At Gunpoint

Chapter 14

Dorm B lighted up half of campus with it's big bonfire placed at the front of the building. Red cups made a trail starting already from the big fountain in front of the main building, leading the way like bread crumbs. Harry was still pulling me along at a steady pace, impelling my feet to work hastily to keep up. First thing, both of us had our own red cup firmly positioned in our hands.

"People look like they're gonna waver into the bonfire." I shot a meaning nod towards the flames licking the sky. The crowd of students gathered around it was laughing and tripping over their own feet, distinctly tipsy. Harry sighed amused.

"Lets have fun instead, no worrying about others. No going over the case, alright?"

"Fine." I smiled. "Cheers!" In one sweep I had emptied the cup in my hand.

"Jeez." Harry scanned my face. I gave no sign of how the alcohol burned down my throat. Harry chugged it as well, obviously not prepared for how strong it was going to be. For a split second, the surprise mixed with agony showed on his face before he got it under control. I choked a laughter.

By the time it took to walk to the entrance, another two red cups had been placed in our hands. Harry and I looked at each other, and without a word we both emptied our cups at the same time, Harry winning the challenge by chucking his empty cup onto the ground first. I shoved him by the shoulder, and after two cups Harry's balance was already faultering. Last second I grabbed his shirt and managed to keep him standing. We both burst out laughing. A random kid provided us with a third cup and we did the same thing again. The hall we had entered was mainly out of oak. A few sofas covered the room along with a few antique lamps and a definitely worn out wooden cabinet, rows of old china displayed in several levels.

"Some service huh?" I slurred. I was beginning to feel giggly and relaxed. Harry agreed by nodding so frenetically he had to use his hand to steady his head. Someone bumped into me from behind, causing me to fall forward, where Harry was standing. I crashed into him and we both fell down on a couch. I pushed myself off of him, into sitting position. Harry remained slouched against the backrest with a dreamy look on his face. I was fixing the arm of my cardigan when a pair of shoes appeared in front of me. I looked up and a boy was smiling down at me. Without asking he took a seat between me and Harry.

"Wanna go upstairs?" He winked at me, and no matter how captivating his smile was, I couldn't help but catch a glimpse of Harry over his shoulder. The corner of his mouth was twisted and his eyebrows low. His whole expression was screaming discomfort.

"Uh, no.. thanks." I said apologetically, tucking my hair behind my ear and looking down at my lap. The boy seemed taken aback, like this kind of reply was something completely new to him. Which wasn't surprising. With his jetblack hair and white smile he was good-looking, to say the least. I had to keep myself from calling after him that I had changed my mind, when he got up and walked away. I quickly took pride in my choice when I saw he had aldready set his mind on a new target. A blonde whipping her hair around her wildly, probably in an attempt to look flirty but she looked like she was experiencing neck spasms instead. While sweeping with my eyes across the room, Stacy was caught on my radar. Stacy and Ethan. I turned to Harry.

"Do you wanna go upstairs?"

Harry seemed surprised by the question.

"Sure?"

I stood up a little too quickly, falling back down on the couch with the whole room spinning. I gave it another try, much slower this time, and offered Harry a hand. He grabbed it and I pulled him up onto his feet.

"The stairs are this way." Harry started leading the way. We pushed through clicks of drunk students, yelling in our ears and trying to get us to dance. A new boy stepped in my way, I almost walked right into him. Before I realized what was going on, he had placed one hand on my neck and forced me into a kiss. Giddy as I was, the though of pulling away didn't occur to me until the kiss was over. Smiling, he ran back to his friends who were handing out high fives. Confused, I shook my head and scanned the room for Harry. He was only a few feet ahead of me, and by the look on his face he was just as uncomprehending about what had just happened as I was. I shrugged my shoulders. Harry rolled his eyes, took my hand and took the lead up the stairs. We headed into a room that apperead to be empty and sat down on the bed.

"So, why did you wanna go upstairs?" Harry asked.

"Stacy." I sighed. Harry looked at me a little too long to be normal, and abruptly let go of my hand which I had neglected he'd still been holding.

"Oh. Fun." He replied sarcastically.

"I know right. Uh, I can't deal with her right now."

"Why haven't you tried sorting things out yet?"

"Oh no. No, no, no don't look at me like I'm immature. You try talking to her when she's angry and let me know what happens. A bruise here, a bruise there-"

"Okay chill! I get your point. It's not like I don't like having you stay at my place." He threw up his hands like he was being held at gunpoint.
"I just think that the longer you wait, the more the tension's gonna charge up and maybe it'll be too late to save your friendship."

"I don't care." I closed my eyes, slumping my head towards the side.

"You don't mean that." Harry said graverly.

"I don't know." I opened my eyes and tried fixing them on his. It was hard at first, it took a few seconds until they moved into focus. He looked at me under heavy eyebrows. I sighed. "Okay, I probably didn't mean that."

"So, how about going back downstairs and try to get her alone? Before she gets too drunk."

I looked at Harry like a lightbulb had been lit over his unruly head of hair.

"That's exactly what I need." I jumped too my feet, and since I still was far fram sober I had to throw my arms out to keep my balance.

"Kase seriously-" But I was already out the door. His voice was cut of hastily as soon as I had turned the corner.

The stairwell was made out of hearty oak, producing a smooth noise while I slid my palm down along the railing. Feet determined to trip over each other, I had to concentrate hard at the pace I was going. I stopped a few steps from the bottom, looking for Stacy's familiar head of brown. When that wasn't spotted, I jumped the last steps and landed with a smack on the floor. Not that the sound was noticed by anyone, the music was playing at a head-throbbing volume. I winced as a terrible song started to play, and swiftly altered my direction for some fresh air. The night breeze hit me in the face, and caused my lungs to suck in a profound amount of air by relfex. A chill clasped my chest, and it started to hurt. I bent over and drew a few short, careful breaths to regain my cool. When I stood back up, a couple I hadn't noticed before was making out uncomfortably close to where I was standing, although as it appeared, completely oblivious to my presence. I took a few awkward steps to the side, while making a slightly grossed out face. I turned to walk away to a spot more private, as I spun around, the door I had just exited through almost hit me smack in the face, a couple of guy friends walking out probably looking for some fresh air as well. I starred at the fogged up glass of the door for a moment, while it slowly swung back into closed state. I wrapped my cardigan closer around me and wandered away from all the people.

I rounded the house and found it was empty on the backside. I let out a deep breath of relief. If I waited here for a while, the more shots Stacy would have time to chug, making my job of mending what I hoped was left of our friendship much easier. The October air was chill, my exhales coming out as dragon breaths. I packaged my hands into the cuffs of my cardigan and buried them far down its pockets. I stood like that for a while, admiring the starry sky. Something that looked like deer eyes peered from a bush. I gawed back at it, the deer losing the stare-off. Hooves making soft noises in the damp grass. The night was quiet, apart from the music playing from the dorm, which could for that matter probably drown out a murder scream. I decided it was time to head back to the front, maybe to look for Stacy some more, maybe to find myself a shot of something strong. Still debating whether to go with option one or two, I started moving. A distant crack of a branch was heard from somewhere behind me. "Probably the deer," I smiled to myself. I stopped to turn around slowly, careful not to scare the deer. What I caught in the corner of my eye was not what I was expecting. A large hand shoved my by the shoulder and pinned me to the wall. I was too shocked to scream, my eyes just widened and my jaw fell slightly open. His brown eyes was shooting fire. It was Ethan.