He’s also very cute. He’s tall, but to be fair, I’m only 5’2”, so he might just be tall to me. He has blonde hair and the kindest blue eyes you’ll ever see. He plays on the football team and he’s pretty smart from what I can see of the few classes we have together. I’m so happy for my friend. A girl could do a lot worse than Tommy Granger.
“How do I look?” Vicky asked me for the twentieth time.
“You look gorgeous, Vee.” She really did and I wasn’t just saying that because she was my friend. Vicky really was a pretty girl. She’s the same height as I am, but instead of possessing the same boring brown hair and brown eyes that I did, she had stunning red hair…not orange, but real red…and sharp, wide hazel eyes. She played soccer and basketball so her figure was slim and athletic. She was a true beauty inside and out and the best person I knew.
She was dressed in a deep green summer dress with tan strap-wrapping sandals. Her red hair was loose around her shoulders and her face was completely makeup free. She didn’t need makeup even if she did hate the light spatter of freckles across her nose.
We were sitting at one of the tables closest to the gym exit. It was far away enough from the D.J. that we could hear each other over the music, but it also provided a quick route to the restrooms. There were a couple of classmates of ours sitting with us, Sarah and Juanita, and while we didn’t super hang out or anything, we were still all cool with each other.
I noticed Vicky biting her lip. “What’s wrong, Vee?”
She leaned into me in an attempt at privacy. “I think Tommy might try to kiss me tonight.”
My eyes widened. If he did, it would be her first real kiss. “Oh my God, what makes you think that?”
She shrugged a dainty shoulder. “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling. He’s been getting more affectionate lately. I don’t know.”
“Wow. That’s just….wow.” I admit I was kind of envious. I wasn’t boy crazy or anything, but we were already in the 8th grade and no boys had ever shown any kind of interest in hanging out with me. I wasn’t rich or anything special to look at, so it’s not like I expected boys to be line out the door to date me, but one guy would be nice.
“I’m so anxious, Fee. What if I’m a bad kisser? Or what if it’s a boring first kiss? Ugh!” she groaned in frustration.
“No way, Vee! You’re going to be an awesome kisser. You’re good at everything you do, this will be no different.” I reached over and squeezed her arm. “I promise!”
I could see a shadow clouding over me and I turned and looked up to see Phillip Jansen standing above me. “Hey Fiona,” he darted a look over at Vicky, “Vic.”
Phillip had always been nice to me, if not a little reserved. “Hey Phillip.”
He started tapping his feet side to side like he was nervous or something. “Yeah, I was just…uh, wondering if you’d like to dance, Fee?”
My heart started racing in my chest. The music the D.J. had on was slow, so that meant we’d be dancing close together.
All of the sudden I felt inferior. I had chosen to wear a light blue, short sleeved blouse that fit loosely around my torso. I was developing faster and larger than I would have liked around my chest and hip areas, so I did my best to choose clothing that slimmed my body some. I didn’t like being fat. Momma called it curvy, but everyone else in the world called it fat. I had matched it to a light pair of jeans and the best sneakers I had. Momma had helped me put my hair up in a fancy clip that let random curls hang loose here and there. I wasn’t old enough to wear makeup so there wasn’t anything I could do about that. But Phillip looked nice, though. A little too nice for me.
I didn’t realize he had his hand held out to me until Vicky kicked me in my shin. I jumped up and took his hand. “Yes…uh, yeah…yup. I mean…” Oh, Good Lord. “Yes, Phillip, I’d love to dance with you.”
We were walking hand in hand out to the dance floor and, I swear, he had to be able to feel my palms sweating. I wasn’t nervous because this was my first dance with a boy. I was nervous at the thought that maybe, finally, a boy might like me.
We got to the dance floor and he put his arms around me like the other boys on the dance floor had around their dancing partners. I studied the girls and so it looked like I should have my arms around Phillip’s neck. We danced like this for a little bit and it was nice.
I should have known it wasn’t going to last.
