Between You & Me || Luke & Jai Brooks

Chapter XI - Keeping Secrets

Luke does sleep over, but nothing happens and when I wake up he's gone. I stretch out and yawn loudly. It's Saturday morning. Well, afternoon. Today's the day. The day of the party.

It's 12:30pm, so I get up and make brunch first of all. I text Luke to tell him I have a family gathering tonight so I won't be free or at home. He replies sweetly and adds a row of kisses at the end. He involuntarily is making me feel more and more guilty.

I start to get ready at 3, because Tracey is picking me up at 6. By 5:30, I'm ready.

I cant believe I'm actually doing this. I'm sneaking behind Luke's back. I make eye contact with my image in the mirror and try not to cringe. I never wear this amount of makeup, nor this short a dress. I've had this dress for years, it's probably two sizes too small, but I was blessed with a tiny waist and have no trouble fitting it. The only problem is the length of my legs. I pull my eyes away from my reflection. "Ugh, I can't do this." I say aloud. My phone buzzes on cue from my nightstand.

To: Meghan
From: Traceyy
Message: just left d house chickey ill b there in 5 x

"Fuck!" I yell, knowing it's pointless. It stills feels good to vent out my rage though. If I must go, I'll at least change. I decide, pulling out a loose, silky top and my favourite pair of dark wash skinny jeans. There's no time to change my makeup, so I guess I'm going as a slut for tonight. It might do me some good to be a different person for a night. My life is pretty hectic right now, I'll forget everything for the night. Start fresh.

There's a sharp knock on the door and I squeeze my feet into my black heels while yelling, "Let yourself in!" down the hall.

The door clicks open and I hear Tracey yell, "Hey chick! Are youse ready?"

"Luke can't manage, sorry! I forgot to tell you!" I reply apologetically, the guilt eating me from the inside. All I want now is Luke, to just sit on the sofa with him eating pizza and watching movies. The taste of his lips on mine, the feel of his hands... I have to stop thinking this shit, stat. This is not gonna help me.

"That's fine, girl. We'll have a girly night then!"

I hold in my reply to that. Because with 800+ people invited, not including +1s, I really don't think it'll be a girly night.

* * * *

I hear the music from the end of the road where we park, almost an hour away from my house. The air is cold out and I shiver. I hate to think how Tracey must feel in her skimpy little dress. She doesn't even look bothered though. I gaze around the street to see if I can recognise the area. Nothing looks familiar. I can't even remember which way we went from my house. I accidentally make eye contact with a dark haired boy across the road, and he stares me up and down. Disgusted, I turn my eyes back to Trace and pick up my pace to match hers.

The house looms in front of us, making me more and more anxious. There's a hole in the glass beside the front door and a large paperweight is lying on the front lawn directly in front of it. Holy shit.

We're both handed drinks as we walk in, a brownish sort of liquid in one of those infamous red plastic cups. Where do people even buy these things? I wonder as I follow Tracey. I pour my drink in a pot plant as I walk past it and hold the cup up to my lips as if drinking. Whatever was in there smelt like shit.

I brush up against someone and turn to apologise, finding to my horror the boy from across the road. He leers at me, and I snap my head back to Tracey, only to see an empty corridor. Just great. I keep walking the same way, hoping to find her again but she's nowhere. I don't know where I am and it's dark and crowded. More than ever, I want Luke.

I slowly pull my phone from my skinny jeans, careful not to let it slip, and speed dial Luke.

To my relief, he picks up on the second ring.

"Luke! Oh my god." I whimper into the phone, holding back tears.

"Meghan! Babe, where the hell are you?"

"I'm at a party Luke, and I'm so sorry!"

"What! Why? Actually don't worry, just tell me where and I'll come pick you up."

"I don't know, Luke!" I wail. "Tracey took me, but she's gone. All I know is it took about an hour, and it's a two storey house on the end of a street."

"An hour?! Babe, I don't know how to get there, I don't know where it is!"

I take a few deep breaths. "Okay. It's all okay. I'll ask around for an address, and if I get one, I'll text you. If I don't, I'll leave and find a bus stop or train. Okay?" I realise that I swapped from being calmed to doing the calming down, and a small part of me is amused.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive looking for you?" He asks anxiously through the phone.

"What, everywhere within an hour's radius?! Lukey, baby, I'll be fine. I can manage. You calmed me down, I think I just overreacted a bit. Okay? I love you."

"I love you too. Listen- stay safe. I'm worried for you."

"I'll be fine, Luke. Just calm down."

A beep signified that Luke had ended the call and I stood up and walked into the crowd.

* * * *
Well, that didn't work. No one knows where the hell they are. Or they're only interested in hooking up. Everyone was drunk or high, or both, and I swear I saw that same guy at least 3 times in that 15 minutes. I decide to go find a bus stop, and head out to what I hope is the edge of the crowd. I plan to find a wall and just follow it around until I reach the door.

It doesn't take long until I realise this plan isn't going to work. The amount of times I've been bumped into or compressed between two people is uncountable and I literally have no idea which way I'm going. I'm almost positive the guy from across the road has been following me because he always seems to be within ten metres of me and it's making me uncomfortable. Suddenly, as I look around the room and see only a sea of people, no sign of walls, doors or windows, the reality of the situation hits me. I'm stuck, in a random's house, at god knows where, in a room fucking full of people that are either high as kites or drunk out of their fucking minds.