Living Life in a Downward Spiral

The ride home was short, but filled with tension. I practically dared the woman in the front seat to say something, but she was smart enough to keep her trap shut. When we got home, I was in the house before he could catch up. I slammed and locked the door behind me, glaring at it.

"Stef? That you?" I heard Mom call from the living room.

I didn't get a chance to answer, because there was a sudden banging on the door. "What the hell?" Uncle Brian mumbled, before appearing in the front hall with Uncle Matt.

"What happened to you?" Uncle Matt started to fuss over me after seeing my appearance. "Where's Sarah and Greg?" That's when it hit me.

"Oh God!" I fell to my knees, burring my face in my hands. They were probably picked up by the cops!

Uncle Brian opened the door. "Zack? What're you doing here?" I heard an edge to his voice.

"Stefanie, start explaining." Dad said.

"I think we should see what's wrong first." Uncle Matt grumbled.

"Stay the hell away from me." I hissed at Dad, before getting up and going to the kitchen. I grabbed a few paper towels and wet them, before putting them over the burn on my leg.

"What happened at the party? Is everything ok?" Mom asked, looking me over. She saw the tears starting to well up in my eyes and instantly took me into her arms. "Oh, Baby, what happened?" She asked softly, as she rubbed my back.

"I'm not a murderer." I cried into her shoulder.

She pulled back, looking at me confused. "What?"

So I spilled the whole story. I don't know what made me. I usually keep things to myself. I don't like Mom worrying about me, especially when she has all of this going on right now.

"Crap!" I suddenly realized I needed to talk to Uncle Matt and Uncle Brian. I rushed to the living room, only to see Dad and his playmate were still here. I sent her a harsh glare, before turning to Uncle Brian. "It was all my fault. Don't be mad at him. He was only trying to protect me." I started to babel.

"Whoa, Stef. Calm down. What are you talking about?" He asked, giving me a confused look.

"Greg, he-"

I was cut off by the door slamming open, and Sarah running in. "Greg's in jail!" She yelled frantically.

"What?! Why?" Aunt Michelle asked, jumping up.

"Because of me." I mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"He was just trying to protect you, Stef." Sarah said softly.

I glared harshly at her. "Yeah! After you took me to a party at that asshole's house!"

Tears started to gloss over her eyes. "I didn't know it was his party, I swear."

"How can you not know that, Sarah?"

"Alright, you two. Sit down and start explaining." Dad said sternly.

"You have no authority here, ass hole." I hissed.

"Stef." Mom gasped, looking at me with a shocked expression.

"What? Don't just expect me to go running into his arms because of this! He's the one that walked out on us, remember?!"

"Did he do that?" I heard Sarah whisper, not noticing that she had gotten closer to me. Everyone's eyes went down to my leg, trying to figure out what she was staring at.

"Who did that, Stef?" Uncle Matt asked, anger evident in his voice.

I shrugged. "Oh, just the person that decided to ruin my life." I said, before going up to my room and slamming the door behind me.

Why couldn't I just have a normal life?

*Matt's P.O.V.*

"What's going on, Sarah?" I asked my daughter, who looked like she was on the brink of hysterics.

"The party we went to was Landon's, but I had no idea! A few of my friends said they knew the guy, and that it was fine. I didn't think that would happen to Stef." She said, starting to cry into her hands.

"What exactly did he do?" Zack asked carefully, about ready to kick someone's ass.

"I don't know. Stef and I got separated at one point, and the next I know, Landon's yelling at someone to grab her. Greg saw, and pulled me over to them with him. He was just trying to protect her. He shouldn't be the one in jail right now."

"Why was this boy calling Stef a murderer?" Gena asked suddenly. We all turned to look at her questioningly. "She talked to me a little bit in the kitchen. I couldn't understand most of it though..." She said softly.

"Landon was being an ass and calling her a murderer because he has it in his mind that she killed Evan. Then he was accusing her of trying to kill him! Which is total crap! I'll bet anything that it was self defense. She wouldn't burn her own leg like that. I know he did it."

I sighed, wrapping my arms around her. "Let's go home and get cleaned up, yeah?" I said softly, rubbing her back.

"What about Stef? I need to make sure she's ok. It was my fault. I dragged her to the party."

"It's ok, we'll make sure she's ok." Zack said.

I gave him a pointed look. "Maybe it should be you and Gena. Three's a crowd." I said, before getting up. I knew he got the point. I don't even know why he brought his little play toy in. It was killing Gena, I could tell that much. "We'll give her a ride home, since you'll be tied up with your daughter."

"I'm fine." The girl said.

"It wasn't a suggestion." Val spat. The bimbo didn't bother arguing with my wife, which was a good thing. She wasn't going to find any friends here.