innocent // biersack (on hold)

5. new faces

I watched out the window as Andy turned the car into a part of town I had never seen before. Judging by the way it looked, I was glad I had never seen it before. Trash littered the streets, with girls dressed provocatively smoking on the street corners. I immediately felt myself get nervous. This part of town looked extremely shady, and I began to worry about my safety.

Andy must have sensed my worry, because he spoke up.

"Hey, look, I know it's not what you're used to or anything, but it's a cool place." He glanced at me through the mirror. "I promise, you'll be safe. If anything goes down, I'll protect you."

I still wonder how the words of a stranger put me at so much ease.

When he said he'd protect me, I believed him. Regardless that we had just met, his words felt like a warm blanket over me.

I felt.... Safe with him.

No, stop Arabella. You just met him, it was crazy to trust him. I told myself that I would need to be on guard all night. I would call a taxi if I needed to. After all, Andy was basically a stranger, and his friends were actually strangers. My mother's voice scolding me with her infamous "Stranger danger!" ran through my head.

My thoughts were interuppted as we pulled in front of a small, run down looking house. It was surrounded by chainlink fence, with a sidewalk leading to the front door.  It was only one floor, and looked quite small.The tacky, old yellow paint was peeling off the exterior of the house, and one of the main windows in the front had a large crack in it.

I could feel a radar going off in my mind, screaming that this was dangerous and I should go home, but I couldn't bring myself to tell Andy to drive me home or that I was going to call a taxi.

"So this is Jake's house." Andy informed, turning the car off and shoving his keys into his pocket. "This is where we usually go to party. I know it looks a little...."

"Shady?"

"Yeah, shady. But Jake is a great guy, you'll be safe here." Andy placed his hand on my leg, causing my heartbeat to speed up as his icy blue eyes shot into mine.

"Trust me."

And as much as I didn't want to, a small part of me did.

I nodded, and Andy grinned.

"Great! You're gonna have a blast, I promise."

I smiled a bit, my heart practically pounding out of my chest as I climbed out of Andy's car. He greeted me with a warm smile, placing his hand at the small of my back once again. We made our way to the chainlink fence, where Andy opened the gate for me.

"M'lady." He said in a snobbish voice, gesturing through the rundown gate. I laughed.

"Wow, such a gentleman!"

Andy smirked, giving off a little half smile. "I try, Arabella. I try. Especially for pretty ladies like yourself."

I tried to hide the blush rising to my cheeks, with no success. Was he flirting with me? And being an actual gentleman? If so, I had severely misjudged him. With his tattoos and bad boy look, I expected him to be an asshole and a player. And yet here he was, being sweet and polite and gentlemanly.

I walked through the gate, Andy following closely behind. I felt his fingers brush against mine before he quickly shoved his hands in his pockets. Was he considering... Holding my hand?

I swallowed thickly, trying to hide the fact that I was shaking like a leaf. I was so nervous, I had never even been to a party in high school, let alone a party in a rundown part of town that i barely knew.

My heartbeat sped up as we walked to the door and Andy rang the doorbell. I could hear the bass of loud music pounding behind the door.

The door swung open, and I was faced with one of the guys that Andy had been in the parking lot with the first day I saw him. He was tall, with shoulder length black hair and arms full of tattoos. He grinned at us with a large smile, it was nearly contagious and I felt my nerves calm a bit at the sight of his face being so friendly looking.

"Andy!!!" He exclaimed, giving Andy one of those strange "bro hugs". Andy grinned, hugging him back.

"Hey Jake, how's it going??"

"Oh it's great, I'm glad you guys could make it!" Jake said, glancing over at me. He raised an eyebrow.

"Who's this?"

I opened my mouth, prepared to introduce myself, but Andy beat me to it.

"This is my date, Arabella."

I felt my heart speed up and my breath catch in my throat.

Date...?

This was a date?? I was his date?? I didn't even know if I had feelings for him; I'd only known him a day or two! And nevertheless, he never even asked if I wanted to go on a date...

I didn't know what to say or how to feel.

Jake interrupted my thoughts by sticking his hand out and smiling, "Hi Arabella, nice to meet you! I'm Jake."

I swallowed thickly, "Uhm, it's just Bella. And its nice to meet you as well, here, with my uh.... Date, Andy."

And cue the awkward silence and a few moments of me dying inside.

Jake coughed, moving out of the way, "Uh, anyways... Come on in!"

Andy looked at me reassuringly, and he took my hand. I felt a funny feeling in my stomach when he touched me.

He led me inside, and I was immediately so overwhelmed that I felt my heart stop.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. It was pretty early in the night, around 9, and yet the room smelt strongly of sweat and alcohol. The lights were dim, so the room had a dusty yellow colour to it. We had walked into the living room, which had dusty old carpet and a couple of couches, along with a small TV that looked a decade old.

There were so many people. People on the couches, people standing around the couches, people in the kitchen right by the living room. There easily had to be 100 people just in the two rooms I could see.

And I was terrified of all of them.

You see, every person I could see was covered in tattoos, had their faces pierced, had crazy coloured hair or all of the above. They all looked intimidating, and terrified me. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Andy.

"Hey, you okay?"

I bit my tongue and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... This is... Different."

Our conversation was cut short by a yell in unision.

"ANDY!!!"

I looked over to the group of people it had come from, and then I looked to Andy, who had a massive grin on his face as he took my hand.

"Come on, I want you to meet my friends."

----

LOL ITS LEGIT BEEN A YEAR WHOOPS IM SO SORRY

HIGH SCHOOL HAS FUCKED ME OVER HONESTLY I HAVE NO TIME IM SO SORRY IMMA TRY AND UPDATE WHENEVER I CAN BECAUSE I LOVE THIS FIC AND YOU GUYS

-bretton