My Life with O2L

Chapter 11

The music is blaring. It's been like this for the past hour now. According to Ricky and Jenn, more people showed up than expected. But that's per usual around here I guess. It's not like I live in the shadows anymore.
At this moment, I'm standing off to the side of the dance floor (aka: living room) leaning against a wall. The party scene is new to me and let me just say: it's very intimidating. Probably a little over a hundred people packed in the house, on the roof, and some in the backyard.
Suddenly, I feel a hand grip mine and pull me out on the dance floor. Then Anaconda by Nikki Manaj comes on. I look at my captor. It's Ricky.
"Twerk!" He yells at the top of his lungs. Next thing I know, he's on the couch twerking. All I can do is laugh. That is until another somebody pulls me onto the couch. I turn. Tyler Oakley.
"Shake that thing, girl!" Tyler yells. Then he starts twerking with Ricky. I stare for a moment but eventually join them. I mean, after all, why not? I have nothing to lose.
The next thirty minutes or so is a blur. Music blasting, people dancing. And on a part of it. At some point, Jenn joins me, Ricky, and Tyler on the dance floor. Somehow I end up separated from them. So me being me, I go to get a drink.
On the way into the kitchen, I run into someone. Literally. "Watch i-" the guy starts to say. But he seems to recognize who I am. "Oh. Sorry, Alex."
I laugh. "It's okay. What's your name again? I'm sorry I don't remember, but look at the people here." I gesture to all the people who have joined the party.
The guys laughs. "I'm Jack. From thatssojack. Also a youtuber."
"Who isn't a youtuber here?" I ask, not really surprised.
Jack laughs. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't know half the people here anymore."
We both laugh. I head into the kitchen and he follows me. "You think anyone would care if I snuck a beer?" I ask him, trying to lighten up the mood.
"Go ahead. But if you get caught, Jc would kill you." He says, completely serious.
I laugh. "Who cares?"
Jack laughs. "Alright then." Then he goes back to the party. I grab a beer out of the cooler and pop it open. Just as I'm about to take a sip the music stops.
"What the-" I start. Then I hear a voice I never thought I'd hear again.
"Where is she?" He roars. "Where is Alexandria?"
I peak my head out of the kitchen and see Derek standing in the living room. My legs quake beneath me. What is he doing here? He's supposed to be in prison!
Kian and Jc step forward. "Who are you and what do you want with my daughter?" Jc asks.
Derek lets out an evil cackle. "Your daughter? She's not your daughter! Alexandria is MY daughter. I'm her step father, Derek."
Immediately, the rest of the guys push through the crowd to join Jc and Kian. Their backs are facing me, but I can tell they're all very tense. "I thought you were in prison." Jc says.
"Was. But I'm not anymore." Derek gestures over to a kid, who I recognize to be James. The older guy from the orphanage who was posting the rude comments on my Facebook. "He paid my bail. And now that I'm out, I would like my daughter back."
"After what you did to her?!" Jc yells. "I think not!"
"Fucker, I don't give two shits about what you say! I'm getting my god damn daughter back!" Derek yells. Then all hell breaks lose. Derek throws a punch at Jc. It hits him square in the jaw. The rest of guys attack Derek, while Jc recovers. Anger boils inside of me. I thought I was done dealing with Derek's shit. But apparently not.
With a sudden burst of adrenaline, I run towards the fight.
As I do, Jc sees me and tried to hold me back. I fight him off and head straight toward Derek. Currently, he's fighting off Kian and Sam outside. The other guys look beaten and bruised. There's no way he's getting away with this.
"Call 911!" I hear someone yell.
When I get to Derek, I start shaking. But there's no way that's holding me back. He sees me and throws Sam to the side. Kian and the guys are staring at me. I nod at them trying to communicate that I'll be fine. Even when I know I'm not gonna be after this.
"Alexandria," he says my name and I can't help but flinch. "Still afraid."
I shake my head. "You need to leave."
He grins and folds his arms over his chest. "Not without you. So just tell your little friends bye and we'll go."
I shake my head and let out a fake laugh. "That's not gonna happen."
As soon as I say that, he backhands me. I ball my fist and throw a punch at his face. It doesn't bother him. Instead, he comes towards me. It turns into a repeat of my childhood. Just like the dream, he throws me to the ground and kicks me.
Next thing I know, Jc is there fending him off. Derek starts beating him senseless. Somebody drags me away and I scream, "JC!!" Tears well in my eyes.
"Shh," says the person who dragged me away from the fight. "It's me, Sam. You're safe. The cops are on the way."
