Find You in the Dark (12 page)

 
Daniel frowned at Rachel but chose to ignore her words, which was probably smart on his part.  He turned to Clay.  “Hey Clayton, good to see you made it out.”  I couldn't help but smile at Daniel's efforts to be nice. They engaged in that weird guy fist bump, hand shake, half hug thing boys do.  Clay gave him a small smile.  “Hey, Daniel.  How's it going?”  Daniel shrugged but gave a wary sideways glance at Rachel, who was now focused on anything besides him and Kylie.  She was definitely failing in the subtlety department this evening. 

  “
You know, same ol', same ol'.”  Rachel's head whipped around and gave him a hateful smile.  “Yeah it
is
the same ol', same ol'.  Isn't it Danny?  I can't figure out why you'd keep coming back for the same old and tired thing instead of finding something new.”  Kylie's face turned red and I knew I had to intervene before there was an outright cat fight. 

  “
Rachel, enough.”  I hissed under my breath.  Daniel looked pissed.  “What the hell is your problem Rachel?  If I've done something to offend you, just tell me already.”  Poor delusional Daniel.  He was seriously about to open up Pandora's box and had no idea.

  “
Rachel's just had a few too many drinks.  She'll be right as rain tomorrow.  Don't listen to her...”  Rachel shoved me in the chest, so that she could move past me.  She got right in Daniel's face, her expression murderous.  Clayton thankfully realized something was about to go down and moved deftly between them.  “Rachel, could you help me find the keg?  I'm pretty thirsty.”  He asked her, shouldering Daniel out of the way. 

 
Rachel blinked a few times, but the change in topic worked and she gave Clay a bleary smile.  “Of course, Clayton.  I'd be happy to show you.  I need to get away from all this bullshit anyway.”  With a final look of death in Daniel's direction, she led Clay toward the house.  Clayton looked at me as he started to follow her.  “Come find us when you're done here.  I'll probably need the help.”  He looked at Rachel's rapidly retreating form.  “Sure, just give me a minute.”  I said.  Clayton nodded before hurrying after Rachel.

  “
What the hell is that bitch's problem?”  Kylie growled.  My back stiffened.  Yeah, Rachel was a little out of line, but no one could call my best friend a bitch but me.  “Watch your mouth, Kylie, don't say shit about her like that.”  My voice was hard and I gave the smaller junior girl a look of steel.  Kylie shrank a bit under my stare. 

 
I turned to Daniel.  “Danny, can I talk to you a moment?”  I looked pointedly at Kylie.  “Alone, please.”  Kylie's face turned red again.  It seemed to be her natural coloring tonight.  She let out a dramatic harrumph and stomped off.  Kylie wouldn't be joining the Maggie Young fan club anytime soon, that's for sure.

 
Daniel rubbed his hand across his face.  “Seriously, Mags?  I'm gonna get so much flack for this.  I really didn't need all of this drama.  I thought you girls were cooler than that.”  Daniel's shoulders sagged and for a moment I felt bad for him.  He was my friend and I loved him.  “Sorry Danny, but Kylie kind of grates on my nerves.”  I sat beside him on a large boulder along the edge of the bonfire. 

  “
Don't read too much into Rachel.  She's just mouthing off.”  Though Daniel knew as well as I did, that Rachel didn't just “mouth” off.  That when she spoke, she spoke her mind.  “I didn't realize you guys disliked Kylie so much.”  He muttered, hanging his head, his elbows propped on his knees.  “We don't dislike Kylie so much as we just don't like how she treats you.”  Daniel just shook his head.  He looked up at me and I felt bad that he was so miserable.  He loathed fighting with Rachel and I as much as I did.  “Is there more to this? Is there something you're not telling me?”  He asked me, frowning.

 
When did Daniel become so perceptive?  But there was no way I would tell him about Rachel's crush.  That would be breaking her confidence, and if she wanted him to know, she would have told him.  So I just shrugged my shoulders.  “Not that I know of.”  But then I added.  “Just be gentle with her, Danny.  You know how sensitive Rachel can get.  She gets her feelings hurt easily.  Just be aware of the things you say and how it affects others, alright?”  I put my arm around his shoulders and gave him an affectionate squeeze. 

