This is Me Read online

  "Finally some real talent! I was beginning to think no hot girls were going to show up," Shane bellowed.

  He scooped Jess into a hug that lifted her off the ground. Donovan gave Charlie an enthusiastic hug and kissed her cheek. The alcohol on his breath was potent. She then stepped into Shane's embrace and held him for a few seconds. They were Trent's best friends and Charlie had grown close to them during the year they were a couple.

  "I missed you, Chuck," Shane said with a big grin.

  She smiled back and pushed him in the shoulder. "I missed you too, but please don't start with that Chuck business again."

  A shoulder shrug and a wink was his only reply.

  He then pulled back and took her in. "Wow, I'd heard you changed your look, but I guess I wasn't expecting such a big change." Charlie looked down at the ground. His opinion was one of the few that mattered.

  He gently lifted her chin. "I like it, Chuck." He smiled and winked.

  "I agree, Charlie, you look fucking hot," Donovan added.

  "Thanks, guys. I just wanted a change, needed one...ya know."

  "Yeah, we know. And don't think we didn't kick Trent's dick in the dirt for fucking up," Shane said, putting his arm around her and giving her a side hug. "I still don't know what he was thinking."

  "He wasn't thinking. All the blood was down in his ball sack," Charlie said.

  It was a relief to be able to laugh about it. She loved these guys, they made her heart warm. Her mood lightened with every passing second.

  "I was wondering when you were going to make a move on my girl," a voice said from the doorway. Charlie's light mood vanished and her stomach dropped. She looked down, suddenly painfully aware of her attire. She hated herself for feeling self-conscious but the scrutiny of his stare was palpable. Of course he would be here. Where Shane and Donovan went, so went Trent Stuart.

  Chapter 6

  ~Michael~

  "You look really good, Michael."

  "Um, thanks."

  He'd been cornered for the last twenty minutes and he was trying to politely extricate himself without being rude. Betina Rankin was from his home town and was nice enough. She was attractive in a girl next door kind of way. Always interested, but Michael never returned the interest. Well, there was that one time he'd had sloppy sex with her after they'd beat Lincoln. He couldn't help it. He was on a high. He'd hit a three pointer at the buzzer to win the game. She'd practically pulled his dick out of his pants. What red blooded male could have turned that down? He didn't have the will power he had now.

  You'd think she would've gotten the hint. But noooo. Here she was, touching his shoulder and pressing her large tits into his chest. Maybe he'd been better than he thought. Maybe. But he was pretty sure he was horrible.

  Hey, it takes a lot of practice to not blow your load the minute you feel that warm, tight pussy around your dick.

  Boner... And just like that a switch is flipped. In a split second a guy, any guy, loses all sense of rational thought. The only thing that matters is getting into that warm flesh. In that split second Michael went from blowing Beth off to thinking that maybe Beth needed to know that he could hold out a lot longer than when his fledgling penis was taking his first swims. His boxers were getting tighter while Beth was still talking, when she walked by. Yes she, the she...Charlie. Then his boner was all for her. And holy shit she looked awesome.

  "Beth, it was great seeing you again. I have to go. I'll talk to you later." He didn't give her a chance to answer he had a long pair of legs to stalk.

  Dude, what is she doing with Shane?

  Sure, he was a cool guy, but not when he was manhandling his woman. Okay, maybe not his woman, but potential bed mate.

  Fucking-A, her friends hot, too. Wonder if they're into threesomes?

  Please God, let me have sex with her.

  I will do anything. Well, not anything, but almost. Scratch that, I would do a lot, yeah a lot to get into her pants.

  I bet she likes to get her hair pulled and I would pull the shit out of her hair while I rode...

  And on and on that line of thinking went as he watched her smile and laugh with his pledge brothers. Well she was smiling, but now she looked like she might throw up. Too much to drink maybe. No, she was looking at a guy that just walked in. Michael couldn't tell who it was, he only saw the back of his head and body that almost blocked the doorway, he was a big guy. He was wondering whether to approach her or stay in the corner out of sight when she tore out of the room with her hot friend following close behind. He wanted to go after her, she looked very upset. But that would be stupid. She didn't even know him.

  "Hey, Shane. Donovan. How's it going?" Michael approached the group and realized the other guy was Trent, one of his pledge brothers.

  "Hey, Barton," Trent said and they all did the male chin lift, hand shake, sniff thing guys did in way of greeting.

  "You know those girls you were just talking to?"

  Shane looked like he was trying to decide to divulge the info. Michael must have passed because he then said, "We went to high school together. Why?"

  "Nothing. The tall one, Charlie is my English class. The short one go here too?"

  "Nah, Jess is still back home," Donovan offered.

  Trent was silent as a stone, he was usually very chatty.

  "The three of you guys all went to high school together? So what's with that Charlie girl?"

  "What do you mean what's with her?" Shane asked defensively.