I turn and sob into his chest as I watch Derek fight Jc, and Kian. Then the sirens start going off. The cops flood the place and remove Derek from the premises. Everything happens in slow motion. The cops ask people what happened and take notes. Jc heads toward me. He's pretty bloody and bruised. At least he's alive.
Sam passes me to him. First thing he does is squeeze me to death.
"Alex, are you okay? How bad did he get you? God, I'm so sorry." Jc mutters.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me. What about you?" I pull back and examine his face. His nose is bleeding and he has a busted lip. There are several bruises on his face and his knuckles are also bruised.
"I'm fine. I'm just worried about you." He says.
I take a deep breath, more tears welling in my eyes. "I'm scared." I admit. Then, like the baby I am, I sob into his chest.
We stay in that position until a cop approaches us and asks us to recount the events of tonight. We tell the cop everything.
Eventually, the cops and almost all the party guests leave. Then me, the guys, Jenn, Jack, and Tyler Oakley end up in the kitchen. Jc hasn't let go of my hand since the incident. Hasn't left my side. Derek was wrong; Jc's more of a father to me in this one week than he ever was to me. The guys are talking about moving. For security reasons. Tyler, Jenn, and Jack are recommending different places they know that are available. I'm just sitting on the kitchen counter, lost in thought. Why would James bail Derek out of jail? I didn't understand that. I mean, I guess I get why he would pick I me like he has over the years, but good god. What did I ever do to deserve tonight?
"Hello?" Jc says, waving his hand in front of my face. "Earth to Alex."
I snap out of it. "Yeah. I'm fine." I force a small smile. "Your face isn't though."
"I'll be fine. It's n-" he starts.
"Yeah, yeah. No big deal, I get it. But you need to get cleaned up." I look over at Kian, who is just as bad as Jc. "You too, Kian."
Sam pipes up. "I'll go get some of the peroxide and stuff." He disappears upstairs.
I motion for Kian to come over by me and Jc. Sam comes back down with all the "doctor" stuff.
I work on Jc first, cleaning the dried blood off his face and cleaning the cuts on his face. Then I bandage up his bruised knuckles. I do the same for Kian.
"Thanks doctor Caylen," Kian says, winking. I give him a small smile.
"You're welcome, Kian."
We sit in silence for awhile. Thoughts of tonight's events fill my head. Finally, it gets to be too much for me. I hop off the counter.
"I need a drink," I mumble. I open the cooler and grab a beer. Before anyone says anything, I pop the cap and drain half of it. The alcohol feels nice in my system. Normally, in a situation like this, I'd pull out my blade. But I promised the guys I wouldn't so this is my solution. For awhile, the Gus just watch me drain the beer in my hand.
Then Jack busts out, "We need to do something to take our minds off of tonight."
We all nod in agreement. "How about truth or dare?" Tyler suggests.
"Sure," Jenn says. "But can we go in the living room? I wanna sit down."
"Let's do it," Jc says. Tyler bust s out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Trevor asks.
"Let's do it," Tyler gasps in between laughs. "Just think, you'll get it."
It automatically clicks in my head. "Ewwww!" I yell. "That's gross, Tyler!"
Everybody laughs. "See?" Jack asks. "It's better already!"
"True." Ricky says. All of us head into the living room. I sit inbetween Ricky and Jenn on the couch.
"Who's starting out?" I ask, nobody on general.
"Why don't you?" Jenn says nudging my shoulder.
"Sure," I say, nodding. "Jenn: truth or dare?"
"Dare, all the way!" She says, eagerly bouncing up and down on the couch.
I grin evilly. "I dare you to lick Jack's armpit."
"Ewwww!" Jenn shudders. "That's disgusting!"But she stands up and walks over to the other side of the couch where Jack is sitting. "I have to kick your armpit."
Jack rolls up his sleeve and Jenn leans toward his armpit. "It smells horrible!" Jenn yells. Then, quickly, she touches her tongue to Jack's hairy pits. She pulls back and screams, "Eww! It tastes horrible!" Her face scrunched up with disgust.
Everybody laughs. It's Jenn's turn. "Jc: truth or dare?"
"Truth." Jc says, grinning.
"Punk," Kian mutters.
"Shut up!" Jc says jokingly.
"Which one of the guys would you kiss?"
Tyler gasps. "Ooh!"
"I don't know." Jc says. "Do I have to answer?"
"Yes." We all say at once.
"Kian?" Jc answers. "Tyler: truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"Kiss Jenn."
Tyler looks at Jc. "Okay." He moves toward Jenn and kisses her. Then, immediately afterwards, he wipes his lips. "Eww! No offense Jenn, I just don't roll like that!" We laugh.
