Second Chances (5 page)

*Luke*

Panic had set in the minute I
heard the concern in Sophia’s voice when
Zoey
called
her. We had been at my house playing pool my dad had a business trip which
meant he would be gone the entire weekend and mom went along. She told me I
could have a few friends over so that is what I had planned not a party just a
small group. I wanted to be able to spend some time with
Zoey
and let her get to know me a little better with the hopes that she would soon
give me a chance to take her out. When I saw the scared look on Sophia’s face I
knew something had happened. “
Soph
what’s wrong is
Zoey
okay?” She pulled her mouth away from the phone and
mouthed. “Crying so hard I can’t understand her.”  I didn’t give her a
chance to continue to try I grabbed the phone and started questioning her.
Sophia was right she was crying so hard. Hearing her formed a lump in my throat
and I had to fight passed it. She finally gave me a place to find her and I
dropped the phone I thought I knew which Quick Mart she is talking about I
didn’t know exactly where she lived but by talking to Sophia I had an idea. As
I ran out the door Sophia and Evan were right behind me jumping into my car
too.
Soph
kept her on the phone talking but from the
sounds of it
Zoey
wasn’t really doing much on the
other end of the line. After passing the Quick Mart once and spinning quickly
to go back we pulled in next to her car. She looked lost crying staring off to
who knows where. I jumped out and ran to her car. I tried to open the door but
it was locked. Knocking on the window she still just cried and appeared dazed.
After knocking continuously she finally looked over at me and my chest
tightened and that familiar lump formed once again in my throat. She opened the
door I couldn’t help it I grabbed her and drug her out of her car looking her
over for any signs that someone hurt her. I found nothing I felt relieved but
yet confused. I pulled her to me tightly but still had no idea what was going
on. I heard her whisper something but I wasn’t ready to let her go yet. I knew
that I wasn’t sure if this girl was ever going to give me a chance to prove I
could be one of the good guys but I sure as hell had no intentions of proving
to be anything else but that for her. I wanted to try so badly. I was willing
to do my damnedest to try. I wanted to give all of me to
Zoey
and I knew at that moment that is wasn’t just about sex not even close. I
turned to Evan and told him to follow me with
Zoey’s
car and I took her by the hand to my car putting her carefully in and closing
the door we drove back to my house. She stared out the window the entire way
there and I just let her have her time. I just felt like I should do something
but I had no idea what.

Sophia took her upstairs to the
bathroom and they had been up there for what felt like forever. “Hey Evan
should we check on them? Do you think everything is okay?” I couldn’t shake the
urge to try and fix everything for her. Before Evan could answer me Sophia came
out of the door and down the steps. I watched her as she approached us, “First
are we all staying here tonight?” I just nodded “Good I need something hard to
drink and two glasses. My girl needs to get drunk and fast” I could tell Sophia
had also been crying. Evan stood and placed his arm around her shoulders. I
asked her if
Zoey
was going to be okay. She told me
yes eventually but it would take time. I nodded and went off to get something
for them to drink. I brought back orange juice a bottle of Vodka and one
Whiskey with two glasses. “I wasn’t sure what to bring” holding them both out
to Sophia. She took the orange juice Vodka and the two cups and went back up
the stairs. I turned to Evan and Blake who had now joined us on the couch to
play PlayStation. I handed my controller off to Blake I really wasn’t in the
mood to play.

There was only about fifteen
people give or take a few. A lot of guys from our team showed up who had also
brought their girlfriends. My phone had been vibrating in my pocket but I chose
to ignore it I knew from looking earlier that Whitney had been continuously
calling. She obviously didn’t take the hint because a few minutes later she
came walking through my door wearing pretty revealing clothing and half-drunk
already dragging her friend behind her as she spotted me on the couch. She
found me quickly and walked over. I started to get up but she pushed on my
chest making me settle back onto the couch. She proceeded to climb onto my lap
straddling me and bringing her mouth to mine. I pulled away and pushed her
back.  I pushed up off the couch only causing her to fall to one side as I
walked into the kitchen to get another beer. She followed right behind “What’s
wrong
Lukey
need a few more beers before we get it
on,” she laughed and fell into my chest trying again to kiss me. I just grabbed
her wrists “Whitney just stop please I’m not interested. This right here
whatever we got going on it’s over. I’m done.” She looked at me for a few
seconds like she was attempting to focus “Who is she? You
gotta
have a new toy lined up to push me away.” I just shook my head “It isn’t like
that Whit she is not a toy I really care about her and I want to do it right
this time…Sorry.”  For a second she appeared sober and serious “Luke you
are a good guy you just don’t give yourself enough credit. I know it’s the girl
from last weekend the cute little blonde from Texas was it…don’t hurt her Luke
she seemed really sweet and innocent. She deserves a guy to respect her and her
feelings. Be good to her.” Then she turned to leave I hollered after her “Hey
Whitney you deserve a good guy to
ya
know.” She just
smiled and winked “Nah I like the bad boys,” then she was off.

