Inexperienced

I changed into a pair of sweats and a loose fitting t-shirt before heading down to reconvene with Jared. He waited patiently in his car for me. He smiled at me when I sat down next to him. “Comfortable?” he asked.

“Very.” I held his hand as we drove to his house. “So, how’d you convince your dad to let you throw a party?”

“Hah.” Jared laughed. “Like my dad would ever let me throw a party.” I stared at him. “He’s out of town on business and Nicole tagged along with him.”

“Oh,” I mumbled. “So who’s all coming?”

“That’s a mystery to me as well,” he explained, a laugh in his voice. “I let Brett invite whoever he wanted, which honestly, could be all of the upperclassmen.”

“Woah,” I said, while shaking my head.

“I know,” he agreed, chuckling.

We pulled into his driveway and he helped me out. We had left prom early, and though I didn’t realize it, the reason was to set up. We went around his house, hiding anything extremely valuable and then threw together some food and started playing some music.

Within twenty minutes, the party was already up and running. I felt so out of place. But I never left Jared’s side. I was hoping I wasn’t getting too annoying by not leaving his side but he never dropped his arm from my waist.

Everyone came, including, to my dismay, Mary Kade. However, she had her hands all over some other boy.

At one point or another I did get pulled from Jared’s side. Some random girls started talking to me enthusiastically about how wonderful prom was. I was sure none of theirs compared to mine. They even talked about Prom King and Queen. Of course, Mary was secured for Queen. What surprised me, however, was that Brett won over Jared. Although, Jared refused to let his name be placed on the ballot, so it was more of a forfeit.

It was strange to communicate with girls from my own school. They seemed so animated. I decided to not be a buzz-kill and I went along with fake enthusiasm. Parties have never been my thing. But being the girlfriend of the most popular guy in school was bound to have some sort of downside. I had to suffer for him.

I excused myself politely to go wash up in the bathroom. The room was extremely stuffy, so I splashed some water over my face and took a few deep breaths. Only a few more hours of socializing and then it’ll be all over.

I left the bathroom and scurried back into the throng of people. It’d been a little over an hour since I’d seen Jared. I decided it was time to find him. I walked through the living room which had been transformed into a dance floor. He was nowhere. I walked all around the house hunting for him.

I even asked people if they’d seen him. No one had in awhile. I walked upstairs. Only a few people were up there, doing God-knows-what. I heard one of the doors creak open. It was the one to the bathroom. I could tell it was Jared; his bright eyes glowed in the darkness.

“Jared?” I asked.

“There you are,” he mumbled. It sounded slurred. He walked - more like stumbled - over to me. “I’ve been waiting….for..you.” His talking was slow.

He leaned in to kiss me. That’s when I caught the stench. His breath reeked of alcohol. “Woah.” I backed away.

“What’s wrong baby?” he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.

I pushed back slightly, wiggling out of his arms. “Are you drunk?”

“What are you…talking…about?” he mumbled.

“How much have you drank tonight?” I asked seriously.

“Two, maybe three…” He lost his train of thought.

“I doubt that,” I said while shaking my head.

Again, he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Jared,” I protested.

“Can’t I hold…my girlfriend?”

“Yeah, but-”

“But nothing, …beautiful.” He picked me up and walked us into his bedroom. He began kissing me fiercely. It almost hurt how hard his lips were crushing mine. His hands were everywhere, pinning me down.

“Stop it, Jared,” I warned. He ignored me. “Jared, I said stop!” I tried yelling a little bit louder, but it was useless. “Get off of me!” I screamed while slapping him across the face.

That did it.

He stopped and stared at me blankly. “Why the hell would you slap me?!” He got off the bed and I followed.

“I told you I’m not ready! You wouldn’t listen!” I threw my hands in the air.

Just then, I felt myself being thrown into the wall, my arms pinned tightly to my side.

“Don’t you ever slap me, woman,” he sneered.

“Jared, you’re hurting me.” Tears were forming in my eyes. He was clinging onto my arms so tightly, the blood flow was being cut off.

He growled. “I’ll hurt you if I want to hurt you.”

“You’re drunk! Please, stop!” I begged him.

His hand balled into a fist and he pulled it back behind him. I closed my eyes, expecting a blow.

I could feel the air from the force whoosh past me. I could hear the loud bang! noise that sounded when Jared’s fist collided with the wall right next to my head.

I opened my eyes. He looked at me, his eyes fuming. A flicker of some unreadable emotion brewed in his eyes. I could feel the utter horror written on my face.

He backed away slowly, releasing his grip from me. When he made it to the end of his bed, he turned on his heels and sprinted out of the room, leaving me in a huddled ball on the floor, completely horrified and confused.