Four Doors Down (3 page)

I snap myself out of thoughts of Ryan and walk into my house throwing my bag down on the floor, heading into the kitchen. My mom’s in there with Mrs. Jackson, Ryan’s mom.

“Hi, Becca, how are you?” Mrs. Jackson asks, smiling warmly at me.

I smile back at her and wonder for the millionth time how somebody as sweet and kind as Mrs. Jackson spawned the douche bag that is Ryan Jackson.

“Good, thanks.”

“You’re back late.” My mom eyes me suspiciously. She’s well aware of my tendency to pick up a detention or two.

I shrug. “Just went for a coffee with Sam after school.”

“I’ve brought your parents over an invite for Bill’s 50
th
 birthday party just before Christmas. Of course, you’re invited too.” Mrs. Jackson explains.

I roll my eyes and my mom shoots me a warning look. Immediately after Ryan and I had our big falling out back in seventh grade, our mom’s kept trying to put us together for things, hoping we’d sort it out. They soon realized that neither of us had any intention of speaking to each other again and dropped it. Clearly Mrs. Jackson has forgotten this. There is no way that I’m attending that party.

Mrs. Jackson misinterprets my look. “Oh, don’t worry honey. It won’t just be us oldies there. I’ve told Ryan he can invite some friends from school, so there’ll be plenty of people you know there.”

I smirk.
Great. Ryan’s friends who I can’t stand.
 Surely Mrs. Jackson knows that we don’t mix in the same crowd these days? She must be delusional.

“Don’t forget you’ve got Jay on Monday,” my mom reminds me.

“Yes, I know.” She keeps reminding me like I’m stupid and I’ll forget.

Jay is my little cousin. He’s only five and his mom, my aunt, is kind of going through a lot at the moment. She divorced her husband, Jay’s dad, last year and hasn’t taken it very well. I think she’s going through some sort of mid-life crisis; dressing seriously inappropriately and going on dates with some very dodgy men. My mom’s worried about the effect all this is having on Jay and him not seeing his dad very much now that he lives out of state. My mom ends up watching him a lot, and lucky me gets to watch him once a week too or else she’ll confiscate my car. I don’t know what the big deal is. The kid’s fine. In fact, he’s a total brat and is well aware that he has all the adults in his life wrapped around his little finger.

“I’m going to do my homework,” I tell them, leaving the kitchen and heading up to my room. I get to my desk and pull out my books but soon get bored and spend the next couple of hour’s texting Charlie and day dreaming about seeing him tomorrow.

Charlie Jordan is basically all I’ve thought about since I met him at a party about two weeks before senior year began. I’d spent most of the summer visiting family in Europe, so I hadn’t really been around. Sam invited me to a party that her boyfriend Chris, who goes to a different school than us, was having. I almost didn’t go. I was still a bit jet lagged and couldn’t really be bothered, but Sam had insisted, so I turned up.

The party had been okay, mainly full of people I didn’t know, and I was feeling tired and crabby when I wandered into a separate room and found ten or so people sitting around listening to a guy playing his guitar. I listened for a few minutes, and then he looked up and our eyes had met. Well, that was it. I’d never felt an attraction like it. He was gorgeous, but not in your stereotypical way. He had dark blonde hair which was just a bit too long, big brown eyes and he was wearing a ratty old t-shirt and ripped jeans. When he smiled over at me, my heart had started beating faster in my chest. I couldn’t look away from him, and suddenly I didn’t want to go home anymore. In fact, I wanted the night to go on and on.

I tried to play it cool, of course, and act uninterested, pretending I wasn’t watching him from the corner of my eye, but when he came over to talk to me an hour or so later, I don’t think I hid my interest in him all that well. In fact, I was like putty in his hands. Turns out he was a friend of Chris’ from grade school and had just moved back to the area. When he asked me out on a date, I agreed instantly and that was that as far as I was concerned. He’s pretty much all I’ve thought about in the two months since we met, and I promptly handed over my virginity to him a few weeks after our first date with absolutely no concerns. You’d think I hadn’t guarded it for the first seventeen years of my life the way I quickly gave it up to him, but Charlie made me feel in a way I’d never felt before, and I wanted to be his completely. It’s pretty safe to say that I am definitely in the throes of young love.

Like 
totally
 lost in it.

I
pull into the school parking lot the next morning still yawning. I’ve never gotten to school at this ungodly hour before.
Damn Henderson for my morning detention.
I pull down the sun visor and check my reflection in the mirror. My long brown hair is still damp from the shower which has made me late, but even I can’t go four days without washing my hair; you genuinely would have been able to fry bacon in my hair this morning. My green eyes look tired, but there’s no time for makeup. Thank goodness for clear skin.

I climb out of my car and grab the papers on my passenger seat and hurry up to the entrance. I’m almost at the steps when I look up and see Ryan Jackson and half the football team hanging around on the steps.

Shit.

If I’d seen them earlier, I would have used a different entrance. 
Why the hell are they here so early?
 They must use this time to creep on everyone coming into school and bully anyone that pisses them off. A quick scan of them tells me that Jake is absent. No one would say anything to me if he were here.

Great. Just great.

They go silent as I approach, and I walk up the steps, forcing myself to walk normally and not speed up because of them. I’m almost through when Kevin Wilson, a slimy, creepy senior jumps down from the railing and throws his arm around me, turning me back to the group.

“Well, if it isn’t little Miss McKenzie. Not often we see you here this early.”

