Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Beth came to standing, staggering a bit. She took a few steps backward and collided with Michael’s truck, spilling the beers all down the front of it. She was slightly shocked that it seemed a lot foamier than she expected, almost like it was soda instead of beer, but then she turned back to Ryan, who still had ahold of her, and fury raged with in her again. “Let go of me!” she shouted. “I don’t need your help, Ryan Wilson!”

“Beth! I was just making sure you were okay.” He let go of her immediately but then cocked his head to the side, studying her like he didn’t even know who she was. “Are you… drunk?”

“Hell, no, I’m not drunk!” she proclaimed. “And I’m capable of making my own decisions.”

“Did you want me to leave you in there with handsy then? I could hear you telling him to leave you alone. I guess next time I’ll just walk away.”

“You’ve already done that, haven’t you?”

Ryan’s green eyes enlarged, and for the second time that night, Beth saw how her deep words could wound. But unlike Sammy, Ryan didn’t deserve to be stabbed in the gut.

Before Ryan could respond, Halley was there, one hand on his back, the other on his chest. “Come on,” she said, pulling him back, not toward the party but toward the tree line. “Let’s take a walk.”

Still staring at Beth, flabbergasted, Ryan’s feet began to move, and soon enough, he was gone, into the trees. With Halley.

“Oh, my God, Beth! Are you okay?” Carly and Jessica were there now, their hands grasping at her shoulders.

She spun around as Sammy started his car. They all took a collective step over out of his way, letting him pull out of the parking spot. “Did that gross Sammy Burk try to do something to you?” Jessica asked, scowling at him. “I’ll kick him in the balls.”

Beth dug way down deep inside of her façade and managed a giggle. “Yeah, right. Like Sammy Burk has any balls.” They all laughed. “Nah, he was just telling me how heart broken he’s been that Carly won’t go out with him anymore. I guess he realized how badly he messed up when he screwed Halley.”

“Oh, my God!” Carly’s face went white. “He screwed her? I mean, I know they went off in the woods, like she is with Ryan right now, but you don’t think she really did, do you?”

“Hell, yeah, I do,” Beth replied, matter-of-factly. “I’m sorry, I know Halley has been friends with some of you, but I think she has a problem keeping her knees together.”

“Shut up!” Jessica proclaimed in disbelief. “And she just took Ryan off into the same place where she stole Sammy!” She turned and looked at Carly like they were crime fighters who needed to do something immediately to prevent there from being another victim.

“We should go find them!” Carly proclaimed, and they both rushed off in the same direction where Halley and Ryan had just disappeared on their walk.

Beth was left standing alone next to Michael’s truck, the remains of her beer long gone, soaking into the paint. She felt bad about that, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now. A few car lengths over, the rest of the kids were drinking and laughing like nothing had happened, and maybe nothing did. Sammy only liked her now because everyone else liked her. If he was regretting his decision with Halley, that wasn’t her concern. Ryan would be rescued, she was sure, and whether or not he’d be happy about it, Beth knew she’d never forgive him if he had sex with Halley in the woods. Maybe that wasn’t her concern either, but for some reason, she felt like it should be. Ryan was hers, after all. That’s how she’d always thought about him, ever since she’d moved in next door, and they’d started their late night chat sessions. Halley couldn’t just move in and take that away from her.

Her head was beginning to ache, but she didn’t think it had anything to do with the alcohol. Realizing, she was done with beer for the night, she looked around on the ground near Michael’s front tire and found a nearly empty bottle. It was hard to tell how much was actually in it since it was dark. She hoped she could fool everyone into thinking she was drinking the same way she’d fooled them into thinking she was cool.

“Hey, Beth!” Amber shouted as she headed that direction, prop in hand. “What’s going on?” She was leaning on the front of Tyler’s jeep, talking to Michael of all people, and Beth suddenly realized why he hadn’t come to her rescue. Part of her wanted to be jealous that someone else was paying attention to the guy who’d asked her out not too long ago, but the other part realized Amber was nice to almost everyone, despite her popularity; maybe she was just being friendly. Either way, Beth didn’t own Michael.

“Oh, not much. Carly and Jessica went off into the woods to see if they could find Halley and Ryan. They’re afraid she’s trying to have her way with him.” She winked and giggled like it was the funniest thing ever, even though the words stabbed her in the gut.

“That Halley,” Amber said, shaking her head and laughing. “She just can’t get enough, can she?” She looked at Michael. “Maybe you’ll be her next victim.”

