Addiction - Chapter 5
Friday
Melissa and I blew out the candles on our cake. The house was full of people. I barely knew any of them but they all cheered for us.
"Best. Birthday. Ever!" Melissa yelled as she cut us each a slice of cake.
"Yeah." I smiled over at Tyler.
He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded.
He still had sex hair. A few buttons at the top of his shirt had been left undone.
He looked sexy and he was staring back at me.
He nodded his head to the side, gesturing for me to come over.
I grabbed two slices of cake and wound my way through the other people. I handed him a plate.
"Thanks for all this," I said.
"Josh and Melissa planned most of it. And of course, there was Melissa's dad, James." He laughed as he took a bite of cake.
My lies had spilled over so quickly about Professor Hunter. "I told you that I was sorry." I lightly nudged his shoulder.
"I know, I'm just messing with you."
"Oh, I almost forgot. I really do have a present for you. Let me go get it."
I grabbed the back of his neck, stood up on my tiptoes, and kissed him. It was tempting to go with him back to his room. "Are you sure you don't want me to come up and try to convince you again that I want to be your girlfriend?" I whispered in his ear.
Tyler laughed. "Your offer is very tempting.
I need a few minutes to recover, though.
I'll be right back." He kissed my cheek and disappeared into the crowd on the dance floor.
I leaned back against the wall. I spotted Melissa and Josh dancing.
She looked happy. She had been right, as usual.
This party had been a lot of fun. And getting under someone else had helped too. I cringed at myself for thinking it.
"Have a great life?"
My blood turned cold. Oh God. I'd know his voice anywhere.
I turned and saw Professor Hunter leaning casually on the wall beside me.
He was dressed in a plaid button up shirt with a white t-shirt peeping out from underneath.
He was wearing slightly baggy jeans, pushed into dirty brown boots.
His sleeves were rolled up and he was wearing a knit hat.
It looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days.
He was carrying an axe. Fake. Hopefully.
My heart was beating out of my chest. God he looked good as a lumberjack.
And young. He blended in perfectly with college students even though he wasn't wearing a mask.
It seemed like I was imagining him. He hadn't looked at me, let alone talk to me, in weeks.
I closed my eyes for a second and opened them again.
He was still standing there, staring at me intently.
It took me a second to register his words.
Have a great life. I had said that to him in the text from my birthday.
I took a deep breath. All the happiness I had felt tonight seemed to get sucked out of me.
I thought whenever he decided to talk to me again I'd be happy.
But I wasn't. I had been so sad for so long that I hadn't realized how angry I was with him.
I had never been so angry with someone in my life.
How dare he just show up here? "Yeah. Have a great life.
" I turned my attention back to the dance floor.
I wanted him to walk away. I wanted him to let me have this one good night after so many bad ones. But he remained where he was.
"Are you done?" His voice sounded cold.
I looked back at him. I wanted to slap his stupid, beautiful face. "Done what?"
"Done here? Let's go."
He reached out and brushed his fingers along my wrist. His touch still gave me that warm tingly feeling. I hated that it gave me that feeling. I took a step back from him. "No, I'm not done. This is my birthday party. I'm not leaving. And I'm definitely not leaving with you."
"You're drunk."
"I'm not drunk!" Shit. I always had a hard time controlling my temper. It was probably even worse since I had been drinking. But I wasn't drunk. I took a deep breath.
"Penny, we need to talk. And I don't want to do it here."
"You've had weeks to talk to me. You don't just get to show up tonight and ruin my birthday party. Why tonight of all nights?"
"I thought you'd be happy to see me."
The way he said it made my throat catch. He sounded like he genuinely thought that was true. As if this surprise appearance suddenly erased all the pain. "I'm not. Please just go."
"I'm not leaving here unless it's with you."
"You forgot my birthday." I bit my lip. I wish this still didn't hurt so much.
"I didn't forget."
I shook my head. What an asshole. "Fine. You ignored my birthday then. I feel like that's even worse."
"Please just let me explain."
"There's nothing to explain. You're my boyfriend, you should have at least wished me a happy birthday. Sorry, ex boyfriend." I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"Well that explains a lot."
I looked up at him. "What are you talking about?"
"You and Mr. Stevens don't seem to be acting like just friends anymore."
I glared at him. "That's really none of your business."
"Everything you do is my business."
"Nothing I do is your business. We're done. You've made that very clear."
"We are not done."
"Yes we are. You ignored me for weeks. And now you finally show up. Apparently just to make me feel like shit because I don't hear you offering an apology."
"I told you that I wanted to talk."
"Then talk. Tell me why you acted like I didn't exist. Do you have any idea how hard it was to go to class and feel invisible?" The room felt stifling.
"Yes, I do."
"No, you don't." I looked down at the ground. I didn't want to cry. "It's too late to talk. You waited too long. I can't. I don't want to. Not anymore."
"Penny, come on, let's go." He reached out for my hand.
