Playing With Fire (16 page)

“Well, Miss Stevens, you know how much I like giving you firsts, and kissing you. So, it will be my pleasure. I’ll see you later.” She gave me a quick kiss, then her and Nicole walked off to the bar. I hated not being able to be by her side, and I was worried because there were already so many people here tonight.

Madison

I was having so much fun. Nicole and I were dancing, and I had a couple of drinks already. I didn’t want to drink too much, though, because of what happened last time. It was a quarter to twelve and I couldn’t wait to kiss Carter at midnight. I was feeling a little unsteady on

my feet and I needed to go to the bathroom. I tapped Nicole on the shoulder. “Hey, I’m gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back!”

“Want me to come with?”

“No, I’m fine, girl.”

I started to walk to the bathroom and began to feel lightheaded. All of a sudden, I was no longer walking to the bathroom, but being pulled towards the exit. I heard a lot of yelling, but everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

“
Time to start the countdown everyone!”

The countdown? I need to go find Carter. I tried to walk back to the dance floor to find him, but whoever was with me kept pulling me.

“
5!”

I need to get away.

“4!”

Who has my arm?

“3!”

The door just opened.

“2!”

Carter where are you?

“1!”

I was taken through the alley door and looked up at whoever had my arm. Who was he? I had never seen this guy before. A car pulled up at the end of the alley and the mystery man started to drag me towards it. What the hell is going on? I need to get away. He pulled me up to the car and the back door opened. I looked inside…Chris

“Happy New Year, Madison. I told you I would be back for you.”

I started screaming or, at least, I was trying to; my body wasn’t cooperating with me. I started hitting and kicking whatever I could get my hands on. The stranger punched me in the stomach and I doubled over. I fell to the ground, face first, and hit my head. I thought I heard someone yell my name, but it was like I was in a tunnel.

Carter

I was patrolling the floor when, out of nowhere, some drunken assholes got into a fight. I went to help break it up but, with everyone drinking, what started as a pushing match was turning into an all out brawl.

They had started the countdown to the New Year and I knew Maddy would be coming to find me. I looked around for her and just barely saw her leaving through the back door.

I figured maybe her and Nicole saw the fight and decided to go outside to get some air and stay away from it. Then I saw Nicole over by the bar talking to Jason and I started to panic. I had to go find Maddy, but I was in the middle of this fight and was simultaneously trying to hold two guys. My eyes found Jason’s. “Maddy just went out the back!”

He started running towards the door. Meanwhile, the other bouncers and I escorted all the troublemakers outside. I ran back into the club, but Jason and Maddy weren’t back yet. I headed for the back door, hoping that they were just outside talking and everything was fine.

I went outside, looked down the alley, and my heart stopped. Maddy was laying on the ground and Jason was crouched over her yelling into his phone. I ran as fast as I could to them. “What the fuck happened?”

“I don’t know. I came out and saw some dude punch her and she fell. I screamed her name and started running. The guy hopped in the backseat of the car and took off. I can’t get her to wake up. I just called 911 and they said they would be right over.”

I heard sirens in the distance. “I’m staying with her. Let the club know what happened and make sure Nicole gets home.”

Just then the ambulance pulled up. “I will, dude; let me know when you find out anything.”

I was pacing the waiting room and no one would tell me anything. I was ready to put my fist through a wall. Nicole and Jason were in the waiting room, too. A doctor walked in and I jumped up.

“Madison Stevens?”

“Yes! I’m here for her. What's going on?”

The doctor looked me up and down. “Sir, how do you know Miss Stevens?”

Shit! If I don’t say I’m family, they aren’t going to tell me anything. “I’m her husband.” I heard Nicole choke on the water she had been drinking.

“Okay, sir, please come with me.” He walked me back and took me into Maddy’s room. She had an IV in her arm and was still unconscious. “Mr…?”

“James. What happened to her?”

