Unbound (7 page)

“Anora!”she called excitedly, as if we were best friends. I pulled away from Mike for a second to wave back. “Love the dress!” she said as she walked past. Mike pulled me in again and kissed me.

“Want to go to my place? No one is home,” he told me. Mike still lived at home; his parents’ house was close enough to the University for him to easily drive to his classes and his mom still did his laundry, cooked him dinner and paid all his bills. I guess I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to move out just yet.

“I’m having fun here,” I told him, his face unreadable. “Are you mad?”

“Of course not,” Mike said with a smile.

I left him with Travis to go find my friends. Marie and Laney were dancing and beckoned me to come join them. I did, and Natalie and Jill were dancing by my side by the time the next song began. The five of us must have been good dancers, because we caught the attention of several college boys. Pretty soon the room was full of dancing people. I don’t know how much time had gone by, but my legs were getting a little tired from dancing in heels so I decided to take a break and find Mike. I grabbed a cup of something blue, thinking it was Kool-Aid, though it must have had vodka in it because it tasted disgusting. But I was thirsty, so I drank it anyway. The house was really crowed at this point, and walking around trying to find someone was more difficult than it seemed. I saw one of the girls I first met this evening refilling snack trays in the kitchen.

“Have you seen Mike?” I asked.

“Yea. He and Travis just went upstairs.”

“Thanks!” I think she started to say something, but the music was loud and I had already spun on my heel to go upstairs, so I ignored it. The stairs were steep and narrow and led up to a long, dark hallway. I felt the drink hit me in a sudden wave of dizziness. I wasn’t used to drinking and I had no idea what I had just gulped down. A sliver of light spilled out of the last room in the hall. I could still hear the thumping base from the music downstairs, but it was quiet enough up here to hear three distinct voices coming from the bedroom.

“Have you banged her yet?” It was Travis.

A girl snorted with laughter. “No. He still hasn’t.” It sounded like that bitch, Alix.

“What’s taking so long?” Travis again.

“She’s not easy.” Oh my God. It was Mike. I wasn’t aware that I was edging closer and closer to the door. This can’t be happening. “I’m gonna score tonight.”

“You better, or the bet is off,” Travis said.

“I will,” Mike said.

“Don’t get me wrong, man. Anora is probably the hottest girl you’ve ever dated, but she’s weird.”

“Yea she is. I’m getting tired of listening to her talk about her damn horses all the time.”

Tears filled my eyes. I felt numb. I could see Alix lying on the bed. She had on a black corset style tank top, but it was made out of stretchy material. Several inches of her orange stomach showed before her tight jean skirt covered her skinny ass up. Her makeup was several layers thick and her fried blond hair was scrunched with too much hair gel. She looked like she belonged on a street corner or in a crack house.
 

“Suck it up, man. I would totally listen to her talk about horses if it meant I could get my hands on those perfect tits!” Travis said, holding up his hands.

“She’s not even that hot!” Alix sat up.

“Yes she is!” Mike and Travis said in unison. My hands were shaking. I was hurt, mad, embarrassed and ashamed of myself for thinking that Mike had really liked me. I wiped the tears out of my eyes but when I put my hand down, it hit the doorknob. Shit! All three of them jumped.

 
“Anora.” Mike rushed over and tried to put his arms around me. Alix was laughing. Travis just stood there, not knowing what to do.

“Get your hands off me!” I shoved him. I stumbled away from him. Why did I have that drink?

“Let me help you.” Mike put his arm around my waist.

“Asshole! Do you seriously think that this is going to work? I heard every word. Get away from me!” I shoved him again, this time with a strength that I didn’t know I had. He fell backwards into the wall. I ran for the stairs and made it down before he could reach me. Tears pooled in my eyes. I quickly looked around for Marie and Laney. I didn’t want to be in this house any longer. I made a quick pass through the kitchen but still didn’t see them. I heard Mike calling for me. I grabbed my purse from behind a computer desk where I had stashed it earlier and marched out the door, biting my lip to keep from crying. I just kept walking, until the sights and sounds of the party were gone.

The air had taken a chill to it, but it didn’t seem to bother me. Maybe it was from the drink, or maybe it was from the emotional pit I was in. I felt so stupid that I had let Mike use me like that. I should have seen it coming; he rarely called, he made no effort to like my family or my friends, he never seemed to care if they like him either. He acted openly bored about the horses and he hated Romeo! Ok, maybe the last point was a bit off the deep end, but I needed to be angry right now. It certainly beat being sad. My brain felt fuzzy so I wasn’t too surprised that I didn’t startle when a deep voice said,

“It’s not safe to be walking out here alone.”

“What’s it to you?” I spat angrily, but fear soon shot through me. If that didn’t sound like a line from a horror movie, then I didn’t know what did. I turned slowly, expecting to see a man with a hook arm or a shaggy gray beard or something creepy, but what I saw shocked me even more. It was the hot model guy that was outside that antique store. His face looked concerned.

“Are you ok?”

“No,” I said before I even knew what I was doing. I thought I had gotten rid of the evidence that showed I had cried, so I didn’t know what he was talking about. Oh, yea. Probably the cut and bruise above my eye. I felt like I was wearing a button that said “Ask me about my head wound!” But he didn’t. He looked over at a bench.

“Want to sit?”

“How do I know you’re not a psycho killer?”

