by Nicola Rose
“You can’t exactly gatecrash on an open beach party, Jess.”
“What?” again, even louder, possibly sounding shrill this time. “Why aren’t we there already? Why didn’t you tell me he was there?”
“Now, his twin brother Alex on the other hand,” Anna rambled on, ignoring my complaint. “He’s equally gorgeous, obviously, also equally weird. Lives out on the other end of the island, to the South. You never see the brothers together. There’s all sorts of rumours about why they don’t get on. So anyway, what was I saying?” she frowned, looking at her drink and pushing her glasses up higher on her nose.
“Oh yeah,” she continued. “Alex’s parties are different. He owns a couple of bars with strict entry requirements. Namely that you have to be hot. They love spring break, with the influx of young girls all desperate for their attention. It’s a little sick actually.”
“Hmmm, sounds it,” I mumbled, as I began heading towards the party. “Wait, what?! Zac has a twin?!”
Now my shouty, shrieky levels were through the roof and I could do nothing to control it.
“Not identical, but close. And we aren’t over there because I actively avoid that lot.” She hung back and I sat down again, mainly so I could stop wobbling on my feet.
She looked miserable. Probably the sixth shot. She better not puke on me.
“Those guys, I love looking at them and dreaming about them, but that’s as close as I go. They freak me out, and to be honest I’ve already been there and done that with the Elwood Brother Obsession. I’m over it. I don’t want to get involved in the shit they do. I don’t think you should either.”
She had my full attention now. “Like what? What shit?”
“I dunno, they’re just wild. They don’t live like normal people.”
“Has someone stolen my best friend and replaced her with an impostor? What are you talking about? They sound like a perfect match for us!”
Okay, maybe not for us, but for me. She’s the only person who could claim to actually know me, though she still didn’t, not really. She knows I’m weird, yet she doesn’t run like everyone else. I have issues, ones that ‘normal’ people can neither relate to nor understand. I can’t even understand them myself.
But she tries, and she’ll brush off my quirks, telling me to get over myself, pulling my feet back to the ground when I start flying away on my own hype. And she knows how to party, but she rarely crosses the line, no matter how hard I try to drag her over it.
“They’re… creepy. You never see them doing regular stuff. They’re up all night and dead to the world all day. They race their motorcycles up and down Ocean Boulevard each week and—” she cut herself off, taking a breath.
“They race their bikes?” My eyes were surely glowing like beacons. “Come on, I thought this was party therapy time, so nothing dodgy counts, right?”
“There are so many rumours about them, Jess. You know, the police once raided one of Alex’s parties and found an actual dead body. They all got away with it. It was reported as an accidental drug overdose.” She shook her head as if it were nonsense.
“Maybe it was. Must happen a lot around here?” I gestured wildly at the throng of wasted souls to prove my point.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I have a bad feeling about this,” she moaned, but she stood, and we walked, wobbled, down the beach.
5
Jess
I expected to find Zac sulking somewhere in his moody way, but instead I found him moving around a clearing in the crowd with precision and confidence. Nunchucks flew effortlessly around his body, the ends ablaze with fire. Golden orbs danced and flew in the dark, skimming past his shirtless torso in arcs of flame. Up and over his head, around and around his body, moving so rapidly they were merely bright blurs that captivated and entranced.
The combination of darkness and fire played tricks on the senses, his whole body joined the nunchucks in becoming nothing more than a blur, as if he himself were moving too fast. So brisk and graceful that I couldn’t keep track, couldn’t make sense of it. Flashes of bare skin, of glorious muscle, of fire. He created a blazing, magical dance like some sort of sex-god ninja.
He spun up high and the fiery chucks flew so close past my face that the heat briefly kissed my lips. Then he faltered and slowed the pace. His stature changed, his fluid motions stiffened. He looked out of synch with the dance he’d created. Stopping abruptly, he angrily tossed the chucks into the sand, giving me a quick glare over his shoulder. A 6ft vision of smooth-skinned, fuckable perfection, panting and shaking his head, every exquisite muscle standing taut.
