Forever Altered (22 page)

“That
pretty girl is with us, so it would be wise of you to walk away and be very,
very thankful it was us who found you and not Rocco,” Logan advises him. 

Ryan
turns to look at me, “Rocco dumps your ass, so you go behind his back and screw
his friends?  You are a whore.” 

Shane
grabs him by his shirt and holds him against the wall.  “Apologize. 
Now.”

When
Ryan doesn’t say anything, Logan gets in his face.  “You were told to
apologize to the lady.  Now do it.”

“Okay. 
Okay.  I’m sorry.”  Ryan scrambles to stay on his feet when Shane
lets him go. 

“Tell
her you won’t bother her again,” Logan tells him.

“I
won’t even look at her,” he says before taking off down the hallway.

Both
Shane and Logan are at my side instantly.  “Are you okay, Alyssa?” Logan
asks. 

“I’m
fine,” I sigh leaning against the wall behind me.  “I can’t go back in
that room.  I told the girls I would be back, but I’m done.”

Shane
puts his arms around me.  “I’m going to take her home.  Go get her
keycard from Leah and ask Troy for the keys to his car.  She’s never going
to be able to walk all the way back to the apartment in those shoes.  I’ll
get her out front where we parked.” 

“Logan,”
I call as he starts to walk away.  “Please don’t let Rocco know about
Ryan.  I just want to go home without another incident.”

“I’ll
do my best, but he’ll probably find out eventually,” Logan says softly.

 “What
the hell am I going to do with you, Kiddo?” Shane says leading me
outside.  Thankfully we make it to the front of the building without
anyone seeing me.  Logan eventually shows up with the keys and both Troy
and Paige. 

“What
happened?” Paige asks coming over to me.  “You were fine when we left you
in the bathroom.  You said you were okay.”

“I
just want to go home.  I’ve had enough for tonight,” I say.

She
nods understandingly.  “I’m going with you.”  She jumps in the
passenger side.

I
slide into the backseat in between Shane and Logan.  “Rocco knows
something is going on.  We don’t have much time to get her back before he
comes looking,” Logan tells Shane over my head.  We all stay quiet the
rest of the ride.  Troy pulls up to the front of the building and Logan
jumps out to run through the building to open the door by my apartment. 
By the time he parks the car, Logan is holding the door open.  As we file
into the apartment, Logan says, “By the way, Leah cannot take a hint to save
her life.  She’s a pain in the ass to get to shut up.” 

“Did
you tell her about Ryan?” Shane asks. 

“No. 
I just said Alyssa wanted to go home,” Logan answered.

“What
happened with Ryan?”  Paige whips her head around. 
   

“He
called me a whore.  Shane and Logan scared him,” I answer.

“Girlfriend,
you’ve had one shitty night,” she says. 

“That
is an understatement if I’ve ever heard one,” Troy mumbles. 

“It’s
the costume.  I told Leah I didn’t like it,” I sigh.  “Once again I’ve
managed to ruin everyone’s night.  I’m so sorry guys.  How are any of
you still talking to me?”

“It’s
not your fault.  You just have really bad luck,” Shane teases.  I
hear someone’s phone signaling an incoming text message. 

Troy
reaches in his pocket and hands Paige her phone.  “It’s Leah,” he
announces. 

Paige
takes it and tells us that Leah wants to know what is going on. 
She
texts back how I ran into Ryan in the hallway, she’ll
get the rest of the details when she gets home, and to keep it from Rocco for
as long as possible.  “Alright, you guys.  Get out of here.  I’m
going to get Alyssa out of her costume and cleaned up.  Logan, one comment
from you and I will kick your ass,” she instructs.  He walks out
chuckling. 

Shane
comes over to me and gives me a hug.  “I’m glad you are okay.  I was
really worried when I saw Ryan standing there.  That could have been so
much worse,” he whispers so only I can hear him.

“I
know,” I respond.  “Thank you so much.”  My tears are brewing again
thinking about it. 

“Look,
Alyssa.  I just need to say something and I don’t want you to be upset,
okay?”  He looks to make sure the guys have left the room and he sees
Paige standing over by the door.  I nod to him when he looks back. 
“Earlier, when Rocco said something about me wanting you, I just want you to
know it’s not like that.  I consider you a really good friend.  We
all do.  I just want you to know,” he repeats.  “You are like the
little sister none of us had.  We all have your back, okay?”

“I
know.” 

Logan
comes back in and gives me a hug, too.  He kisses my head before saying,
“We’ll check on you tomorrow, Philly Girl.  Get some sleep.  Call if
you need anything,” he says before disappearing through the door. 

