Blindsided (9 page)

Chapter
Ten – The Sound Of Sirens

Isabelle

“What the hell is she doing here?”

I warned Hunter that Willow would not be welcome at Mischa’s house, and while Willow was prepared to leave if she had to, Hunter didn’t believe Mischa would attempt to turn her away.

“I’m with Hunter,” Willow said, boldly.

“I don’t care who you’re with, you’re not coming in.”

Mischa stood defiantly, wearing the dress she’d pointed out in the fashion magazine a few weeks ago. She looked stunning, her curves filling out the dress in all the right places. Glancing down at my knee length black and white dress, I felt wholly inadequate.

“Okay,” Jesse said. “We’ll all go. I’m sure we can find something else to do tonight.”

We shuddered from the cold out on the doorstep while Mischa made her decision. She wanted to tell everyone that a famous footballer was at her party, but she didn’t want Willow. Vanity winning, she begrudgingly opened the door and we filed inside.

It was much warmer in the heavily decorated hallway, and I could see the kitchen was already crammed with people. In the living room, bodies were squished together, dancing to loud club tunes.

Mischa snapped her fingers, and a smaller version of herself ran down the stairs. Her ten year old sister, Marnie wore a scowl on her face as Mischa said, “More coats to take to the bedroom.”

“Yes madam,” Marnie said, rolling her eyes.

I gave the young girl a warm smile as I handed her my coat. “Thank you. If I were you, I’d get a friend to phone you and ask you to spend the night at their place.”

Marnie shrugged. “I would, but Mischa would make me regret it.”

The poor girl could barely see over the pile of coats she carried up the stairs, and I wondered what possessed her parents to leave her at home with someone as irresponsible as Mischa.

“Should we go and mingle,” Willow said, giggling with joy at having successfully annoyed the party’s host.

“Probably,” I replied, “but I think I might just hide somewhere for a while first, to soak up all the chaos.”

“Okay,” she said, then turned to Hunter. “Let’s dance!”

Hunter willingly followed my best friend towards the music, and they wasted no time dancing to the exceptionally loud beats.

“I can’t believe I’m a third wheel,” Georgia said, with a small laugh. “I’m gonna go and look for Emma.”

“Wait, you don’t have to go,” I told her.

“It’s okay, I’ll be back in a while. You two enjoy yourselves!”

Georgia headed into the crowds, leaving Jesse and me in the hallway.

“Will she be okay?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, I think so. Once she finds Emma, she’ll be fine.”

“Who’s Emma?”

“Another friend of hers and Mischa’s. Much nicer than Mischa, might I add.”

“Good to know,” Jesse said, and we headed for the kitchen in search of drinks.

Everyone in there was very much Mischa’s type of person. The beautiful girls she collected like trophies to walk around town with, and the attractive guys she’d either already slept with, or planned to sleep with at some point. I felt horribly out of place, but Jesse put his arm around my waist and held me close as we wound our way through them. He handed me a can of coke, and took a bottle of beer for himself.

“Isabelle! You took my advice!”

The sound of Leon’s voice made my skin crawl, and as I turned, his eyes looked directly at my boobs. My dress wasn’t even that low cut, but it was enough for him to get an eyeful.

“Back off,” Jesse said, stepping in front of me.

Leon straightened up, grinning. “Got yourself a pretty boy, have you? Well, if you ever want a real man, give me a call.”

He winked at me before turning away, and I put my hand on Jesse’s arm. I loved how protective he was. He always made me feel safe, and knowing he was willing to defend me made my heart flip over. Whatever happened, I knew Leon wouldn’t be bothering me too much with Jesse around.

“How do you put up with that guy?” Jesse asked, his green eyes showing a mix of anger and concern.

“Mostly avoidance,” I said. “Georgia and I have got really good at dodging him. And if we have to be in the same place at the same time, we stay as far away as possible. But enough about him. Let’s finish these drinks, and go dance!”