I found my way back to the living
room and fell back onto the couch when I looked over at Evan and Blake they
were both staring. Blake spoke first “Dude you feeling okay? Are you coming
down with something?” Evan reached out and felt my head, “You aren’t hot but
there has got to be something wrong you just turned away a half dressed Whitney
who wanted to have sex…she is the one girl who gives you sex and then expects
nothing more.” I could help but laugh at them, “I’m trying guys…I’m really trying,”
that was about all I could say. I had made up my mind if I wanted to show
Zoey
that I was worth her time I had to straighten my ass
up and start using the head on my shoulders.

I wanted to see her I had to
fight the urge to run up the stairs and knock on the door to check on her. I
just wanted to hold her and help her through whatever it may be she was
struggling with. I would have to wait until she was ready to come out and if
she wanted to talk I would listen…no matter what it was I would listen and be
there for her through it all. Something was telling me she was really going to
need to lean on her friends and I had every intention of being a friend.

*
Zoey
*

Sophia was turning out to be a
truly amazing friend I felt like we had known one another so much longer than a
couple weeks talking to her made me feel at ease. She listened and she didn’t
judge or try to fix it she just listened. She had escaped downstairs after I
had told her what had happened at my house we agreed I needed to get a little
tipsy or maybe even drunk. She came back with a bottle of Vodka, orange juice
and two cups. “Okay let’s get screwed…laughing at her little bartending humor.”
I smiled in return as she poured our drinks. “Luke is so worried about you it
is really kind of cute. I think he has completely worn a path in the floor from
pacing.” I looked up from the floor, “Can I share a secret with you?” After she
nodded her head I continued, “I really think Luke is adorable regardless of all
of his flaws. He smells so…..
good
and it is just really
hard to resist the urge to bury my face in his neck and just nuzzle him. He was
really sweet with me tonight and I saw a side I didn’t really know he had in
there
ya
know...Y’all have known him for a long time
and I am just getting to know him without holding his past against him. I think
I want to do that, just get to know him on our own terms… at our own pace. Is
that just plain crazy?” Sophia had a smile from ear to ear and I knew she
wasn’t going to say anything negative, “I think that if you guys are willing to
start clean and let go of his past then you two would be so adorably cute
together.” We sat there in the bathroom on the floor next to the tub and talked
while we drank. I cried some more about my mom and told her some really great
stories about my daddy. She laughed with me and even cried. We hugged and sang
crazy little song that popped into our heads. We laughed to the point we were
crying. We were doing anything we could to try to lighten the mood. After a
while I was really beginning to notice that things were feeling fuzzy, “Well
Sophers
…I think that I may be officially tipsy if not
slightly drunk.” Giggling I stood up and side stepped bracing myself on the
sink, “Oops on second thought forget tipsy or slightly I would have to so I am
just drunk….” We looked at one another and continued to giggle uncontrollably.
We held on to one another and made our way out of the bathroom using each other
to balance. Once we reached the top of the stairs I suggested that maybe we
should just sit and slide down one by one slowly on our butts. She completely
agreed laughing as we both slowly lowered ourselves to the floor. With our
drinks in our hands we began our long journey down one by one. When we reached
the bottom we both looked up into the eyes of two very attractive guys. The
expressions on their faces were unreadable. I couldn’t tell if they were maybe
shocked or angry. Maybe it was humor so I had to ask, “What’s wrong boys are
you mad at us?” Sophia snorted a little laugh which only caused both of us to
come loose and break out in full blown hysterics. When we were done the looks
on the faces of Evan and Luke only caused more laughter. Evan grabbed Sophia
and helped her up she still had ahold of my arm and started to pull me up with
her. I wasn’t prepared to attempt to stand quit yet and I stumbled a bit as
Luke reached out and pulled me to him wrapping his arm securely around my
waist. I relished in it for a moment. I took a deep breath taking in the
delicious smell of this gorgeous troubled boy. I felt safe at that moment. I
rested my head on his shoulder and felt him pull me just a little tighter to
him. He used his other hand to brush my hair down and left it rested on the
back of my head. I took it in all of it even the stares of the people who I had
assumed hadn’t been a witness to Luke ever being caring toward a girl. A few
girls were glaring and to not have that moment ruined I turned my head so I was
now in the place I had just confessed to Sophia upstairs that I wanted to be. I
was nuzzled into Luke’s neck and it was perfect. I took in a deep breath and
felt him relax just slightly. I don’t know how long we stood like that but it
felt amazing. I had promised myself that I was not going to just fall into his
arms. I had to toughen back up. I slowly began to pull away. “Careful my little
drunk, I don’t want you to fall.” He was trying to reestablish his manly
posture acting as if the moment we had just shared hadn’t affected him in any
way.  I saw the expression all cocky and arrogant, I thought to myself
that there was no way I am going to let him make me appear as this needing
little high school girl he had got stuck babysitting. “I got it Luke, I’m good…I
can walk”. I turned away from him and concentrated very hard on walking to the
kitchen were Evan had taken my partner in crime. Evan had her pinned to the
counter in what was beginning to resemble a Porn flick. I decided to go sit
outside for some fresh air so I grabbed a bottle of water and as I walked by
Sophia I said “You two need to find a room.” Evan just smiled and continued to
kiss his very drunk girlfriend. I found Blake on the back deck with a couple
other people so I leaned against the railing and found my mind wondering back
to the vision of my mother and that man. Tears welled in my eyes making it a
little difficult to keep them from spilling over. I felt someone lean against
the railing next to me, “So what did he say this time?” Blake asked I was sure
he was referring to Luke but I just smiled. “Blake
ya
know what Luke is…just Luke. You know that he’s always trying to make an
impression. This isn’t about Luke though…my life is just shitty right now.” After
a long pause, “My mom cheated on my dad for the last year. He was killed four
months ago in a motorcycle accident when a drunk driver pulled out in front of
him on his way home from work. Now here I am drinking to make it all go away.
Tell me
that’s
not pretty selfish on my part.” I
continued to stare of into the distance and hadn’t noticed that Luke had
approached from behind and heard my confession. The look on both of their faces
seemed to be pity. I don’t need their pity the last thing I wanted was people
to feel sorry for me or act different toward me. Aw the poor little heartbroken
girl from Texas. I hated the way they were standing there motionless looking at
me like they were waiting for the waterworks. I took a breath and smiled “So
Luke where’s the music at I feel like dancing?”

