Death by Desire

Arrogant fucker. He may as well have invented the phrase “makes your blood boil” because the effect he had on me…well, it’s not like I could very well ignore it.

I sighed loudly and glanced at the clock, willing it to move faster. Mr. Muscles at the front of the room grunted loudly and moved in front of it, blocking it from my view with his oversized head. He gave an imperceptible shake of his head, a smirk that said “I control the time here.” I rolled my eyes and then shoved my earphones in, drowning out the world with music….

“Finally!” I exhaled, rushing into the cool evening air. I hadn’t known how stuffy the school was but the light breeze felt absolutely delicious on my skin…

”Hey!” a familiar voice called out. I spun around to see Victoria rolling up in her silver BMW. She was dressed up in a leopard-print dress; one I knew was so short that the wrong move exposed all her naughty bits-going out to party, no doubt. I knew she was here to drag me along. As I suspected, she threw open the door and gave me a once-over.

“You can’t go to Orion’s party like that. C’mon, I’ll take you home and you can change really quick.”

I took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye. “Who says I want to go out tonight?” She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow and was quiet for about 2 seconds until she burst out laughing. “You’re joking right?”

The memory of Orion and I earlier in the afternoon, the adrenaline that rushed through my veins when I spoke to him, rushed through me now and a slow smile formed on my lips. “Yea. Let’s go” I said.

An hour later, we were walking up the driveway of Orion’s large, mansion-style suburban home. I didn’t hold back the smile spread over my face as Victoria glared at me under a mask of faked smiles.

I had changed into a pair of black jeans so tight and curve-hugging it looked as if they had been painted onto my body, pairing it with an artfully shredded black tank top that left little to the imagination, a leather jacket, and black studded platform stilettos. More skin than was necessary was exposed but hey, if you’ve got it, flaunt it.

Inside, it was smoky, multi-colored strobe lights flashing on and off, the heat from all the bodies grinding together overwhelming. It amazed me how he seemed to so effortlessly pull together a party in so little time and at such short notice. I melted into the throng of gyrating bodies, letting the music wash over me, become me. Victoria was already in the corner, making out with some random guy whose hand was creeping up her thighs and into her skirt. I rolled my eyes. The least she could do was get a room.

I felt a pair of eyes on me, but the room was so crowded it was hard to tell from who. A pair of hands slid around my waist, and I shivered in pleasure at the touch of skin on skin.

“Dance with me” Orion commanded and my first instinct was to pull away. He must have sensed it because he pulled me in closer.

“Get your fucking hands off of me” I growled, slightly breathless, because secretly I wanted him to do more than just touch the skin on my waist. To my complete surprise (and secret disappointment), he obeyed. However, the smirk on his lips and the glint in his eyes betrayed him. “Enjoy the night” he said and disappeared back into the mosh.

I knew he was far from being done with me. A wave of heat rushed over me, uncomfortably unbearable and I made my way outside. The cold rush of icy night air brought me back to reality. Sure, this was his party, but who the hell did he think he was?

I groaned as my resolve weakened, crumbled at the memory of his touch. Fuck me with a chainsaw. I wanted him. NO!!, an inner voice yelled. Remember what happened last time? You were fucked over in more ways than one, and who’s to say he’s not like every bastard out there? Who’s to say he won’t screw you over and leave you for dead…

”Hey.” A voice broke in, interrupting my mental battle. I looked up to see, of all people, Pippa Lee, smiling and holding out a red plastic cup to me. We weren’t the best of friends, but neither were we enemies. I got the feeling she saw me as a threat, but maybe I saw her that way because of her closeness with Orion.

“…..hi….?” I said, taking the cup but not drinking. I didn’t drink much these days, unless it was non-alcoholic. She laughed, so easy and carefree that it was hard not to smile back and feels as carefree as she looked.

“so…enjoying the party we put together?” she asked. I raised an eyebrow. “and by ‘we’ you mean you and Orion, right?” she shrugged. “He just provided the house, but yea, I guess.” I laughed.

She turned serious then. “You know, I saw you and Orion on the dance floor.” My face flushed hot as fire as I remembered skin on skin…

”Orion’s my best friend, and I don’t like anyone fucking around with him.” Pippa cut into my thoughts with a voice that was cold as ice and just as chilling.

I immediately got on my guard. “For your fucking information, he’s the one coming after me. I don’t fuck around with guys, I’m not a little girl who like to play childish games.”

