Through The Dark

by Jae

  “Daisy, just leave it.”

  “Knock it off, Liam. It’s fine.”

  I can feel him staring at me for a few moments, his jaw flexing at my defiance, but I ignore it. He needs to stop treating me like I’m a fragile child. Eventually his eyes fall back to the floor and he continues to pick up the pieces with me. There are only a few small pieces left on the floor and when I reach out to pick one up I quickly take in a sharp breath through my teeth. I bring my hand back to my body, wincing when I see blood seeping from a cut and sliding down my finger.

  “What did I tell you?” Liam grumbles harshly.

  He reaches out and grips my wrist, pulling me up and tugging me over to the sink. He swiftly picks me up and sets me on the counter next to the sink before turning on the water and placing my hand under it. I watch how his face holds a frown while he tilts my hand back and forth under the water, cleaning the wound.

  “Let’s walk around a little.” I suggest when we walk out of a restaurant later that night.

  Our fingers intertwine while we walk down the sidewalk. I look around at the different lit up shops and restaurants lining the streets on either side of us. We stop when we find a bench in a somewhat deserted area farther down the street. Liam drapes his arm around the back of the bench, grazing his fingertips over my shoulder while I lean into him. I close my eyes, loving the feeling of us being together in this moment. I wish I had my camera with me.

  “Daisy.”

  “Yeah?”

  “If you make the team, are you going to stay?”

  I hesitate for a second, his question catching me off guard.

  “Daisy?”

  “I – I… Umm…” I stutter, sitting up straighter.

  Liam stops brushing his fingers against my skin and shifts his body to be able to look at me better, still keeping his arm on the back of the bench.

  “I don’t know.” I tell him honestly, looking down at my hands.

  “Do you want to stay?”

  “I don’t know.” I repeat.

  “I don’t want you to leave.” Liam confesses, pulling me closer to him.

  “I know.” I sigh as I squeeze my eyes shut, tears threatening to fall.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I say just us girls go to the carnival down by the pier after work tonight!” Taylor exclaims when we’re switching from registers to the floor.

  “I’m down to go.” I shrug my shoulders. “The guys have a late practice tonight, so it’s not like any of us are going to be hanging out with them anyways.”

  “That is valid point.” Zoie nods her head.

  “And it’s not like we have any other friends besides each other.” Ella adds.

  “We need to make more friends.” I joke, making the other girls laugh. “So is it decided then, we’re going to the carnival?”

  All of the girls agree by kissing the palms of their hands and smacking their butts where they have the tattoo of my lips at. I shake my head and call them freaks before grabbing money out of my wallet and heading out for our daily drink run. I don’t notice anything out of the ordinary until I’m on my way back from the Soda Shoppe. For a second I think it’s the butterflies I get it my stomach every time I see something that reminds me of Liam – it sounds lame, I know – but then I realize that it’s more like moths instead of butterflies. Something isn’t right. I try my best to look casual while I glance around myself looking for any signs of anything unusual. When I reach the front doors of Red, I let out a sigh, happy I made it back to a safe place. As I grab the handle of the door, I freeze up and stare into the reflection of the large glass door. Standing across the street, just barley to the left of me, is Colin making a movement with his pointer finger across his neck again. I let out a deep breath before turning around, but when I look, he’s nowhere to be found. I stare at the spot across the street where I could’ve swore he was just standing and begin to highly contemplate whether or not I’m starting to lose my mind.

  “Daisy, are you okay?” Zoie asks when I finally walk inside. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

  Maybe I have been seeing a ghost? Maybe Colin is haunting me. But wouldn’t that mean he’d have to be dead? Did Liam kill Colin? Oh my God, I can’t believe that thought even entered my mind. No, no, there’s absolutely no way that happened.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I lie and force a fake smile while I hand out their drinks.

  The rest of work goes by at a decent pace and before I know it, it’s time to lock up. The girls and I quickly move out to Ella’s car and blast the radio all the way to the carnival. After we find a parking spot, Taylor digs around in her purse before pulling out a joint.

  “Where did you get that?” I ask as she lights it and takes a long drag before passing it over to Zoie.

  “Some kid at a party I was at the other day.” She responds while Zoie passes it back to Ella.

  “You know this carnival will be a lot more fun if we’re high, Daisy.” Zoie laughs, giving me a big smile.

  “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Ella tells me after she exhales the smoke.

  I stare at the joint in her hand, contemplating just how badly this could turn out. I mean, I am with my three best friends who would never let anything happen to me – how bad could doing this really be? I take the joint from Ella’s outstretched hand and bring it up to my lips. I inhale the smoke just a little bit at first, getting a feel for it, then I inhale a little deeper and hold it in before exhaling and watching the smoke float in front of my face.

  “That’s our girl!” Taylor exclaims when I pass the joint back to her.

  We continue this process of passing the joint around until it’s gone. It takes me a second to find my balance after I climb out of the car and close the door. Taylor lets out a giggle as she wraps her arm around me and helps me to the front of the car.

  “You are so baked!” Zoie exclaims, making all of us laugh.

  “How do you feel?” Ella asks after she also wraps her arm around me and we all move to the entrance of the carnival.

