Full of Wrath

Chapter One

Waverly

Summer break is almost over, and here I am at some dumb house party on a Friday night with no plans.

No plans for tonight and no plans for the rest of my summer.

In fact, I’m not even sure where I’m going to be at the end of the year since my lease is up in December.

The only reason I’m here tonight is because of my best friend, Sadie.

She found out her crush was going to be here.

I watch the two of them flirt without actually telling one another how they feel.

It’s the cutest -and most frustrating- thing I have ever seen.

It’s enough to give anybody foreplay whiplash.

The cruel thing is, there won't be any payoff for me because both of them are like siblings to me. I don’t want to know when their slow-burn goes atomic, and the two of them finally break the tension with some good old-fashioned bed hockey.

I’m really glad Sadie is head over heels for Boston, though, because she’s liked some absolute idiots before that didn’t deserve her time or attention.

Boston seems like a good guy from what I know about him, which admittedly isn’t a lot.

He attends the same college we do, and although I don’t have classes with him, I do have classes with his sister, Neve.

She’s super smart and sweet. We’ve all hung out before during study groups and assignments.

It doesn’t hurt that all of us are a little more on the antisocial side than we are party people.

Sadie wouldn’t be here either if Boston wasn’t coming.

I abandon the wall I’ve been holding up and move across the room. Sadie will be okay if she stays with Boston and the two of them don’t look like they are going to go their separate ways anytime soon. I need a breath of air that’s not infused with the smell of alcohol.

A guy runs by me but pulls up short, only to open his coat and show me the full monty. I keep my eyes up and just give him a shake of my head and a disappointed look I’ve seen my grandmother give to some sinner at her church.

“Poor little thing must be cold.”

He quickly closes his coat and runs off as several people laugh around us.

Bet he’ll think twice the next time he flashes someone.

I keep walking right out the kitchen door, away from the noise and stale air.

There is no way I am letting some streaker be the first dick I see… that’s not on a computer screen anyway.

And that right there is why I don’t have a crush or a boyfriend or…a prospect.

Sadie is the sweet, shy one. Neve is the kind one with a ready smile for everyone, little miss sunshine and all.

And I’m…none of those things. It’s not that I’m not quiet, or shy, or even sweet, but I also don’t take any shit.

I’m a lot more vocal if someone is trying to start something, and truthfully, I’m a lot to take for one person.

I found that out in middle school when I liked a guy -Bobby Vaser- and then got told I was too loud, too silly, and just generally too much!

Sweet girls got guys, not the girls who cuss like a sailor and have no problem making a lewd joke in front of everyone.

Not the girls who speak up and call boys out on their bullshit. Not me.

Fuck Bobby Vaser. He was a loser then, and he’s one now!

As long as Sadie is alright with it, everyone else can fuck right off.

I met Sadie in middle school too. We’re as different as day and night.

She has a family who loves her and is really involved in her life.

I grew up with a mom who would disappear for days at a time, raised my two little brothers, and occasionally got the summers off when we were all shipped off to my grandmother. Thank God for my grandmother.

I lean against the wood of the porch and take a deep breath to fight back the resentment that wells up inside of me every time I think of my mom.

I refuse to let her consume another moment of my life with her bitterness and fuck ups.

That was years ago and over now. And quite frankly, it taught me some really valuable shit about life.

I step off the porch and walk a little away from the house.

I won’t go far because it’s not safe, and I left my bag with my anti-attack nail file with Sadie - no one ever thinks of a nail file as a weapon.

I’m not stupid enough to trip around in the dark waiting to be attacked by whoever or whatever might be waiting.

No Dateline special for me, thank you very much.

The moon is out and casting enough light that I can see where I am going.

There’s a garden right by the woods that backs up to the house.

I really like flowers and wonder what kind would be in a garden like the one I am headed towards.

Curiosity gets the better of me, and I step across the yard only to catch movement out of the corner of my eye.

What the actual hell am I watching?

Three men are…fighting or maybe trying to dance. It gets harder to tell when the moon goes behind a cloud. It takes me a moment to really process the scene, but once I do, it doesn’t take long to realize that dancing they are not.

The one in the middle takes a swing at one of the men, and the other one hits the kid over the head with something that causes him to fall to the ground.

And it looks suspiciously like it might be...

a gun! As the moon comes out from behind the cloud and sheds light on everything, I realize I know the person now lying on the ground!

I don’t remember his name, but I do know that this is his house. And I think…he’s being kidnapped! Right in front of my eyes!! What a great fucking time to not have my anti-attack nail file on me!!!