I glance down at his right hand. 
Who on earth does he think he’s touching?

“Yeah, well, I’m actually late so…” I shrug out of his hold and turn to walk away. He grabs me before I can get away and pulls me in closer to his side. His massive right hand is dangerously close to my right breast.

I look up at him. “Seriously, I’m late.”

“Oh, come on, Becca, just chill with us for a minute.”

“Hey, let her go, Wilson,” Ryan pipes up.

“Oh, come on, Jackson. Why is it only you that gets to mess with Becca? I bet I’d know how to lighten her up,” he says grinning arrogantly while his massive paw drops down and actually rubs my right breast. Deliberately.

“Fuck off,” I say in shock.
I cannot believe he just did that!
I push him away in disgust. “Don’t touch me.”

He just laughs and holds his hands up. “Hey, relax, I won’t touch you.” He pauses while I just glare at him with anger. “But what about if I touch your stuff?” He lifts his right hand in the air and smacks it down against the book and papers in my hands. I watch as they all fall to the ground around me.

I’m mortified. Not only have I just been groped, but now I’m being publicly humiliated too. I kneel down to collect my stuff and too late do I realize that the loose fitting V-neck shirt I’m wearing is gaping forward as I lean over, and I’m giving them all a great shot of my chest. I lift the shirt to my chest, stopping it from dropping down, and Kevin starts to laugh and I know he saw straight down my top.

“Hey, Becca.” I look up, which is a mistake because he’s standing directly in front of me and his crotch is level with my face as he points his finger to his groin. “While you’re down there, early morning blow job?” he asks, laughing down at me, and then he actually thrusts his groin in my direction.

I try to swallow down the lump that forms in my throat and see him stagger backward after someone gives him a violent push. I’m guessing it must be Ryan because the next minute he’s kneeling down next to me and helping me to collect my stuff.

“I don’t need your fucking help, Ryan,” I spit at him. He pauses immediately, and I grab my stuff from him and finish picking up the last few things.

Okay, so I know I make out like I’m a strong, independent, don’t-give-a-crap woman, but this is horrible. I mean, these guys are really intimidating and now they’re all just watching me crawl around on the floor, publically humiliated. The worst part is that I’m upset, and I’m angry with myself for letting them get to me.

I stand up and turn back to Kevin, who is still grinning at me like he just did the funniest thing in the world. I glance around quickly, but no one else is laughing. In fact, most of the guys look pretty wary and are glancing over at Ryan. I refuse to look at Ryan; this is his fault. If he didn’t treat me like crap, then no one else would think they could either.

I shoot Kevin a murderous look and turn to walk around him.

Actually, forget that.

I turn back to Kevin, who is smiling at me smugly, clearly very pleased with himself. I take a step closer and then kick my right knee up with all my strength straight into his groin.

He drops to the ground like a stone. He’s in so much pain he’s not even able to speak. He just lays there moaning in pain while holding what I’m sure is his tiny penis. There are shocked gasps from the guys watching.

I look down at him. “Touch me or my stuff again and I’ll castrate you.”

I turn on my heel and walk into school to the sound of his friends laughing loudly behind me.

I
t’s finally Friday night, there’s no school for two days, and I’m standing at the back of the room in a house that I’ve never been to before, staring at the bottle of tequila in my hand. I must admit the first few sips burnt the back of my throat, but now I like it, now it actually tastes good. I’m not much of a drinker but Charlie handed me this bottle when I turned up at the party, and I must admit it’s doing wonders for my confidence. Usually, I’d be standing here on my own feeling self-conscious that Charlie is nowhere to be found. I came with Sam, but her parents are so strict she barely gets a chance to see Chris on her own, and I don’t want to bug them. But instead of feeling awkward and alone, I’m casually surveying the scene and taking in what I see.

The door opens and Ryan Jackson walks in with Jake.

What the hell? Are you serious?
 The reason I avoid all McAllister parties is because I don’t want to see people I know from school, and here I am at a Madison party and in walks my arch nemesis and his best friend. Okay, so I know I get along with Jake, but still, I’m adding to the effect.

I watch them as they make their way through the room. A girl with red hair lets out a squeal when she sees them and makes a beeline for Ryan, hugging him tightly when she gets close.

Geez, get a grip.

Ryan looks up and our eyes meet. Surprise crosses his face, but he quickly recovers. I must be drunk because I don’t turn away instantly and watch as he nudges Jake and nods in my direction. A grin spreads across Jake’s face and they both start walking toward me.

Shit.
Too late do I realize that now I’m actually going to have to talk to them. So, of course, I do the only sensible thing I can think of and turn my back to them like I haven’t seen them at all.

“Becca.”

Maybe if I don’t acknowledge them, they’ll go away.

“Becca?”

Again, I just stand there.

“For fuck’s sake, Becca. Turn around. We know you saw us.”

Okay, so I’m going to have to turn around or look like even more of an idiot. I can still save this. “Oh. Hello, I didn’t see you there.”

Ryan’s face breaks out into a huge grin. “Right.” I choose not to dignify this with an answer and look pointedly away. “Such an attitude, McKenzie!” he continues.

Jake takes over (which is always best), “We don’t usually see you at these parties.”

“Yes, well I choose not to go to McAllister parties because I’m not sure I like the caliber of people I see there.” I’m hoping I sound aloof; the fact that I’m swaying slightly is hopefully not giving away my drunken state.