  “My body feels a little warm, a bit tingly, and slightly numb.” I say thoughtfully, making us all bust out in laughter again.

  We pay the cute boy at the ticket stand before walking into the carnival. I look around and smile at all the bright lights on the games and rides surrounding me. Ella is definitely right; this is so much more exciting when you’re high. We mostly play games for the first hour that we’re there, though none of us are currently coordinated enough to win any prizes. We then move onto the rides, the Ferris wheel being our first endeavor. Ella and I ride in a cart together while Zoie and Taylor ride in the one behind us. After we go around three times, the ride comes to a stop to start letting people off and new people on. When we reach the very top, I tilt my head back and stare up at the cloudless sky. Everything looks so much more beautiful from up here; the stars you normally can’t see so well twinkling brightly above me.

  “Daisy!” I hear Ella say loudly from next to me.

  “What?” I respond, pulling my attention away from the sky.

  “We’re about to be getting off next.” She tells me, nodding her head down to the ground.

  I scrunch my face up in confusion as I look back up at the sky and realize it’s starting to get farther and farther away. Okay, maybe I’m a little more stoned than I originally thought. This realization makes me burst into a fit of giggles while Ella and I stumble out of our cart after the worker removes the bar that locked us in. Once Zoie and Taylor have gotten off the ride, we move out of the gated area and look around for what we want to do next.

  “I want to win at least one stuffed animal!” I declare when we walk past all of the games again.

  “Daisy, we’ve already tried all of these games!” Zoie exclaims and we all laugh more.

  “Wait!” I shout when I spot a game I don’t remember seeing earlier and point to it. “We didn’t try that one!”

  The girls follow where m
y finger is pointing to, confused looks slowly covering their faces.

  “How did we miss the basketball game?” Ella asks before we all sprint over to it.

  While we stand in line, I stare down at my outfit which consists of a faded black muscle tee with a picture of Spiderman on the front, black jean shorts, and a pair of black high-top Chuck Taylor All Star Converse shoes. I quietly giggle to myself over how silly the upside-down Spiderman picture looks to me. When it’s finally my turn to play the game, the guy explains to me I have to make all three shots to win a large prize, like an awesome stuffed animal, or two shots to win a small prize, like a lame toy. I let out a deep breath before putting all of my concentration in to making these three shots.

  “You’re a winner!” The game whistles for a few seconds after I sink the last shot.

  “Hell yes!” I cheer while the girls and I jump up and down in excitement and high-five each other.

  “Which one do you want?” The guy working the game asks me with an amused chuckle.

  “Umm…” I ponder out loud while scanning the different stuffed animals hanging on the wall in front of me. “The monkey!”

  “Here you go! Congrats!” The worker tells me after handing me the soft brown colored stuffed monkey.

  “Thank you!” I smile, the girls and I skipping away from the game.

  “I’m hungry.” Zoie whines after another half hour of getting on and off different rides.

  We all agree that we’re hungry too and move in different directions to the food carts we want. Even though I know I should get some real food into my system, my sweet tooth craving is far too strong. After I get out of the cotton candy line, I make my way over to the spot the girls and I had agreed to meet at after we got our food. I’m the first one to arrive, so I decide to lift myself up and sit on the large unused game display. I swing my little legs around, watching the different people passing by me while shoving pieces of my pink cotton candy in my mouth. I smile at the feel of the sugary treat melting on my tongue and the kids with balloons and toys gripped in their tiny hands. I’m pulled out of my thoughts by a male voice.

  “Are you here alone?”

  I turn my head to the side to find three boys who look to be around 16 years old staring at me. They’re all dressed in baggy shirts with zip up sweaters over them, even baggier jeans, and skater shoes. The two on the sides have their hoods up whereas the middle one, whom I’m assuming is the one that addressed me, doesn’t. Their intense gaze that moves up and down my body makes me feel extremely uncomfortable and wish my friends would show up already.

  “No.” I finally answer.

  I turn my head away, hoping that would give them the hint that I’m not interested in talking to them and should leave. My heart speeds up before sinking a few moments later when I realize they aren’t going anywhere.

  “I’m waiting for my friends.” I tell them.

  My eyes scan through the crowds of people, trying to spot at least one of the girls, but I come up with nothing. I put my attention back on the boys and inwardly cringe when I see their less than friendly smiles. I watch as the boy on the left slightly nudges the one in the middle. Why won’t they go away?

  “We can wait with you.” The one in the middle offers. “We wouldn’t want a pretty little thing like you getting hurt.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but it’s alright. They won’t be long.”

  My growing paranoia starts to take over my body when the middle one plants himself in the space next to me. I firmly hold my cotton candy in one hand and my stuffed monkey in the other while I scoot away from him. Where are the girls? I jump, shocked when I feel a hand grab onto my thigh. I quickly stand, my currently high state making it a tad more difficult than it should’ve been.

  “Daisy!”

  I spin around at the sound of my name and let out a sigh of relief when I see Liam, of all people, making his way towards us. I keep my eyes on him, taking in his appearance of a black backwards facing snapback, a red/white/black plaid button up that’s rolled up to his elbows with a white tank top that shows off his tattooed chest underneath, black jeans, and black Canvas Madero Vans shoes. When Liam finally reaches us, he turns around so I can climb onto his back. I tightly wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist while the boy who was sitting next to me stands up.