The onlookers shuffled about, confused. He took an awkward bow and they broke into a cheer and clap.
He briskly sat down on a large rock, grabbing his shirt and pulling it back on. Someone came up and handed him a can of beer and a cigarette. He took the beer and declined the smoke. I didn’t know what just happened but I felt responsible. I waited for him to look over, but he stoically refused.
The flames from the bonfire surged and filled my back with an almost unbearable heat. A weight of anxiety and pain dropped right through my belly. I instinctively looked around for an extinguisher in case of emergency, but of course there was no such thing to be found here. The fire wouldn’t spread on the sand, but this many drunken people could not be trusted around such a blaze. Myself included. I’d be in a bucket-load of shit if Danny caught me hanging out here, this wasted.
“Come on, I love this song,” I lied to Anna. “Let’s go dance over there.”
I led her away to a safer distance, pushing the flames out of my mind. A makeshift stage had been set up, wobbling under the weight of the girls dancing on it. A generator and sound system sat next to the stage, pumping out a deafening beat.
Anna and I had attended a few salsa and pole dancing lessons during our college days. Then we’d quit and made up our own sexy routines together.
I swayed my hips provocatively until it caught Zac’s attention. His eyes burned into me, brooding and hungry, undressing me on the spot. Until a gigantic man appeared and towered over him, wagging a finger in his face. Zac shoved it away and stood with deliberate slowness. It started almost calm, but escalated fast. He inched closer, until they were in each other’s faces, yelling and gesturing.
The giant turned and I found myself with both of them staring me down. Still yelling at each other, the big guy held out his hand in my direction and spat out some angry looking words. I recognised him now, the freak with the black ponytail, always on the edge of the group. He’d also been one of the guys that approached Zac earlier when we were talking. Before the fucktard had disappeared on me to come and play Fire-Nunchuck God.
Mr. Ponytail continued to gesture in my direction and Zac landed an almighty backfist right on the side of his face. It was swift and brutal, the guy should have been on the floor. Instead he merely faltered, but didn’t retaliate. He held his hands up and looked down, backing away. Zac pressed on towards him, fists clenched, seething rage pouring from him. The blonde surfer and shaved head guy were at his flanks. I’m not sure if they were getting ready to launch into attack themselves, or ready to pull Zac away.
Either way, it dissolved as quickly as it had begun. Mr. Ponytail sulked off, and Zac went back to sitting and watching me like nothing had happened.
I tried to talk to Anna about it, but the music was so loud and she just wanted to dance. So I obliged and carried on with my sultry performance. At least, I hoped it was sultry, though I was aware of how much I wobbled and my head spun. I had his attention more than ever before so I shouldn’t waste it, no matter how intimidating it was. Keep dancing.
He observed me as if he were a scientist analysing an experiment – focused, excited, eager, worried. He sat so motionless, it was trance-like. I was pinned by his gaze, making me squirm with a mixture of fear and excitement.
I’d never seen eyes like his before; to call them brown or hazel wasn’t adequate. They were bright and fier
ce. A fiery copper, with darkness around. Falling into their depths consumed me with yearning and lust, all other thought was lost.
Perhaps it was the flames from the fire playing tricks on me, reflecting in his irises, though it felt like something more. Whatever was going on, I couldn’t think straight around him.
Time passed in a haunting, slow daze. It seemed like forever that he’d been watching me. People came and went around us. I switched from dancing to fetching more drinks, which was water, at Anna’s insistence. The first rays of red light began to peep up over the horizon as morning threatened to break. He never let me out of his sight for a second.
What exactly was he playing at? Was he expecting me to trot over to him like an obedient little lap dog? That if he kept the pressure on me long enough with his crazy, wild eyes I’d eventually give in and crawl to him? The thought sent a zing of excitement right between my legs and I cursed myself.
