by J. L. Wyer
“We’re here. It’s all good. I’ll just stick to staying outside. I promise I won’t ruin anyone’s good time.”
Julien wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Liz, not possible. I’d rather be out here with you guys than in there.”
“Ditto what he said,” Ryder agrees.
I relax back into the cushions and look up at the stars listening to the crickets, cicadas, and frogs as they sing their evening musicals. The guys talk but I zone them out as I search out different constellations in the night sky. I find Cassiopeia and the big and little dippers.
Conversation trails off and Julien checks his watch. “It’s been almost twenty minutes. I wonder what’s taking Jayson and Maria so long.”
“I can go in there and find out,” Elijah is saying when a voice from the backyard interrupts him.
“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.” Marshall and three other guys approach, matching sneers on their faces.
“Go bother someone else, Marshall,” Elijah tells him. Marshall is the guy who messed up Julien’s leg during a soccer game, and who Elijah allegedly beat up for it the next day.
Marshall’s face darkens when he notices Julien sitting on the sofa next to Elijah. His leering gaze finds me and his lip curls up. “You dating both brothers now? Or did you swap one for the other not caring who is who since they look the same?”
Julien and Ryder both stand up and Ryder tucks me protectively behind him. He reaches back and takes my hand, threading our fingers together, giving me a silent warning not to move. “You need to leave now, Marshall.”
Marshall ignores Ryder's warning and steps toward Julien. “How’s the leg feeling?” The guys with Marshall snicker.
“It feels like it wants to kick your sorry ass,” Julien warns him, moving forward. Elijah thrusts his arm out to hold Julien back and to keep him from lunging at Marshall.
Marshall’s grin grows larger when he sees Ryder holding me behind him. “Oh, I see now. The rumors must be true. You’re dating all three of them.”
“Watch your mouth!” Ryder roars.
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll make you,” Ryder threatens.
“Ryder, no,” I say at his back placing my hand on his arm.
“I think I hit a nerve, boys. You.” He points to Elijah. “We have unfinished business. I owe you a beat down.” The three other guys, varsity football players from the look of them, step forward threateningly.
“Elizabeth, go inside,” Ryder says, looking back at me.
“No.”
“Things are about to get serious. Get inside now.”
“I said no. I’m not leaving any of you out here.” I may be a girl but having three guys as your best friends my whole life has taught me one thing — how to protect myself. Jayson, Ryder, and Julien showed me how to fight, and how to fight dirty. They wanted to make sure I knew how to defend myself against future a-holes who think they can put their hands on me without my permission or from guys who don’t listen to the word no. I’ve never kneed a guy in the balls before, but I’ll happily do it tonight to Marshall.
“You may want to listen to her,” Marshall says. He looks right at me and makes kissing noises.
Before anyone can make the next move or say the next word, a large blur flies past us and tackles Marshall down to the ground and all hell breaks loose. Elijah, Julien, and Ryder instantly jump in the fight and take on Marshall's friends. I feel Maria run up behind me and grab my shoulders to pull me away, but I shake her off.
My first thought is, where’s Jayson? I get my answer when I hear him bellowing in anger, “Don’t you ever talk about my girl like that again!”
I realize the large blur that streaked past us was Jayson. He’s on top of Marshall pounding fist to face, blow after blow after blow, unrelenting in his attack. Jayson straddles Marshall, pummeling him with words and punches. My mind has trouble processing everything. I see Julien, Ryder, and Elijah fighting the other guys. Ryder throws one punch at his adversary and the guy drops like a stone. Ryder turns to help Julien and between the two of them, it’s easy to take the second guy out. The third guy gives up, hands in the air backing away from Elijah once he sees the state of the rest of his friends as they moan and roll across the ground. It takes both Ryder and Julien to pull Jayson off of Marshall.
Of course a crowd has gathered on the back patio, screaming encouraging words for the fight to continue. Fallon makes his way out, Jacinda and Samantha following close behind. They look to where Jayson is struggling against Ryder and Julien who are holding him back, and it's clear Jayson wants a second go at Marshall.
