Page 111 of Freshmeet
The bushes rustled to my left, and I slowly backed away. There was no way I was fucking around with a wild animal. I spun on my heel and made my way back through the trees, zigging and zagging around trunks. Branches snapped behind me, and I broke into a sprint.
The bonfire burned bright ahead, and I laughed at how much of a pussy I was being.
It‘s probably just a raccoon foraging for a late-night snack.
Slowing my steps, I took a deep breath of the smoky air and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Tom had cranked up the music, and a little dance party now surrounded the fire. Despite his being wrapped around another girl, Kimmy stayed in his orbit, dancing halfheartedly with Laura’s jealous ass.
Fucking pathetic. Time to move on.
As I reached the edge of the bonfire’s gentle glow, I stepped into a deep hole. The toe of my boot caught, and I stumbled forward.
“Hey,” someone said from behind me.
Startled, I turned and fell face forward into the muddy grass. The raw scent of earth filled my nose as dirt and grass clung to my sweat dampened skin. My ankle throbbed, clearly twisted. Gently, I lifted it from the hole.
Aggressively wiping my face, I turned and shouted, “What the fuck is wrong with?—”
As the words left my mouth, I was hit in the head. Landing on my belly, I saw stars. Pain radiated through my skull, leaving me disoriented. In front of me were three blurry bonfires, the dancing figures taking on a sinister appearance as I struggled to my knees.
A foot between my shoulder blades shoved me back to my stomach, and two large hands grabbed my ankles.
“Help! Hey! Fuck, help me!” I screamed, my throat burning as I thrashed around.
Not a single person turned. Digging my fingertips into the ground, I fought against the person’s hold. I got a foot loose and landed a solid kick to their gut. There was a deep grunt and then a sharp, sudden pain in the back of my ankle. I screamed, tears rolling down my cheeks as hot liquid poured down my calf.
“Let go of me, you sick fuck!” I screamed, spit flying from my mouth. Sweat rolled down my forehead into my eyes, making them sting. I couldn’t get my limbs to move the way I wanted. The moonshine coursing through my body left me sluggish and uncoordinated.
My attacker chuckled, yanking my cut ankle until it felt like it was going to fall off. Desperation kept me fighting, jerking and flipping, using every bit of my weight against them. I suckeddown greedy mouth fulls of muggy summer air in between shouts for help, my words becoming more and more garbled.
They dropped one of my legs, and there was another cut, this time to my calf. Blood-soaked denim pulled at the fresh wound as they dragged me back to the trees.
Spots filled my vision as the pain grew unbearable. No matter what I did or how loud I screamed, no one was coming to save me. The silhouettes of my friends danced around the flickering light, taunting me, and I screamed out one last time, my voice gargled as a blade sank into my back over and over until I blacked out.
TWENTY-THREE
HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS ARE BULLSHIT
CONNOR
One minute, I was holding Sarah in my arms, bullshitting with my best friend, and feeling better than I had in months. The next, I was watching Sarah laugh and dance with Grant, while Tom and Olivia plied her with drinks and kept me away from their little dancing circle.
How did I already fuck this up?
“Here.” Laura tried to hand me a drink, but I shook my head.
As much as I wanted to be mad at her, I couldn’t be. Sarah had made her expectations clear, and what did I do? Let my ex hang all over me.
“She doesn’t seem mad, and it’s not like you did anything wrong.”
“I don’t want to talk about this with you.” Even with my drunk brain, I knew not to let Laura in on any vulnerabilities we might have.
Laura scoffed. “What happened to us being friends?”
I glanced down at her with a raised eyebrow. “Let’s be real here, Laura. We haven’t been friends in a long time.”
“I didn’t?—”
“I’m not blaming you.” I sighed and turned back to Sarah, who was wiggling around in her gruesome yet adorable costume.She finally looked at me, and of course, at Laura, who stood right beside me. Sarah rolled her eyes and gave us her back.
