Catastrophic

“Come on, Charlotte!” Vespera whined, banging on my door. I shushed her saying that she would wake mom up if she didn’t shut the hell up. I finished putting in my diamond dangle earrings, then went to let her in. I opened the door, and she walked straight in, sitting on my bed. “Cute. Dressing up for Jaaaaaaacob?” I rolled my eyes, going to touch up my makeup in a newly placed full length mirror.

“... Maybe.” I replied, smiling. “Your outfit is gorgeous!” I commented, looking at her yellowish, pink, and blue/green spaghetti strap top, short shorts, light pink flowered headband, bangles, locket, and maroon Converse.

“Well thank you.” Vespera replied, flipping her slightly curled blue and black hair over her shoulder. “How long have you had that dress and not bothered to show me?”

“Um... a year.” I replied, straightening the dark peach/pink dress out. It was strapless, and ended just above my knees. I wore an off white and black ballet flats. I wore the silver locket around my neck, along with a braided, beaded bracelet. I turned around from the mirror and smacked my lips at her, batting my eyes. Vespera grinned, before her eyes snapped down to my hands.

“No nail polish?” She gasped, putting a hand over her heart. I shook my head, grinning. “Let me do your nails. I will not take no for an answer.”

Ten minutes later, my nails were done, looking like they just got out of a french manicure. The tips of my nails were white, while the rest of the nails were clear.

“I have to admit... I am loving these.” I replied, holding them up to study. I shook out my hair, having decided to leave it down and un-teased.

“So you know where this beach is?” Vespera asked as we walked downstairs.

“Yeah, I’ll direct you there.” I replied absently, wondering what Jacob was going to think of the outfit. Jasper would shower you with compliments the thought came to my head instantly, and clearly. Sure, he would, but we were just friends, right? Jasper was just my friend. My good looking, great personality, down to earth friend.

“Are you coming or what?” Vespera asked from the door, looking at me weirdly. I hadn’t noticed I stopped to lean against the banister of the stairs.

“Sorry.” I replied quickly, walking over to the door.

“Weirdo...” She mumbled, wrestling out her car keys from her pocket. I ignored the comment, climbing into the passenger seat after she unlocked the doors. Telling her the general directions proved harder than I thought, since she was hand eye coordination blind. Or so she claimed.

Arriving there after twenty minutes (Vespera made several wrong turns), we jumped out of the car. The parking lot was packed for a change, the cars ranging from the foreign junk to American cars. A few tents were thrown up, scattered along the beach, with tons of people under them and out under the moon. A grind line was already started, and I made a mental note not to dance with a guy in a forest green button up shirt and jeans, since he was trying to fondle both women and men.

“So where’s Jacob?” Vespera said loudly, competing with the music. I shrugged as an answer, not wanting to try to shout over the music. The good thing about this beach was how it was a ways away from any houses, so the music could be loud without anyone worrying about noise disturbance. We walked a ways into the beach, looking for someone we recognized.

Hands came from behind me to softly grip my hips as I jumped, spinning around. Jacob stood there, a grin on his face as he looked into my eyes.

“Hey.” He said, the smile still on his face. One slowly crawled onto my own.

“Hey.” I replied. He was wearing a black button up shirt and dark jeans. His brown eyes sparkled, as he looked over my outfit.

“You look-” Jacob started, but Vespera cut him off.

“Cute? Pretty? Hot? Stunning?” She listed off. I frowned at her, and she gave me an innocent look.

“I was going to say beautiful.” Jacob replied, laughing as a blush came over my face. “But any of those would work, too.” The blush worsened, as Jacob’s smile grew.

“I’m just gonna... yeah...” Vespera said, backing away and leaving us alone.

“So you really went home, right?” Jacob asked me, as we walked slowly walked, not paying attention to the already drunken kids.

“Yeah.” I replied softly, remembering the fight with my mom. Jacob, sensing my plummeting mood, grabbed my hand and gently, like I would break if he held on harder, and pulled me along back to the music.

“Wanna dance?” He asked, smiling crookedly. His smile was contagious; it was hard not to smile when he wasn’t. I nodded, as he pulled me along to the dance floor. I soon found out that no one here actually knew how to dance, it was just random movements of the arms and feet keeping in time to the beat. Not many people even did that, though, because they were already drunk. Not even half the people at the party were sober, and those numbers were slowly dwindling.

The song ended, and Jacob soon led me away from the dancers again. We made mindless chatter about about our family, and I found out that he had two older sisters, and one was living in Hawaii. He told me that he had been rebuilding his Rabbit, and loved motorcycles.

“So... what’s your family like?” Jacob asked out of the blue. I thought for a second, thinking of Vespera and my mother.

“My sister and I are like best friends. And my mom... we were closer when I was a kid. Now she’s just... there.” I replied, laughing a little.

“Are your parents divorced?” Jacob asked. I sucked in a breath, and Jacob looked down at me worriedly. “You-”

“My dad’s dead.” I replied, cutting him off. “They divorced when Vespera and I were around 5, and then he died in a robbery accident when we were ten.” Jacob’s face slid into one of sadness, sorrow, and sympathy. Even understanding.

“I’m sorry...” He told me, as we stopped walking. He stood in front of me, with sad eyes. Painful eyes. “I... I know how hard it is. My mom died in a car accident when I was nine. So I can relate.” I didn’t reply, just stepping into his arms and gave him a hug, wrapping my arms around his waist. His arms wrapped around my shoulders as he slowly stroked my hair. Jacob radiated heat, and felt as if he had a temperature. I didn’t say anything because he looked perfectly healthy; and I didn’t want this moment to end. I felt... complete.

We pulled apart a minute later, but Jacob rested his hands on my waist. The seconds ticked by as he stared into my eyes, searching for something. Almost as if gravity was bringing us closer together, our lips got closer and closer.

“Did you hear that?” Jacob asked, pulling away. I shook my head no, disappointed. “It sounded like... come on.” He grabbed my hand gently, leading me even farther away from the crowds. The music dimmed to a low hum, and it got darker and darker the more we walked. If I were with anyone else, I would have probably been paranoid that he’d try to kidnap me. But only after two days of knowing Jacob, I trusted him. More than I probably should.

“Get off!” A familiar voice came from behind a large outcropping of rock. We continued to walk around the the rocks, to see some pervert trying to get in my sisters pants. He had his belt undone, pants sagging, hand up her shirt, and the other hand slipped into her jeans. My eyes widened as she continued to struggle, then I tried to run forwarded to get the scum of the earth off her, but Jacob held me back. I looked up at him to say get off, but he was already walking forward to them. Jacob grabbed the back of the guys shirt and actually picked him up off the ground and flung him ten feet away from us. It didn’t even look like he broke a sweat. Pervert got up and stalked away.

“Fuck.” Vespera gasped out, fixing her clothes, then wrapped her arms around herself. “I-I had that under control, thank you.”

“Come on, Vesp.” I replied, rolling my eyes. “Show some gratitude.” She just glared at me.

“Thank you for the unwanted and unneeded help.” Vespera thanked (if you could call it that) Jacob for saving her from being raped. “Now, I’m going to go back to my jeep, and wait for you, Char.” She marched off, cussing, towards her car. I looked toward Jacob, and he looked amused.

“That is thank you for helping me, in her language.” I told him, and he laughed. “And thank you, from me.” A smile crawled onto his face.

“It wasn’t a problem.” Jacob replied, modestly. “If I hadn’t have done it, someone else would have.”

“Still.” I pursed my lips together, looking at Jacob curiously. He grinned, opening his arms for another hug like a child. I laughed, and stepped into them. “Thank you.”