Free Falling (6 page)

He pulled back and put his forehead to mine. “Let’s get a
drink, then we’re leaving,” he whispered.

I nodded, but I knew that wouldn’t happen, because just as
he finished speaking, his group of friends walked in, all teasing each other
and pushing each other around. I sighed as they spotted Luke. His arm stayed
around my waist, but his posture changed. The act that he put on for his
friends was back again, I just hoped he didn’t end up getting into a fight if
he got too drunk.

Several hours later, Luke and I were totally wasted. He was
supposed to have been driving tonight, but after the drinking competition
started he decided we would get a cab to his instead. ‘Drunken jerk Luke’ was
on good form tonight. So far he had already insulted most of the teachers; he’d
made digs at the computer club, which had pissed off Charlotte. He’d annoyed my
brother by calling him a ‘self-obsessed player who only thinks about where to
get his dick wet next’. He’d basically made jokes and nasty comments about
everyone in the room, except for me. Lucky for him he was popular otherwise he
probably would have been thrown out hours ago. I could tell by Alex’s
expression that he wanted to sucker punch him for his comment.

When my legs were too tired to hold me anymore, I boosted
myself up on the counter, sitting and laughing with my girls while Luke sat
with his friends and snorted vodka. I had drank a lot more than I normally
would, and had somehow been roped into playing ‘I never’ too which didn’t help.

Sandy sashayed her way into the kitchen, her eyes on Luke as
she smiled seductively. My jaw tightened as I watched from across the kitchen.
Luke was sat on one of the stools because he was a little unsteady on his feet.
She pulled herself up onto the counter next to him, her short skirt rising
slightly higher as she did it and the hoe didn’t bother to pull it down either.

“She’s such a slut,” I slurred, pointing at Sandy with my
cup, slopping Captain Morgan on my leg.

Charlotte and Beth both nodded in agreement. “Are you gonna
go stop her hitting on your man?” Beth asked, hiccupping in the middle of her
sentence.

I shrugged. The movement made me wobble and almost fall off
of the counter I was perched on top of. “Nah, he’s a big boy he can tell her
himself,” I rejected, waving my hand dismissively.

I laughed as they talked; Luke kept leaning away from her as
she leant in, obviously flirting with him. Suddenly he disappeared behind the
kitchen island, a loud crash followed, and hysterical laughter. I frowned,
confused for a second until I realised that Luke had just fallen off of his
stool and landed on his ass. I burst into a fit of giggles, as did everyone
else in the room; people were cheering him and shaking their heads.

Ricky grabbed his arm and pulled Luke to his feet where he
swayed, rubbing one hand over the back of his head and the other over his lower
back, frowning drunkenly. His eyes flicked to me, and he pouted like a child.
“I don’t think I’ll be able perform very well tonight, baby. I think I may have
had a little too much to drink, and my ass hurts.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. “You can make it up to
me in the morning when your killer hangover’s gone.”

He smirked at me and grabbed the stool, sitting back down
again. Sandy smiled and handed him a new cup of drink because he’d spilt his
all over the floor with that little stunt. “Bottoms up, Luke,” she said,
smiling at him suggestively.

He laughed and downed his drink in one before scrunching up
the cup and throwing it over his shoulder. “Bottoms in any direction works for
me, right Maisie?” he chirped, laughing hysterically at his own non-funny joke.
Sandy smiled and jumped down from the counter heading out of the room, throwing
one last seductive look over her shoulder at Luke, but he either didn’t see it
or chose to ignore it because he didn’t react to it at all.

After another ten minutes, Luke put his head on the counter
and groaned loudly. I pushed myself off of the nice little seat I had found
next to the alcohol and headed over to him, staggering and walking into people
as I did it. My eyes were a little unfocussed, but I obviously wasn’t as bad as
Luke. I put my hand on his back, rubbing gently.

“Okay?” I asked, leaning heavily on the counter.

He shook his head. “No. I don’t feel good. Actually,” he
swallowed loudly, “I think I need to puke.” He pushed himself up from the stool
and ran, with surprising stability, towards the stairs.