Troy
pokes his head in to kiss Paige.  “Shane, you coming?  I’m going to
go find Rocco.  It’s better if he hears about this from us, don’t you
think?”  He agrees.  “Good night, Alyssa.” 

“Good
night, Troy.  Thank you for bringing me home.”

“Anytime
,.
  He pulls Paige in for one more kiss.  “You
want me to swing by and grab you later?” 

“I’m
going to stay here,” she tells him. 

“Paige,
you can go.  I’ll be fine,” I say to her.

           
“Forget it.  You’re stuck with me, unless Leah kicks me out,” she
winks.  I give her the best smile I can. 

She
follows the guys out and makes sure the door is locked.  When she comes
back, I am already scrubbing my face in the bathroom trying to get all of the
damn glitter off.  Paige grabs another washcloth off the shelf and scrubs
her face as well.  We finish up and head into my room.  I find pajama
pants that might fit Paige because they are long on me and a big t-shirt. 
After changing, I blow up Leah’s air mattress and cover it with sheets and a
couple extra blankets.  Leah even keeps extra pillows around.  As
soon as my head hits the pillow I start to think about the nights events. 

“I
just wanted to go out and have fun with my friends.  Is that really too
much to ask?” 

Paige
starts giggling.  “For you, yes.” 

I
laugh with her as a tear slips out.  “You’re probably right.”

We
talk for a little while before my phone buzzes on the dresser next to me. 
I see a text message from Rocco. 
Heard what happened.  I know u
don’t want 2 talk 2 me. 
Plz
just tell me if u r
OK.
  I text back
I’m fine
then turn off my phone.  As soon
as Paige falls asleep, I cry myself to sleep.  I’m not fine at all.

Rocco

Following
my breakdown over watching as Alyssa let the balloon go in the park and the first
time back to my apartment, I decided it would be better if I just steered clear
of the Halloween party.  There was absolutely no reason for me to be
chasing her around like a love sick puppy when it was obvious she didn’t want
me.  Not only that, but I also wanted Sunshine to have a good time with
her friends and not worry about me.  Shane told me earlier when I talked
to him that he was going with Logan and Troy, so I knew she’d be safe. 
They wouldn’t let anything happen to her.  All of that went out the window
when I was included in a group text, which I can only assume was
accidental.  It was a picture of Alyssa, Leah, Julia, Erin, and Paige in
their costumes.  No fucking way was I going to sit at home while she was
walking around a bunch of horny bastards wearing that costume.  It didn’t
matter how much I already had to drink.  I needed to get to her.  If
a cop pulled me over, I could only hope it was someone I knew and would help me
out.     

It
took me less than thirty minutes to get back to school from my house.  I
parked my car at the Student Center, since it would be a waste of time parking
it by the apartment only to have to run across campus.  When I walked in
the door, I happened to catch a glimpse of Alyssa walking through the crowd on
the dance floor.  Guys were parting the way for her and watching as she
passed.  Someone was seriously going to piss me off tonight.  She was
headed to the tables set up on the side, so I followed her.  By the time I
caught up to her, the only thing I could hear was her telling Carrie how little
she thought of me.  It felt like the wind was knocked out of me hearing
her say that, but the look on her face when she realized I heard her was far
worse.  She didn’t even care that she was tearing me apart.

Alyssa
wouldn’t even come talk to me.  There wasn’t anything specific I wanted to
say to her, but the need to get her out of there was overwhelming.  She
just walked away from me.  I sat there watching her dance.  Seeing
everyone watch her move the way she did was so much worse than when we were at
the dinner last week.  The guys at school were just trying to get laid by
the hottest girl in the room.  It was only a game to them. 
Unfortunately, I knew how it worked all too well.  I’ve played many times
myself.

When
a slower song came on, I was hoping there would be a possibility she would
soften up and dance with me.  She didn’t go for it.  Inadvertently, I
said out loud how I needed to hold her and she looked at me as if she had no
idea why.  How could she think that just because she let me go, I’d stop
loving her?  She knew about Vicki and knew I was only trying to protect
her by staying away.  Shane just about met his death when he interfered
prior to walking away with my girl in his arms.  My anger immediately subsided
when I saw she was crying in spite of Shane trying to hide it from me. 
Alyssa had to still feel something for me if she was crying.  That
something would be what I would hold on to for right now until I could figure
this mess out. 

