ten #2
get into the kitchen with people who were trying to get to the bathroom. Danny gently steered me out of the path of traffic.
“Why don’t we go somewhere with a little more breathing room?”
I nodded.
“Great. Follow me.”
I trailed behind him, expecting him to take me to the backyard or the living room, but we took an unexpected turn to a set of stairs leading down.
“Where are we going?” I asked, but it didn’t seem like he heard me over the din in the kitchen.
The stairs took us to the basement. It was partly finished, and only slightly less crowded than upstairs.
We went into the corner, where there was a wet bar overlooking a table where people were playing beer pong.
“You want anything else?” Danny asked, gesturing at my drink.
“I’m good.” I took another sip.
“So what do you think?”
“About what?”
“UCLA. You thinking about coming here?”
I smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not really sure where I want to go to college,” I said evasively.
“Aw, well, it’s pretty great here. My parents wanted me to go to Stanford or Berkeley, but I didn’t get in, so I ended up
at my safety.” He spread his arms out wide. “But I’m so happy here. I found my brothers. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I can tell you, no matter where you go, you’ll figure it out. It always ends up fine. You don’t have to overthink it.”
His words were sliding in one ear and out the other. I was mostly trying to decide what to do next. Like whether I should’ve
been giving the house another loop to look for Alan and demanding that he take me back.
“I do remember what it was like, senior year. Super stressful. Saying goodbye to everyone. The whole thing.”
“Yeah.”
“And if you came here, I could show you the ropes, you know. Make sure you knew all the good stuff.” He confidently cocked his eyebrow and leaned closer.
“That would be nice.” What time was it exactly? “Do you know where Alan might be?”
“Babe, what’s the rush? You just got here. Party’s just getting started. He’s probably chatting up some girls upstairs, you
know. Don’t worry. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” His hand touched my upper arm.
I had been so preoccupied with other thoughts that I had not noticed what was happening right in front of me. I felt skewered
by his undivided attention. He was closing the distance between us. His body was far too close to mine. I had nowhere to go.
My fingers scrabbled for my phone in my bag. “I think I should check to see if he’s looking for me.” Was this Alan’s attempt
at a setup? At this point, he probably should’ve hoped that I would never find him, because if I did, I was going to kill
him.
“Stella,” Danny said, waving his hand in front of my face. “You there?”
“I don’t think—” I said, but before I could finish, he started to lean in. I was against the wall, and the only way I was
going to be able to dodge him was if I ducked. It felt like his face was coming at me in slow motion, but I was frozen. Panic
clustered in my throat. I could smell the alcohol on his breath mixed with the scent of aggressive cologne. My fingers curled
at my chest ready to stop him before—
“HEY!”
Someone’s hand was on Danny’s shoulder, and he jerked back.
It was Alan. Our eyes connected. “There you are,” he said to me, the relief on his face evident. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I can’t get any signal in this house.”
No matter the fury I’d been nursing toward him before, seeing him now was like finding a shaft of daylight in a collapsed
coal mine. I started to breathe again.
He extended a hand toward me. I grabbed it without hesitation. He tugged me toward him and past Danny’s reach.
“You ready to go?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Hold on,” Danny said loudly. “We were talking. Why are you out here blocking, man?”
Alan twisted toward him, keeping me to his other side. “What exactly were you doing?” He sounded furious. “This is so not
okay. She doesn’t know you at all. You didn’t used to be like this.”
Danny’s ears reddened. “It’s none of your business. She doesn’t belong to you.” He took a step in our direction.
My danger senses tingled sharply. Alan was taller than Danny, but Danny was bigger. I didn’t want trouble. There was no way
I would be able to explain bringing Alan back with a black eye.
I felt a tug on my hand.
I looked down. Our fingers were still intertwined. It caught me by surprise.
“Let’s go,” Alan said.
Time seemed to pause for a moment as I searched his face, an open question mark. I didn’t know where he was going to take me, but it didn’t matter. I was going to follow.
We ran toward the staircase, scrambling up the steps and bursting onto the first floor.
I could hear Danny shouting behind us, but the pounding of our feet plus the music playing full blast in the house made it
impossible to hear what he was saying. We rushed through a blur of colors and limbs, and then, somehow, we were out the front
door, into the warm night air. We narrowly dodged past a group of people who just arrived. The tickle of an uncontrollable
giggle crept into my throat.
We could’ve stopped, since nobody was chasing us, but whether it was the adrenaline or something else, we kept going. Beyond
the lawn, down the street, past the line of Greek-lettered houses on the block. Energy sang in my veins as the wind blew fresh
on my face. I felt as though I were suspended in a dream, like maybe, if we kept going, we could strip the years away and
go back in time. We ran and didn’t get tired. We ran into the endless night. And as we flew through campus, he never once
let go.