With A Violent Kiss

I feel someone, presumably Beth; pull me until I’m standing up.

“Claudia, are you alright?” Beth’s voice sounded very worried.

I slowly open my eyes to see her looking up at me waiting for any sort of answer. I nodded, still slightly dazed. Beth smiles at me then moves me out of the way. She leans down to get in Drake’s face.

“I asked you a question, Drake, now answer me.”

He looks at her calmly, and then fidgets with the hem of his shirt. “I wasn’t going to do anything, I promise. I was just… sampling her perfume,” he says as a smile plays across his lips.

“Just wait until Morgan finds out…” Beth teases as she pulls out her cell phone.

He reaches up and grabs her wrist. “Please. Don’t tell her.”

I pulled out my cell to check the time. It was now one thirty a.m. I started sending a text to Korin: “When do you want to meet up at the car?”

I looked up when I realized they had gotten quiet. Beth was standing with Drake’s hand holding her wrist, her phone still open. My phone vibrated breaking the silence; neither of them looked at me.

“Beth, please. Don’t tell her… I’ll do whatever,” Drake pleaded.

I flipped open my phone: “Meet me there between 1:55 and 2.” I looked at Beth and Drake.

Maybe Drake and Morgan were sort of dating or something so he’s worried Beth will tell. A breeze lifted a few strands of Beth’s golden hair.

“Alright, I won’t say anything to her about it, but you owe me… big time,” Beth said after letting out a sigh.

Drake released her wrist and jumped up to hug her. My phone said it was now one forty-two.

“Hate to ruin the moment, but I have to leave in about ten minutes,” I said.

I heard the crunching of leaves and my attention went in that direction. Chris came into view trying to get some of the spikes to stand back up. Behind him, Damion walked in and plopped down on one of the logs. Morgan ran into the clearing her dark red hair floating behind her.

“What did you do, Drake?!” Morgan started even though nothing looked to be wrong.

I took a seat beside Damion as Drake faced Morgan.

“What do you mean ‘What did I do’? Does it look like I did anything?” he asked.

“Well,” her eyes looked over everything, and then she sighed. “No.”

He smiled. “See; I can keep a promise, can’t I?”

As soon as he said that he looked at Beth, who smiled despite the ‘die mo-fo’ look in her deep blue eyes. Chris walked over to Beth and hugged her around the waist from behind. Morgan walked around the edges of the clearing. Drake’s eyes wandered then fell on me. I catch the look in his eyes, something between worry and longing.

My phone vibrates in my hands and I stifle a gasp. Damion looks at me, I could feel his eyes. Flipping open my phone, I read: “Hey, I’m going to go to a restaurant with Jordan. I’ll meet you at the car and give you the keys, ohkay.”

I send back: “Who the heck is Jordan?”

As soon as I sent it I realized it was the new guy-friend she found. I checked the time, again; One forty-nine.

“Uh, I’ve got to go meet up with my friend to get the keys to her car…”

Damion asks, “Do you need an escort?”

I smile slightly. It’s not often that you hear someone say escort.

“Sure.”

We both stand up, and dismiss ourselves. The tails weren’t bright, but the full moon helped. The fact that it was fall, obviously, helps a lot... which means that there aren’t any leaves on the trees. Damion walked along side me.

“Sounds like the concert’s ending.”

I looked at him. “How can you tell?”

“Well, the big hint was when I heard the singer say ‘Thank you for coming. Now, everyone knows where the exits are. Have a great night, err, morning.”

I laughed a little and he smiled, his mint green eyes shining. The night air was getting a little chilly, but was still comfortable. I tried to keep my eyes on the ground so I wouldn’t do something as embarrassing as trip over a twig, but I kept feeling his eyes watching me.

“So, Damion, did you like your kiss with Drake?” I asked, just trying to be funny.

He chuckled. “Actually, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I figured he was all talk, but lousy. I was wrong.”

I looked at him. “So you’re, uh, bisexual?”

“Is that a problem?” He asked smiling slightly.

“No, not at all.”

My gaze went back to the ground. Stick, stick, log, wet leaves, stick, stick, pile of leaves.

Just as I stepped on that little pile of leaves, I sank. It was a hole covered by leaves, great. I gasped and fell forward, something in my ankle popped. To keep from yelping, too, I bit my lip. Instinctively my arms went out in front of me, and my eyes closed in anticipation.

Slowly I realized I wasn’t falling, so I opened my eyes. Damion was holding me up my the arms. I lifted my left leg out of the hole and stood up. Completely forgetting about the popping of one of my ankle bones, I put my weight on it without caution. Immediately pain shot through my leg and I bit down on my lip.

“Are you alright?”

Holding back the urge to say “Does it look like I’m alright?”, I mumbled, “Uh, not exactly.”

I slowly put some weight on my ankle and the pain that went through me was burning hot. I bit my lip a little harder, and I tasted a little bit of the sweet copper blood that flowed through my veins.

He leaned down and lifted up the leg of my pants, making me think “Boy am I glad I shaved before I left…”.

“It looks like you fractured your ankle.”

“How can you tell? Humans don’t come equipped with x-ray vision.” The sarcastic part was only added to make me smile, despite the pain.

“Well, your ankle is already bruising and swelling a little. I‘ll carry you to your car.”

He turned around and put his back to me, then bent down a little so I didn’t have to jump up.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, besides you wouldn’t be able to walk on that anyway.”

I put my hands on his shoulders then brought my left leg up. He grabbed a hold of it just above the knee and I hopped up. He grabbed my leg and started walking down the trail.

“I’m sorry you have to do this.” I said.

I rested my chin on his shoulder and licked some of the blood off my lip. He took a shallow breath then let it out quickly; he suddenly felt warmer.

Without looking at me he said, “You’re bleeding…”