The
girls disappeared with Alyssa for a while.  Eventually, they came back
without her.  Paige said she just needed some time to herself.  Then
Shane and Logan disappeared.  Logan came back shortly after.  He
secretly talked to Troy.  I asked him what was going on.  Logan told
me they were taking Alyssa back to her apartment because she wanted to go and
Leah couldn’t leave since she was in charge of the party.  I wasn’t sure
if I was just being paranoid or if something was wrong.  After a bit, I
took off.  If she was leaving, there was no reason for me to be
there.  The guys looked as if they had things under control without me and
I only seemed to upset her. 

A
little later as I’m lying in my bed wondering how things had gotten so screwed
up, the guys come strolling in the apartment calling my name.  Troy barges
through my bedroom door and flips on the light.

“Damn
it,” I yell covering my eyes with my arm.

“We
need to talk to you,” he says not turning it off.

“I
don’t need another lecture, Troy.  I get it.  I screwed up.  I
don’t deserve her.  Blah, blah,” I mumble.

“No. 
Well, that’s all true, but it isn’t what we have to talk to you about,” Shane
says when he comes in our room.  He hands me a shot of something in a
glass.  “Here you might need this.”  I just sit up and look at each
of them. 

“What
happened?” I ask suddenly very anxious to know what they had to say.  I
cannot help but wonder if Alyssa found someone tonight.  I’ve been afraid
that might happen.  If she took someone back to her room or if she went to
someone else’s room…

“Calm
down.  We took care of it, but we want you to hear about it from us,”
Logan says sitting on my desk chair.  They took care of what?

“Did
something happen to Alyssa?”  The looks on their faces are starting to get
me wound up.

“She’s
okay.  We just left her with Paige safely locked in her room,” Troy tells
me.  “Paige is staying with her tonight since Leah will still be awhile at
the party.”

“One
of you better tell me what the fuck happened,” I am raising my voice starting
to freak out.  They all look at Shane.

“Damn
it.  Why is it always me?” Shane whines.  “Alright. The girls came
back from the bathroom without Alyssa.  She told them that she needed a
minute to herself, like Paige said.  They went back out dancing. 
When you saw us get up, Logan and I decided to go check on her.  When we
headed down the hallway, Ryan had her cornered by the girls’ bathroom.”

“I’m
going to kill him,” I stand up, but Troy blocks me from leaving. 

“Sit
down and listen.”  I drop back on my bed looking to Shane for the rest of
the story.

“I
heard him say something about getting her back to his room and her telling him
it wasn’t happening.  We stepped in and he, well,” Shane pauses running
his hand through his hair.

“Shane,”
I glower at him.

“He
mistakenly thought because we were there and not you that she was somehow
involved with us.  He called her a whore,” he stops for a second as I held
my breath.  “He never put a hand on her from what we saw.”

“We
roughed him up a little and maybe scared him. He apologized to Alyssa.  We
let him go.  End of story,” Logan finishes for Shane.

“Son
of a bitch,” I shout and jump off of the bed. 

“We
handled it Rocco.  Relax for a second and think before you act.  The
most important thing is that Alyssa is safe and Ryan won’t bother her anymore,”
Shane says trying to talk me out of what he knows I am about to do.  “Text
her, at least.  Let her know you just want to see how she is.”  He is
trying to distract me, but I do it anyway.  She says she’s fine. 
That’s all I get.  I try to text again asking her to see me just for a
second, but I didn’t get any response.  I’m crushed.

I
push by all three of them and take off out of the apartment.  They are
following me trying to get me to calm down, but none of them will let me go
there alone.  If it was one of their girls, they would be doing the same
thing and I would be right behind them.  It doesn’t take long to cross the
parking lot to get to The Village.  Ryan lives in one of the frat houses
and I know he’ll be there.  We barge through the door right into his
suite.  As soon as he sees me coming through the door, he jumps off the
beer stained couch practically knocking over the bitch sitting next to
him.  His frat brothers all jump up.

“What
the hell, Rocco?” Ryan starts to say as he’s backing up the closer I get to
him.  “I apologized to her.  Why do you care?  I heard she
wasn’t even your girl anymore.”

“SHE
WILL ALWAYS BE MY GIRL!” I scream right before punching him in the face.
 He falls over the pile of shit on the floor behind him.  I grab him
by the collar of his shirt and pick up his scrawny ass holding him
midair.  For so long, I’ve wanted to beat the shit out of this guy, but
this is enough.  Sunshine would not want me to do any more than
this.  A few of his frat brothers are trying to get to me, but the guys
hold them back.  “She will always be my girl, no matter what.  If I
ever hear you so much as glance in her direction, a black eye will be the least
of your problems.  Do you understand me?”  I let him fall to the
floor and turn around.  “That goes for all of you,” I shout before walking
out of the suite.