A couple of minutes into our dance I felt myself being wrenched out of Phillip’s arms. I stumbled backwards as I tried to grab my bearings, and I would have fallen if not for the hand holding my arm in a steel vice grip. I was so confused as I tried to yank myself free from the grip. But it wasn’t until I heard that voice that I knew this was going to be bad.
“Am I interrupting?” Damien’s voice was all razor sharp edges. I’d been on the receiving end of his insults and taunts for years, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard his voice come out so menacing.
To his credit, Phillip didn’t back down. “Yeah, you are Greystone. Fiona and I are in the middle of a dance.”
Damien finally turned his attention to me and I withered inside a little. It isn’t fair that he’s so gorgeous. His family has a lot of money, so he’s always dressed in the latest brand name styles, but I had a feeling he’d look just as good in rags as he did in designer clothes.
Tonight he was dressed in a light blue button up shirt and dark blue jeans. He had his signature Nikes on, but instead of the matching baseball hat he favored, he let his jet black hair fall back from his beautifully evil face.
Damien was rarely seen alone, so like every other time I’ve seen him, he had his cronies with him. “Is that so, Jansen?”
Phillip nodded. “Yeah, so if you don’t mind…”
“Ahhh, but here’s the thing, Jansen, I do mind,” Damien slithered out.
What? How? Where? What? Why in the heck would Damien mind?
“See, Jansen, we’re teammates and teammates depend on each other. What kind of team captain would I be if I let one of my teammates get cozy with a girl who has already fucked her virginity away at the age of thirteen?”
I gasped in shock as Phillip shot me an incredulous look. “You’re lying!” I shouted.
Damien shook me using the hold he had on my arm. “If I were you, I’d shut the hell up right now,” he growled. And I should…I probably really, really should, but…
I shook my head and pleaded with Phillip to believe me. “Phillip, he’s lying. I’ve never even kissed a boy yet. He’s lying!”
He looked like he wanted to believe me, but I didn’t know if he was strong enough to go against Damien. “It’s just a dance, Damien, it doesn’t mean anything.”
My heart crumbled at his words. I had been so excited to think that he might like me, but his words made it perfectly clear that he was just after a harmless dance.
Damien kept stepping to Phillip until he was right up in his face. “Then dance with another girl, if she doesn’t mean anything to you. You’ll be safer for it, Jansen.”
Phillip’s eyes darted to me. “Sorry, Fee,” he mumbled. He walked off the dance floor leaving me in the middle of Damien and his posse. I tried again to wrench my arm away, but instead I was hauled out through the side exit.
Damien was practically dragging me down the hallway. Once we were fairly far away from the gym, Damien swung me around, slamming my back up against the lockers and I was petrified.
He placed his hands on either side of my shoulders effectively blocking an exit. I’d never seen his stare hold so much loathing and hate before. He looked like he wanted to strangle me.
It was a full two minutes before he spoke, “You’re going to stay away from Jansen or…”
“What?! You can’t tell me who I can be friends with, Damien!”
He leaned in so close I had to tilt my head back to look at him. “You’re going to stay away from Jansen or else, if you don’t, I will make it my personal mission to let every boy in school know you’re noth
ing but a dirty, used up slut.”
I stood there in absolute horror, as he pushed back from the lockers and walked away.
Chapter 3
Fiona – 16 Years-Old – But only friends do that, right?
I knew this party was a bad idea. The only reason we were here is because Vicky had heard that her newest crush was going to be here.
I very rarely went to any high school parties because odds were that Damien would be there. I got enough torture and torment from him during school hours that I didn’t need to go looking for it off the clock.
I’d like to say Vicky guilt tripped me into coming to Ryland Obermen’s party, but she didn’t. Vicky has been my best friend since kindergarten and in all these years, her loyalty to me has never wavered. She missed out on a lot of school parties and functions just to sit at home with me and keep me company. So when she wanted to come to this party in hopes of hooking up with Ben Lester, I pretended to be excited about attending.