  Were these guys her brothers or something? Tread lightly, bro.

  "I meant nothing by that, man. I just...she just seems really cool, is all."

  "They are two of the coolest chicks you'll ever meet. But Charlie's off limits," Trent finally joined the convo and then took off. Michael had stepped on some toes. He just wasn't sure why.

  "Boyfriend?" Michael asked.

  "Ha, he wishes. He was, all senior year. Then he cheated on her and she dumped his ass. I still can't believe he did it," Shane said. It was obvious that Shane cared about Charlie. It earned him some serious respect points in Michael's book.

  "What a dumb fuck, no offense. If she'd been my girlfriend I wouldn't cheat on her in a million years." Michael shook his head in disbelief.

  "Yeah, you and me both man," Shane agreed, taking a drink. "Jess is awesome, too. Any guy would be lucky to have either of those girls."

  "So if you're thinking of a hit and quit, you just better keep fucking looking," Donovan said, the muscles in his neck bulging. The dude was as big as a linebacker.

  Michael put his hands out, "Easy guys. I just wanted to know more about her, that's all."

  "Why don't you go ask her yourself? If she wants you to know anything, she'll tell you."

  "That's the thing, Shane. She seems like she's in a man hating phase...but I guess I have Trent to thank for that."

  He stuck around and chatted them up—making friends with these two seemed like a great idea.

  "Shane! Donovan! Have you seen Charlie?" Jess came up to them panting and distressed.

  "I thought she was with you?" Shane said, grabbing her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

  "We were doing shots in the kitchen..."

  "Damn it, Jess, you know how she gets when she drinks hard liquor. What kind?" Shane said.

  Jess's faced squinched. "Tequila..."

  "Mother fucker, Jess, come on!" Donovan griped.

  "Guys, back off. She wanted to do shots and I'm not her fucking mother. Seeing Trent really messed her up. Anyway she seemed to be having a good time, flirting and laughing. I was chatting up some frat guy and the next thing I knew she was gone. I've looked everywhere."

  "Why don't we split up? You guys check upstairs and we'll check outside," Michael offered gesturing for Jess to come with him. Until then she hadn't even noticed Michael, her stress level was just too high.

  "Hey, I'm Michael. I have a class with Charlie."

  "Jess. And thanks-any help is welcome. She's way too drunk and this
house is crawling with guys who would take advantage."

  That bit of wisdom lit a fire under all of them and they dispersed. Michael grabbed Jess's small hand and led her through the crowd while scanning for any sign of Charlie.

  They covered every inch of the back and the left side yard with no luck. The only place left was the front and other side of the house.

  "Where could she be?" Jess said, tears streaming down her face. "If anything happens to her I'll never forgive myself. She didn't even want to come to this stupid party."

  Michael squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, we'll find her. And if anyone touches her, I'll kill em." Jess's grin was weak but she seemed to trust him.

  He pushed his hair out of his face and exhaled loudly. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. I do-not want to be anyone's prison bitch."

  Jess snorted, smiling for real. "Thanks Michael, you're a good guy. I can tell."

  Just as they rounded the corner to the side of the house there was a boot sticking out from behind a large manicured bush. It was her boot. They both started to sprint, the sound of her sobs grew louder as they approached.

  "Oh God, no," Jess whispered.

  Chapter 7

  ~Charlie~

  An hour earlier...

  "Charlie, wait up!" Jess called from behind. But she didn't want to slow down, she wanted to sprint out the door and keep going until her legs gave out. Jess pulled her to a stop right outside the front door.

  "Charlie, it's okay. You were bound to run into him eventually."

  "Did you know he was going to be at this party? That he was in this fraternity? Because if you did, that is fucked up!" Her voice was taking on a shrill, high pitched quality.

  "Charlie, calm down, please. If you'd known he was going to be here, would you have come with me? I can see by your face that the answer is hell no...You needed to see him, to get it out of the way. You know, like ripping off a bandage. You know the kind that pulls off half of your arm hair?" Charlie sniffed. "You go to the same school, you can't hide from him forever. He's not worth it. You deserve to walk around with your head held high, not hiding in the shadows. Not because of that piece of shit. You did nothing wrong—he should be hiding from you!"

  Charlie knew she was right, but she was still miffed...miffed, fuming, whatever you want to call it. When she remained silent, Jess pressed on.

  "Please don't be mad. I love you and I would never trick you, that wasn't my intent. I just wanted you to get out and face the inevitable. Okay?" She tugged at Charlie's sleeve.

  "Okay. Just next time don't keep things from me. It makes me feel railroaded."

  "Deal. Now can we go back in there and mingle with some frat boys?"

  "Sure. I feel the need to get a little hammered."

  "You've come to the right place and brought the right co-pilot, for that matter."

  "How's my makeup? My eyes were leaking a little."