Making our way to the dance floor, we found Willow and Hunter having the time of their lives, dancing together, sometimes close, sometimes apart so they could fling their arms around wildly. They were possibly the most uncool people at the party, but nobody cared. Everyone was slowly getting drunk, and many of them joined in with their unusual moves.

Jesse and I stayed close together, and later, Georgia and Emma joined us too.

“Hey hey!” Mischa said, coming in to the living room with a tray of glasses and a bottle of wine. “I come bearing refreshments!”

She poured glasses of champagne for us, and as reluctant as I was to drink alcohol, I figured one sip wouldn’t hurt. It was actually really tasty. Sweet and fizzy and I giggled as the bubbles went up my nose. Jesse laughed, and took the glass from me, putting his and mine down on the window ledge, next to Georgia’s.

“I think you need to take it easy on the wine,” he said, kissing me, but then he licked his lips and added, “Wait, I take that back. You taste really good.”

My legs weakened a little, and I wrapped my arms around him. “So do you. I never thought I’d like the taste so much.”

He danced me around in a circle, making me laugh. “I’ve only had a little bit,” he said. “But if you like it so much, I’ll have some more.”

“Maybe later. At the moment, I just want to be here.”

Jesse smiled, and like always, my heart started to beat faster. Just looking at him made my pulse quicken, but his smile did strange things to me. He leaned down to kiss me again, and this time, it was slower. His lips brushed against mine, and he gently sucked my bottom lip, making me tremble.

How can such a small thing feel so good?

I pressed against him, wanting to be as close to him as possible. When his tongue slowly dipped into my mouth, I think I stopped breathing for a second. He’d never done that before, and it was an incredible feeling. Suddenly, all the thoughts I’d had about taking things slowly left my head, and I wondered if I had the same effect on him that he had on me.

“Isabelle,” he whispered, his voice breathy, “You’re an awesome kisser.”

I guess I did.

“If I’m an awesome kisser, it’s only because you showed me what to do.”

“Oh, get a room, you two,” Mischa said, interrupting our moment by thrusting our drinks in front of us. I glared at her for intruding, but took a sip of the champagne anyway. I needed something to calm me down.

That kiss was different to the others. They were all good but somehow, this was better. Maybe that was how some girls got so carried away, and took things further or faster than they meant to. I’d certainly been caught up, and perhaps in a different place at a different time, we wouldn’t have stopped.

“You okay?” Jesse asked, holding me with one arm while taking a drink from his glass with the other.

“Yeah,” I told him, “I’m okay.”

He looked into my eyes like he understood my thoughts, and we stayed close together, blocking everyone else out while we danced.

It was while we were dancing that Jesse suddenly lost his footing a little, treading on my toe.

“Ow,” I said, giggling. “Have you had too much to drink?”

As I looked up at him, I noticed his eyes were a bit glazed over, and he shook his head.

“I had one beer when we first arrived and a glass of champagne a while ago, but I don’t feel so good.”

His face looked flushed, so I took his hand. “Come on, let’s go and get some fresh air.”

Jesse was wobbly on his feet as I led him through the now hammered crowds, towards the front door. He shouldn’t have been drunk after so little alcohol, but he definitely seemed to be. I chuckled to myself. I didn’t expect to end the night looking after him, it was supposed to be the other way around.

“Leaving so soon,” Leon said, appearing out of nowhere and stepping in front of us.

“Out the way,” I told him. “We need to get outside.”

Leon smirked as Jesse slumped forwards, and I thought he might throw up. “You’d think a big football star would be able to handle his drink better than this,” Leon said. “Why don’t you put him in a cab, then come back and party with me. I can show you a good time.”

He winked at me, and Jesse straightened up with a terrifying growl, grabbing Leon’s shirt and shoving him into the wall.

“You wanna start something?” he shouted.

Alarmed, I stepped back. A second before he could barely stand up, but he’d shoved Leon so hard, his head thumped against the wall.

