I'll Take A Bullet For You

Chapter 6

Lena and Hailee are here to pick me up for Leif's party. Kallen is busy in his room, but Ruth comes downstairs with me to say goodbye. I wear black ankle boots that I haven't touched in a while, to match with my baby blue dress. It was Ruth's dress, and it was lovely. 

        When I open the door, I see Lena and Hailee who have suddenly grown five inches taller. Then I notice they're wearing high-heels. I see more sparkle than skin.

        "I like your dresses," I comment, holding the purse Ruth gave me in front of me. Lena smiles and starts to walk off the porch, her way of telling me to follow her. 

        "You're cute, too, hon," Hailee says, and she leans in so she's at whispering distance. "If that lace covering your cleavage is taken off, you'll have every guy looking at you." A chill goes down my back and Hailee laughs at my expression. "Come on, Amy. Let's go." Ruth watches from behind, holding the door open. I say goodbye to her and follow my friends to their car. 

        The driver is Lena's father, and I say hello. He nods in response and drives off. 

        I've never been to a party like this one before. I press the pin Ruth inserted into my hair, trying to get rid of my butterflies. I don't want to regret this. Lena and Hailee talk through the entire ride, mostly about the party and a little about their makeup hair, and outfits. Lena complains of having to go because her boyfriend, Cruz, won't be there. Hailee wants to go because she wants to find a boyfriend, herself. 

        I know we're near the house when I hear laughter, and faint noises and smells. Cars zoom by with their speakers on blast and stop in front of the overflowing mansion that I suppose belongs to Leif. Leif's house is huge. It ought to be a condo. I see a lot of dresses and suits, heels and lipstick and hair gel, and the smell of Axe and perfume and pizza and drinks--I'm already overwhelmed. 

        "Time to par-tay!" Hailee says gleefully. I follow close behind as all three of us go to the wide porch. The door is wide open and I can already see the people inside. It makes my heart thump in my ears.

        A decked guy with styled hair walks towards us with his arms stretched as a greeting. "Well, well. Welcome to my party; your first one so far," Leif announces, putting his hands on his hips and smirking at each of us. Lena glares at him. "Whoa, there, babe! We only want some fun."

        "What kind of fun?" Lena spits, crossing her arms. Leif shrugs, his smirk still remaining on his face. He tells us to make ourselves home and allows us inside.

        The dance floor is humongous. I see bottles and glasses in hands, and to my discomfort, couples dancing and grinding against each other. It's dark, like a night club, with beams of disco light shining across the room. 

        "Come on, Amy. Quit looking," Hailee says, pulling on my arm. It may not be new to them but I've got curious eyes.

       The music is loud and vibrates in my ears. Girls sing aloud and swing their heads side to side in rhythm. I get bumped by someone and rub my shoulder, looking behind me to see who it is. The drunk fellow crashes to the ground and everyone says "wrreeeeeeeccked!'. He's eventually helped and picked up to remove from the dance floor. 

        Turning my attention somewhere else, I'm still wandering around and checking out places. I don't go too far, just around the dance floor. There are stairs on both sides of the dance floor that lead people upstairs. I don't want to go upstairs. I turn on my heel and my eyes fall on the bar stools to the side of the dance floor. I see all the Black Cats. All four of them under the dim lights of the bar. But only one is watching me. When I meet his eyes, I want to go say hello but I'm frozen. I can see the calm blue in them, in the burning sapphires, and how they seem relaxed and dreaming in their state.

        Alistair's wearing a black suit, pitch black against a glaring white dress shirt. He seems different from afar. Handsome, but different. I can't stop staring at him and those absorbing features of his. I need to distract myself and possibly look for my friends. I lost them in the crowd.

        An elbow nudges me and I jerk in surprise. Greg's face comes to view as he chugs an entire glass of the fresh red punch, and I'm pushed into the middle of the crowd. His hair is messed up, and the top of his formal flannel is unbuttoned lazily. A roguish smile forms on his lips. 

        "Hello there, Miss Amy," he says.. "You look sexy today." I clutch my hands into tight fists. "Ohh-oo-h," he says a little sluggishly. "You always do." I make a face and try to find a way out.

        A random girl I've never seen before, with very smoky eyes, falls in between us and tugs on Greg's collar. She pulls it and he follows her like a puppy who's looking for directions. A wave of relief washes over me when he leaves. I finally come out to the clear and go to the punch table, which seems the safest at this point. Not too later, a familiar voice greets me. 

        "Hey there." It sounds sober so I don't fret. It's Curtis. "You came to the party, huh?" I nod, taking a small sip of the punch I poured myself. "By the way, there's alcohol in that." I immediately pull it away from my lips. Curtis laughs. "Not a lot. Just a little bit. It won't affect you unless you have lots of it."

        "Okay," I say, still eyeing the glass. "So, do you always come to parties like these?" Curtis takes the punch-spoon to fill two glasses.

        "Well, Jarvis, Mathias, and I do." He side-glances at me. "Alistair usually doesn't like parties. He came here for...someone in particular." I don't want to know who it is. "And my advice to you: as long as you don't allow someone to lay you, you'll be fine." I shudder, hoping that's not the case for me. 

        "Uh, have you seen Hailee or Lena?" I ask. "I kind of lost them." Curtis didn't see them. He talks to me for a bit longer and takes the two glasses of punch back to his Black Cat group. Curtis is friendly to me, but not to everyone else. Why are they here? No one dares to approach the bar while they sit on the stools. No one dares get in their way in the party. Why did Leif invite them? They always seem as if they're carrying guns and drugs in their backpacks.

        I really hope that isn't the case.