20 - Stand Up For Yourself

By the time we made it to the party, it was already in full swing.

However, it didn't take us long to find Eli, Jones and Kyle sitting with a few girls on the couch I had left Eli on at the last party. I immediately tried to push down the jealousy I felt due to the girl sitting up close next to Eli.

Wondering how I could get her to move so I could sit next to Eli, the three of us wandered over to the group. "Hi, guys!" Said Taylor, happily.

When Eli looked up, I could tell he was already a little drunk, too, because he got a goofy grin on his face and reached out towards me with his hands squeezing the air. I giggled when Owen shoved me a bit closer to the excited boy.

My stomach flipped when Eli got up slightly to capture my wrist and then pulled me down on top of him. I was glad I was wearing shorts because I am not sure how well a dress would have faired in this situation. I did not fall gracefully, but I did end up with both cheeks on Eli's lap, and my legs draped over his.

Eli buried his face into my neck, and my heart raced at the feeling of his warm breath. The tingles I felt made me shiver, which made Eli pull me closer. My face heated when I saw Owen looking at us with one eyebrow raised. I wasn't drunk enough for this amount of public attention.

The girl who was sitting next to Eli huffed and got up, clearly annoyed. I couldn't help but smile slightly, and I guess Owen saw my reaction, and he started to laugh.

"What's up?" Taylor asked him, but he just shook his head.

I giggled and opened one of the coolers I had in my hand and placed the other on the ground beside the couch. There is a possibility that someone was going to take it, but three was enough for me to have the room spinning happily, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Eli repositioned me so that I was against the couch's arm with my legs draped over his. I was still on his lap, but it was a much less awkward position. Much less intimate.

I smiled at him, and he grinned back, bopping my nose before taking a swig of his beer. I wonder how much he had to drink at this point.

I guess in the moments that I had taken to stare at Eli, all of our friends had wandered off. Except for Kyle, who was happily talking to the girl next to him.

"You know I really like you, right?" Eli said?

He was definitely drunk.

"You do?" I asked. My voice was supposed to be teasing, but I think it came off as a bit startled.

He laughed, "Yeah, why else would I trust you with all my secrets?" he said, whispering in my ear. "I want to make all of those romantic daydreams you always have come true... and maybe the not so romantic ones too." His breath was warm against my ear, and I squirmed in his lap.

Drunk Eli was brave, and I needed to match that, as my feelings were sobering me up. He took a minute to take another swig of beer, so I promptly downed my drink and opened the last one.

Eli laughed, "glad I make you feel the need to drink."

I giggled. Maybe by the end of the night, Eli and I would be a couple, or perhaps I would actually kiss him. I looked at his lips, feeling less brave then I was feeling when daydreaming about this moment.

Taylor interrupted the moment, and although I was kind of annoyed, I was also grateful. I am such a chicken, and even drunk, Eli seemed too much of a gentleman to make the first move.

"Let's go dance!" She screamed. I looked at Eli, and he motioned for me to go with her. So I did, following Taylor to the middle of the dance floor.

After a few stumbling steps, Taylor and I clumsily removed our shoes and bounced around the dance floor. More than three drinks in, the room was a little blurry.

I knew I had my phone in one hand and my almost empty drink in the other, but I had no idea where my shoes went.

Taylor was a good dance partner.

Her friends eventually joined us in the middle of the floor, abandoning their boyfriends.

I smiled; this is what high school is supposed to feel like, right? We were young and having the time of our lives, at least until Taylor clutched her stomach.

"I think I am going to throw up!"

People quickly moved out of our way as I dragged her to the bathroom.

Unfortunately, it seemed her friends had abandoned us for the night, so I helped her to the toilet and held her hair while she threw up. My head was spinning, but I don't think I had nearly as much to drink as she did. After she seemed to have most of it out of her, she kicked me out of the bathroom to clean herself up a bit.

I grinned to myself. This is what high school is like, a bunch of lightweights.

I waited outside of the bathroom in the hallway, leaning against the wall, barefoot. I checked my phone, and it was only 11:20 PM, but I think the night may be over for us.

I sighed, I would have to find Owen to take us home, but I would wait for Taylor, I didn't want to lose her.