“What a mess,” Fallon says coming forward out of the crowd of onlookers. He looks behind him at two guys and points at Marshall. “Get this loser off my lawn and take him to one of the guest rooms.” They immediately do as Fallon commands. “You guys just took out two of our defensive linemen and the quarterback,” he exclaims, putting his arms around Jayson and Ryder. “I think that deserves a drink, don't you?”
Ryder removes Fallon’s arm and searches the crowd until he finds me. Jayson appears too pumped up with adrenaline to notice anything and lets Fallon lead him stumbling back inside. Jacinda latches on to Jayson’s side as they disappear through the doors, but Jayson doesn’t do anything to remove her hold from his body. Samantha turns to me and gives me a scathing smile before slipping in behind Jacinda.
I call out, “Jayson! Jayson!” He just left me out here? Are you kidding me right now?
Maria pulls me back once again. “Lizzie. Let him go inside and calm down.”
“Forget that!” I spew, livid now. He gets into a fight and leaves me out here by myself while Jacinda and Samantha hang all over him. I don’t think so.
Ryder, Julien, and Elijah come over to me and Maria. “Liz, are you and Maria alright?” Julien asks. He wipes blood off his cut knuckles and curses when they sting.
“I’m good. We’re okay.”
“Where did Jay go?” he asks, looking around.
My angry eyes look over at the patio door hoping to see Jayson, hoping he came back out to get me.
“Fallon took him inside.” I grit my teeth and hiss, “He went with Jacinda.”
Ryder cups his bruised hands around my face. “Let’s go find him then, yeah?” His touch calms my anger somewhat and I nod yes.
“Jesus, Ry. She doesn’t need you to babysit her all the time,” Maria snips at him.
“Not now, Maria.”
I don’t want to be the cause of another fight tonight. I reach for Maria’s hand. “Thank you for standing by my side and staying with me. Would you mind if Ryder and I went to find Jayson? Elijah,” I say to him, “you and Julien need to go clean those cuts on your hands.”
“If Ryder’s going with you, then so am I,” she declares. I don’t argue. I just want to find Jayson and get out of here.
“Elizabeth, you know he wouldn’t intentionally leave you and walk off with some other girl, especially Jacinda. Trust me. I’ve been in plenty of fights to know how he’s feeling. He needs time to calm down from the anger and adrenaline. Don't worry. We’ll find him and leave.”
Even though Ryder’s words are reassuring, they don’t lessen the queasy, uneasy feeling I have in my stomach. Maria and I follow Ryder through the house. People either part like the Red Sea and hurriedly get out his way, or they grab him wanting to congratulate him. I assume it’s because many of them witnessed how he easily took down a football player and don’t want to be his next target.
My jittery stomach gets worse after we unsuccessfully search the house for over half an hour trying to find Jayson. We spot Fallon in the kitchen smoking a cigarette with a few seniors from our school.
“Fallon! Where’s Jay?” Ryder calls out to him.
Fallon blows out a circle of smoke and stubs out his cigarette on the granite countertop. “Hey, kitten," Fallon says to me and I scowl at him.
“Fallon, we need to find Jay. Have you seen him?” Ryder asks
him.
“Sent him upstairs a while ago to get cleaned up.” Fallon points a finger up in the air.
“Look at this!” Maria holds out her phone to me. Someone posted a video of the fight. The boys could get in real trouble over this, legal trouble, especially Jayson.
I show the video to Ryder. “We need to find Jayson and leave.”
The three of us head upstairs, opening each door we come across, calling Jayson’s name.
“Lizzie, I think they’ll be okay. The video is too dark to make out who anyone is. You can’t see faces, only their backs.”
“That might not be the only video, Mar. And what if Marshall decides to press charges against Jayson? This is so messed up.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Ryder says and heads to the end of the hall. He opens the door and stops abruptly. Maria and I slam into his backside. “Mar, take Elizabeth to the car right now and wait for me.”
“What’s going on. Move Ryder. Is Jayson in there?” Ryder tries to block me, but I duck under his arm and everything inside of me grinds to a stop. My heart, my lungs, my brain, all sounds around me.