  “I suggest you leave.” Liam snaps at the boys before turning back around and walking away.

  “Stupid bitch!” One of the guys calls over to us, causing Liam to stop dead in his tracks.

  “Just leave it alone, Liam.” I beg when he turns to face the boys again. “Please, Liam. Leave it alone.”

  I can tell Liam wants nothing more than to kick the shit of the younger and much smaller guys by the tense feeling of his muscles, but to my relief he chooses to walk away.

  “Thank you.” I whisper, placing a kiss to the crook of his neck.

  Liam weaves us through crowds of people for a few minutes before I test his mood.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Taylor text Connor earlier saying that you guys were coming here and that we should come when we got out of practice.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Me too.”

  After a few more minutes of walking around, Liam and I find our friends. We decide to go our separate ways and have some ‘couple time’ before we leave. Never putting me down, Liam moves around the carnival grounds some more.

  “Did you win this?” Liam asks me after he takes my stuffed monkey out of my hands and holds it out to get a good look at it.

  “Yes.” I smile triumphantly, even though he can’t see it. “An the basketball game; I made all three shots.”

  Liam tells me good job before I take the stuffed animal back and put it in the space between his back and my stomach. Now that I have a free hand, I open my bag of cotton candy again. I loosen my grip around his neck as I stick my hand into the bag and pull out a small piece.

  “You’ve already eaten over half the bag?” Liam laughs.

  “I was hungry.” I mumble, resting my head on his shoulder and inhaling the smell of his cologne.

  Instead of eating the piece of the pink fluff I had pulled out, I offer it up to Liam’s mouth. I let out a small giggle when he takes it, sucking on my fingers too. I continue to rotate feed him and myself while we walk around with me still on his back and talk about the games I played and the rides I went on.

  At the end of the night, we meet up with our friends again. Liam and I stand together, his arms protectively wrapped around my shoulders from behind while we watch the exploding fireworks the carnival workers are lighting off. The colors are extremely bright, lighting up the star filled sky even more. I feel Liam’s arms tighten around me as he bends down and whispers for me to quit fidgeting. I can’t help it though. I can feel myself slowly coming down from my drug induced high while being replaced with a sugar high from all the cotton candy I ate.

  I glance around at our friends and other couples who are embraced in each other’s arms, some even stealing sweet little kisses. The loud noise of the fireworks gets my mind racing while my highs clash together. I suddenly remember that Liam had told our friends that he would bring me home, causing my heart to begin to race. Grabbing a hold of his wrist, I drag a confused looking Liam behind me. I’m practically running by the time we make it out of the crowds of people and pass under the large carnival sign, causing Liam to have to somewhat jog to keep up with me. When we reach the parking lot, I slow down, taking in what seems like a never-ending amount of cars lined up in neat rows.

  “Where’s your Rover?” I question, looking at him with impatient eyes.

  “Umm… It’s over there.” He points, causing me to immediately take off in the direction. “Daisy, are you okay?”

  I ignore his question, still pulling him along with me. As soon as we reach his Rover, I push Liam up against it. His look of confusion changes into one of surprise before I press my lips to his.


  “Whoa, hey there!” Liam exclaims, breaking our kiss when I reach into his front pocket in search of his keys. I unlock the doors before instructing Liam to get in. “Daisy, what’s going on?”

  I let out an exasperated huff before shoving him into the large vehicle. I quickly climb up, straddling his lap in the driver’s seat before shutting the door next to us. I impatiently toss my stuffed monkey into the back seat while reaching for the lever to slide Liam’s seat back.

  “Daisy, are you high?” Liam suddenly asks me, turning on the overhead light and tilting my head back to get a better look at my eyes.

  “I – I…”

  “Holy shit, you’re high!” He exclaims in disbelief, a crooked dimpled grin forming on his lips.

  I roll my eyes and let out another huff while turning the overhead light back off. Not giving Liam any time to say anything else, I press my lips to his again. I slide my hand down from his chest to over his jeans, causing a low muffled moan to echo around the car. After a while, I pull away from our heated kiss and fumble with Liam’s belt. This simple task also proves to be a lot more difficult in my high clashing state. Growing impatient, I slide back a little to get a better look at what I’m doing. We both jump in the seat when my back accidently presses against the horn, making it sound loudly around us.

  “Daisy.” Liam chuckles.

  I ignore him until he pulls my hands away from his belt, causing my eyebrows to crease in confusion at his amused face.

  “Daisy, slow down.” He chuckles again.

  I let my head fall forward and try to ignore the rumbling of Liam’s chest as he begins to fully laugh.

  “What are you trying to get at?”

  When I don’t answer, Liam cups my chin to bring my face up to his. The smirk that I hate but is ‘oh so sexy’ is displayed fully on his lips while he curiously waits for my reply. I shrug my shoulders while closing my eyes, which only makes Liam laugh more. I know he knows what I’m trying to get at. This is so embarrassing. What was I thinking?