How could I have been so stupid as to go out, alone, with a strange guy and drink? Why had I left my roommates? I felt like such an idiot. If Jared hadn’t been there…
Jared.
His face popped back into my mind, playful and puzzled backstage as he asked if we’d met before. His eyes so blue they practically glowed, his perfect chiseled features below the shock of unruly hair, his lips slightly curled in the beginning of a smile, his skin radiant. An angel had come to rescue me, and I hadn’t even caught a glimpse of him.
“Crap,” I muttered again.
“What’s that?” Carl asked.
“Nothing.” I stewed for a few minutes. “What about my friends?”
“Don’t know nothing about your friends. Sorry.”
I withdrew my phone from my back pocket, but my hands were still trembling too much to text. I sent a note to say I’d gotten a ride back, and then I gave up as the big car lumbered around a bend. “You work for Jared, Carl?”
“That’s right. Drive, security, whatever.”
“Has he…has he ever rescued anyone before?”
A long pause. “That’s not for me to say.” The privacy glass slid closed.
The steady thrum of the tires worked their magic on me, and despite my best efforts, I slipped into sleep. When I awoke, the car wasn’t moving. Fresh air was blowing against my face from an open rear door. “We’re here,” announced Carl, from just outside the car.
I scrambled to sit up on the rear bench seat and reached for the handle above the door. I pulled myself out and nearly fell, and Carl steadied me just in time.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“Fine. Maybe just a little out of it.”
He indicated the gate twenty yards away. “Think you can make it okay?”
The idea of being led into the dorm on Carl’s arm was one I had no interest in exploring. I’d never be able to explain it, and someone was sure to see us, even at the late hour – the guard being the first. Showing up in the middle of the night was bad enough.
“Yeah. I…I’ll manage.” I held out the jacket to him.
He shook his head. “Keep it. Kind of chilly out.”
“But…”
“He wouldn’t have left it with you if he didn’t want you to have it.” He hesitated. “You sure you don’t need any help?”
I took a cautious step and then another. I was still a bit dizzy, and the exhaustion from the long day and the longer night had caught up with me, but I was steady enough to walk. “Thanks for everything, Carl. I’m good.” I eyed him. “You sure about the jacket?”
His smile lit up the night. “Positive, little lady. Now get yourself home and stay out of trouble.”
A different guard was sitting by the gate, who barely glanced at my ID. He probably was used to students staggering in at all hours, so my condition wasn’t noteworthy – at least, that was my hope.
By the time I made it up the stairs to my room, I was dragging. The lights were off when I eased the door open, and I could just make out Serena’s sleeping form on her bed. I glanced up at the poster of Jared and felt my way to my bed, and then collapsed onto the mattress, Jared’s jacket draped over me.
My head was throbbing as I replayed the nightmarish ordeal with Luke over and over in my mind, wondering what would have happened without Jared’s timely rescue. Slumber eventually pulled me into its warm embrace, and I drifted off, Jared’s crooked grin at the concert my last waking thought.
Chapter 5
It seemed like my head had just hit the pillow when Sarah’s voice woke me.
“How did you make it home?”
I cracked one eye open. Sarah stood by the window in gray sweatpants and a varsity shirt that looked five sizes too big, sunlight streaming through the curtains. Kate sat cross-legged on her bed, looking at me accusingly.
“What time is it?” I croaked.
“Ten,” Kate said.
“Who gave you a ride? You didn’t say. And where did you get that jacket?” Sarah pressed.
I forced myself to sit up. “Good morning to you, too.”
“We only got in an hour ago. How did you get home? How come you didn’t take us with you? What happened to Luke?” Kate asked.
I dodged the first questions. “What do you mean, what happened to him?”
“He left us stranded, is what. It took us all night to make it back. We wound up having to take the bus,” Sarah complained. “We kept texting you, but you didn’t answer. You have no idea what kind of sketchy characters are hanging around the Portland bus station at five in the morning.”
I tried to think of something to say. Serena smirked from where she was sitting at her study table. “At least you were dressed for it, Sarah. I don’t imagine it was too hard to raise money for the fare.”
Sarah ignored her. “Seriously. What was the deal with Luke? How come he took you home and not us? Did you guys go somewhere?”
“Luke’s a scumbag,” I said. “He got me drunk and tried to… I don’t know. I said no, but he didn’t stop. Hopefully he got arrested for drunk and disorderly or something. Although his dad’s a lawyer, so he’ll probably get off light.”
Kate’s expression was one of shock. “You’re joking!”
“I wish I were.”
Serena moved from the table to my bed. “Are you okay, Lacey?”
“I guess. I mean, he didn’t succeed, so that’s something. But it was horrible.”
“You have to press charges,” she said.
“How? There’s no, you know, evidence of anything. Plus I’d have to explain what a minor was doing in a club, drinking alcohol, for starters. I’m pretty sure a good attorney could make that pretty ugly and paint me as a total slut who was asking for it.”
“You still should, Lacey,” she insisted. “Or he’ll do it to someone else.”
I sighed and sank back against my pillow.
