The Heaven I Found In Hell

by Ashley Andrews

  * * *

  Anthony didn't know what the hell he was going to do now. He was thinking of walking up to the two, and start acting like the jealous boyfriend found in movies, but he knew that it was going to start a commotion, and he hated being talked about especially when it involved his love life. He inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, and it was only when Brad, a footballer, patted him on the shoulder did he stop acting intoxicated.

  "Should I go to them?" he asked the group, and all of them nodded their heads in unison.

  He knew he wasn't supposed to listen to them since they were the guys who didn't take relationships seriously. He loved Riley so much, and was willing to go to the ends of the Earth just for her, but he didn't want to look like an idiot and follow her every word. After building up the courage inside him, he marched over to where the two were. Before he could finally get to them, Riley saw him, and immediately pulled away from Dylan's arms.

  She started stuttering.

  "I didn't mean to," she said quickly. "We were just dancing. Nothing has happened."

  Riley knew this was going to happen, but she still did not stop herself from doing what was wrong. She slow danced with some other hot guy when she had a boyfriend, but in her defense, he wasn't there when she wanted him.

  "I don't know why I came here," Anthony replied, scratching his head in confusion.

  Anthony wasn't the kind of guy who would shout at a girl, curse at her and start a rage of jealousy just because he saw her dancing with some other guy, and thanks to his apathy, he had learned to control his emotions well. He admitted to himself the envy he felt, but he didn't know why he just couldn't tell his girlfriend that.

  "I'm sorry, dude," Dylan said in a tone of nonchalance. "I didn't mean to take your girl. It was just that she was the only one I knew, and I haven't found the others yet."

  Anthony nodded in acknowledgement, and told the person he was jealous of that it was no problem. But the three of them knew all too well, that Anthony was just faking what he was saying. Riley saw through his eyes, and realized how much of a great boyfriend he truly was.

  "Dylan and I didn't know what to say to each other, so we decided to just break the ice by dancing," she said, trying to get Anthony to forgive her.

  Before the serious talk could go on any longer, a smashed Cindy walked up to the three, pulling Dylan away from Anthony and Riley.

  * * *

  "I've been looking for you," Cindy said, slurring.

  Cindy, who had already had more than a dozen drinks, was drunk to her limit. Meaning, she wasn't in her right mind, and so she didn't care if her definition of 'fun' would be given a whole new, much worse meaning. She was in for some of it, and she had picked Dylan as the right person to give her what she wanted.

  "You have?" Dylan said, feeling flattered, but immediately after that came the thought of Scott seeing them together.

  "No," he said firmly. "I'm in enough couple trouble."

  Cindy donned her ever-famous pout, before she leaned her whole body onto Dylan. He, on the other hand, didn't want to leave her alone for fear that she would get into trouble, and so he supported her and carried her to the nearest couch. The two sat there in awkward silence, but after a few minutes, Cindy tried to make a move on the superstar, as she leaned her face closer to his. Not knowing what he was getting himself into, he followed the way her head moved, and only when his lips brushed against hers did he realize his mistake. He immediately pulled his whole body back, before he stood up, and held his hands in front of Cindy's face.

  "We've got to find Scott," Dylan said in a tone of worry, for fear that he'd end up having a few bruises and a black eye by the end of the night.

  He tried to get Cindy to stand up, but the blonde wouldn't follow. Tired, and a little bit annoyed at how immature she was acting, he left her. And that was when she finally decided to join him.

  "Why didn't you kiss me?" Cindy asked when she was already beside Dylan.

  "Because you have Scott to make out with."

  Dylan was starting to find Cindy freaky. For real. She was drunk, and the best thing he could do for her as a friend was just to get her out of trouble, but he knew he'd be the one getting into some sort of dilemma if he continued staying with the party animal. They walked side by side, arms brushing, until they landed on the dance floor. Cindy smiled a mischievous one at him, before she got his hand, and led the way to nearest empty space. Unlike what had happened earlier, when he danced with Riley, he felt reluctant now.

  A new song started to play, and with it, they started moving. Cindy didn't really know what was happening at the moment, and she was too wasted to even realize that she wasn't dancing with her boyfriend. But nonetheless, the guy was hot, and that was more than enough for her. After a few minutes, another tune blasted off from the speakers, and this was where Dylan decided to stop his risky escapade.

  "I'm tired now, so I'm just going to sit," he said, hoping the blonde wouldn't follow him.

  Cindy was one of the hottest girls he had ever met, but Alex was much prettier, and more importantly, he didn't like Cindy the way he loved Alex. He saw through her skin and realized how unkind her aura was, but he felt his self-control weakening. If he didn't get away from her soon, well, he'd end up dead, probably by the end of the night.

  "Okay, I'll come with you," she answered, taking his hand in hers, as she led the way to the nearest sofa.