"It's okay," Jenn says.
Tyler starts muttering to himself. "Who to pick, who to pick." Then he suddenly perks up. "I know! Sam: truth or dare?"
Sam looks almost scared. I don't blame him. "Dare."
Tyler grins like an evil genius. "Kiss Alex!"
Sam looks at me. I look at him. Then, he turns back to Tyler and asks, "What would you have done if I picked truth?"
"Oh, easy! Do you like Alex?" Tyler and pretty much everyone else laugh. "What can I say? I'm a Salex shipper!"
Sam shakes his head and moves to sit next to me. His eyes meet mine. It's no big deal, I think. He's kissed me before. But then I realized the others don't know this. Well, except for Kian. So we have to act like its a big deal.
Sam starts leaning in. His hand goes to the back of my neck, and we lean in. It's slow. Our lips haven't touched and it's been several seconds.
"Oh for gods sake, just kiss already!" Tyler says.
"It's not like we don't know you haven't before." Kian adds.
Both me and Sam pull back and gap at everyone. "What?" I ask.
They laugh. "We all know you've kissed before, you don't have to over dramatize it!" Kian says.
I look at Jc for conformation. He nods.
Sam turns back to me, and I look at him. He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear and grins. There's no hesitation when he leans in this time. Our lips crash and move in complete sync.
"Aww!" I hear several of them say. I hear a camera flash. But honestly, I could care less. The kiss is short, and I want to kiss him again, but I remember we have an audience. Sam and I separate, but he holds my hand. Both of us are grinning, and blushing.
"You are too fuckin cute!" Tyler says.
I shake my head and laugh. "Whatever."
"Kian," Sam says. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"Go up on the roof and jump into the pool, fully clothed."
"Okay!" Kian says, disappearing upstairs. We head outside and look up to the roof. "Ready?" He calls down. The he jumps. "AHHH!"
We laugh as he hits the water. I feel stray drops of water hit my face. Kian bursts out of the water gasping."Damn, that was cold!" He looks at Sam, who is standing next to me still holding my hand. An evil grin comes over his face. "Aw, Salex! You guys know you want a hug!"
I squeal and run. Kian jumps out of the pool. I don't know where Sam goes, but I jump onto Jc's back. "Help me!" I yell in his ear.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Jc runs straight toward Kian and I scream. "Here Kian!"
"No!" I yell, laughing. Kian's arms wrap around me, water dripping off of him and onto me. "Help me!"
While I try to fend off Kian, Ricky, Jenn, and Tyler run inside. "Wrong way!" I yell at them. Seconds later, they reappear with Nerf guns and lots of amo.
"Drop her Lawly!" Jenn yells, pointing a gun at him. "Or so help me, I'll shoot you."
"Yeah!" Ricky and Tyler yell. "Drop her!"
"NEVER!" Kian yells, laughing. With that, he pulls me into the pool. The cold water surrounds me. I come up laughing and coughing. When I do, Sam jumps in. He splashes me.
"Why?" I ask him.
"Cause I wanted to." He says, sticking his tongue out at me. "Besides, someone has to save you from Kian."
"So you don't think I can handle myself?" I ask, raising my eyebrows, a smile playing in my lips.
"No! Yes! I mean... I don't know!"
I laugh at his words. Then I hear someone yell, "Hey lovebirds! Fights over! We're gonna go back to playing the game!" Laughter follows.
"Let's go," I say motioning my head toward the house. I get out of the pool and head to the screen door. Jc hands me a towel.
"Go change real quick," he says. "Connor's about to come over and he's gonna bring nice Starbucks hot chocolate with him."
"Yay!" I say, running upstairs. What can I say? I'm a stereo typical white girl!
When I'm dried off and changed, I head downstairs. I don't even reach the middle of the stairway before I smell it.
"STARBUCKS!" I scream at the top of my lungs, sprinting toward the kitchen. Connor blocks my path. "MOVE!" I yell at him.
"Nice to see you too," Connor mutters.
I push past him and grab the first hot chocolate in sight. The first sip is like heaven. I go back out into the living room where everyone is staring at me.
"What? I like my Starbucks." I say, sitting down inbetween Jc and Sam.
"So we can tell," Jenn says, giving me a strange look. Everyone laughs.
"So what are we doing?" I ask.
"Well, we were gonna keep playing the game, but it's almost 1 a.m., and we're tired. I guess we could watch a movie." Trevor says. We all agree and settle on watching Zombieland.
Within the first ten minutes, I have drained my hot chocolate. I set the empty cup on the coffee table. Leaning my head on Sam's chest, I slowly start to doze.