She eyed me contemptuously. “I see the way you get when he’s near, prancing around, flipping your hair, showing off….you know the effect you have on him and everyone around him and you tease. That’s what you are is a fucking TEASE!” She spat the last word at me and it was all I could do to keep from beating the shit out of her.

“If this is what you came here for, then don’t come up smiling, acting fake, like you’re not a bitch.”

Pippa laughed. “Oh, it wasn’t. I don’t want things blown out of proportion. I’m just warning you. If you fuck with Orion you fuck with me. And sweetie? That’s a nightmare you’ll wish you never fell into.”

“Oh please” I said, rolling my eyes and walking back inside, into the thresh of sweating bodies, into the air that smelled of sex and drugs and illegal danger.

I spotted Victoria, now completely trashed and dancing on a tabletop, her dress bunched up around her hips, and riding higher with every movement. The black lace of her thong was peeking out and the guys surrounding her were fist-pumping the air, yelling for her to “take it off! take it off!” She smiled coyly, her hair seductively, messily tangled. The music changed to a dubstep-stripper-esque music mashup and Victoria rolled her hips in a slow grind, letting the dress now completely rise up.

She licked her lips slowly, winked and dropped low, contorting her body in a wave-like motion that would make a belly-dancer envious, her legs opening wide for all to see whether they wanted to or not, her breasts thrust out. Male cheers rose higher and higher, and a few female cheers as well. She giggled and her hands reached down to begin sliding the thong down, inch by slow inch.

“C’mon baby!!” people began to yell.

She opened her eyes wide, the picture of innocence and made a surprised face, and then batted her heavily mascaraed lashes and began grinding her hips, every movement bringing the flimsy fabric lower…lower…

I couldn’t take it anymore and shoved my way to the front where I grabbed her arm and began yanking her away. The expression on her face changed, she looked like a caged, frightened animal. “Let me GO!!” she squealed, and began flailing wildly. I was in no mood to put up with her bullshit and I smacked her once across the face.

“Shut the fuck up and stop making an ass of yourself!!” I yelled.

In response she pulled my hair and raked her long nails down my arm. “I said let me go!” All my anger overflowed and I reached back and smacked her across the face, harder this time. She pulled my hair and that was it, I was on her, punching and pulling anything I could reach.

The cheers grew louder and vaguely, I heard people saying “Yea! Rip your clothes off!” Ironically enough, Victoria’s dress ripped at that moment, a long tear down the middle. She was wearing no bra and the implants she so proudly had paid for were now completely exposed, not to mention her naughty lower bits that she’d started to reveal were now completely exposed as well.

This seemed to wake her up and she squealed and tried covering herself up but the camera phones were already flashing. Sirens wailed outside and everyone began to storm out, leaving behind the hazy weed smoke, the stink of beer, the rainbow colored pills, puddles of vomit, mountains of trash….

Orion’s eyes met mine for a split second in the midst of the chaos and frantic bodies and then I picked myself up off the floor and turned away. Pippa hadn’t been next to him but I could hear him yelling at her, a distant sounding voice screaming

“You told her WHAT?!?”

*******************************************
I had no recollection of getting home but the next morning I woke up with a sore body and a massive headache. It was 6:00 a.m., and though the thought of going to school was not appealing to me, I forced myself into the shower to get ready. When I emerged a half hour later, I saw the marks Victoria had left me: A small bruise on my jaw and a long red mark down my arm.

Sighing, I threw on an oversized black striped sweater, some leggings, and my boots, dabbed my makeup on, grabbed my stuff, and headed downstairs.

My grandma was waiting for me. Seated at the table, dressed impeccably in a black pantsuit, a silk scarf at her throat, her steel-gray hair knotted in a tight, severe-looking bun, she was the picture of aged elegance. And right now, she was mad.

Her ice-blue eyes flashed angrily as she silently motioned for me to sit. I did and she exploded. “What in heaven’s name are you thinking?!? First, you arrive late to school, and then you come home smelling of alcohol, bedraggled, looking like some cheap streetwalker.”

I opened my mouth to speak, to defend myself, but she silences me with a glare. “Your parents would not approve, and neither do I. God knows they must be looking down upon you, ashamed that your behavior is what it is.”

I lowered my gaze, a lump in my throat, unable to speak. “Hurry to school and see that you’re not late. We’ll discuss this later this evening.” she said.

I nodded and quickly got out of there, not wanting her to see the tears already threatening to rain down my burning cheeks.