After I found Sophia and pulled
her away from Evan I dragged her along to dance. I needed to get out of my funk
I knew I had to do whatever it was to keep myself going. I refused to shut down
again. Finding what I was looking for I took Sophia’s hand and made her dance
along with me to Yeah by Usher I was feeling a little seductive and it was time
to cut out the drama and enjoy myself.  I wasn’t sure if it was the
alcohol or the way that Luke and all the guys in the room had found their way
to where we were dancing to watch but I was really just playing it all out with
Soph
and she was right along with me. Some other
girls had joined us. There were about six girls dancing all up on one another
completely ignoring the guys. “I am not into the girl on girl thing…seriously I
mean it but this is really
kinda
hot.” Sophia
whispered as we just rolled our bodies with the music. Eventually a few guys
had pulled there girls to them to dance and Evan pulled Sophia away and they
disappeared upstairs. I had a strange feeling my friend was going to be gone
for the rest of the evening. I was on my own still dancing with the music. I
needed to remember to thank
Soph
later for deserting
me. I was really just lost in the music when this guy I had seen earlier
outside with Blake but had no idea who he was found his way up to me and
started dancing with me. I just moved along with him. He was actually a decent
dancer and smooth. It was harmless until he got real close and slid his hand
onto my waist pulling me to him and starting grinding against me. I didn’t
really have the time to reject the advance because Luke was already up behind
me placing each of his hands on my hips pulling me back into him. “Okay Mitch
that’s enough find someone else to grind on.” I turned to face Luke as Mitch
held his hands up in defeat and backed away. I placed my hands on Luke’s chest
and shoved even though he barely moved as I pushed I still jerked away. “What
the hell Luke, I don’t need a god damn babysitter. I’m a big girl.” I walked
away and out the side door of the living room which led down a long hallway. I
could hear him closing in on me from behind. He grabbed my wrist and spun me
around pinning me against the wall. I tried to struggle away but his grip was
fierce. He brought his face very close to mine and he hissed between gripping
teeth “Well I am sure as hell not going to stand on the sidelines while one of
my friends takes you off to one of the bedrooms for a night of fun.” I looked
up at him and I felt my anger rise even more “Who the hell do you think you
are? What if it was you dragging me off for a one night stand then that would
be okay but I can’t dance with some guy without you freaking out. You don’t own
me Luke. I can make my own choices.”  His expression changed slightly and
he looked a little less angry maybe a little hurt and he lowered his voice to
almost a whisper looking down into my eyes, “
Zoey
you
are so much better than that. I can’t sit here and watch some guy drool all
over you and you let it happen because you have been drinking or even if you
weren’t I still can’t watch it.” I brought my mouth to his hard and fast and
put my hands in his hair pulling him into me. I could feel him tense up then he
slowly tried to pull away so I just pulled him to me harder. He was to strong
and I could no longer keep him to me. Once he had torn his lips away from mine
he looked from my lips to my eyes “You are better than this
Zoey
don’t act like a slut.” Wow I felt like he just slapped me. “Fuck you Luke.” I
lashed out. ‘I thought that’s what
ya
liked.
Ya
know those Girls that just wanted sex. No strings just
sex whenever you wanted it.” I was pissed and maybe a little embarrassed. He
gripped my arm dragging me into one of the rooms. Looking around I realized it
must have been his room…it had a lot of trophies and his jersey and football
gear thrown on a chair in the corner. He pushed me down on the bed letting go
of my arm “Sleep this shit off
Zoey
I am not going to
do anything with you and neither is anyone else. I can promise you that. You’re
not going to be waking up tomorrow with regrets. Go to Sleep…NOW!” I turned and
faced the wall. I didn’t want him to see me cry and I yelled back at him,
“YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE!” I heard him shut the door and I then cried myself to
sleep.