I landed on my hip and pain shot down my thigh. I looked around and saw Marco lying on the ground giggling like an imbecile.
Jerk.
His friend, Tony, I think his name was, apologized for knocking him over, then laughed hysterically. Marco joined in and made no move to get up.
What the hell?
Then Tony stared at me and swayed a little and once I saw their eyes, I knew they were stoned.
I got to my feet and stepped away from them as I dusted off my dress. Let them be idiots.
I turned to the girls. “Let’s dance somewhere else.”
Another guy stumbled over. “Hey, Marco. Don’t be a fuckwit. Say sorry to the girl.”
Marco looked up. “What?”
“Say sorry for knocking her over, man.”
“Who?”
The guy pointed at me. “The new girl.”
Marco squinted at me as he stumbled to his feet. “What are you talking about? She’s fine.”
“Show some manners.”
“Make me!”
The guy shoved Marco’s shoulder and started yelling some more, so Marco fired back a tirade of abuse and before anyone could react, they were having a fist-fight right there, dangerously close to the fire.
We backed even further away and Justina swore loudly. “I should have known.” She glared at them. “Bunch of fucking idiots. They said they’d back off on that shit. If I’d known, I would have stayed home.”
Kellie took her by the arm. “It’s okay. Just leave them to it. We’ll keep away from them.”
As they passed me, I asked Kellie what they were on.
She ushered us all to the opposite side of the fire. “It’s called Green Ice.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“You wouldn’t have. It’s not something that many Normals know about.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s made using magic. You know how we can store magic in a crystal, right?”
“Yeah.”
Justina was swearing under her breath and pacing back and forth.
Kellie glanced at her, then focused on me again. “And you’ve been told to draw the magic out slowly, right?
“Yes. Ruby said if you draw it out too fast, it can make you lose control of the magic.”
“Yeah, but there’s another side effect. The rush of magic makes you high. And before you go thinking that that’s a good thing, let me tell you, it’s not. It’s highly addictive and is worse than any normal human-made drug you’ve ever seen.”
I let that sink in.
“Over time, it eats at the cells in your body and your body has a hard time trying to heal itself. When people are addicted, the body can’t fully heal between hits.”
This was bad. Besides what it does to your health, I’d seen first-hand what damage out-of-control magic could do. I still felt guilty when I thought about what I’d done to Tracy. And Russell. And that boy from my memories.
My attention was drawn back to the party as the guys were now attempting to dance. Apparently, the fight was over. The dancing wasn’t working out too well and they looked ridiculous. They fell over one after the other and just stayed on the ground laughing.
A couple of them shot sparks from their hands as they rolled around like toddlers and some party-goers rushed to put out the flames so that they wouldn’t start a bushfire.
Justina turned away from them and there were tears glistening in her eyes. “That’s it! I’m outta here! I can’t do this.”
Kellie put a hand on her arm. “Okay. I’ll take you.” She turned to us. “Sorry. I’m Justina’s ride. I’ll take her home and come back. See ya later on.”
We said goodbye and watched them go. Kellie put an arm around Justina as they picked their way through the yellowed, knee-high grass and the occasional fallen branch on the ground.
I wondered why Justina had had such a strong reaction. Maybe she’d had a bad trip once.
Blake appeared next to me and I jumped. “Oh, hi. You scared me.”
“Sorry.” He gave me a lopsided grin and I cringed inside as I tried to look at his eyes.
“Did you take some Green Ice too?”
“Nah. I’ve just had a beer or two. It’s all good.”
He was a little unsteady on his feet, but his eyes were normal. Maybe he was just drunk. That was all I needed. I wasn’t getting in the car with him.
How the hell am I going to get home?
Alina. I sighed. I could get a ride with her.
Blake noticed me looking toward the cars. “Don’t worry about Justina. She’s always like that when it comes to any drugs, especially the Green Ice. I don’t know what her problem is. She doesn’t seem to be a goody-two-shoes, but she just needs to chill.”
He took my arm and steered me toward the log we were sitting on earlier.
I looked at him as we walked. “There must be a reason for it.”
He guided me to sit down. “Whatever it is, she needs to get over it.”
“Maybe she can’t. Or maybe she doesn’t want to.”
I was getting annoyed. He didn’t seem to care at all.
He slid an arm around my shoulders and I wasn’t sure how to feel. Did I want him to get closer? I knew he wanted me to be his girlfriend, but the more he pushed, the more I backed away.
“Maddie?”
I looked into his eyes. “Yes?”
“You are so beautiful.”
A rush of warmth spread through me. His eyes were so enchanting. I could look into them all night. There was something about him. Something I couldn’t put my finger on.
He leaned forward and I realized he was going to kiss me and my heart swelled. I leaned into him and our lips met. My insides turned to jelly as his lips moved against mine and he held me closer.
My mind went blank. It was just him and me and that’s all that mattered right now. Our kisses became more intense as his hands started to wander and he ran them up and down my back and around to my hips. My hands were pressed to his back, unmoving. They stayed frozen in place and I wondered why. I’d kissed guys before. What was wrong with me?
He pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Will you go out with me?”
“Yes,” I breathed, hardly believing what I was saying.
This was really happening. He really did like me.
He kissed me again. “You’re beautiful and you’re mine.”
The warmth intensified with each breath. My mind raced. What was happening? Is this what it felt like to fall in love?
“Blake? What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQytXBPl3q
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Author's Note: Do you think Maddie should have said yes to Blake? Let me know in the comments. Would YOU have said yes?
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