“Good for me,” he replied, chuckling and taking a drink of his beer like he meant it, but Beth could see something in his eyes she supposed Amber didn’t pick up on. It was a familiar emotion to Beth--fear.

“God, I hope Carly doesn’t stay gone too long. I kinda wanna go get some french fries before Sonic closes.” Amber’s eyes flickered to her silver watch, but in the dark, she couldn’t see what time it was.

“It’s 10:45,” Michael supplied, the light from his watch slowly fading away. “I would take you, but I can’t leave Ryan and Halley here, not knowing if they have a ride.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Amber replied. “Drinking always makes me get the munchies.”

The sound of laughter and approaching footsteps behind her had Beth spinning around. Carly and Jessica’s rescue efforts had been successful. They led Ryan through the trees, one on each arm, and while he looked amused, behind him, Halley was anything but. Sure, she had that fake smile plastered to her face, and she laughed when they did, but her act wasn’t fooling Beth. Halley was pissed she couldn’t keep Ryan to himself.

“Carly! Let’s go get some french fries!” Amber shouted, approaching the other girls.

“Aw, but we just got our Ry Ry back,” she cooed, and Beth felt her stomach lurch at the honey voice she used. She knew he hated that nickname, but he chuckled anyway.

“Come on!” Amber was pulling on her best friend’s arm.

“It’s cool. I need to get home anyway,” Ryan said, glancing above Beth’s head at Michael. “My mom doesn’t want me to stay out too late tonight since I haven’t been out of my room for so long.”

Carly rubbed Ryan’s chest, just above his heart. “You poor thing. I really hope your new medicine works.”

“Thank you,” he said, placing his hand over hers. “I think it is working. I should be able to come out again soon.”

“I hope so,” Jessica cooed. “We had so much fun getting to know you tonight.” Her smile was as dazzling as a supermodel’s.

“Me, too,” Ryan offered, smiling down at her. He turned to look at Halley, whose smile didn’t quite convey her true feelings, though Beth still wasn’t sure if anyone else had picked up on it. “You ready, Halley?”

“I guess so,” she said, as if she might want to stay and hang out with the rest of the kids.

Michael collected his passengers, and Beth’s new friends waved at her old one like they were long lost lovers who might never see each other again. As soon as Michael’s beer covered truck was gone, Amber snatched Beth’s beer bottle out of her hand. “Holy hell. Is this your second or third? It’s totally gone?”

“Oh, uh, I lost count,” Beth chuckled.

“Right.” Amber took it and the bottle she had in her hand over to Tyler’s Jeep and tossed them into a trash bag. “All right—now we Sonic!”

Only a few minutes before her curfew, Beth hopped out of Carly’s car, a Sonic cup in hand, and waved goodbye to her friends. Carly pulled away, and Beth took a few deep breaths, ready to transform herself back to the Beth she’d been most of her life, but as she was walking up the front walkway, giggling from next door caught her attention, and she glanced over to see Halley and Ryan sitting on his front stoop, almost out of the gleam of the front porch light. She froze for a moment, not sure if she should call hello or just keep walking, but she heard the lower rumble of his voice, followed by the tinkling of her giggles again, and her feet proceeded toward the porch of their own accord. Apparently, Carly and Jessica’s rescue mission had only been half successful. They might’ve kept her from sinking her teeth into him in the dark, but she was entrapping him in other ways, it seemed.

Beth opened the front door quietly, slipped inside, and headed for the stairs. She was certain Shane’s car wasn’t in the driveway in front of her house, and since he rarely parked in the drive behind their home, she didn’t think he was there. Still, she walked up the stairs with her hands out in front of her, afraid she’d slam her face into the brick wall of his chest muscles again. He wasn’t there, and when she reached her bedroom, she was completely and utterly alone.

She hadn’t bothered to wipe her makeup off. Maybe she should’ve. She also should’ve stopped to pee, but Beth just wanted to bury herself under her blanket and sleep. Sure it wasn’t the alcohol she’d barely ingested and more the confessions of the night that were tearing away at her insides, she decided the only way she was going to shut off her internal dialogue was to snuff it out with sleep, so she kicked off her shoes and put on her pajamas, praying she could get some sleep. There was no need to worry about Ryan tossing aquarium rocks at her window that night.

Beth had just dozed off when the faint sounds of a newly oiled, but still squeaky, bike chain roused her just a bit. Ignoring it and rolling over, she tossed an arm over her head.