“We tested Miss Stevens blood and found traces of Zolpidem in her system.” He saw my confused expression so he elaborated. “It’s a date rape drug.” Oh my God. “We ran a rape kit on her and are waiting for the results.” Rape kit? Please God, no; she has been through so much already. “She seems to have a bruised rib and a contusion on her head from when she fell. Other than that, she is perfectly healthy.”

“Okay, thank-you. Can I stay with her?”

“Yes, that’s fine. She may be out for a while, though. Right now, we are just waiting for the drugs to work their way out of her system.”

He left me alone and I walked over to her bed. I kissed her head. “You’re gonna be okay, baby. We will find who did this.” Although, I already had a pretty good idea. I walked into the waiting room to let Jason and Nicole know what happened. I asked Jason if he had recognized the guy in the alley.

He seemed to have known what else I was asking, too. “It wasn’t Chris, Carter. I have never seen the guy before in my life.”

They went home and I told them I would let them know when she woke up. When I got back to her room, the doctor came in to let me know that the rape kit had come back negative. Thank God. That night, I fell asleep holding Maddy’s hand and my head resting on her bed.

I felt a hand run through my hair and I snapped my head up. Her hand fell to the bed. “Maddy?” I jumped up and yelled to the nurse that she was awake. I walked back to her and gave her a kiss. She seemed surprised.

“Carter, what’s going on?” Her voice sounded strained.

“You don’t remember?” We had no idea who the guy was that led her out. I had immediately thought it was Chris, but the cops said he had an alibi. If Maddy couldn’t remember, he would get away with it.

Madison

Why was I in the hospital? My body hurt all over; it kind of felt like the morning after when I had gotten really drunk. However, that doesn’t make sense because I only had two drinks. My ribs and my head hurt really bad, too. “Carter, why am I here?”

He told me everything that he knew; I was in shock. I was drugged? Who was the guy I left with? I started to cry. I hated that I couldn’t remember any of this. The nurse said they were going to discharge me today and I couldn’t wait to go home.

“Mr. James, these are your wife’s discharge instructions.” His wife? The nurse left and Carter turned to me.

“I had to say I was your husband, or they would have never let me stay with you.”

I was a little freaked out. We had only known each other for four months. Although, a little part of me couldn’t wait to be Mrs. James.

. . . .

It was the first day of the spring semester and I was more excited than I was last semester. Carter and I were happier than we ever had been. For a little while, it was hard after what happened on New Years, especially since the police have no idea who I was with that night.

I was having nightmares about that night
,
and what would have happened if Jason hadn’t come to get me. It was so scary having a piece of your memory missing and not being able to do anything to get it back. At this point, though, I’m going to do what I do best--suck it up and move on.

I have five classes this semester and Carter is in two of them; Chris is in one. I’m dreading that class more than anything else.

My first three classes of the day were easy and when I walked out of the third one, Carter was there waiting for me. “Ready to go to lunch, Mrs. James?”

I laughed. Carter had been calling me that every once in a while since the hospital. I had told him how, eventually, I wouldn't mind becoming Mrs. James and, ever since, he has gotten a kick out of calling me it. “Yes I am, Mr. James.”

We met Shawn and Jason for lunch; Nicole was supposed to come, but she wasn’t feeling that great. When I said that, though, Jason had looked relieved. Apparently, he and Nicole had hooked up on New Years; he said they were both upset about what happened with me. I knew that it meant more to Nicole, though, and I had a feeling it meant more to Jason, too.

I have never had a family before, but I feel like this is what it would be like. I would do anything for these three boys and I knew they felt the same. Carter was rubbing my back up and down in the way he does when he wants to calm me down. I looked over at him confused because I was perfectly fine right now.

He leaned down to my ear. “I know that you are worried about our next class.”

I smiled because he was always so attentive. “Right now, I’m not worried about anything. You make everything else disappear. I love hanging out with you and the guys.”

He leaned in and kissed me. I heard a loud groan as I pulled back. Jason was laughing at us. “Do you guys really need to do that? I just ate.”