“Jesse!”

I stepped forward but he pushed me back, and my heart started to race. Something wasn’t right. I’d never seen Jesse act that way, I’d never seen Leon look scared before. Honestly, I couldn’t blame him.

“Get off,” he said, trying to push him away, but Jesse held firm.

“You need to leave Isabelle and Georgia alone,” Jesse snarled. At least, he was trying to snarl, his words were starting to slur. His eyes looked crazed, and the sight of the boy I’d been getting to know turning so suddenly caused me to stumble backwards, my legs weak.

“What are you gonna do about it?” Leon asked, sounding braver than he looked. People started to gather and I looked around, hoping Hunter was nearby because I doubted anyone else was going to stop him.

Jesse’s fist smashed into Leon’s face, making blood trickle from his top lip. I screamed out for Hunter, hoping he’d hear me, but there were too many people, the music was too loud. I shoved my way through them, being squished against hot sweaty bodies as I tried to locate my cousin amongst the masses.

“Hunter!” I shouted again, as I spotted him entwined with Willow. Georgia was close too, and they all stared at me in shock. I grabbed Hunter’s arm, and dragged him back through the nosy people who were watching as Jesse kept Leon pinned against the wall, yelling at him.

“What the hell?” Hunter said, but I couldn’t respond. Frozen to the spot, my eyes on Jesse, I was speechless.

Hunter dived between the gatherers and dragged Jesse away. Jesse was still shouting incoherently, and he pushed Hunter away from him too.

“What is wrong with you?” Hunter asked, eyes wide.

“I’m fine!” Jesse spat, and as he made for the door, he tripped over someone’s foot and crashed forwards, tumbling down the front steps, his knee crashing into the concrete. People were laughing, but when he yelled out in pain, I rushed towards him, Hunter and Georgia right behind me.

“Wow, we need to keep the alcohol far away from him from now on,” Georgia said, as Hunter helped him to his feet. I turned back to look at Leon but he’d gone, probably embarrassed at being punched in the face in front of so many people.

I slammed the front door to block the view of the other party-goers, and Hunter struggled to get Jesse down the path. Just before we reached the gate, Jesse collapsed in a heap on the grass.

My hands flew to my mouth as a gasp escaped my lips. He was out cold.

“He isn’t drunk,” Hunter said, kneeling down beside him, “Somebody spiked his drink. Call an ambulance.”

Georgia and I exchanged a panicked glance.

Spiked?

“Now!” Hunter yelled.

Georgia fumbled in her pocket for her phone, and I knelt beside Jesse. Every part of me was shaking and I didn’t know what to do.

“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Are you sure that’s what’s happened?”

Hunter nodded. “Pretty sure. It happened to a girl I know back home, same kind of thing. She was okay, then she flipped out and started screaming at people. Everyone thought she was drunk, and some guy who was at the party offered to take her home. We all thought he knew her because she put her arms around him and said it was okay for him to drive her. He raped her in his car. I still haven’t forgiven myself for not going with her, or for not at least checking who she was leaving with.”

Hunter’s face paled at the memory, and I fell back, shocked.

Someone at Mischa’s party had spiked Jesse’s drink. Maybe even someone we knew. I tried to work out how, or when it happened but Mischa and Willow ran outside, distracting me. Mischa took one look at Jesse on the floor on her front lawn and snapped, “For Christ’s sake, if I knew he was such a lightweight, I’d never have invited him! Get him out of here, before the neighbours see!”

Hunter leapt to his feet. “He’s been drugged! There’s an ambulance on the way, and we’re not taking him anywhere until it arrives.”

“An ambulance! He doesn’t need an ambulance, he just needs some caffeine to sober him up!”

Georgia rounded on her. “Did you hear what he said?” she screamed.  “His drink was spiked!”

Mischa looked more pissed off than concerned, and she said, “If you get the police called here, I’ll never forgive you.”