  They plopped down on the black leather couch which sat at one of the corners of the room surrounded by other teenagers who were messing up. One of them was Scott, playing baseball, and was in second base with some girl who looked familiar in Cindy's eyes. Natalie. Blake's girlfriend or ex. She didn't know. No one was able to keep up with Blake's conquests. Her eyes widened for a minute, before she screamed Scott's name in her normally high pitched voice. He pulled his lips away from the lower part of Natalie's neck, and turned to Cindy. He was caught. She was caught. They were going to break up.

  "What happened here?"

  * * *

  Distracted from the abrupt voice that echoed almost throughout the whole room, he let go of Mandy, a model from France whom he had just met a few hours ago. They were in the middle of a hot lustful kiss, with her back pressed against the wall, his hands caging her in every corner. He saw her frown, and immediately imitated her facial expression. He knew who had shouted. He was going to break Cindy's neck.

  Mandy was exotically beautiful. With her dirty blonde hair, extremely tanned skin, and curvy physique, she could almost compete with Alex in beauty. But she was no world-renowned supermodel. She came from France, and had traveled to California for Fashion Week. She was going to leave this place and go to L.A. in a couple of days. But now, after meeting Blake, it seemed like she didn't want to go. He was gorgeous, in every aspect, his face, his body, the way he kissed. She could rant about the playboy forever.

  Instinctively, she took Blake's hand, as he pulled her to the place where the shout came from. She felt annoyed that their kiss had been broken. It was steamy, greatly above the enjoyable mark, and was everything she was anticipating for in her U.S. trip. She let out a grunt that was heard by Blake, and that made him stop.

  "What's wrong?" he asked, cupping her face, while his voice that smelled like beer touched her face.

  "I dying to make-out with you again," she answered, not at all afraid with how blunt she sounded.

  "That feeling's mutual, babe," and the response made her smile.

  They continued walking, until they stopped, standing in front of a very unsightly view. Blake opened his mouth at what he saw. There was Natalie, his toy, or in more proper terms, his girlfriend, and with her was Scott, whose hands were at the hem of her halter top, Cindy's boyfriend. And speaking of Ridgeway's blonde bombshell, she was gaping at her boyfriend, or maybe ex with what was happening now, as Dylan, the Hollywood actor stood beside her.

  "What happened here?" he asked, still processing his ungodly surroundings.

  Cindy crossed her
arms and rested them in front of her chest, before she turned to Blake.

  "I also want to know what's happening here. It's seems that your bitch is trying to mess with me," she said, a burning fury seen in her eyes.

  She wasn't jealous of Natalie, nor was she scared if Scott and she were going to break up tonight. It was her pride she cared about, and she knew it was going to crack and go down in ruins if she let her emotions get the best of her. Even though she was conceited, she was still a girl, which meant she was still emotional. She loved Scott. She truly wanted him, and longed for him. But that stupid bastard was…

  "Blake, what does she mean?" Mandy, who considered these people merely as strangers, asked him.

  Blake seemed hesitant at first, but he quickly overshadowed the feeling with a shrug of nonchalance. He was worried that Mandy would get mad if she found out about Natalie and her relationship with him. He had more fun with Mandy, and Natalie was always going to be in Ridgeway, while Mandy, she'd be leaving in a few days.

  "Who is she?" the French model questioned, when he didn't answer.

  "She's my ex," he answered, avoiding eye contact with Natalie.

  Natalie, who was about to cry, stared at Blake, and when he didn't look back, she got up and walked out, but not before she told her ex to fuck off. With this, Mandy covered her mouth with her hands, and let out a gasp.

  "You guys are together," she said, not wanting to believe the words coming out of her mouth.

  "Well, not anymore," he answered with an air arrogance, but deep inside, he was burning.

  In other words, he was in deep shit.

  "You better follow her," Scott said to Blake, and this was the part where Cindy decided to step in.

  "Why won't you comfort her? Weren't you the one practically fucking her?" She roared, absolutely not caring if almost everyone around her was hearing what she was saying.

  She was pissed off like crazy, and the events happening tonight were so not expected. First she heard that Riley and Anthony had had an argument, and then she had almost made-out with Dylan, but that was nothing compared to seeing Scott getting a blowjob from Natalie, who was caught by Blake, who entered the scene hand-in-hand with some stranger she didn't really care about. Tonight was messed up, and she wondered if Nathan and Alex were having a few problems of their own.

  "Maybe I'll just do that," Scott answered harshly.

  He stood up and started walking, but he didn't leave without giving Blake a square punch on the face. With his ego hurt, the other guy immediately took his revenge by returning the punch with a powerful one of his own, sending Scott sprawling onto the floor. Mandy who was trying to stop Blake from hitting Scott one more time was useless in doing so. Her stick-thin body was nothing compared to Blake's strong one, so instead of stopping him, she hurt herself. She let out a curse before she started to go another direction, and she started shouting at Blake.

  Blake ignored her.

  "He should've thought of that before he tried to mess with me!"

  "You guys are acting like fucking kids! Stop it the hell already!" Cindy tried, but obviously, her words were useless no matter how much she cussed.