By
the time we make it back to our building, I start to settle down.  The
guys want me to go grab something to eat with them at the diner.  We
aren’t really able to drive, so someone calls and has pizza delivered. 
Once it’s in the apartment, I realize I haven’t actually had much to eat lately
and end up eating more pizza than usual.  It’s getting late and the guys
are starting to go to bed.  While Shane is in the shower, I leave the
apartment.  It isn’t a good idea to go see her, but I have to see her to
know she’s really okay.  I knock on the door lightly in case she’s
asleep.  Leah opens the door still in her costume. 

“What
are you doing here?” she whispers.

“I
just need to know she’s okay after what happened with Ryan,” I tell her. 

“I
don’t even know what happened,” Leah says.  “She was already asleep when I
got back.”
            “Please,
Leah.  Just let me see her.  I won’t wake her up,” I beg. 

“What
happened?” she asks not moving to let me in.

“Basically,
he called her a whore.  Shane and Logan took care of it then brought her
back here.  After I heard what happened, I went over, punched the son of a
bitch in the face, and threatened him to never look at her again,” I explain
and lean against the door frame. 

“Well,
I guess that buys you one minute.  If you wake her up, she will kill me
then I will kill you.  Got it?” she threatens.

“Loud
and clear,” I tell her. 

“Be
careful.  Paige is on the floor in between our beds on the air mattress,”
she warned. 

Walking
in their apartment brings back so many good memories of me and Sunshine. 
Tyler is at the kitchen table eating leftovers from the party.  Erin and
Mark are right inside of her room staring at me when I walk in.  “What the
hell is he doing in here?” Erin wants to know looking over to Leah who comes in
and sits across from Tyler. 

“He
punched a guy for her.  The least I can do is let him see her,” Leah
explains to her. 

“You
punched Ryan?” she asked raising her eyebrows.  I nod.  “It’s about
time,” she says closing her door.

“Good
for you, man.  That guy is a douche bag,” Tyler says with a mouth full of
food. 

I
open Alyssa’s door as quietly as possible.  The light from their bathroom
is left on with the door slightly cracked like the girls usually do when one of
them goes to bed before the other.  I can see the air mattress on the
floor, so I tiptoe around it and carefully sit on the edge of Alyssa’s
bed.  The light is just enough that I can see the details of her
face.  In the last few weeks, watching her sleep has become one of my
favorite things to do.  Her beauty is something that amazes me every time
I look at her.  Her light, freckled skin is so smooth I could run my fingers
over it for hours.  Her hair looks pretty when it’s straight, but there is
something about her curls that suit her.  She normally looks so peaceful
when she sleeps.  That isn’t the case this time.  I can see she has
been crying.  She wasn’t sleeping for very long because her cheeks are
still damp from the tears.  I wipe her face with a tissue that she has
next to her head and kiss her cheek where it’s wet.  Before leaving, I
whisper, “I’ll find a way to make this better.  I promise.  You’ll
always be my girl, Sunshine.”  Then I slip out as quietly as I came in.

I
thank Leah on my way out of their apartment.  She didn’t have to let me
in.  She could have slammed the door in my face.  I would have. 

“Hey,
Rocco,” Leah calls from behind me as I am walking away.  She is standing
in their doorway looking at me. 

“Yeah?”
I ask trying not to get upset out here in the hallway.

“Alyssa’s
hurting just as much as you are even though she’s trying to pretend like she’s
not,” she tries to reassure me.

Shaking
my head I say, “I doubt it.  Knowing I’m the reason she’s hurting is
pretty fucking painful.”

“Why
did you do this if you are hurting so badly?”  She is curious to know.

“I
don’t have a choice.  Vicki is certifiably crazy.  She has nothing to
fear.  Her dad has a lot of power and money.  He bails her ass out of
every messed up thing she does.  There is a restraining order against her
to stay away from me here at school, but who knows if that is enough.  I
have no idea what she is capable of and if she hurt Alyssa in any way,” I say
shaking my head.  “I couldn’t live with myself.  I know some
people.  I’m going to see if there is anything they can do.  It’s not
an option for me to live without her, but I’ve got to deal with this before
trying to fix things with Alyssa.”

“Hurry
up before there’s nothing left to fix,” is the last thing she says before going
back in her apartment and closing the door.