Given the Chance

Prologue: Come Rescue Me

Prologue: Come Rescue Me

I sighed, pressing the phone to my ear and holding my hand over my other ear, listening to it ringing over the loud and constant bass booming across the floor.

"Hello?"

I smiled slightly at my best friend's voice. "How much do you love me?" I asked, trying not to yell too loudly over the music. I heard his soft chuckle though the phone.

"I'd bet a lot," Max responded quietly. "You need a ride?"

I sighed gratefully. "You'd be my hero."

He laughed this time. "Then you better start calling me Super Max," he told me. "The usual spot?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see it, as I responded. "I'll be by the front gate."

My best friend let out a noise of approval. "I'll be there in ten, baby."

He said goodbye and I hung up, looking around at the crowd of dancing bodies. I hated parties more than I hated most things in life, and the more I sat here, the more irritated I got that Bryson brought me here. I let out a long huff, before standing and looking for the blonde-haired boy.

It didn't surprise me when I found him in the kitchen with two girls on either side of him, a drink in his hand and alcohol on his breath. I rolled my eyes as he spotted me, giving me a drunk, yet somehow still sexy, lopsided grin.

"Tally!" he laughed loudly. I sighed.

"Please don't call me that," I spoke. "You know there's only one person allowed to call me that."

He scoffed, and I sighed again. "Bryson, I'm leaving," I told him flatly. "You can call me tomorrow when you're sober."

Bryson laughed again, though it had a cruel edge to it. "Talia, you don't have a ride," he spoke, staggering over to me. "Don't pull that shit with me."

I scoffed; God, he was drunk. "Max is coming to get me," I told him. "I don't know why you care, anyway. It's not like we're dating."

Bryson's face became cold, and I felt triumphant. "Like I said," I began. "Call me when you're sober."

I turned on my heel and stalked away from him, making my way towards the front door. It smelled like booze and sweat and honestly I just wanted out of there.

I crossed the large lawn towards the street, where a wrought iron gate stood between the yard and the road. The house was one I'd been to a number of times with Bryson, and I hated it more and more every time I came back. It belonged to one of Bryson's long time friends, though I couldn't say I really much cared for it. The party scene was never my style, and having been here countless times with a drunk significant other I needed to drag into the car every night didn't help the case.

I slowly slid through the bars of the gate, using my small stature to my advantage as I pulled myself through. I grinned at the person I saw waiting for me, letting out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding as I watched Max curl further into his leather jacket against where he leaned on the brick wall beside the gate.

"Hey, baby," he greeted me, offering me his arm. I smiled gratefully, wrapping my hand around his hard bicep and walking beside him towards his car a little ways down the road.

"Hey," I responded, feeling the chill through my jeans and sleeveless top. "No plans with Danielle tonight?"

My best friend sighed, kicking a rock at his feet. "She was at my place for a while, but then her friend called and she left to go spend the night with her."