VERY enticing. 

'' Sorry, sister, '' he whispered against my ear, which sent shivers down my spine, and let go, hurrying off to walk with Ethan, putting on a smile unlike the ones he was giving me. The ones he gave Ethan were fake, and forced. But Ethan seemed pleased with it, and himself. 

'' What was that? '' A familiar voice said from behind me, and I stumbled, right onto the bartender. She was a million times more warm than James, and I shivered despite that, my face going blood red. The room was suddenly much warmer than before. She caught my arms and helped me back to my normal balance, tilting her head and looking down at me.

I looked up at her face and smiled bashfully. '' Are you Brooklynn? '' I asked suddenly, remembering what the short boy, Jordan, had said. 

'' Yeah, '' she smiled. '' You heard my name from Jordan, right? ''

'' Right. ''

'' Well, JuJu, '' the nickname gave me pleasant goosebumps, '' I hope I see you soon, '' she pressed a flask against my chest and walked off into the crowd, disappearing. 

Looking down at it, and shaking it only to find out that it was half full which meant she drank halfway, I saw it had the letter B carved jaggedly into the metal.