Chapter 19
Fallon’s parents’ house is huge. I mean mansion huge.
Most of the kids that go to Highland High are from wealthy families, but good gracious, this house is a mini palace.
We had to pass through a grand palisade before driving up a half mile private road to get to the house.
A large five-tiered fountain cascades water into a lighted reflection pool that is about the size of a swimming pool and sits in the middle of a wide, circular drive in front of the massive home.
If this is what the driveway looks like, I’m afraid to see the inside.
Ryder, Julien, and Maria meet me and Jayson outside and we walk in together.
The smell of beer and smoke hangs thick and acrid in the air.
I guess Fallon’s parents are out of town, but what little knowledge of Fallon I have from the boys, he probably wouldn’t care if his parents were here or not and would still throw a party like this.
Once we enter the expansive foyer, we collide with a sea of people, some dancing and others drinking from red plastic cups.
“This party is off the charts!” Maria shouts beside me to be heard over the loud, thumping music.
I have an utterly different opinion about the party than my best friend.
“Come on Ryder, let’s go get something to drink,” she yells, tugging his arm to pull him away from our group.
I just stand there like a deer in headlights clinging to Jayson’s hand.
I mean, I’m not a prude, but large party scenes like this just make me very uncomfortable.
“I’m good here,” he shouts down at her.
“Ryder,” she whines. “Come on. This is a party. Let’s go have some fun.” She tugs on his arm again
“Maria, I said I’m good,” he snaps at her. Her face contorts with a hurt expression and she looks between him and me, then back to him.
“I’ll go with you, Mar,” Jayson says and lets go of my hand. “You guys want anything?” We shake our heads no.
“Hey, there you are!” Elijah has to shove some people out of his way to get to us.
“Hey, E. Where’s the beer?” Jayson inquires.
“There’s a keg set up next to the bar and some coolers with other stuff beside it. Straight that way.” Elijah points the way to Jayson as he and Maria disappear into the sea of writhing bodies.
Tapping Julien’s shoulder, Elijah raises his voice so we can hear him. “Follow me, guys. We’ll head out back to the patio. It’s quieter and less crowded.” We follow Elijah through the throngs of moving people and one guy grabs my arm trying to pull me to him.
“Hey!” I pull my arm back in protest.
“Back off, man.” Ryder shoves the guy away from me, then moves me in front of him and places his hands on my hips to walk us through the dining room and out the door to the patio. I try to find where Jayson and Maria are but don’t see them anywhere. I figure they’ll find us eventually.
“Thanks, Ryder,” I tell him.
“What a douchebag.”
“You alright, Liz?” Julien sits down on the plush patio outdoor sofa and pulls me next to him.
Elijah and Ryder sit down next to us, and Julien rubs my back up and down in soothing circles.
There are groups scattered around on the patio and the backyard, but Elijah was right—it’s much quieter out here.
“Just a drunk guy getting grabby. I’m fine.”
Elijah grimaces. “I’m so sorry, Liz. I should have texted you or Julien after I got here to let you know how crazy it was. Fallon throws some big parties, but this is insane.”
“We’re here. It’s all good. I’ll just stick to staying outside. I promise I won’t ruin anyone’s good time.”
Julien wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Liz, not possible. I’d rather be out here with you guys than in there.”
“Ditto what he said,” Ryder agrees.
Listening to the crickets, cicadas, and frogs as they sing their evening musicals, I relax back into the cushions and look up at the stars. The guys talk, but I zone them out as I search out different constellations in the night sky. I find Cassiopeia and the big and little dippers.
Conversation trails off and Julien checks his watch. “It’s been almost twenty minutes. I wonder what’s taking Jayson and Maria so long.”
“I can go in there and find out,” Elijah offers, when a voice from the backyard interrupts him.
“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.” Marshall and three other guys approach, matching sneers on their faces.
“Go bother someone else, Marshall,” Elijah tells him.
Marshall is the guy who messed up Julien’s leg during a soccer game, and who Elijah allegedly beat up for it the next day.
Marshall’s face darkens when he notices Julien sitting on the sofa next to Elijah. His leering gaze finds me and his lip curls up. “You dating both brothers now? Or did you swap one for the other since they look the same?”
Julien and Ryder both stand up. Ryder tucks me protectively behind him. He reaches back and takes my hand, threading our fingers together, giving me a silent warning not to move.
“You need to leave. Now.”
Marshall ignores Ryder's warning and steps toward Julien. “How’s the leg feeling?” The guys with Marshall snicker.
“It feels like it wants to kick your sorry ass,” Julien warns him. Elijah thrusts his arm out to hold Julien back.
Marshall’s grin grows larger when he sees Ryder holding me behind him. “Oh, I see now. The rumors must be true. You’re dating all three of them.”
“Watch your mouth!” Ryder roars.
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll make you,” Ryder threatens.
“Ryder, no,” I say to his back, curling my hand around his arm.
“You.” He points at Elijah. “We have unfinished business. I owe you a beat down.” The three other guys, varsity football players from the look of them, come forward.
“Elizabeth, go inside,” Ryder says, looking over his shoulder at me.