No bloody way. I don’t beg for any man that hasn’t earned it first. Try real hard not to forget that, Jess.
“That does it,” I announced to Anna. “Enough cat and mouse. This should get his attention. Last chance to make up his mind if he wants me or not.”
“Jess, you already have his attention, he hasn’t taken his eyes off you for hours. If I were you I’d get out of here, before it’s too late,” she sighed.
The girls on stage had started stripping, to the hooting joy of the crowd. I jumped up with them and motioned for Anna to join me. She rolled her eyes as she climbed up. The water had sobered me somewhat, but I was probably about to make an uncoordinated, un-sexy fool of myself. The thought just made me giggle in Anna’s face.
I unclipped my bra and, with a load of awkward wriggling, I managed to pull it out of an arm in my white t-shirt. Always a t-shirt. I never wore pretty, thin-strapped tops. They showed too much skin.
The whooping from the crowd grew louder as they saw what I was doing. I leant forward over the stage and beckoned to a fairly attractive guy, except for his weird mullet hair. I hooked a finger in his shirt collar and whispered in his ear that if threesomes were his thing then he might be in for a good time – if he gave me his cocktail pitcher first. It was three quarters full with something fruity and sweet looking. His eyes bugged out as he handed it to me.
Taking a step back into the middle of the stage, I held the jug up high and ever so slowly poured the sweet liquid into my mouth. After a couple of gulps I let it dribble down my chin, falling along my neck and down over my front, because, well, what can I say? I like my cliché moves. When on South Padre, join in or go home.
Deafening roars of approval erupted from the crowd as the cool drink soaked right through my top. When it ran empty I tossed the jug back to its owner, giving him a wink, and cast a quick glance down, satisfied that my drenched white shirt was now see through and clinging to every curve.
I took Anna’s hands, grinding myself into her, and whispered in her ear, “This will drive them wild. Come on, we haven’t done it for years. For old time’s sake?”
She rolled her eyes for the hundredth time, “Since it’s your birthday.”
With that she reached up to take a fistful of my hair and pulled me in close for a lingering kiss.
We perfected the ‘dancing seductively together’ act in college. Back then I could always rely on my little sex-nerd to get on up and grind dirty on me. My nipples tingled at her soft touch, the sticky fabric of my top chaffing against them. The idea of Zac watching us made me even hornier. If I didn’t want him so desperately for myself then I’d entertain the idea of a threesome with him, rather than just with mullet man.
Zac would not be for sharing though. Not with girls anyway. He could probably bring in a guy without my objections, especially if it was one of his fuckaliscious friends, like surfer-dude. Not the grumpy ponytail prick though, he could fuck right off.
I turned, pressing my ass into Anna, and searched around to find him.
He was gone.
There was only the cute surfer guy left standing where Zac had been, shaking his head at me.
Shit! Great plan, Jess. I really shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions for myself, I never make the right ones.
Mullet-man crept forward from the crowd and pulled on my waist, yanking me down from the stage. He laughed playfully as I fell into him, twisting my ankle. Pain shot up my leg.
“What the hell? Get off me!” I pushed him away.
With Zac’s sudden absence I was once again left pining for him. I wasn’t in the mood for anyone else. This guy just looked like a little boy compared to Zac. Immature and weak.
“Don’t be a tease,” Mullet said. “You promised me a good time.”
“I changed my mind.”
His hands were on me again. “Whatever, baby. Come on, show’s over, let’s get down to business.”
“No!” I yelled. “I told you, it’s off. We were messing with you. Fuck off.” I pushed him harder.
Anna took my hand, smiling apologetically at him, and we made our way back along the beach., with an uneasy feeling settling in my gut.
Our shoes had been discarded hours ago, left at a bar somewhere, with the foolish hope we’d manage to locate them again at the end of the night. I clung to Anna as I half walked and half hopped with my aching ankle. She was still so drunk that she didn’t provide much support, zig-zagging in and out of the water.
