"He… always needs to," I slurred. When Benji smiled again, I couldn't help but blush.
Benji pulled me with him through the crowd until we made it to a corner of the living room that had a few couches and some chairs all pushed next to each other. I think it was an area he had created for people to take a break and get away from all of the chaos of the party, but that wasn’t all it was being used for. There was one person sitting alone on the edge of a chair trying to regroup, and there were two people making out on one of the couches. The other spots were empty.
Benji sat me down and then sat next to me. I assumed that this was him trying to get me to sober up, because that was something Ricky would do. That was when I noticed a cup in Benji’s hand, which I was pretty sure he did not have before. Was I that drunk?
He held the cup to me. "You should have this. Y’know, to loosen up."
I took the cup from his grasp and eyed it. I was never one to say no to a drink, but I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach and I didn’t think it was because of all the alcohol. I was about to ask what was in it, but we were interrupted when I felt the couch dip beside me.
I didn’t even need to look to know who it was because I recognized his scent anywhere. It was Javier. Wasn't it always Javier?
Twelve
Javier
Iwas trying my best to have fun at the party, but Diane was being a bit of a nuisance. It wasn't like she was drunk, she refused to ever have a sip of alcohol because she believed the police would start banging on her front door the moment a drop touched her lips. She was starting to annoy me because she kept bugging me about other things, when all I cared to do was look for Elias.
I had seen him earlier when he and his friends arrived at the party, and for some reason I felt inclined to go up to him. I decided against it and kept my distance because I was supposed to be having fun with my girlfriend, not chasing down a guy who hated me. So, I tried to enjoy my time with my girlfriend and forget about my rival. Unfortunately for me, he was currently living rent free in my mind and I could not evict him no matter how much I tried.
"Javier!" Diane shouted as she tugged on my arm with force. When she finally grabbed my attention, she sighed. "Where is your head out? We are supposed to be having fun."
Because you aren't my priority right now.
"I'm sorry, baby," I yelled over the music. It was the only way to communicate with the way the music was blaring in our ears.
Tonight was supposed to be a night where I could get my mind off of Elias Richardson. He wasn’t supposed to be at this party. That would have made it easy for me to get lost in the drunken chaos that was the party. I realized my plan would not go the way I thought it would when Elias strolled through the front door. Naturally, I wondered where he was for the majority of the night.
So, when I noticed Benji leading him somewhere, it piqued my interest. When they moved too far away to where I couldn't see them, I subtly moved myself and Diane closer. It was easy, all I had to do was scoot to the side in my dancing. Diane followed along, just happy to be dancing with me.
I was simply looking out for a friend even though I wasn’t sure that Benji had ill intentions. He presented a really chill guy to everyone, a ‘go with the flow’ type of person. I believed it too, but the way he was acting with Eli did not sit right with me. I just wanted to see where they were going, then I would leave Eli alone.
I watched as Benji shooed off one kid who was resting on the couch. The guy didn't look happy, but seeing as this was Benji's party he got up without any arguing.
All of a sudden a red solo appeared in Benji’s hand. I had been watching him the entire time and I did not see him pick it up, which raised a ton of questions and concerns for me. He was nowhere near where the liquor was being served, so he had to have had that cup stashed somewhere. Right? If that was the case, what special drink was he serving Eli?
The more I watched, the more it seemed like Benji was going to offer it to Elias. That was when I knew that I needed to step in, no more waiting on the sidelines watching scenes unfold. Anybody with sight could see how wasted Elias was, so who in their right mind would think that it was okay to give himmore?The only thing that should have been in that cup was water, but I would bet money that was not what it was.
I made a move toward him, but I was stopped by a tight grip on my wrist.
"Where are you going?" she asked, a slight pout on her face. She had stopped dancing altogether and stood in front of me idly.
I resisted a heavy sigh. The clock was ticking and my time was being wasted by Diane. I knew she just wanted to spend time with me, but there was something potentially dangerous about to happen and I needed to intervene.
I pointed to Benji and Elias. "Over there. I'll be right back."
She folded her arms angrily. "To Elias? Why?"
"I need to do something, let me go."
She stared at me, dumbfounded. I was not giving her much information, so she had every right to be upset with me for walking off. Had I thought I had the time, I would lay it out for her. Unfortunately for her, I was in a time crunch and if that meant angering her in the process, so be it. I would only be gone a second.
"If you walk away right now, I'll get a ride home from Poppy," she gritted through her teeth. Poppy was a friend of hers that was at the party too. We were with her and a couple of Diane’s other friends at first, but we got split apart a while ago.
If this were anyone else I was trying to get to then I could guarantee Diane wouldn’t have a huge problem. For example, if I was trying to move through the sea of people to get to my friend Paxton, Diane wouldn’t complain about it. She would follow me over there without a word and have issues at all. This was just because it was Eli sitting there and not someone else.
She recently started having a problem any time I mentioned Eli. It wasn’t that I mentioned him often, but sometimes he would come up in conversation. When he did, her eyebrowswould knit and her eyes would roll. She would go quiet and brush off anything I had to say that he was a part of. I couldn’t figure out why and my girlfriend refused to tell me.
Fed up with her unnecessary hostility toward my rival, I pulled my arm from her grasp. I looked her dead in the eye. "Don't let Poppy leave without you."
