Fourteen-Jasper

Chapter 14

Jasper

Is there some way to get rid of this hollow pain?

This guilt?

Is there some way,

to get rid of my secrets,

without having them spilled?

Excerpt from “Secrets” by Sophie Lynch

A party.

This is my habitat, my area of expertize. Where I prowl looking for new prey.

And where I can forget.

I walk in and take in the room. A band from school is up on stage singing some party song that I can barely hear the words to, because of all the tone deaf people singing along. Strobe lights and fog machines and colored lights shine everywhere, a bright red light shines on the stage while the band sings. In the corner are the shy girls who won't dance until they have alcohol, and most of them are too good for alcohol, waiting till they're twenty-one. These are usually the girls who, hen persuaded to have a little liquor, are the most fun. I walk over to a group of three girls, one with straight red hair and no freckles (I thought that was a necessary gene with the red hair?), she's very pretty, and the she's tapping her foot, meaning she'd like to dance, but doesn't know how.

“Hi, I'm Jasper.” I say, walking up to her. “What's your name?”

“K- Kylie.” She says quietly.

“Do- do you wanna dance?” I purposely stutter, to make it seem like it took more nerve than it really did to ask her this. I rub the back of my neck in a nervous gesture for extra emphasis. Her two friends turn to her wide eyed they both mouth, “Go! Go!” to her and wave with their hands. Kylie takes off her jacket and throws it on one of the chairs. I take her hand and lead her onto the dance floor, she looks back at her friends and beams when she thinks I'm not looking. We get to the middle and start dancing when the song ends and a slow one picks up.

“Oh, um...” She stutters. I put both arms around her waist and pull her close, one of hers goes on my shoulder and the other on my waist. We dance and make quiet conversation, “Do you want a drink?” I ask. Not wanting to seem uncool, but not wanting to get caught, she hesitates. I see the battle take hold in her eyes, the one that says, I promised myself I'd never do anything bad, I'll never smoke, I'll never do drugs, but... okay. She nods and I break away to get her a cup of the spiked punch. I take one for myself and one for her. I make my way through the crowd and back to her. Handing her the cup, she smiles at me and takes her very first sip of alcohol.

In the next three songs, she's downed another three, and she's barely able to stand, never mind dance. In one of the smaller, family room like rooms breaking off the main dance hall, I set her down on the couch to sleep it off.

She didn't last long. I locate her friends and tell them where she is, they look at me with accusing eyes before rushing off to her aid.

“Jasper! Over here!” I hear my name being called and I turn in the direction of the voice. My friend Zane. My partner in crime, my wing-man, my best friend.

“Hey man!” I go over to him.

“Quick work!” He nods in the direction of the room where I put... Kayla? Carly? Casey? down.

“Thanks, anyone you got your eye on?”

“Not yet, I'm just gonna watch and wait.”

“Sounds good. I”m gonna go get a drink, hold on.” I say and walk to the refreshment table and pour myself a shot of liquor, drink it, pour another, and drink it. Soon I'm pleasantly buzzed and ready to take on the night. I get back to Zane. He's making out with a girl over in the corner. I thought it was funny when he said “wait”, Zane doesn't wait. I search for my next, more long term victim. Well, victim sounds so harsh, really I'm just going to give her the time of her life. The party has been going on for an hour now, most people are completely into it, and the party doesn't end. Like, ever. The band finishes up there last song then presses play on an iPod so they can dance. I see the lead singer get flooded by girls begging for him, especially Michaela. Hm, Michaela... She's probably looking for a good time. I search the crowd for her bright blonde hair, but I can't find it. I walk to the drink table again and get a cup of the punch, when I spot the bright blonde hair I was looking for. I walk up behind her, “Hey.” I say. She turns around. It's Ray.

“Hi!” She giggles. She thinks everything's funny when she's drunk.

“Any of the others here?” I ask.

“Well, Briar-Rose and Airborne went dancing, Ash came with them, which was we-e-eird!” She giggles again, “And-” Her face visibly darkens and the laughter leaves her voice, “Nox is over there.” She points to a corner where Nox sits, observing, looking confused.

“Missy's around here somewhere...” She slurs and then gives a little hiccup, squinting and looking around the room, turning slowly. She stumbles, “Why am I so dizzy!?” She giggles and falls backward into my arms. I roll my eyes, drunk Ray is even happier than normal Ray, it's quite a sight. I lead her over to Nox.

“I know you don't get along, but she still thinks Missy is alive, and she's incredibly drunk, but she knows she still hates you. I need you to take care of her.”

“Sure, fine.” He says. I nod and walk away. I happen to glance back in time to see Ray projectile vomit all over his face then collapse to the ground, hysterically laughing.

I lay in bed next to Michaela, she has a content smile on her face.

“Well, someone's probably looking for me, I'm gonna go back on the dance floor.” She says after a few more minutes. She sits up and pulls on her underpants and skirt and fluffs her hair. She strides out of the room, giving me one last smile. The club conveniently had a few rooms with couches and beds, I don't know how this ended up in our tiny town. I get out of bed and pull on my own clothes. By now, it's around midnight, not too late, I think I'll just hang around, drink a little more, then go home. I walk out of the room and back onto the dance floor and straight to the drinks.

“It looks like a lot of fun, but I can't.” A girl I've never seen before says to the lead singer. They stand side by side, staring intently at the blue plastic cups.

“Me neither, but I so want to.”

“I know, but I've always been the good one, never stepped out of line...”

“How bad could it be? And we don't even need to drive, we can walk home.”

“But the car's here...” The girl says.

“Yeah...”

“But, you could get it in the morning... Your parents won't even notice it's gone, you park in the garage...”

“True.”

“Oh! Just take a drink!” I hand them both cups and walk away with mine. I look around the space. Ray is slumped over in one of the chairs, I'll take her home later, but there's no sign of Nox. Then I spot him dancing closely to a girl with dark brown hair. She turns around, whispers something n his ear, then takes his hand and leads him to one of the rooms. I down the contents of the cup and go onto the dance floor. Michaela waves me over and we dance until the party ends, I bring her home afterward.

I'm just trying to get away from my build-up of secrets.

Author's Note

reviews please! Suggestions!!!!

Reviews

[Sylvana]

The bit of poetry at the beginning of the chapter really corresponds with the chapter. ^-^ I don't like Jasper, to be honest I can't stand guys like that. Haha. Well, another excellent chapter.

[Abbie]

lovely chapter, as per usual. when does the next chapter come out? :D

[MandaBear]

Cant wait for more!! you have a great talent for writing stories

[Lina Grey]

interesting. It's like the story took a little break for some fun, and they sure had some "fun". Can't wait for more! Thank you.