"Stop." I pulled away. I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want him here. I could feel tears beginning to well in my eyes. Why is he here? Just to torture me?
"Penny." He put his hand on my elbow.
"Don't touch me." I took another step back.
"Penny." He closed the gap between us.
"She said stop." Tyler put his hand on Professor Hunter's chest and lightly shoved him back. I wasn't sure when he had appeared. I wondered how much of our conversation he had heard.
Professor Hunter looked stunned that Tyler had shoved him. "Tyler," he said coolly and nodded his head.
"James, is it?" Tyler said sarcastically.
"Look, she's drunk. I'm just going to take her home."
"Jesus, I'm not drunk." Why does everyone keep saying that?
"She can spend the night if she wants to. Don't worry about it," Tyler said.
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Penny, let's go. Now." He had talked to me sternly before, but never like this. I swallowed hard. Why was it so hard to resist his authority? It took every ounce of my resolve not to go to him.
Tyler put his arm out in front of me even though I didn't move. "She's not going anywhere with you. Why are you even here?"
"Because my girlfriend invited me."
"She's definitely not your girlfriend. Get the fuck out of my house."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Professor Hunter looked at me. His expression turned icy.
"You know what it means," Tyler said.
Shit.
"Tyler. Get out of my way." Professor Hunter seemed calm, but I could tell he was on the edge.
"Or what?"
Professor Hunter took another step toward me, but Tyler shoved him in the chest again. Harder this time. Professor Hunter took a few steps back to steady himself. He shook his head back and forth.
"Tyler," I said quietly. I reached out and touched his shoulder. I didn't want them to fight. They both looked so angry now.
Professor Hunter looked down at my hand on Tyler. He balled his hand into a fist and cocked his arm.
"James!" I screamed.
But he didn't listen to me. He punched Tyler square in the nose.
Tyler cursed as he stumbled backwards.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" I touched the side of Tyler's face. His nose started gushing blood. "Oh my God, Tyler."
He wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "Hold this for me," he said and handed me a small wrapped box. My present. I looked back up and saw him charging at Professor Hunter.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled after him.
Tyler dropped his shoulder at the last second, slamming into Professor Hunter's stomach. They knocked into a few couples dancing as the two of them fell to the floor. They were yelling at each other, but their words were drowned out by the music.
A girl screamed as they rolled over and almost knocked into her.
Professor Hunter had blood on his face, and I wasn't sure if it was because Tyler had hurt him or if Tyler's bloody nose had just dripped onto Professor Hunter's face.
I looked around for a fire alarm. It was the only thing I could think of to do.
But we were in a frat house. There were no fire alarms.
The dance music suddenly stopped.
"I'll fuck whoever I want to fuck," Tyler snarled as he landed a punch across Professor Hunter's face.
Oh my God.
The room was quiet for another second and then people started yelling, "Fight, fight, fight!"
I ran over to them. "Stop it! Both of you, stop!"
I tried to grab Tyler's arm before he landed another punch on Professor Hunter, but I wasn't strong enough to hold him back. Professor Hunter grabbed his axe from the floor beside him and whacked Tyler on the side of the head with it.
He grabbed Tyler's collar and pulled him close to his face. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay the hell away from her."
"I can end you."
"Then do it." He let go of Tyler's collar and pushed him back down to the floor.
Professor Hunter stood up. He was starting to get a black eye and there was a cut on his lip. There was blood on his face, but I wasn't sure where it was coming from. He gave me a pleading look.
I looked over Professor Hunter's shoulder as Tyler stood up. "Please stop fighting. James, please just go. We can talk tomorrow, okay? Please."
"Penny, do not make me carry you out of here," he said.
"Hey, asshole! She asked you to leave." Tyler pulled his sword from his belt and chucked it at the back of Professor Hunter's head.
Professor Hunter stumbled to the side. He rubbed the back of his head. He gave me one last pleading look.
I didn't know what to do.
"Okay," Professor Hunter said. "Okay." He turned away from me and walked toward the stairs.
Melissa came running up to me. She started talking really fast but I couldn't seem to focus on her words.
When Professor Hunter passed by Tyler, Tyler said something to him, but I couldn't make it out.
Professor Hunter's head snapped to the side and he rammed into Tyler.
The two of them fell onto the table that they were using as a bar.
I ran toward them again. "What is wrong with you?
!" I screamed, directing it at both of them.
I grabbed Professor Hunter's arm and tried to pull him off.
I wasn't strong enough. I let go of his arm and stood back, screaming at them to stop.
Professor Hunter punched Tyler one last time and stood up.
I couldn't see Tyler. Professor Hunter was blocking my view. Is he okay?
Suddenly Professor Hunter stepped to the side. Tyler's fist landed on my stomach. I tried to breathe but couldn't. I stepped backwards and slipped on some of the spilled alcohol. I put my hands out to catch myself but my reaction was too slow. My head slammed against the concrete floor.