Chapter 6

"Have you ever been to a party before?" Romeo asks after few minutes of silently driving.

I lift my gaze at him and feel my cheeks get tainted. "No."

His expression turns into one of surprise as he looks at me for a second then turns his attention back to the road. "Really? Why?"

"I don't know. I'm more of a books, netflix and food all day type of girl I guess." I say. "That is if I don't go out with Em or if I'm not studying."

"Aw that's sweet Blossie. But must suck having such a boring life." He teases me, making me send him a glare.

"It's not boring! At least my cycle of life is not all about school food and sex." I try to insult him back, but I know it won't work since he is so proud of being a player.

He laughs. "You'll get along very well with my sister." He says. "She thinks the same way you do."

He has a sister?

"I didn't know you had a sister." He never mentioned her name.

"Yes, her name is Ariel." He answers.

"Oh. I've never seen her around." I place a strand of hair that's blocking my view behind my ear.

"Yeah. She's a freshman this year." I can see a small smile forming on his lips at the thought of her sister. It warms my heart a little.

"You must love her." My mood drops a bit at the thought of my own brother. I wish he liked me the way Romeo liked his sister. But that would never happen, so I let the thought slide, not wanting to ruin my mood any further.

"Yes, so much." He smiles, then glances at me. "Do you have any siblings?" He asks but I have a feeling he already knows the answer to that by the tone of his voice.

"Yes, do you know Brandon?" I question, feeling disgusted by his name.

"That prick is your brother?" Oh wow.

We have a winner here.

Romeo is the first person to ever dislike my brother, which is odd. Because my brother wears his angel façade very carefully and proffessionally, so it's really weird for someone to see who he really is.

"Well, step brother." I explain. "You don't like him?"

He doesn't answer as the car comes to a stop. I look out of the window to see we have arrived at a huge house with a bunch of people inside and out.

Before I can realize what's going on, the door to my side is opened, revealing Romeo's charming face. "Let's go."

I step out of the car, thanking him for his kind gesture. I see Emma, Alyssa, Tyler and Jason entering the house as we follow, soon reaching them.

The music gets even louder when we get inside the house. The smell of sweat and alcohol lingers in the air, and it is fûcking disgusting. People are dancing and drinking, some making out.

"Let's get some drinks." Jason leads us to the drinks and we all take a cup. I, simply, don't.

I take a look at Romeo, he doesn't have a drink either.

"Why aren't you drinking?" We ask each other at the same time. After a second, we both start laughing.

"I'm the designated driver." Romeo answers first. "What about you?"

"I don't drink." I fix my eyes on the ground.

"Why?"

I lift my head. "I've seen what it does to people, and I don't like it." I remember of Brandon.

Speaking of the devil after a ten minutes or so, my eyes catch him walking down the stairs with a girl. Fear consumes my body as I go and hide behind Romeo, not wanting him to see me. Once he dissapears into the crowd, I step away from a confused Romeo.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"Oh, nothing." I wave my hand in front of my face.

"Why-"

"Guys, I think Emma is already really drunk. I'll be with her, don't worry about us ok?" Tyler comes from behind us, interrupting our conversation. Thankfully.

"We just came here..." I shake my head. How can she get drunk so fast? She must have drank from two cups at the same time or something.

"I know right." Tyler chuckles. "I gotta go, have fun."

"Alright, man." Romeo pats him on his back and he starts walking away before I stop him.

"Wait!" I shout through the music and Tyler turns around. "You won't take advantage of her right?" Tyler blushes a little.

"Of course not! I'm not that kind of an asshôle." He says and I just nod before letting him go.

Then Alyssa comes and tugs at my arm. She is not so balanced, and is giggling. Tipsy, are we?

"Come Bloss, let's dance!" She drags me onto the dance floor.

At first I resist, but then I let her take me. I like dancing, it takes my mind off of things. And right now, all I want is to be free while it lasts. So I let myself loose, I let my body enjoy the music.

***

I can see Romeo watching me from the corner of my eye, but I'm having too much fun to care.

I'm jumping and dancing like there's no tomorrow with Alyssa, and she is doing the same. We are kind of sweaty by now, but we don't leave.

I'm having a good time, until I feel hands around my hips. My eyes go wide and I turn around to see an unfamiliar face.

"Please don't do that." I take his hands off of my hips and turn back to Alyssa to find her no longer there but at a couch making out with a girl.

Ugh.

"Come on! Just a little fun." The guy insist and touches me again, this time below my hips. Before I have time to slap his hands away, he dissapears, making me look around in cofusion. Then I se Romeo holding him.

"Touch her again and I won't hesitate to punch that stupid smirk off your face." Romeo threatens and I watch in shock as the guy walks away with fast steps.

Romeo then comes closer to me, too close to make my breath hitch.

"You didn't have to do that." I say stubbornly and his nose touches mine.

"No one can touch you but me." His response makes my jaw drop a little and a shiver to run down my spine.

"Are you drunk Rom?" I ask, stepping away from him.

"No. You just had to dance like that and get me all messed up." He then clears his throat and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I need to use the restroom Blossie, go sit with Jason I'll be right back." With that he walks away, leaving me with an open mouth.

***

I decided that it was a good idea to go sit with Jason since there were too many sweaty bodies but just as I was about to go to him, a girl came and took him upstairs.

Someone is getting laid.

So I got out of the house to get some fresh air, hoping to not run into Brandon. On my way I saw a lot of people staring at me, mostly guys. I only assumed that one of my bruises were showing, but I had checked them in the morning while having a shower. They weren't visible anymore.

I just thought I was seeing things and continued walking.

Now as I sit on the sidewalk with a few drunk people around me, I take a deep breath.

It's good to be alive. At least I am alive. I try to think of things that are a reason for me to he happy. Maybe it'll make me feel better.

I made new friends, my parents love me, my, uh, grades are high, my... My...

Though I fail miserably. Nothing is enough to erase all the memories of the nights I spend at my house, the smell of Brandon's alcohol filled breath, or how much it hurts when he hits me.

And the worst part is that I can't tell anybody. It'll get worse if I do. At least only I am in danger now, if anyone learns about this, they will be in danger too. I can't risk people getting hurt because of me.

Brandon is capable of a lot of things. One of those things being killing someone. He is mental, he doesn't care.

"God Blossie you scared the shît out of me." A deep voice comes from behind me and I look back to see Romeo with relief written all over his face.

"Sorry, I just got bored inside so I came here." I say and look back at my lap.

He gets closer and sits next to me. A few minutes of comfortable silence passes and I just let myself think more about my life. Then, his angelic voice interrupts the pity party I have for myself in my head, causing me to lift my gaze at him.

"Why are you sad Blossom?" Blossom. He doesn't use my nickname, letting me know this is a serious question, and my palms sweat.

"I'm not sad." I lie.

"Yeah sure." He doesn't believe me. He has no reason to believe me, I'm a sucker at lying.

"It's true." I try to convince him. I try to convince myself that I'm not sad. But I know that I am, and there's no meaning in denying it.

"You can trust me." My heart beats faster at his words but I simply give him a sad smile and shake my head.

"I can't trust anyone, Romeo." I say geniunely. With that I get up and walk to the house door, leaving Romeo behind.

I try to calm myself down, but it doesn't work. I want to cry, to bawl my eyes out becasue of my frustration, my helplessness. But I stay silent, and let myself scream internally.

A tear slips from my eye as I set foot in the house, and before I can wipe it away, a rough hand does it for me.

I look up. With the person I fear the most standing in front of me, all I can do is to pray.

Pray to be free one day.