But, with all my heart and soul, I didn’t want to be here.
“Are you sure you’re okay with being here, Fee?”
I waved away her concerns. “Yeah, Vee. We’re juniors in high school. We need to start doing things like this more often.”
She grabbed my arms and jumped up and down using them as leverage. “Yay! Let’s mingle and see if he’s here yet.”
We wandered through the house and randomly chatted with people we knew. It wasn’t until we had made our way to the backyard that we found Ben. He was drinking and hanging out by the pool.
Vicky turned to me. “Okay, he’s here. Let’s go over and talk to him.”
I wanted to say yes, so badly, but only because I felt out of my element. I really didn’t want to ruin her chances with Ben, though. “You go ahead. I need to find a bathroom in this place.”
She eyed me warily, like she knew I was bullshitting her. “Are you sure? We can find the bathroom first and then go talk to Ben.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine, Vee.” I smacked her on her ass. “Go get your man.” I laughed for good measure. Vicky would never leave me if she knew I was feeling nervous. Never.
I waited until she was standing in front of Ben before I went in search of the bathroom. I didn’t need to use it. I was just hoping I could hide in it for a bit.
I made my way up the spiral staircase on the left side of the living room and wandered the halls. The party was looking to be a typical unchaperoned teenage party. There were drugs, alcohol and rated PG-13 nudity everywhere.
I was halfway down the hallway when I was suddenly grabbed by some drunk guy coming out of one of the bedrooms. Before I could make out who the boy was, he cradled my face in his hands and started kissing me.
I let out a shocked gasp and he used that opportunity to slip his tongue inside my mouth.
Holy lips and tongue, Batman! This is my first kiss ever!
I was kissing a boy! Can you believe it? Me! Short, plump, brown haired, brown-eyed Fiona Eldstead was being kissed. Finally!
I was enjoying the kiss so much that I didn’t take notice at first of his hand moving down over my hip. I reached down to bring his hand back up, but he wasn’t having it. This boy-whose name I didn’t even know-suddenly grabbed my hips and yanked me towards him and, while I may have never been kissed before, I knew exactly what it was that was rubbing up against my body.
I turned my head away from his kiss and began pushing at his shoulders. “Stop it.”
I don’t think he heard me because he started kissing my neck and rubbing himself faster on my hip. “I said, stop it! Please, let me go.”
He heard me that time. “Awe, come on, sweetheart. You don’t really want me to stop.”
I did.
I really, really did want him to stop. I pushed at his shoulders as hard as I could but he wouldn’t budge. I started to panic. “Stop it! Now! Get off me!”
“Listen-” He didn’t get to finish what he was going to say.
One second he was on me then the next thing I knew he was being thrown to the floor and Damien Greystone was over him, punching the boy…well…everywhere. The sight was enough to paralyze me. I wondered what this kid had done to piss off Damien like that.
I stood there in shock because, let’s be honest, I didn’t know what people were supposed to do when something like this happened at these parties. It wasn’t until Damien’s sidekicks, William Creston and Jake Everol, stepped in that Damien was pulled off of the guy.
“Dame, dude…” William began, but Damien ignored him.
Damien turned to me and I don’t think I had ever seen anything so magnificent in all my 16 years. His chest was heaving, his balled up fists were bloody and his eyes were blazing in green flames. He was so beautiful that, in this moment, it actually hurt my heart that he hated me so much.
There was all kind of chaos around us, but all I could focus on was him. I guess he felt the same because, the next thing I knew, he was pulling me into the room closest to us. He literally threw me inside and slammed the door shut behind him.
The room was dark, but there was enough light coming in through the window from the streetlight outside to make each other out. I stayed quiet waiting for him to say something. I had never seen him like this and, while I didn’t think he’d ever hit me, I honestly wasn’t sure. So I waited silently like a coward.
It didn’t take long before he let out a roar and started punching the wall. I stood there stunned at his violence. It wasn’t until I could actually see holes covered in blood decorating the wall that I moved.
