Unmasked At Midnight

chapter seven

"They say the people we are closest to are also capable of hurting us the most. I guess this explains why I keep hurting myself."

I wander around the house, looking for my friends. I had left Charming earlier, making up some excuse about how my friends were expecting me so that I could get away from him and my growing feelings.

Now, as I scan the crowd for familiar faces, I somehow end up right on the dance floor. Drunken teenagers and red solo cups nearly suffocate me, and it's all I can do not to shove everyone out of my way. Just as I'm about to squeeze my way out, a hand grabs my arm and pulls me into them.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice says into my ear. It's slurred, and I can smell the alcohol on him.

I whip my head around and come face to face with some jock from another school. That stupid grin on his face looks very punchable right now, I say to myself.

"Let me go," I snap, trying to wrench my arm out of his grasp. He only pulls me closer, grabbing my shoulders instead.

"Come on, why don't you stay here and have some fun instead," he laughs, and one of his hands travels down to my waist in a way that makes my skin crawl.

"I said, STOP," I shout in frustration. I stomp on his foot as hard as I can, which causes him to momentarily let go. Just for good measure, I turn around and punch him in the face with a satisfying thwack.

As I'm about to run away, he shoves me hard, causing me to crash into some other partygoers.

"YOU FUCKIN' BITCH," he roars, a vein popping out of his forehead. "YOU THINK YOU CAN HIT ME WHEN I'M TRYING TO GIVE YOU A GOOD TIME? HUH?!"

Many people around us have stopped dancing and are either backing up or recording us.

I'm frantically trying to think of a way to get out of this mess when he comes at me, a hand raised. It's a good thing he's a little drunk, so I easily dodge him. He turns around, and that's when I raise my knee where the sun doesn't shine as hard as I possibly can, adrenaline running through my veins. He falls over with a grunt, clutching his family jewels. At this point, pretty much everyone on the dance floor and the living room have come to watch the show.

A boy pushes through the crowd and forces that dumb jock up on his feet, gripping the front of his jacket so hard it almost rips.

I've... seen him before...

"Listen here, Andrews, this is the last fucking time I'll have you coming into my house and causing trouble, you got that? Don't come back here ever again." He threatens.

His voice reminds me of someone...But who?

He roughly lets go of the front of the jock's shirt, still fuming.

"Fine, your parties fuckin' blow anyway," he spits, and then he proceeds to storm out the door.

The music is still playing, but the house feels strangely quiet because everyone around us is silent. Then, murmurs start arising in the crowd.

"Okay everyone, show's over," the boy announces. Thankfully, people get the hint and go back to minding their own business.

He turns to me, his greenish-brown eyes glinting with worry. "Are you okay?"

Charming?

But this guy was wearing a different costume than the one Charming was wearing. His costume was a football player, gear and all. He even had a helmet on as his "mask".