One Night

This one-shot is set months before The School Bully. Enjoy. (๑°꒵°๑)･*♡  **********  "Fia, are you really sure about this?" I looked at Christian and gave him a tentative smile. It was Friday night and we were standing on the sidewalk, looking at the massive house with the large sprawling lawn in front of us where we could hear music, laughter and loud talking. "Of course, I am," I answered my cousin with what I hoped was enthusiasm. "I was invited. It's... rude not to come." Christian gave me a look that said I'd lost my mind. "This is a senior's party. You're a freshman. Why the hell would Jessie Gomez invite you?" "And why would she invite you when you're still in middle school?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. He shrugged. "She has a crush on me." "I knew it," I mumbled. "She probably invited me so you'd come." "I'm just kidding." He was laughing. "Her brother invited me. We're in the same grade. And," Christian wasn't laughing anymore when he said, "I think he has a crush on you." I gave him a look that said I didn't believe him. We walked towards the house, saying hi to the people we knew. Christian kept close to me, but not close enough to make him seem overprotective. He may be a year younger than me but he considered me as one of his younger sisters. In fact, he liked me more than his sisters. He told me so. When Jessie Gomez, one of the popular girls in school, suddenly came to me and invited me to this party, I had a few inhibitions about coming. I wasn't exactly a nobody but I wasn't the kind of girl that could make heads turn or make other girls want to be me. But I did want to come. I was curious about the whole high school party scene and Jessie Gomez, one of the most popular kids in school, would have been insulted if I had rejected her. And finding out Christian was invited too made me feel at ease. So I begged him to come with me. "So glad you two could make it," Jessie squealed as she wrapped her arms around me. "And you too," she went on, giving Christian a doting smile. Christian gave her a smile and said nothing. "The beer is over there." She pointed to the kitchen. "I never know how my brother does it, but he always gets them for the party," she whispered conspiratorially. "And if you find someone you want to... cuddle, the rooms upstairs are free for all." Then with a wink at Christian, she left us. I gave her a wide-eyed look then turned said look at my cousin. But he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at his friends playing FIFA on the couch, the same friends who visited his house a lot and played video games with him, sometimes with me, all night long. "You can join them if you want," I told him. He looked at me and gave me another look that said I'd lost my mind. "I'm not leaving you alone." "Christian!" A boy, who had Jessie's coloring, approached us holding two bottles of beer. "I'm glad you could come, man." He turned to me and his grin widened. "And hello, Sophia," he drawled out. Christian grabbed my arm and gently distanced me from him. "Sophia, this is Dave, Jessie's brother." "Hello," I mumbled. "You're not drinking," Dave noticed with a frown. "Here. One for each one of you." "Umm, we're... we're underage," I stammered. Dave's brow rose and he looked pointedly to his left. I followed his gaze to a mixed group of eight to twelfth graders. They were drinking. Point taken. I accepted the beer and Christian glared at the bottle in my hand before he grabbed the other. He didn't tell me not to drink though. I made him a promise to be smart and cautious and he was holding me to that. Dave left us soon, telling us to have fun and Christian led me to his friends. "Dave can't keep his eyes off Sophia," Dennis, Christian's chubby and good-humored friend, muttered at him when we joined them on the couch. "Better not leave her alone," Vinnie, his dark-skinned best friend since grade school, said to him as he gave him the controller. "Because I'm pretty sure it's not her trust fund he's after." "I won't," Christian muttered. I noticed none of them touched their beers on the table. I looked at mine on my lap. I took a sip then winced. Then I placed mine on the table too and grabbed a soda can instead. After a while, I told Christian I needed to use the toilet. Christian wanted to come with me but I told him I'd come back right away. He finally conceded when I promised that I wouldn't get into trouble. But I did. I did get into trouble. "Sophia, hey," Dave