Carter threw a napkin at him. “Don’t worry; your lunch is safe. We need to get to class anyway.” He threw out our trash and put the trays away, while I gave out hugs and said goodbye to the guys. As we walked to class, I started to get more anxious. Carter seemed to sense it, too, because he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

When we got to class, it was pretty empty. Carter and I sat next to each other in the middle of the room. We were talking about how we were happy we could just share the book because of how damn expensive it was.

I looked up and my stomach dropped. Chris was standing there, just looking at me. Carter tensed but, thankfully, didn’t make a move...although I knew he wanted to. All I could think was please don’t sit next to me. Thank God, Chris decided to sit a couple rows over, but I could feel his eyes on me all throughout class.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we were walking to the next class; doing that three times a week was going to kill me. When I walked into my last class of the day, I stopped dead in my tracks. Are you fucking kidding me?!

The bitch whore, Alyssa, was sitting there with a fake smile on her face. I looked up at Carter, and he looked just as shocked as I did. We went to sit down and he made sure we weren’t near her. That didn’t stop her from talking over people just to get to him, though.

I think the universe hates me, and I now hate both of my afternoon classes.

Carter

Classes have been crazy, especially with the pain in the ass afternoon Maddy and I have had. We are getting through it, though.

Alyssa has been relentless between sitting next to me, constantly texting me and showing up at Rebellion. It has been irritating Maddy, and we've been fighting over little things because of it.

It also doesn't help that Chris is in our literature class and just stares at her the whole time. I have had enough of him these last few months, though. Today, Shawn, Jason, and I are going to “talk" to him.

Jason said, “Shawn, I don't know why you wanted to come today, kid. What are you going to do? Hit him with your anatomy book?” Jason was cracking up, but I could see it was really starting to get to Shawn.

J and I were always more athletic, and he liked to rag on Shawn about it. “Anyway…” I needed to diffuse the situation between them. “What are you guys planning on doing for summer? Maddy and I are gonna spend most of it here, but I think we will go home for about a month.”

Shawn looked confused. “Why are you staying here instead of at your dad’s?”

“Because, the girl I love refuses to have sex in my dad’s house. While I appreciate that she respects him, I’m not going to spend the whole summer celibate. I think we will go home for July and when we come back, Holly and her friend, Christen, are gonna be coming with us.”

We pulled up to Chris’s house and went up to his door. Jason banged on the door so loud I thought it might buckle. When Chris answered it, he smirked at us.

“If it isn’t the fucking cavalry. What do you want?”

I hadn’t even been here a minute and I was ready to pound his face in. Shawn and Jason didn’t look like they were doing much better. I knew Jason wouldn’t hesitate to throw a punch but, lately, Shawn seemed extra confrontational, too. “I want you to stay away from Maddy. You’re done trying to run into her, staring at her in class, and being a crazy asshole in general.”

He laughed as if this was all a big game which, truthfully, to him it might have been. “Aw, what’s wrong, Carter? She bored already? I warned you before, you know; you can’t turn a whore into a housewife.”

That was it. I pulled back and buried my fist into his face. I heard a crack and he went down; the boys grabbed me to hold me back, even though I knew that they were fighting the urge to go after him, too. This was why they were here, though...to make sure I didn’t kill him. “You will stay away from her, motherfucker, or I will be back.”

“Okay, I’ll stay away. Just know, eventually, she will come back to me. She is mine and always will be. After all I was her first.”

I started to charge toward him again, but Jason pulled me back toward the car. “Carter, he isn’t worth it. He wants this; he wants you to lose control. Don't let him win.”

As we were walking back to the car, I saw Shawn walking back to Chris. He bent down and, after a minute, started walking back to the car. “What did you say to him?”

“I told him his daddy can’t save him if he disappears.” We all started laughing as I pulled away.

Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day and I needed to set things up. I dropped the guys off and then went to work. I wanted Maddy to always remember tomorrow.

When she came home that night, I was drowning in math homework. I swear, one of the evil gods created math as a way to punish humans. This was like Latin to me, and I had been sitting in the class for two months now.