I cringed at the thought. “Yuck! Rinse your mouth after,” I
called after him, laughing to myself.

“He alright? You need someone to take you home, Maisie?”
Freddie slurred. His eyes raked over my body slowly, making my skin crawl. “I
could help you get to bed if you need a hand… or any other body part you might
need.” He smirked at me, but I was just too drunk to care.

I didn’t bother making any comeback as I turned away from
him, looking for a bottle of water or something; I was actually thirsty even
though I’d been drinking like a fish all night. I felt a hand slide down my
back, squeezing my ass.

I frowned and span around, slapping the hand away, glaring
at Freddie. “You need to get lost before I tell Luke that happened,” I
threatened. 

“Luke’s too wasted to care. Come on, Preston, let’s go
somewhere private and I’ll show you how a real man performs,” he suggested, gripping
my hip and leaning in.

I put my hands on his chest and shoved as hard as I could,
causing him stagger back a step and me to almost fall into the counter behind
me. Just then I spotted Alex from the corner of my eye and I felt my heart rate
start to return to normal. “Screw you, Freddie. Just go away before I call Alex
over here to kick your ass,” I warned, nodding towards my twin brother who
looked like he was trying to eat the girl he was kissing.

Freddie looked in that direction and I saw his eyes widen.
His hand immediately dropped off of my hip. It did benefit me sometimes, having
a brother that would happily beat the crap out of any guy that even looked in
the direction of his sister. He had beat on Luke a couple of times when we
first got together, and he certainly wouldn’t stand for a jerk like Freddie
putting his dirty hands all over me.

Freddie frowned and shook his head; he didn’t say anything
just walked off through the crowd, obviously heading to find another girl to
try out his sexual predator moves on. I leaned against the counter, waiting for
Luke to come back, but he didn’t. Just as I was starting to get worried about
him, a girl walked up to me and smiled.

“Hey, Maisie. Luke asked me to tell you to meet him upstairs
in one of the bedrooms,” she chirped, giggling to herself. I frowned. Selena
wasn’t exactly one of my friends, she was in the A list at school and was one
of Sandy’s little cheerleader minions. I was actually surprised that she would
even do a favour for Luke that involved her talking to me in the first place. 

“Okay, thanks,” I replied, still a little confused. “Did he
say which one?” I frowned at the stairs.

She smiled sweetly. “Third door on the left I think. It’s
Ricky’s bedroom.”

I smiled and thanked her before waving goodbye to Charlotte
and Beth who were just about to leave, and then I headed upstairs to find Luke.
I was guessing that he’d either thrown up and needed help to clear up the mess,
or he was fine and wanted to start the naked private time earlier than planned.
I crossed my fingers for the second one and headed to the back of the house,
doing my best to weave through the crowd that were dancing like crazy people. I
almost fell when someone bumped me in the side as they did their take on the
running man move.

I stumbled up the stairs, bumping into people and
apologising, trying not to laugh when they shot me glares. I couldn’t help but
get excited while thinking about the dirtiness of having sex in someone else’s
bed while the party raged on downstairs.

Third bedroom on the right Selena had said. I ran my hand
along the wall and counted the doors as I went past. When I got to door number
three I twisted the handle and literally fell into the room, giggling
hysterically as I sat on the floor shaking my head at myself.
That was so
incredibly graceful!

I heard a little squeal and a grunt, and I flicked my eyes
up from the floor quickly, only to see something I had never thought I would
see in my life. Luke was butt naked, laying on his back on the bed; a girl was
riding him, moaning, with her head tipped back in pleasure. He gripped her hips
to stop her as I walked in. His face went pale and his mouth dropped open in
shock, while the girl - who I now recognised as Sandy - whined and begged him
not to stop, desperately tried to grind her hips against him again.

I gulped and blinked, unsure if what I was seeing was
actually happening.
Maybe I’ve drunk so much I’ve passed out and this is a
nightmare. Please let me wake up!

“Maisie! It’s not… no… shit!” Luke cried, shaking his head
fiercely as he shoved Sandy off of him forcefully, making her squeak and fall
onto the bed.