  Blake, whose eyes shone with rage, was about to give Scott another powerful blow, and if Nathan and Anthony had not entered the scene, and stepped in to separate the two, he would have. Everyone was looking at them now, and not long after, Alex and Riley, who were still oblivious as to why the fist fight began, came in. Both of them wore shocked expressions before Alex asked Cindy what had happened.

  "Do you really want to know?" Dylan asked, as if Alex couldn't get any more surprised.

  She absolutely didn't expect to see Dylan in the company of Cindy, but the hell with that. Neither did she foresee two close friends trying to get at each other, and kill one another. Alex wanted to sleep. Tonight was already chaotic, and the party was nowhere near its end.

  "No duh. Tell me," Alex answered Dylan, and the guy started, but was immediately cut off by Mandy.

  "Wait. Who are all you people?" Mandy asked to no one in particular, before she walked over to Blake who was being held captive by Nathan.

  "The question is, who are you?" Riley answered smugly.

  She never meant to use that tone of voice, but with what was taking place tonight she couldn't help but feel irritated, especially with what was happening to her relationship with Anthony. They argued a little while ago, and they haven't really made up yet. Before the two could even kiss and forgive each other, she had heard Cindy's familiar screechy tone, and not long after, voices which were saying that two people were fighting. This was where she finally saw Alex and Nathan, together, running in the same direction as she and Anthony were. The four of them were completely stunned with the news they had just heard. Sure, cheating always happened in their school, but this was all about their friends, their group, their reputation, and their own selves. All of them knew that tonight's unpleasant occurrence was going to spread like wildfire around their school. And the people who didn't have anything to do with it were also going to be talked about. That was what Alex and Riley disliked.

  "Blake, what's happening here?" Mandy asked in a slightly scared tone since everyone was burning her with their gazes. "Do you know these people?"

  "They're my friends," he answered, still trying to get away from Nathan's tight grip.

  Mandy's cheeks flamed in embarrassment, and so, she bent her head down. She knew that if she continued talking, she was going to be dead, literally.

  "So now you know us, do you mind introducing yourself?" Alex asked, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  Mandy turned to her hesitantly, and was about to open her mouth and speak, but Blake beat her to it.

  "Don't talk to her like that," he said in a tone of finality.

  Alex wanted to flip Blake the bird, but she was tired, sleepy, and she didn't want to get into a fight. Their whole group already seemed broken. She didn't want to worsen its state. She let out a deep breath, before she turned her attention to Mandy's protector, and gave him a fake smile. Blake didn't buy it, but he too calmed down. He didn't want to argue with a girl, Alex for that matter. The girl whose boyfriend was the only guy he couldn't beat, the supermodel who was always followed by the paparazzi, the woman who, without anyone's help, was strong enough to defend herself. And most of all, she was a friend, unlike Scott and Natalie. The two of them were…

  "Just drop it. Everyone," Alex said, raising her voice, so that people would take her seriously.

  "And that includes you Cindy, Scott, and you," she finalized, pointing to Mandy.

  The three nodded their heads, in unison, and one by one, they started to speak with Cindy going first.

  "Natalie went off somewhere," she said, as she took a sip from her drink, intoxicating her even more.

  Scott grunted with the mention of Natalie's name, before he himself opened his mouth.

  "This…this is just…so, fucked up," he started. "I wish this was just a dream."

  "Same here," Mandy agreed.

  Slowly, the crowd around them started to disperse, and that was when everyone exhaled soothingly, thankful that the tension had died down. However, the anxiety between Anthony and Riley was felt by the whole group, and thus, everyone left the two in order for them to have a little bit of privacy.

  "Did everyone just leave us?" Riley said, starting the conversation that was hopefully going to end well.

  She loved Anthony with all her heart, but Anthony stepping in when she was dancing with Dylan, made an odd feeling come over her, and all she wanted was to rid herself of the guilt she felt. She knew that what she did was wrong, that she shouldn't have danced with someone else, but she felt that Anthony was just overreacting. She wasn't kissing anyone, nor was she grinding with Dylan. She was just….dancing.

  "Looks like it," Anthony answered, and soon after, a wave of uncertainty washed over him

  He hated seeing Riley sad, but he also didn't want to give his girlfriend the mentalit
y that she could just do whatever she wanted without him caring and all. He didn't like it like that since he felt that Riley wasn't going to take him seriously. He missed giving her random hugs and kisses. He wanted tonight to start over again. He wanted tonight to end well.

  "I'm sorry," Riley said, taking her boyfriend by surprise. "I shouldn't have danced with Dylan."

  Anthony didn't know what the right thing to do was, but he did what he wanted even though he felt a weird feeling wash over him. He took her in his arms, her whole body, and made her lean her head on his chest. Riley, shocked, but in a good way, melted into her boyfriend's embrace. Everything happened so fast, and she wasn't sure if this was a dream or not. She closed her eyes, and opened them a short while after. It was real.