SORROW WOODS (31 page)

“Is this your first party ever then?”

She nods. “What are you doing with those dice?”

The girl blinks up at Serena and then I feel her burning gaze fall down on me. “It’s a drinking

game. The dice determines what you do.”

Serena nods towards the number two. “What do you do if you roll a two?”

The girl sniggers. “You kiss the person on your right.”

Serena’s face crinkles in confusion. “What if they don’t want to be kissed?”

The girl shrugs. “Then they drink. The idea is that this game will get you as drunk as possible

while making a fool out of you.”

Serena blinks. “Oh.”

Mike chooses this moment to finally peel his face away from the girl that’s been clinging on

to him all night. I watch his eyes breeze across me before they settle on Serena. They widen at the same time that his jaw drops open.

“Mike,” I say, shaking my head, “don’t.”

He blinks and then turns to me with his mouth still hanging open. “Serena?” he asks.

He doesn’t need to say anymore. I nod. “Mike, this is Serena.” I turn to Serena and say, “This is Mike, my best friend.”

She leans across the table and extends her hand. She doesn’t know she’s doing it, but the

way she leans over the table gives everyone the chance to look right down her dress at her breasts that sit plump and juicy in a purple bra. I briefly wonder if she’s wearing matching knickers. Mike is still looking down her top, and when I come to my senses and figure out that I don’t want him

looking at her breasts, I clear my throat loudly.

He blinks and readjusts his eyes to her hand, which he shakes. “It’s nice to finally meet you,”

he says, smirking at me. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Serena pulls her hand back and stands up. I watch the way that all of the boys seated around

the table follow her every move. I’m not sure how I feel about them looking at her like that. In one sense, it makes me proud because she’s sort of mine, but in another I know she’s not. She could

have any of them if she wanted and there’s nothing I could do to stop it.

I’m suddenly aware of the thoughts that are circling around my head and how dangerous they

are. I walk over towards the sink and pour myself a large glass of water that I down in one gulp. As I drink, I watch Mike pass Serena a cocktail that looks a lot like a Strawberry Daiquiri. Serena has probably never tasted alcohol before and she certainly won’t know her limits. I have to leave. I have to take a cold shower or something.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I say. Serena looks up at me and nods. The others look at me

and frown in confusion. “Where’s Bethany?” I ask, looking around.

“She saw some of her friends, so she’s gone to say hello.”

“Right,” I mumble.

Serena frowns again. “Are you alright, Kaiden?”

I nod. “I’m fine. Don’t go anywhere.”

“She’ll be fine,” laughs Mike. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

I nod and push past them all, sprinting up the stairs. I don’t want to leave her, but I have to.

I’ll be five minutes. Nothing can happen in five minutes. I carry on past the family bathroom and up to the third floor to my bedroom. I stride into my en-suite and flick the shower on. Whilst the water is running, I turn the cold-water tap on at the sink and splash my face. As the droplets plop down my face, I lean my head down and open my mouth, letting the water gush right in and down my throat.

I have to lean on the sink to steady myself. I feel the coldness of the tiled floor seep into my

feet as I pull myself out of my jeans and pull my t-shirt over my head. I stare at my body in the mirror and wish I knew what Serena was thinking when she looked at me. Does she even like me in that

way? She must, I think, or else she wouldn’t have been so upset when she found out that I had a

girlfriend.

Why have I let her affect me in this way when I know it’s pointless? When Zak asked me about

her, I know that the answer I gave him was the honest one. I know I’m too different from her and

she’s too innocent for me. We wouldn’t work, and although I know this deep down, I still can’t stop thinking about her and trying to figure out what I can do to make us work. I look up and laugh at myself. I shake my head and step into the shower, closing my eyes as the water washes over my

face.

When I walk back downstairs, I realise my earlier assumption that nothing could happen in

five minutes was wrong. Glancing at the clock, I also realise that I was gone closer to thirty minutes instead of five. I push past the throngs of people in the living room and into the kitchen, where I find Mike and a few of the others still seated around the table, but no Serena.

“Where is she?” I ask, jabbing him in his side. He lifts his head up from off the table and

yawns in my face.

