Damage

Chapter 6

Luke’s eyes scan me up and down, briefly, before nodding a greeting towards me. He turns indifferently back to his beer, leaning against the opposite counter and taking a sip.

His head slowly turns towards the door leading out of the kitchen, towards the source of the party and his face twists into a grimace as he takes another sip of his beer. He's obviously agitated, his eyes narrowed as he sets the bottle down on the counter.

“If it’s too loud out there and you still can’t find your friends, you can stay here,” Calum offers, taking a glimpse at his Rolex to check the time 

“No, no fucking way,” Luke interrupts, clearing his throat. I’m suddenly self-conscious and note how out of place I must look, standing in a white dress with the dried remnants of my previous panicky tears still on my cheeks. “We don’t need another crying girl on our hands,” he scoffs. 

Calum glares at Luke, subtly gesturing towards me as a warning to Luke – like I can’t notice. 

“No, it’s alright. I’ll find my way back to my dorm.” I interject, forcing a knot down my throat and shooting them a tight smile, fighting back the tears. I don’t really want to think about having to walk or take a bus back to campus. Especially since I have no idea where Emily, Michael or the rest of my “friends” are. 

For some reason, I think about calling my brother. It’s late, but I haven’t spoken with him in a while and even though he’s barely 8 years old, he’s the type of person who's really good to talk to. That is, if he’d even answer the phone, which I doubt he would – not after the way I left things.

“Why are you leaving? You can’t leave like this, please.”

I caught the first flight to New York City that I could get, which meant changing my flight to almost a week earlier than planned and a four-hour layover in Washington, D.C. When I walked out of my childhood home without looking back, I made a promise to myself: that I wouldn’t regret leaving and that I’d be happier at college. Now, I’m not so sure.

“No, it’s late. It’s not safe, you can just stay here,” Calum assures me, glaring at Luke who’s standing there, pulling a box of cigarettes from his back pocket, clearly uninterested in this conversation.

I glance at my phone, hoping to see any missed calls or messages, but the screen is blank.  I take my purse in my hands and look over at Luke who’s taking a drag from his cigarette, the smell making me want to crinkle my nose. The thought of walking the streets alone scares me a little, but I have to do it. Especially now that I know the host of this party doesn’t have one compassionate bone in his body.

 “Luke, what’s going on? We all - ”

I turn my head at the interruption and am faced with a girl standing in the doorway that Luke first came out of, the air smoky in the room behind her as she closes the door. She has a diamond necklace hanging from her neck and the kind of aura about her that radiates confidence and wealth and beauty. She looks like one of the girls from my mother’s magazines that I used to read when I was little.

“Who is she she?” she questions, looking me up and down and smirking. 

“Blaire, this is Mia.” Calum introduces, running his hands through his hair and sighing.  “She’s from Georgia and she’s a freshman.”

Blaire looks me up and down and laughs lightly. “Why is she even here?” she asks, like I’m not even standing in the room.

I look around and quickly grab my things, suddenly embarrassed. As Blaire stares me down like I’m a stain on her dress, I feel my eyes start to water and suddenly wish I hadn’t come. I obviously don’t belong here.

I can feel it in my chest, the gradual knot that starts to pound through my ribcage. It's crawling up from the pit of my stomach – a group of nerves rippling up to my eyes and forming tears that threaten to fall.

“Are you going to cry?” Blaire raises both her brows. 

I shake my head quickly. “No, no. I’m fine.” I look over at Calum whose hand is resting at the back of his neck, obviously stressed. “I was...I was actually just leaving. Sorry to bother you. Have a nice night!” 

I scramble to collect my things, pushing hard against the door into the living room and stumbling into the smoke-filled space, the music pounding so loud that I can almost feel the floor vibrate. I feel bad about not closing the door behind me, but I couldn’t stand the thought of them seeing me cry.

I push my way towards the door out of this lush penthouse, feeling tears start to fall in little droplets down my face before wiping away at them furiously. I'm nearly at the door when I hear a low voice calling above the music.

"Wait, Wait!" he shouts, the sound coming closer. "Don't go," he says frustratedly, grabbing onto my arm and turning me towards him. Even in the darkness, I can make out who it is. Luke. 

"You can...You can stay in my room."

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