“And how do I know you’re not?” He smiled. Even in the fragile and drunk state of mind I was in, I couldn’t help but appreciate his beauty. We sat down. “I’m Ethan.” He smiled again.

“Anora.”

“Anora, what are you doing out here alone, especially dressed like that?”

Oh geez, he sounded like my mother. “I was at a party. I wanted to leave, so I left.”

“Oh.” We sat in silence for a while. Now that I wasn’t moving, the cold air got to me and made me shiver. I wished I hadn’t left the sweater in Mike’s car.

“Are you cold?” Ethan asked.

“Maybe.”

 
He took off his leather jacket and draped it around my shoulders.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked. Maybe he was a psycho killer and he lured girls in by pretending to be nice to them. It wouldn’t be the first time I fell for it. Well, except Mike wasn’t a murderer, just a douche bag.

“You look like you need someone to be nice to you.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Listen, I don’t think we should be out here.” He looked around us nervously. “Want to get some coffee or something?”

“Yes, but I’m not getting in a car with you. I’m still not convinced you’re not going to kill me.”

He laughed. “Fair enough.” He stood and held out his hand to help me up. I didn’t take it.

“I am capable of doing things myself, you know,” I snapped. “Sorry, that was rude.” I tripped as I stood. “It’s just been a long night.” I laughed. “A long day, actually.” We started walking in the opposite direction. I hoped Ethan knew where to go. My heel caught in a crack in the sidewalk and I tripped again. He moved so fast to catch me that I didn’t think it was humanly possible. “I don’t usually drink, you know.” I straightened up and smoothed out my dress. “In fact, I only had one drink.” A puzzled look set on my face.

“What did you have?”

“I don’t know. It was blue, though.”

Ethan made a face as if that made sense to him. “Well, if it is what I think it is, then you had a very strong drink. But don’t worry, some coffee will help.”

“Ok.” His arm was still around my shoulders. I thought he was afraid I was going to trip again at any moment.

“How do you feel about ferrets?” I looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, they’re, uh, cute.” I was going to take a wild guess and say he wasn’t the kind of guy who said ‘cute’ too often. “I had one when I was little.”

That was a surprise. “And what about horses?”

“I’ve never ridden one, but I’d like to.” Ethan still looked a bit confused. “What’s with the twenty questions?”

“It was only two and I was just curious.”

 
Before I knew it, we were in a Starbucks. Ethan told me to sit while he ordered our drinks. I pulled the jacket closer around me. I checked my phone and saw that I had a missed call and a message from Mike. I didn’t want to hear his lame ass excuse, but I was curious to what he would say.

“Annie, babe. I don’t know what you thought you heard, but it’s not like that at all—” I didn’t need to hear the rest.

“Go to hell you asshole,” I said as I deleted his message.

“Oh, so this is about a guy,” Ethan said, two drinks in hand. He sat down across from me and slid me my mocha.

“
Was
about a guy.” I licked a little bit of whipped cream off the top of my drink. “There is no guy anymore.” I stared at the coffee. I felt tears well up again. I didn’t want to cry in front of someone I just met. After a moment I sipped my drink and felt better. Ethan was right, the coffee was helping. I picked at the label on my cup.

“Want to talk about it?” Maybe it was alcohol or his unusual kindness, but, at that moment I trusted Ethan.

“It’s a long story,” I warned him.

He leaned back and smiled. “I’ve got time.” Without his jacket, I was able to see that he was just every bit as sculpted as I imagined the first night I saw him.
 
He had on a navy blue tee shirt that wasn’t obnoxiously tight, but it fit around his arms in a way that showed off his muscles. I smiled back, took a deep breath and told him everything about Mike.

“They guy is an ass. Don’t let it get to you.” Ethan looked at me empathetically.

“I know, but it’s easier said than done.”

He gave me a half smile. “Any guy would be lucky to have you. Not only are you beautiful, but you don’t seem like other girls.”

I laughed, “You have no idea.”

My phone rang; it was Laney.

“Shit Annie, where the hell are you?” she asked.

“Um, Starbucks.”

“We’ve been looking for you for over an hour. Mike said you guys got into a disagreement and you took off.”

“A
disagreement
? Seriously, that’s what he’s calling it?” I rolled my eyes at Mike’s choice in words. “Can you drive?”

“Yea. Marie is wasted though. I wanted to take her home. I think I know where you are. I’ll be there soon.”

“My friends are gonna take me home. Thanks for helping me out. You really didn’t have to.”

Ethan took my phone from my hands and programmed a number in. “I wanted to help you. And here’s my number. Call me if you want to talk anymore.”

I was sobered up by now. “Very smooth,” I said with a smile.

He returned my smile. “I thought so, too.”

“So do you go to school here?” I asked, feeling shy again.

“No, my dad works at the university.”

“No way! So does my dad!”

“Really? What does he teach?”

“Anatomy. Yours?”

“History.”

“I wonder if they know each other.”

Ethan shrugged. “Maybe. My dad just transferred here, so I doubt he knows too many people.”

“Well, ask him if he knows Doug Benson.”

“I will. And I guess you can ask if you dad knows David Bailey.”

“Where did he transfer from?”

“University of Chicago. That’s where we’re from.”

“I’ve never been to Chicago. I have a great aunt that lives in Northwest Indiana, but I‘ve never actually been there.”