My head started to pound. The end of the night was always a headache, and I think the placebo effect was beginning to kick in. I texted Owen that we were ready to go and that Tay was in the bathroom.

I had only been waiting for a few minutes when an uneasy feeling overcame me. I looked up from my phone and almost jumped as a towering figure was looming over me. Did Owen find us already?

"Hi," slurred Jackson.

I grimaced. "Hi." Where the hell was Owen?

"Why don't you like me?" he asked, pouting. Maybe because you hurt me? Or you took a picture of my ass? Or poured a slushie on me on my first day at a new high school in a new State?

My stomach turned. Usually, I would feel bad if someone thought I didn't like them, but Jackson just made me feel sick.

"Just leave me alone, Jackson."

I had no other words for this boy, so I glanced down at my phone, trying to look busy. Jackson stood, swaggering from side to side halfway down the hallway. He gave me such an uneasy feeling that I wanted to scream.

"I don't want to."

I looked up to the boy clambering down the hallway towards me. He leaned toward me, pursing his lips. What the hell is he doing?

I ducked, and he almost fell against the wall. I may be drunk, but I would never be drunk enough for that.

"Jackson DON'T," I snarled. "Leave me alone."

Stand up for yourself. Check.

He snickered. "Be nice to me, Betty and I'll be nice to you."

"You jerk." I knocked on the bathroom door. "Taylor!" She needed to hurry up.

I don't know if she didn't hear me or what, because the door didn't open, and I felt Jackson's face close behind mine.

"Why don't you want me to kiss you, Betty, it's not a big deal?" I turned my head further away from his. He had me trapped between him and the door.

His laugh was cut short as he was thrown off of me.

I turned, expecting to see him fallen to the floor since he had been so drunk, but what I found was Eli was beating him to a pulp.

I gulped, watching the scene unfold in front of me. Eli had Jackson pinned beneath his legs and was punching him in the face repeatedly. It was much harder than it should have been; he did not do anything to me. Why couldn't Eli just wait a minute and understand what was going on before jumping into action?

Eli had promised that next time Jackson touched me, he would kill him. I didn't want to see if he would keep his word, so I screamed for Owen, hoping he was close enough by now.

But I was knocked to the floor mid-scream when the bathroom door hit me in the forehead, revealing a panicked Taylor. "Ow."

Taylor looked at me than the spectacle of the two boys beating each other up on the floor. "What the hell?" she screamed.

Owen looked down at me on the floor and growled.

There he is.

Owen jumped into action, pulling Eli off of Jackson.

Jackson had blood pouring down his face, and Eli's knuckles were bloody, although I am not sure if it was Jackson's blood or his own.

Jackson got up, stumbling. Owen gave him a look, and Jackson snarled, wincing as he did so, but I guess he decided to take his defeat because we wandered off down the hallway like a wounded bear.

Eli leaned heavily on Owen. He was drunk. Really drunk. "I'm going to kill him," Eli slurred.

Owen patted his shoulder. The adrenaline was starting to leave Eli's body, and his knees buckled.

"When did he get that drunk?" I asked Owen. Sure he was drunk when I left him to dance with Taylor, but he was mostly coherent.

Owen shrugged, "flip cup."

"He was going to hurt you," said Eli quietly.

I looked at Owen while Eli mumbled incoherently.

"He was going to go to find you, but I guess he found this instead." Said Owen, then he laughed.

"Believe it or not, he used to be more violent than this. This is the worst fight that I've pulled him out of in the last year, and it wasn't that bad."

I nodded, no wonder he got the reputation of the bad boy. "We need to get him home. Where is Kyle?" I asked Owen.

"I don't think Kyle is the best idea. He is making out with his ex on the couch. They are a little intense, so I wouldn't interrupt him." I grimaced. Goddammit, what are we going to do? I looked at Taylor, who was now sitting against the bathroom door with her head in her hands.

In hindsight, I could have taken Eli to Taylor and Owens, or my house. But hindsight isn't good after the fact. Maybe I was a little drunker than I thought when I asked Owen if he could drive Eli to his house.

---

1799

"The secrets you tell me I'll take to my grave

There's bones in my closet, but you hang stuff anyway" - Jon Bellion

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