Saving Scott

4. "She's going to murder us."

The promise I made to myself didn't last.

I blamed Lakyn James. Not directly. It wasn't like I could walk up to him and say 'hey, I can't get the way you looked while that guy was sucking on your neck out of my head, and it's really causing me some problems.'

He'd probably think I was crazy, for one. And no matter how many times my daydreams ended in him pulling me down so he could whisper in my ear that maybe I should see it from the front row, I highly doubted that was how it would go.

I wasn't sure Lakyn actually talked to people. Once he was on my radar, I saw him around, at different parties. He kept to himself, on the outskirts, different drinks in his hands. He wasn't awkward enough to call attention to himself, I had to actively look for him, but he was there. I'd watch him drink and then inexplicably disappear, following some guy and some signal I didn't know.

He was smoother than me, and I knew a lot of tricks.

I wasn't sure why he was so interesting. I didn't know if it was the dark hair or the apathy that attracted me. Or if it was just the fact that he'd looked fucking hot when he'd glared at me from across that dark room, all disheveled and aroused.

What I did know was that in some room at some party drunk out of my mind with my pants down, I was very aware that when I closed my eyes, it was Lakyn's mouth I was imagining. It was pretty easy to do since I didn't actually know the dude that was going down on me.

Suddenly, the music stopped, and even groggy and out of it, I was aware of the sound of crashing footsteps and doors slamming open.

"What the-"

"COPS!"

"Shit!" I almost kneed the guy in the face when I suddenly sat up, but he was backing away at the same time, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand. I was too damn drunk to button my jeans so I just pulled them up as high as I could and prayed.

"Do you think that window works?" the dude asked.

"Too risky, just use the door!" I was right on his heels as we barreled out of the room and into the crowded hallway. Everyone was either too sloshed or too panicked to realize who either of us were, or what we could have possibly been doing, and we took off towards the back doors that were already wide open.

People were headed for the fences, throwing themselves over the edges, and I was right behind them when I heard someone scream. My head whipped around and that was when I realized there was a freaking pool. The cover on it was some kind of tarp, and drunk teenager after drunk teenager had tried to run right across it. The tarp had caved under the weight.

They were going to drown.

I had stopped running. I didn't remember stopping, but Matt was standing right across from me, his expression as torn and pained as I felt.

"How drunk are you?" he asked.

"Too drunk to pass a breathalyzer," I replied.

"Did you smoke?"

I shook my head, and so did he.

"We're staying, huh?" he asked.

I whispered 'fuck' and Matt said something in Spanish before we both turned around and ran towards the pool. My hands burned against the ground in a way that I knew would burn later before I shoved my head into the freezing water.

My senses seized up, my brain trying to make sense of the warm alcohol still in my veins and the cold fucking water I was attacking it with. I pulled myself out, took a deep breath, then started reaching for hands.