I blink.
One by one, everything clicks back on. My breathing returns, my mind runs rampant, and my heart breaks.
Jayson is laid out on the bed. But that’s not what confounds me the most. That’s not what fills me with a rage unlike any I have ever felt. My hands clench tight into fists and my eyes narrow on who’s beside him on the bed, kissing him. Jacinda Blanchard.
“Oh my God!” That is from Maria.
“What the hell, Jayson!” That is from Ryder.
“If you don’t get your hands off my boyfriend right now, I am going rip every piece of hair off your head!” That is from me.
Jayson sits up at the sound of my voice, and seeing me, a goofy smile spreads across his face like he’s happy that I'm here. His face contorts with confusion when he notices Ryder and Maria glaring angrily at him. Then, almost comically, he turns his head to see Jacinda next to him on the bed and hastily jumps off the side of the bed to his feet, which causes him to stumble and crash into the armoire.
I can’t watch anymore. The hurt and betrayal flaying me alive almost brings me to my knees. I turn and desperately grab Ryder. “Ryder, please take me home now. I’ve seen all I can handle tonight.” I won’t allow myself to cry, not in front of Jacinda. She doesn’t get to see me break.
“Come on, Lizzie. Let’s go to the car. We’ll find Julien and Elijah.” Maria hooks her arm through mine and I allow her to walk me downstairs. I hear Jayson’s voice shouting my name and Ryder’s voice shouting back at him, but right now, I’m done. This whole night has been one giant nightmare.
I don’t remember much after getting into Ryder’s car. I rest my head against Maria’s shoulder and decide that I’ll think about things tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow, my broken heart repeats back. And then I close my eyes and shut down.
Jayson
“Liz! Elizabeth!” I fumble and try to push past Ryder, but he shoves me back as a wave of nausea hits me hard. “Get out of my way!” I yell at him. Why am I slurring?
Ryder pushes me back. “You need to calm down before you make matters worse.”
Jacinda slinks by my side. “Let me know if you want to pick up where we left off.” What is she talking about? I feel awful like I'm going to hurl.
Ryder steps out of Jacinda's way and motions for her to leave the room. “Jacinda, get out. I think you’ve caused enough trouble tonight.” She pats his face before exiting the room.
My bleary eyes turn to Ryder as I stumble back toward the bed. “I still can’t believe you kissed her.”
“Yeah, well, I was having a bad night. Not as bad as the one you’re having though,” Ryder replies, his words full of criticism and disappointment.
“Liz. I need to find Liz.” I start to panic. I don’t know what she thought she saw but I need to explain to her that nothing happened. I don’t even know what did happen. I drag my hands over my face into my hair and pull. “Ryder, what is going on?”
Ryder closes the door to the bedroom to give us privacy and crosses his arms over his chest. “I think that’s the question you need to be answering.”
I collapse back down on the bed. “Other than my head feeling funny and I’m nauseous as hell and a bit dizzy, I have no freaking clue.”
“What do you remember then?”
I shake my head trying to clear some of the cobwebs and rub my temples to stave away the headache I feel coming. “We all got here. Maria and I went to get beer. I remember looking for Liz, but you all weren’t in the front of the house anymore. Maria grabbed a couple of bottles of water for you guys. Jacinda and Samantha were at the keg and handed me two drinks. I remember Maria and I searched the house looking for where you all went. Fallon told us to check outside. I started feeling bad, like woozy and light-headed. I heard Marshall say something about Liz. And then things get real fuzzy from there.”
“Wait a minute. Back up. You said Samantha and Jacinda handed you drinks?”
“Yeah.”
“Bottles?”
I shake my head. “No. Red cups.”
“Did you drink any of it?”
“Well, yeah. I downed mine before we headed outside to find you.”
Ryder steps toward me. “Did Maria drink hers?”
“No. She was carrying the waters.” No, I tell myself. No way. “You think the stuff was drugged?”