We laughed as we strolled further and further out along the shoreline in the dawn glow, escaping the crowds who were back towards the bars, the sounds of their partying still loud in my ears.
Seaweed squished between my toes like cold jello and I tripped, splashing seawater up our legs.
“We haven’t done that for so long,” Anna squealed. “You’re a naughty influence on me, Jess!”
“Yeah,” I replied, but I wasn’t laughing any longer. I’d glanced back over my shoulder to see the silhouette of two men walking behind us. Walking with purpose, stiff and brisk.
I quickened my pace.
“Hey!” came a shout from behind. From Mullet. “Going somewhere, you little prick tease?”
“Crap,” Anna said under her breath. “Should we scream?”
“Don’t be daft. He just wants to chew my ass for damaging his ego. Ignore him.”
I realised too late that they’d sped up and then he was right behind me, clutching at my waist like a randy, leg-humping dog that just won’t fuck off.
“Come on, baby. You’ve shown me what you can do, now it’s my turn,” he grimaced.
He grabbed hold of my throat and forced me to look at him, leering and sniggering as his other hand groped around, trying to find a way under my top. I hadn’t noticed how well built he was, he had seemed a bit small and inadequate before.
Something kicked at my foot.
It was Anna, lying in the sand with the other guy on top of her, one hand up her skirt and the other over her mouth, muffling the screams.
My Anna. The only friend I’ve ever loved, was about to get raped. Heat burned through me. Martial arts defence kicked in, despite it being many years since I’d trained. Once you teach your body to react during sparring, it stays with you. Muscle memory. My body reacted independently of my mind and I twisted myself free.
I stepped back and as he came at me again I lifted my leg and kicked him hard in the stomach. I’d been aiming for the nuts, but that would do. He stumbled backwards momentarily and came back at me with fury. OK, maybe it wouldn’t do.
I attempted to wrestle the pig that had Anna on the ground, but Mullet yanked me away.
“Listen, bitch, this can go easy or it can go hard, but you need to be taught a lesson,” he growled.
Spinning around I attempted another kick, this time to his head, but I wavered as the weight bore down on my aching ankle, sending a shooting spasm flying up the entire leg. He dodged and struck me across the face with the back of his hand.
“Bastard!” I hurled myself straight into his chest. He staggered and g
rabbed my arms, holding me tight as I struggled to get loose. I turned my head to the side and bit his shoulder as hard as I could, causing him to release me with an angry shout.
I didn’t have time to comprehend what might happen this time, but I could feel it building inside me, harnessing my rage and gaining power. Just like it had when I was fifteen and my family home exploded. And just like it had done several times since, on smaller scales. Each time different, yet the same.
An energy exploded from my fingertips and sent him sprawling backwards onto his ass.
Gasping for air, I was suddenly more terrified of what I might do than what this guy could. A pillar of sand rose next to him, as if being sucked up by a vacuum in the sky, and dropped back down onto his face. It clogged his eyes, his nose, his mouth. Rising and falling, cascading over him in waves. He choked and thrashed, held by an invisible force, drowning in the sand.
Memories flooded me. Crushing pain stabbed through my heart. My mother’s screams were deafening. I clutched my ears and in that moment he was back on his feet again; dazed, confused, coughing and spitting. He backed away like I was a rabid dog, stumbling, and landed straight into the arms of Zac.
Zac held him with a bored, blank expression; like Mullet-man was just a toddler having a tantrum, not seeming to even register the fact that it was in fact a full grown man thrashing and yelling, unable to get free. After a moment he turned his head and regarded me. He seemed curious, and then angry.
“My turn,” he finally said, releasing Mullet and shoving him so hard that he flailed away and crashed into Anna’s attacker, who was now being grappled by Zac’s friend. Anna was still lying spread-eagled on the ground.
Mullet shouted obscenities and lurched himself at Zac, who stood there indifferently, waiting for the attack. As Mullet drew near Zac stuck out his arm and caught him by the throat, lifting him clear away from the ground.