greeted, sidling next to me as soon as I got out of the toilet in the hall. "Hey," I muttered, leaning away from him. He smelled strongly of booze. I bumped into someone behind me and I turned. Another guy was leering down at me and I felt a chill run up my spine. "So this is Sophia?" he asked Dave. Dave grinned wolfishly at me. "Yep. Told you she was hotter than the twins." "She totally is. You want to hang out with us, Sophia?" "Um, no." I tried to leave but the two of them were blocking my way. "C-Christian's going to worry if I don't return soon." Dave suddenly wrapped his arm around me and i jumped. "Hang out with us, Sophia," he crooned. "You won't have fun with the geeks, you know. But you will have fun with us. I promise you." "Get your hands off my cousin." I felt the blood leave my face. Christian was looking at us with his hands in tight fists, his expression furious. I tried to push away from Dave but he wasn't letting me. He squeezed my shoulder and even pulled me closer to his body while sending Christian a challenging look. I whimpered, scared. And that did it for my cousin. Christian instantly leapt forward and punched Dave in the face. I screamed as Dave and his friend knocked Christian to the floor, punching and kicking him. Fortunately, Dennis and Vinnie were quick to pull them off him before they could give him real damage. Jessie appeared, screaming at her brother for ruining her party and for ganging up on Christian. Everyone was staring. Everyone was talking loudly. Christian's lip was bleeding. And I started crying. Vinnie put a comforting arm around me. Dennis helped Christian up and we left the house and the party. Someone caught up to us before we could leave the property, holding a first aid kit, saying Jessie wanted us to have it. Vinnie told him thanks and Dennis put Christian down on the grass. "Stop crying, Fia," Christian told me, touching his bloody lip and earning a smack from Dennis who was patching him up. "Y-you almost died!" I sobbed, falling on my knees beside him. "Because of me!" He was laughing when he embraced me. "I've been itching to punch that bastard for awhile so don't worry about it." "I shouldn't have come," I muttered into his neck. "I shouldn't have forced you to come with me." "At least you finally know what high school parties are really like." I lifted my head to glare at him. "You're not funny." "We'll get back at him," Dennis muttered darkly, glaring at the house. "We may be a bunch of geeks but he conveniently forgets he used to be one of us too." "And we know he still games." Vinnie clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Guess who's losing a lot of rare items and equipments in all of his inventories. Vinnie and Dennis continued talking about their plans of revenge and I sat back, staring at the house, feeling depressed. "I'm never going to a party again," I mumbled. "Yes, you are," Christian told me, amusement in his tone. I shook my head. "No one will think of inviting me to one in my new school anyway. I'm boring. I'm a bookworm. And I'm shy. I probably won't even be able to make friends." "Yes, you will." I gave him a frown. "You're awfully sure." "Because I am sure no one could ever resist those adorable blue eyes of yours," he said in a teasing tone. "Stop teasing me." Christian gave me the puppy dog eyes and replied, "Do you really think I'd lie to you, Fia?" I sighed and started plucking off the grass, piling it up. "Fine. I'll believe you. But this time, I'll make sure to really stay out of trouble." He gave me a smile. "Just find a boyfriend, Fia. A boyfriend who will protect you. A boyfriend who no one will ever think of messing with." "A boyfriend who's a real teddy bear on the inside but a lion on the outside," Dennis supplied thoughtfully. "Someone who's warm and cuddly, like me, and at the same time, who could annihilate anyone that would threaten to harm you." "Like you?" Vinnie deadpanned. "Notice I didn't add anything at the end?" "But you better find a boyfriend who thinks of you as his whole world and treats you right," Christian warned. "Or else I'll be coming to your new place—" "And probably get himself beaten up," Dennis interrupted once more. "Again," Vinnie chimed in. Christian sighed. "You guys have so little faith in me." I laughed at them. Because where will I ever get a boyfriend like that?         ********** A/N: Oh, darling. If you only knew. (*≧*≦)    ********** Reposting from Tumblr. Thanks for reading The Bully Series! (๑°꒵°๑)･*♡