 
Daniel laid his cheek against mine.  “I love you, Mags.”  He patted my knee and stood up.  “Okay enough of this girlie crap.  Let's go find Rachel and Clay so I can make this right.”  I stood up ready to follow him, but then paused.  “What about Kylie?”  I asked, surprised he didn't choose to go find his girlfriend first.

 
Daniel snorted.  “I don't feel like hearing her particular brand of bullshit right now.  Besides, Rachel comes first.”  I grinned.  Daniel did have a good heart.  Perhaps I've never given him enough credit.   “Let's go get a drink and find our friends.”  Daniel tugged on my hand and I laughed as he pulled me after him.  My heart warmed that he included Clayton in our circle of friends, despite his wariness toward him.   Daniel
was
a good guy.

 
We made our way through the backyard.  It felt like trying to part the Red Sea, there were people everywhere.  Melissa would have a nasty mess on her hands tomorrow morning.  I would be too paranoid to throw a party like this at my place.  Though looking at the huge house, I figured she could afford to have cleaners come in and take care of it for her.

 
Daniel led the way and we went in through the kitchen.  A few kids were mixing drinks with Melissa's parents' liquor, sloshing liquid all over the counter.  “Hey, Daniel!  Maggie!  Want a Long Island Ice Tea?”  Jake Fitzpatrick asked, pushing a full cup in our direction.  Daniel took the cup and sniffed.  “Damn!  What did you put in here?  It smells like cat piss.”  Daniel gagged and handed the drink back.  Jake laughed.  “I little of this, a little of that.  You know.”  I shook my head at the inebriated idiots. 

  “
You want anything?”  Daniel asked as we headed down the hallway toward the garage.  “Yeah, I'll grab a beer.  But I'm DD tonight, so I can't drink much.”  We followed the wave of voices that drifted from the end of the hallway.  This was obviously the way to the keg. 

 
There were people crowded around the entrance to the garage.  Daniel grabbed my hand and tugged me through the door.  “You have got to be kidding me.”  Daniel muttered in apparent amusement.  He had stopped just short of the keg and I ran into his back.  “Danny!  What are you doing?”  I called out.  “Get a load of your good buddy Clayton Reed.”  Daniel said, pointing in front of him.  I moved around Daniel and was stunned to see Clay being held upside down by two football players with his mouth underneath the keg tap.

 
It was then that I noticed the people circling him, chanting “Go, Go, Go!”  Rachel was jumping up and down, clapping her hands and cheering louder than anyone.  “What the hell?”  I asked, not as amused as Danny had been.  “We have to stop him, Daniel!”  I pulled on his arm.  Daniel looked at me questioningly.  “Why?  It's not like you haven't done a few keg stands in your time, Miss Judgmental.  Let the boy have some fun, he could use some loosening up.” 

 
I groaned.  “You don't get it, Danny.  Clay has a...uh...history with drinking and it's not a good one.  This will end badly.”  I was becoming panicked as the keg stand seemed to never end.  Daniel looked at me, frowning.  “If you say so.  I think you might be overreacting.  But whatever.  You take care of Clay, I'll get Rachel.”  I smiled in relief, appreciating his help.

 
Daniel and I parted ways.  He headed over to Rachel, who tried to push away from him as he put his arm around her shoulder and started leading her out of the garage.  Daniel firmly held her by her upper arms and herded her outside.

 
I turned toward Clay who was just now being put on his feet.  He stumbled and one of the football guys put out a hand to steady him.  “You all right, man?”  he asked, laughing at my friend's drunken state.  Clayton gave him a thumbs up. “I'm fantastic.”  He slurred.  Good god, this was going to be just super.

 
Before I could get over to Clay, Melissa, the hostess extraordinaire, rushed to his side and plastered herself against him like a second skin.  “That was amazing, Clay.”  She cooed in his ear.  Oh gag.  I grabbed a hold of Clay's arm and squeezed.  “What the hell are you doing?”  I asked quietly in his ear.  Clayton looked over at me, only now realizing that I was standing there.

 
He grinned at me and pulled me into a hug.  Renee looked miffed that she had been discarded.  “Mags.  I'm so happy you're here!  Did you see that?  That was epic!”  He told me, ridiculously pleased with himself.  I pulled on him and we moved toward the door.  “Yeah, I saw you. I thought you said you didn't want to be doing that stuff.”  I replied, looking at him with concern. 