I rushed towards him and grabbed his arm in the middle of another throw. “Damien, stop it!”
He rounded on me and the look on his face had me running for the door. Unfortunately for me, he got there before I could turn the knob. He swung me around and his grip on my shoulders was so tight I whimpered. He was going to leave bruises. I looked up as he towered over me and I was truly afraid. “Please don’t hurt me…”
His brows drew inward. “Hurt you? You think I’m going to hurt you?”
I shook my head, because frankly I didn’t know what to think. “I don’t know,” I whispered.
“How could you let him kiss you?” he snarled.
What?
“I...I...didn’t. It…it wasn’t like that.”
He leaned in closer if that was even possible. “Then explain to me how it was?”
“I…I was looking for the bathroom. H…he came out of one of the rooms, grabbed me and then just started kissing me.” I thought it was best for my well-being to leave out how I briefly kissed him back.
Damien was searching my face for the lie. “I tried to push him away,” I whispered.
I could see Damien’s jaw flex from grinding his teeth. “Did he hurt you?”
I shook my head quickly for fear that Damien would go back outside and kill him. “No. You stopped him before he could do anything serious.” And then a thought occurred to me. “H…how did you know it was me? How did you find me?”
Unbelievably, the look on his face now was more terrifying than when he was beating that kid. “I always know where you’re at, Halloween,” his voice like silk pouring out of his lips.
I don’t know what possessed me to confess to him, but I did. “That was my first kiss.” I let out a small, sad laugh. “It’s not what I always thought it’d be.”
Damien snapped out, “That is not your first kiss, Fiona!”
Fiona? He never calls me Fiona. If he has to address me, it’s always Halloween.
“Dam-” I was interrupted by Damien’s lips crashing down on mine.
Holy Mary Mother of God! Damien Greystone was kissing me! Me!
Even though the entire thing had been a disaster, I was so grateful for the kiss earlier because now I had an idea of what to expect and what I should do. I wrapped my fists in his shirt and hesitantly opened my mouth to welcome him in.
I felt a rumble erupt from his throat as his tongue swept in to dance with mine. He
tasted like mint and alcohol. He tasted absolutely delicious.
He wrapped both his hands in my hair and the deeper the kiss became, the tighter his grip pulled. Too soon it was all over and he was pulling back from me. “That was your first.”
Damien stepped away from me and reaching around me to open the door, effectively dismissed me. “When you leave this room, find Vicky and go the fuck home. If I find you’re still here later, it won’t end well for you.” He walked out of the room leaving me standing alone cold and confused.
I touched my lips with my fingertips wondering if the kiss had even happened. Why would Damien Greystone save me? Why would he kiss me?
More importantly, how could I let him? This boy has been nothing but horrible to me for over ten years, but his kiss was the best thing I had ever felt in my life. What the hell is wrong with me?
Chapter 4
Fiona – 18 Years-Old – He most definitely isn’t my friend!
I am such a loser. It’s just past midnight on graduation night and I’m already in bed. I left an epic party at Vicky’s on again-off again boyfriend’s house. She and Ben had been going back and forth since the night she got her hooks into him at Ryland’s party.
The same night Damien had kissed me.
I wish I could say things had become easier between us after that night, but they hadn’t. In fact, they had gotten worse. He wasn’t meaner to me, just…colder. He also started going through girls like he was trying to break a world record. Admittedly, I never saw him kiss or touch anyone, but there was always some random girl hanging on him. Always.
As the pathetic train that is my life kept going, that was the reason I was home instead of at the party. Damien had shown up and he hadn’t shown up alone. Heather Winston had been with him and seeing her hug and kiss on him had done strange things to me.
I had felt jealous and confused. I knew Damien hated me, but his singular efforts to torment me all these years had somehow made me feel special to him. Intellectually, I knew I wasn’t, but after that kiss last year, my emotions were looking for his torture to mean something.
In Enemy Territory Page 2