He frowns. “Where’s who?”

“Serena,” I snap, still feeling the effects of my multiple beers despite my shower, “where is

she?”

Mike blinks like I’ve just asked him a long division question. It pisses me off. “You said you’d

keep an eye on her,” I hiss.

Mike sighs. “She’s gone outside with Greg and Andy. She’ll be fine.” He lets his head flop

back down onto the table and I know I’m wasting my time.

I ignore the stares that are being thrown my way and push through the sliding glass doors,

stepping onto the paved patio. My eyes scan over the different groups of people until I spot her hair long, beautiful blonde hair trailing down her back. As I stride towards her, I can’t stop myself from thinking about how easy it would be for me to slide behind her, push her hair aside, and press my lips to her soft skin.

When I finally get close enough to her, I realise that she is completely surrounded by guys.

Half of them are from the soccer team and the other half are guys from another school.

“Hadn’t you ever seen a boy before Kaiden appeared in the woods then?” Andy asks her,

smiling.

I watch her shake her head. Her silky smooth hair swooshes and glides over her shoulders.

“I think it’s quite fitting that it happened to be Kaiden that found you in Sorrow Woods. He’s

a sorrowful kind of guy.”

I hate Andy right now. I hate that he thinks that it’s okay to talk shit about me in my own

house.

“Haven’t you ever kissed a boy before then?” he continues.

Serena picks up her glass which isn’t filled with red anymore, and takes a big, long sip. I need

to stop her from drinking. Most girls are drunk after two cocktails, never mind someone that has

never touched a drop of alcohol before.

“That’s enough,” I growl. All of their eyes flash up to mine as is they’ve sensed a new threat.

“You don’t get to ask Serena questions like that.”

“Oh yeah?” says Andy, standing up until he’s almost level with me. “And what’s it to you

what I say to her?”

I glance down at Serena whose bright green eyes blink at me. She looks tipsy. “She’s not the

sort of girl that you ask those questions, Andy. If you want to make a play, then go inside. There’s a bunch of girl’s in there that are desperate for some male attention.”

“I’m quite happy here actually, thanks.” He nods towards Serena. “I’m enjoying the view.”

Serena picks her glass up, but I lean down and remove it from her hands. “Leave it,” I tell

her. “You don’t need anymore.”

I place it back down onto the table and stand back up to face Andy. He blinks at me, looks at

the drink, looks at Serena, and then puts the glass back into her hand.

The bastard is deliberately trying to get her drunk.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I spit. “I told you to leave her alone.”

“Fuck you,” he says. “She’s not yours, is she? She can make up her own mind up about who

she wants to speak to. Can’t you, Serena?”

He half turns and brushes his hand down Serena’s face until his thumb is underneath her jaw.

He tips her head up and she lets him. She clearly has no idea what’s going on here. When he starts to lean his head down, I don’t quite know what he’s doing at first, until I watch his eyes fall onto her lips.

“Andy,” I growl. He is not going to kiss her and if he does, it’ll have to be over my dead body.

The spark ignites inside of me, and in an instant the red mist descends. I’m angrier than I’ve

been in a long time. I know this, even as I pull my arm back and throw it into his face, hearing the familiar and satisfying crack. He stumbles backwards, looking dazed and confused. I pull back and throw my knuckles into his face again.

He knows what I’m like when I get angry, and he knew he was goading me, which is why I

think he deserves everything that I give him. No one, and I mean no one, gets to use Serena like that.

They can’t just go around being her first kiss when it means nothing to them. How fucking dare they?

After the fifth punch, I feel someone grab onto my arm and I know they’re trying to stop me,

but I don’t want them to. I snap my hand back until I feel it connect with someone and then push

them away. Just as my fingers start to pull away, I feel a slip of silk and freeze.

When I spin around, Bethany is pulling Serena up off the floor. Serena looks at me with tears

wobbling in her eyes and a cut to the forehead that slowly dribbles blood down her face.

“Serena,” I huff breathlessly, the anger instantly dissolving inside of me. I hear Andy

groaning on the floor next to me, but ignore him as I step towards her.