“No.”
“Things are about to get serious. Get inside now.”
“I said no. I’m not leaving any of you out here.
” I may be a girl, but having three guys as your best friends my whole life has taught me one thing—how to protect myself.
Jayson, Ryder, and Julien showed me how to fight, and how to fight dirty.
They wanted to make sure I knew how to defend myself against future a-holes who think they can put their hands on me without my permission or from guys who don’t listen to the word no.
I’ve never kneed a guy in the balls before, but I’ll happily do it tonight to Marshall.
“You may want to listen to her,” Marshall says. He looks right at me and makes kissing noises.
Before anyone can make the next move or say the next word, a large blur flies past us and tackles Marshall down to the ground, and all hell breaks loose.
Elijah, Julien, and Ryder instantly jump in the fight and take on Marshall's friends.
Maria runs up behind me and grabs my shoulders, trying to pull me away, but I shake her off.
My first thought is: Where’s Jayson? I get my answer when I hear him bellowing in anger, “Don’t you ever talk about my girl like that again!”
I realize the large blur that streaked past us was Jayson.
He’s on top of Marshall, pounding fist to face, blow after blow after blow, unrelenting in his attack.
Jayson straddles Marshall, pummeling him with words and punches.
My mind has trouble processing everything.
I see Julien, Ryder, and Elijah fighting the other guys.
Ryder throws one punch at his adversary and the guy drops like a stone.
Ryder turns to help Julien and between the two of them, it’s easy to take the second guy out.
The third guy gives up, hands in the air.
He backs away from Elijah once he sees the state of the rest of his friends, moaning and rolling across the ground.
It takes both Ryder and Julien to pull Jayson off Marshall.
Of course, a crowd has gathered on the back patio, screaming encouraging words for the fight to continue. Fallon makes his way out, Jacinda and Samantha following close behind. They look to where Jayson is struggling against Ryder and Julien, and it's clear Jayson wants a second go at Marshall.
“What a mess,” Fallon says, coming forward out of the crowd of onlookers.
He looks behind him at two guys and points at Marshall.
“Get this loser off my lawn and take him to one of the guest rooms.” They immediately do as Fallon commands.
“You guys just took out two of our defensive linemen and the quarterback,” he exclaims, putting his arms around Jayson and Ryder.
“I think that deserves a drink, don't you?”
Ryder removes Fallon’s arm and searches the crowd until he finds me.
Jayson appears too pumped up with adrenaline to notice anything and lets Fallon lead him stumbling back inside.
Jacinda latches on to Jayson’s side as they disappear through the doors, and my jaw drops.
Samantha turns to me and gives me a scathing smile before slipping in behind Jacinda.
“Jayson!” He just left me out here? Are you kidding me right now?
Maria tugs on my arm. “Lizzie. Let him go inside and calm down.”
“Forget that!” I spew, livid now. He gets into a fight and leaves me out here by myself while Jacinda hangs all over him. I don’t think so.
“Liz, are you and Maria alright?” Julien asks. He wipes blood off his cut knuckles and curses when they sting.
“I’m good. We’re okay.”
“Where did Jay go?” he asks, looking around.
My angry eyes look over at the patio door, hoping to see Jayson. Hoping he came back out to get me.
“Fallon took him inside.” I grit my teeth and hiss, “He went with Jacinda.”
Ryder cups his bruised hands around my face. “Let’s go find him then, yeah?” His touch calms my anger somewhat and I nod yes.
“Jesus, Ry. She doesn’t need you to babysit her all the time,” Maria snips at him.
“Not now, Maria.”
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. 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 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 needs time to calm down from the anger and adrenaline. Don't worry. We’ll find him and leave.”
Even though Ryder’s words are reassuring, they don’t lessen the 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 of 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 cigarette with a few seniors from our school.
“Fallon! Where’s Jay?” Ryder calls out to him.
Fallon blows out a circle of smoke and stubs out his cigarette on the granite countertop. “Hey, kitten," Fallon says to me, and I scowl at him.
“Fallon, we need to find Jay. Have you seen him?” Ryder asks him.
“Sent him upstairs a while ago to get cleaned up.” Fallon points a finger up in the air.
“Look at this!” Maria holds out her phone to me. Someone posted a video of the fight. 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 okay. 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. 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.
Jayson is laid out on the bed. 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 beside him on the bed, kissing him. Jacinda Blanchard.
“Oh my God!” That is from Maria.
“What the hell, Jayson!” That is from Ryder.
“If you don’t get your hands off my boyfriend right now, I am going to rip every piece of hair off your head!” That is from me.
Jayson sits up at the sound of my voice, and seeing me, a goofy smile spreads across his face like he’s happy that I'm here.
His face contorts with confusion when he notices Ryder and Maria glaring angrily at him.
Then, almost comically, he turns his head to see Jacinda next to him on the bed and hastily jumps off the side of the bed to his feet, which causes him to stumble and crash into the armoire.
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 rest my head against Maria’s shoulder and decide that I’ll think about things tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow, my broken heart repeats back. And then I close my eyes and shut down.