“I don’t know. You tell me. You said you’re feeling funny and can’t remember much of what happened after the fight. That was about an hour ago. Do you remember beating Marshal until he almost passed out or Fallon bringing you in after?”
“No.”
“Know how you got up here? How Jacinda got here?”
I stand up ready to punch him for even insinuating I would cheat on Liz. Never in a million years would that ever be a possibility. As soon as I stand up, dizziness pushes me to sit back down. “Oh God, my head is killing me.” I push off the bed and grab the waste basket and vomit into it.
Ryder pulls his phone from his back pocket and texts someone. I lean back and wipe my mouth off, deciding to keep the trash bin next to me just in case I need it again.
“I think we need to get you to the hospital and get your stomach pumped.”
I shake my head vigorously. “No. I need to talk to Liz. I need to explain.” God, what have I done? What must Liz be thinking? I just want to find her right now and wrap around her and never let go. Tell her I’m sorry. Tell her I love her.
Elijah walks into the room. “What did you do?” he's quick to accuse me.
I look at Elijah with bleak, red eyes. “Is Liz okay? Where is she?”
“She’s with Maria and Julien in the car.” He looks at Ryder. “They’re waiting on you.”
Ryder hands him his car keys. “Give these to Jules and tell him to take them home. I’ll handle Jay.”
“Whatever you say man. Jay?”
When I see Elijah’s expression, my stomach churns again. “She’s torn up man. She just zoned out and won’t talk, but we’re taking care of her. She’s in good hands. You take care of you now.”
Elijah fist bumps Ryder and leaves.
“Come on. I’m taking you to the hospital just to make sure.” Ryder lifts me off the bed and helps carry me downstairs and out to my car. Everyone is looking at us and whispering.
I hand Ryder my keys and he opens the back door to my truck. “I think it may be better if you lie down back here.”
“My parents are going to kill me when they find out.”
“This may not be the worst of it. I’ll explain it all to you later, after we get you checked out by a doctor.”
Ryder slips into the driver’s seat and turns the engine. I take out my phone.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” Ryder says, his eyes looking back at me from the rear view mirror.
“She needs to know I love her and that I di
dn’t cheat on her. She needs to know. I can’t lose her, Ryder.” Great, I chastise myself as tears gather behind my eyes.
“We’ll figure out what happened. You won’t lose her. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Why would you do that for me? After what I did to you?”
Ryder slows down to stop at a light and twists around to look down at me in the back seat. “Because I love her, and she chose you.”
The light turns green and we drive in silence until we get to the ER. I try to type out a quick text to Liz, but my fingers keep smearing across the screen and it's hard to make out the small letters on my phone.
Me: luv u princes mch. i lv you. pls 4 give me.
Ryder walks me into the ER and after he tells the check-in nurse that I may have unknowingly ingested a date rape drug, they get a doctor immediately and rush me back to a room.
After the nurses take several vials of blood and a urine sample, I am hooked up to an IV. We’re now waiting for the doctor to come back with the lab results. Ryder hasn’t left my side. His loyalty to me compounds my horrible mood because his support and friendship are just two more things I don’t deserve. He called my parents, a conversation I’m glad not to have overheard. I keep checking my phone every five seconds hoping to see a text from Liz. Nothing. I blow out a disgusted huff and toss my phone on the hospital bed.
“Julien said he’s on his way with your parents.”
I adjust my position on the bed and the IV line tugs. I hiss at the sting it creates and stop moving. I hate these uncomfortable hospital beds. If I never see the inside of a hospital again, it will be too soon. Of course, the automatic blood pressure cuff attached to my arm decides to turn on. The nurse set it to take my blood pressure every fifteen minutes and it’s driving me insane.
“Why is it taking so long?” I complain. “Did Jules say anything about Liz? How’s she doing? Has she asked about me? Does she know I’m here?” I’d give anything to see her beautiful face walk through my hospital room door.
“He said she fell asleep in the car and he didn't want to wake her. He carried her upstairs to her room. Her parents are out, but Hailey was home and will keep an eye on her.” My hope deflates like a popped balloon. She doesn’t know. She’s not coming.