I pushed myself up off of the floor quickly, blinking a
couple more times to make sure what I thought I was seeing, was actually
happening. Unfortunately it was. I could feel my heart breaking at the
betrayal. I loved him so much, and he was screwing another girl while I was
downstairs? How could he do that to me? I thought I knew him, I would have bet
my life on it that he would have never done this to me, ever.

He jumped away from her and literally fell off of the bed
with a heavy thump. Sandy giggled and shot me a wicked grin. I wanted to punch
her face as she stood up, picking up her clothes from the floor and sauntering
across the room, stepping over Luke. When she got to the door where I was
standing, she smirked at me before turning back to him smiling seductively.
“Same time next week, Luke?” she asked, laughing and walking out of the door,
still naked, apparently not even caring who could see her outside. I couldn’t
move. I couldn’t even punch her in her evil face. The betrayal and hurt felt as
if it was killing me slowly.

Her words seemed to echo in my ears.
Same time next week…

Had this happened before? Had he cheated on me before? My
legs felt weak so I slumped against the wall, using it for support as I gasped
for breath. I felt sick. My eyes prickled with tears as everything I thought I
knew in life was slowly being washed away like it was nothing. All of our
future plans, everything we’d shared, every promise he’d made me, had all been
a lie. For so long I’d been on cloud nine with him, blissfully happy, and now I
was just free falling, hurtling into oblivion and waiting for the final crash
that would kill me. How could I have been so stupid? Of course someone like
Luke wouldn’t be satisfied dating a nerd, of course he was off sleeping with
other girls, how had I not realised until now?

He rolled over, grabbing his jeans, trying to put one leg in
but he kept missing the hole as he swore and grunted, unable to do it. “Maisie,
I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry! Please, baby, please?” he begged, looking at me
with desperation and panic clear across his face.

My heart was beating way too fast in my chest, my ears were
ringing, and my whole body started to sweat. I needed to get out of here; I
needed to get some fresh air. The room smelt like sex and it was making me feel
worse. I’d never felt so hurt, so low, and so worthless in my life.

“Luke, why?” I whispered, looking at his face, trying to
work out why I wasn’t enough for him, why I wasn’t good enough for him to just
love me and want just me like I did him.

“I’m sorry, Maisie. I don’t know. It just happened! I was in
the bathroom and then she just threw herself at me, the next thing I knew I was
naked on the bed and you walked in. I’m so sorry. I love you so much, so much!”
His voice was husky and thick with emotion. He pushed himself up and tried to
stand but he swayed on his feet and fell into the edge of the bed as he
continued to try and put on his jeans. I’d never seen him so drunk, but that
was no excuse for this, there was nothing that could make this situation
better.

“And you couldn’t have said no?” I could feel the anger
building now. The hurt and betrayal were still there, but rage was taking over
as the dominant emotion in my body. “You couldn’t have said no to her? What
does she have that I don’t have? What is it about her that you wanted, Luke?
Her perfect body and blonde hair? Her slutty clothes and too much make-up?” I
growled.

He shook his head fiercely but instead of answering he bent
over and grabbed the trashcan from the floor, throwing up into it violently. He
groaned and sat on the edge of the bed, throwing up again and again. A wave of
compassion washed over me. I never liked to see him ill or hurt; my whole body
longed to go over and comfort him, to hold him and beg him not to cheat on me
again.

“I love you,” he croaked, wiping his mouth on the back of
his hand, looking at me through watery eyes.

I wanted to tell him I loved him too, because I did, I
really loved him, and that was what hurt the most, the fact that I loved him so
much. But I couldn’t just forget this ever happened and pretend everything was
normal. Luke and I had promised that we would never cheat on each other, ever,
and up until about four minutes ago I would have bet my life that he would
always keep that promise to me. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“I need to go home,” I whispered. I couldn’t stay here
anymore, I needed to go.

He tried to stand up but he just fell straight back down
again. “Maisie, come here. Please, I want to come to you but I can’t. Please?
Can you help me with my clothes and then we’ll get a cab to mine,” he begged,
stretching out his hand towards me. His other hand was on the side of his head;
he was wincing as if he had a headache.