“Not fucking now, Mar.”
I don’t want to be the cause of another fight tonight. I reach for Maria’s hand. “Thank you for standing by my side and staying with me. I love you for it. Would you mind if Ryder and I went to find Jayson? Elijah,” I say to him, “you and Julien need to go clean those cuts on your hands.”
“If Ryder’s going with you, then so am I,” she declares. I don’t argue. I just want to find Jayson and get the hell out of here.
“Elizabeth, you know he wouldn’t intentionally leave you and walk off with some other girl, especially Jacinda. Trust me. I’ve been in plenty of fights to know how he’s feeling. He can’t see anything right now other than the anger and adrenaline. We’ll find him and leave.”
Even though Ryder’s words are reassuring, they don’t lessen the queasy, uneasy feeling I have in my stomach. Maria and I follow Ryder through the house. People either part like the Red Sea and hurriedly get out his way, or they grab him wanting to congratulate him. I assume it’s because many of them witnessed how he easily took down a football player and don’t want to be his next target.
My jittery stomach gets worse after we unsuccessfully search the house for over half an hour trying to find Jayson. We spot Fallon in the kitchen smoking a joint with a few seniors from our school. “Fallon! Where’s Jay?” Ryder calls out to him.
Fallon takes a drag from his joint and dangles it from his bottom lip. “Hey, kitten," Fallon says to me and I scowl at him. He nods to Ryder, "You guys are the shit. Wish I was there to see the whole thing go down. Fucking amazing, man.”
“Fallon, we need to find Jay. Have you seen him?”
“Sent him upstairs a while ago to get cleaned up.” Fallon takes his joint out and points it up in the air.
“Holy shit! Look at this.” Maria holds out her phone. Someone posted a video of the fight. Dammit. The boys could get in real trouble over this, legal trouble, especially Jayson.
I show the video to Ryder. “We need to find Jayson and leave.”
The three of us head upstairs, opening each door we come across, calling Jayson’s name.
“Lizzie, I think they’ll be ok. The video is too dark to make out who anyone is. You can’t see faces, only their backs.”
“That might not be the only video, Mar. And what if Marshall decides to press charges against Jayson? This is so messed up.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Ryder says and heads to the end of the hall. He opens the door and stops abruptly. Maria and I slam into his backside. “Mar, take Elizabeth to the car right now and wait for me.”
“What’s going on. Move Ryder. Is Jayson in there?” Ryder tries to block me, but I duck under his arm and everything inside of me grinds to a stop.
Everything stops.
My heart, my lungs, my brain, all sounds around me.
I blink.
One by one, everything clicks back on. My breathing returns, my mind runs rampant, and my heart breaks.
Sitting on the end of the bed is Jayson. He’s hunched over, elbows resting atop his knees, face blank, eyes staring straight ahead like he’s in a trance, and he’s shirtless. What happened to his shirt? But that’s not what confounds me the most. That’s not what fills me with a rage unlike any I have ever felt. My hands clench tight into fists and my eyes narrow on who’s wrapped around Jayson from behind on the bed, kissing his shoulders and neck while trying to pull him backward. Fucking Jacinda Blanchard. At least most of her clothes are on, I mentally tell myself, taking in her red push-up bra and panties.
“Holy shit!” That is from Maria.
“What the fuck, Jayson!” That is from Ryder.
“If you don’t get your skanky ass hands off my boyfriend right now, I am going rip every fucking piece of hair off your whore head, you conniving bitch!” That is from me.
The sound of my voice seems to break Jayson from whatever suspended stupor he’s in. He looks up at me and for a second a smile spreads across his face like he’s happy to see me. Next, he notices me, Ryder, and Maria all glaring angrily at him. He turns his head to see Jacinda pressed against his back, and in one move jumps and stumbles away from the bed while flinging her off of him. “What. The. Fuck!” he bellows.
I can’t watch anymore. The hurt and betrayal flaying me alive almost brings me to my knees. I turn and desperately grab Ryder. “Ryder, please take me home now. I’ve seen all I can handle tonight.” I won’t allow myself to cry, not in front of Jacinda. She doesn’t get to see me break.
“Come on, Lizzie. Let’s go to the car. We’ll find Julien and Elijah.” Maria hooks her arm through mine and I allow her to walk me downstairs. I hear Jayson’s voice shouting my name and Ryder’s voice shouting back at him, but right now, I’m done. This whole night has been one giant nightmare.
I don’t remember much after getting into Ryder’s car. I lay my head against Maria’s shoulder. I’ll think about things tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow, my broken heart repeats back. And then I close my eyes and shut down.
Jayson
“Liz! Elizabeth!” I fumble and try to push past Ryder, but he shoves me back as a wave of nausea hits me hard. “What the fuck man! Get out of my way!” Why am I slurring?
