Standing Still

Chapter 9: Parties are Good for Something

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I REACHED A THOUSAND READS THIS WEEK. I AM DEAD. (But, I stayed alive enough to write this chapter.)

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Aiden stood up.

He stretched out his jaw, winced a little, and then turned around to face the tall, solid boy in front of him. The boy was at least twice Aiden's size. It wasn't that Aiden was small - he was about average height, and average build - but this guy was just so huge. Individually, he was double the size of every person in this room.

"Do you really want to do this, Jason?" Aiden asked almost tiredly. He ran a hand over his face, as if this was all more exhausting than angering.

The boy - Jason - didn't put his fist down. He gave a wry smile that made my stomach turn. He stepped forward to poke Aiden in the chest, and he stumbled a little as reaction. He was obviously drunk, and Aiden knew that, I was sure. He could've easily taken him. Jason was much bigger, sure, but all his senses were thrown off, and Aiden was quick. If he just got in a good punch, it would be over with.

"Are you kidding me?" Jason gave a short, breathy laugh. "I've been waiting to do this ever since Brooke dumped you, for me. I bet it kills you, huh? Seeing her so happy without you?"

Aiden was still, other than the tightening of his fist. I cringed without even thinking about it, pulling my arms around myself protectively. He could hit him so easily. Probably half the people in this house wanted him to. I wished he wouldn't.

"She never even loved you, you know." Jason's speech was slurred now, and his eyelids were falling rapidly and heavily. "Because you- you were never good enough." It was bad enough to hear all this about not being good enough. But the fact that Jason was in effect saying that he was better had to be a real slap in the face. I waited for the punch to come and for the fists to start flying.

You know when you pass an accident on the road, and you know you shouldn't look, you know it will just make you feel sick to your stomach, but you can't help it, and you look anyway? That was how I was feeling now. I felt that something bad was about to happen, and I wanted to run out of the room so I didn't have to see it. But I couldn't. I couldn't just leave Aiden there all by himself. He was surrounded by many people, but still, I felt like none of them had an obligation to be there as much as I did. I should've been there for him. And so I was.

Aiden clenched both fists. His jaw tightened, he took a small step forward, and I squeezed my eyes shut. But I didn't hear any skin on skin contact. When I peeked an eye open, I saw an expression on Aiden's face that I'd never seen before. He looked distressed. Sad. Not even angry. He stared at the boy with eyes that were not narrowed, and he slowly let his fists uncurl. I saw him take a small, steadying breath, and then he said, "I'm going to get some air," and he pulled open the doors that led to the back porch, stepping outside.

Jason threw his arms up in the air and cheered exaggeratedly, like he'd just won that fight. A pretty, blonde haired girl walked up to him with worry in her eyes, and she grabbed his arm. "What is wrong with you?" she hissed, and he laughed.

"Just messing around," he answered, but her face burned bright red with anger. She started to stomp away, but he grabbed her arm. "Don't follow me!" she ordered, and he let her go. That's Brooke, probably, was my first thought. My second was If she's so upset with her boyfriend, why didn't she try to stop this whole thing earlier, not after it was already done? Jason followed her.

Dylan was still right in front of me, and if I wanted, I could've started talking to him. But I couldn't get Aiden's face out of my mind - his broken, hurt expression - and I knew I needed to talk to him. I wasn't sure what I was even going to say, exactly, but I just knew that I needed to say something.