“I didn’t mean to,” I begin, “I didn’t know it was you.” There’s a crowd that’s gathered around

me, and I can feel their judging eyes and disapproving faces on every inch of my skin.

Bethany snatches Serena away from me and prods me in my chest. “Kaiden Matthews, when

will you ever learn?”

I shake my head, not quite believing what I’ve done. “It was an accident. I didn’t know it was

her.”

“That’s beside the point though, isn’t it?” Bethany pulls Serena away from me. “Leave her

alone, Kaiden. She doesn’t need anyone that’s mental in her life, which means she doesn’t need

you.”

I hold my hand out towards her. “Serena, just let me see your face.”

She sniffs and slowly shakes her head. “I’m fine. I know you didn’t know it was me, and I

shouldn’t have stepped in like that. I just didn’t want you hurting him anymore,” she says, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“You’re nuts, Kaiden,” Bethany hisses. “You’ve always been nuts, and I think you always will

be. What kind of guy hits his own brother in the head with a baseball bat? What sort of guy takes drugs and gets into a fight that leaves a boy in a coma because he was so high he couldn’t even

remember hitting him in the first place? Who acts like that and thinks that it’s okay to be friends with someone like Serena? She’s nothing like you Kaiden, and you’re nowhere near good enough for

her. Maybe she wanted to kiss Andy. Have you even asked her?”

Drugs? What is she talking about? I may have been drunk off my ass from whiskey, but I’ve

never taken drugs. I might be stupid, but I’m not
that
stupid. She needs to shut up. Why is she yelling at me and telling everyone my business?

“I’m not like that anymore,” I say defensively.

Bethany nods towards the floor. I turn my head and stare at the bloody mess of Andy’s face.

My face flames with shame. I’m embarrassed that Serena has seen that side of me.

“I’m sure Andy disagrees with you right now,” she says.

I shake my head. “Andy will be fine. I didn’t even hit him that hard.”

“You’re mental, Kaiden.”

I step towards Serena, trying to ignore Bethany, and hating the fact that I feel like I’m going

to cry. I want to hold her. I want her to hold me.

“I’m so sorry,” I say and then turn, stalking away from them all. I want everyone to leave. I

want to be on my own.

I sprint up the stairs and lie on my bed, staring at the ceiling. My hand is throbbing from the

repeated impact with Andy’s face, and there’s a lump in my throat that makes me feel like I’ve got food stuck there. I’m pissed off and angry and there’s a horrible, heavy ache in my chest. I hate myself. I close my eyes, hoping that when I open them, I’ll realise that this was all just a bad dream and that I didn’t just smack Serena in the face.

After a few minutes, I hear the familiar creak of the hinges on my door. When I feel a hand

brush up my arm, my eyes snap wide open.

“Get out. I’m not in the mood,” I sigh.

Anastasia grins and hands me a tumbler full of brandy. “I know you’re not in the mood,

which is why you need to drink this. It’ll get you in the mood and fast.”

I wordlessly take it from her and gulp it down. When I hand the empty glass back to her, she

raises her eyebrows at me. “I can’t believe you were fighting again, Kaiden. I thought you’d grown out of all that.”

“Shut up,” I huff. I’m tired of her and her mind games.

“No, you misunderstand me. It turned me on seeing the old you. You’ve gone soft recently.”

“I haven’t gone soft,” I say angrily. “I’ve just realised that fighting doesn’t always get you

what you want.”

She laughs. “Well, it certainly didn’t get you Serena, did it? And we all know that’s what you

really want.”

“I’m not talking to you about Serena.”

“Oh yeah,” she sighs, slumping down on my bed. “I’d forgotten she’s a touchy subject for

you.”

“Just go, Anastasia.”

She sighs again, running her nails up the insides of my arm. I shiver involuntarily. “Didn’t you

ever love me, Kai?”

I fold my arms behind my head. “No.”

“Do you love her?” she hisses.

“I said that I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Come on, Kaiden, spit it out. It must be killing you to keep it all bottled up inside of you.”

“It isn’t any of your business any more, Anastasia.”