 
A dark look crossed Clay's face and he yanked his arm from my grasp.  “What are you?  The party police?  I'm having fun.  I thought that's what you wanted.  For me to meet people and you know, socialize.”  I didn't say anything.  Clearly, Clayton was not a friendly drunk.  “I did want that, but you were the one who said you had a history with this stuff.  That drinking isn't good for you.”  I tried to grab his hand again and get him out of the garage.

 
Maybe if I could get him out of there I could get him to see reason.  Well, that was wishful thinking.  Clayton Reed was way past reason and had dipped precariously into crazy land.  He pushed my hand away.  “Back off, Maggie!  I don't need you telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing.  I did just fine before you came along to mother me.”

 
My mouth fell open to reply, but then I closed it.  I wouldn't be this guy's punching bag.  Drunk or not.  Love of my life or not.  I didn't put up with that kind of shit from anyone.  So I shoved him in the center of his chest, making him stumble backwards a few steps.

  “
Well pardon me for giving a crap about you.  I was just worried.  But if you want to act like a  drunken asshole, that's fine!  But I won't be around to watch it!”  I slammed out the door and into the cool night air. 

 
I pressed my back into the cold metal of the garage door, trying to calm my breathing.  That went well.  I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the pavement.  I leaned my forehead against my knees, wrapping my arms around my legs. 

 
The door opened beside me and I lifted my head to see Clay step outside.  He looked around and then noticed me sitting down on the cold pavement alone in the dark.  He sank to the ground beside me, keeping a cautious distance between us.  I didn't say anything. I had nothing
to
say.  “I'm sorry.  That was totally uncalled for.”  Clay said softly.  Though his words were slurred, he at least seemed to possess some understanding of how horrible he was behaving.  And he appeared genuinely contrite.

  “
Yeah, you kind of suck right now.”  I remarked, refusing to look at him.  Clay's fingers touched my chin and pulled my face around so I was looking at him.  “Please don't be angry with me.  I can't stand that.  I need you way too much to have this between us.”  His words were desperate and I was shocked at what he had just said. 

 
He needed me?  Since when?  And, while my heart thrilled, something inside me hesitated, unsure how to respond. His fingers slipped into my hair and he started to pull me toward him.  More specifically my mouth toward his.  Before our lips touched I stopped him.  I put my hands over his to still the movement.  “What is this, Clay?  What are you doing?”  I murmured, the skin of our lips brushing against each other.

 
Clay gazed into my eyes and a pool of warmth flooded my belly.  Why was I talking?  Why didn't I just let him kiss me?  How long have I wanted this and I was making him stop?  Was I freaking nuts? 

 
But it just didn't feel right to have him do this when he was drunk.  I wanted him in his right frame of mind when he kissed me.  I didn't want it to be some sloppy event outside of Melissa James's garage.  Clay backed up.  “I thought you wanted this.  You've been sending out signals like crazy.”  Clay seemed angry.  Embarrassed even.  I had taken his guy card...again.

 
I touched his face, but he pulled away from me.  Dear lord, his moods were all over the place right now.  “I do want to kiss you.  Just not like this.  I mean you're kind of wasted right now.  This isn't exactly romantic.”  I laughed nervously.  Clay shook his head.  “Who said I'm looking for romance?  Can't we just hook up and it not be all serious?”  Woah.  Okay, that hurt.  Glad to know that our kiss wouldn't mean quite the same thing to him as it would to me.  Though he had just told me he needed me.  He had seemed absolutely wretched when he thought I was angry with him.  He was so hot and cold, I just couldn't wrap my mind around it.

  “
Alright then.  This is clearly not going to happen, so I'm going to go find Daniel and Rachel.”  I stood up.  Clay got to his feet behind me.  His face was unreadable but it was obvious from his body language that he
was not
happy.  “You go on. I'm just going to hang out.  You know....socialize and all.”  He said nastily and turned around and went back into the garage.

 
My stomach dropped and I blinked back tears.  You have got to be kidding me.  I had hoped tonight would be fun.  But between Rachel's dramatics and Clay's drunken craziness, this night was quickly turning into a disaster.