  Jess rubbed the skin under her eye gently. "There all better." They hugged and started to walk back to the house.

  Yes, getting drunk was definitely a good idea. And if drunken heavy petting ensued, well she'd go with it. It'd been a while.

  Four shots of tequila later, she was feeling fabulous, but walking was starting to become an issue. Jess had found herself a very cute guy and was laughing at his jokes. She walked over to the keg and grabbed the nozzle.

  A pair of hands slid down the side of her waist and down the outside of her thighs. A voice near her ear whispered, "I've missed you. No person should look this good. Are you trying to torture me?"

  Trent lifted the hem of her dress, and when his fingers touched her skin, she shivered.

  Fucking traitor.

  She couldn't help it. Her body knew him. And despite their underwhelming sexual encounter, they'd done everything but and he was great at the everything but part. He had an amazing tongue. She leaned back against his chest and let him kiss her neck. Oh boy it had been a while and her body was raring to go. Charlie felt the hardness of him in the small of her back. Then came the image. The image of that hardness inside someone else's mouth. The sound of his moan. The arch of his neck. His knuckles white as they gripped the edge of the sink. The water dripping slowly from the faucet behind him. The kneeling figure in front of him, head bobbing rhythmically. Up and down, up and down. All of the details flashed before her in a second. She stiffened as the anger washed over her like a tidal wave.

  She turned towards him. "Trent. I've missed you, too."

  She kissed him on the lips, grabbing his hand as she walked past. He willingly followed.

  The brick was rough behind her bare back. He'd lifted her dress up to her waist...Just a few more minutes. That's all she had to endure.

  She heard Jess's voice, but she couldn't see her face through the tears. Who was with her? Great. It was that guy from her class. She didn't want him to see her like this—half dressed and crying in the grass.

  "Oh, God! Charlie!" Jess screamed and dove into the grass beside her best friend. Michael was right there as well. She was too numb to care. He sat in front of her and pulled her sleeve back onto her shoulder with one hand, while wiping the tears from her cheeks with the other.

  "It's going to be okay. I promise." She could feel his hands shaking on her skin and she wondered why he was so upset, but she had a few guesses.

  "No, it won't be okay. I'm going to jail."

  "No, sweetie, no. You did nothing wrong, He, whoever did this, he's going to jail," Jess said through her own tears.

  "No, you don't understand. He's dead." Charlie sobbed then hiccuped.

  "What? Who's dead?" Michael asked.

  "He is." She pointed to the other side of the shrub.

  "Trent."

  Jess and Michael exchanged a look and Michael went over to investigate. There was a loafer attached to a body that was indeed Trent.

  "I didn't mean to kill him. I just wanted to get back at him. Oh noooooo!" More sobbing and hiccuping.

  Jess threw her arms around Charlie and rocked her a bit which might have looked odd, considering the size difference of the two. "Shhh, shhh. What happened?"

  "He, he came up behind me at the keg." Sniff, sniff, hiccup. "He put his hands on me, he kissed my neck. I liked it at first. Damn traitor hormones. But then," more sniffs, "I remembered. I remembered what he did and I got so mad I couldn't breathe."

  "Okay, so how did you get out here with him?" Michael asked, sounding peeved.

  "I wanted to get back at him, so I pretended that I wanted him. I lured him here and kissed him and let him touch me. I had to make it seem real." She slurred a bit and gave Jess a pleading look.

  "It's okay, sweetie, go on."

  "I told him I've been dreaming about doing what Daniella did that night I walked in on them. He seemed to buy it too. Dumb ass... I went down on my knees and unzipped his pants, and then...and then...I grabbed his balls and I twisted as hard as I could." She demonstrated with her hands. "He made the strangest sound, I've never heard anything like it. Then he crashed to the ground." Charlie pointed towards the shrub. "Oh God, Jess, he hasn't moved. I killed him!" Hysterical sobs and snorts.

  A burst of laughter made Charlie's head whip up. Michael's shoulders, all four of them, were shaking. He came to crouch beside her, pushing her wet bangs out of her face.

  "Charlie, he's not dead."

  "He's not?" Jess and Charlie said in unison.

  "No, he's just passed out. The pain must have been so intense that he lost consciousness. Believe me it hurts that bad."

  "You didn't check to see if he was breathing?" Jess asked Charlie.

  "No, I was too busy freaking the fuck out! I thought his balls had exploded!"

  Now it was Jess's turn to start laughing.

  "Stop laughing, it was very traumatic." Charlie whined.

  Michael, who'd suspected that Trent was indeed alive but was enjoying her dramatic display way to much to say so, went over to Trent and kicked his shoe. "Dude, wake up!" He shook
him a few times on the shoulder.

  "Trent, wake up."

  "Snap in front of his face." Jess offered. He gave her a look. "What? It always helps in the movies."

  "Uhhhhgghh." The body was starting to come to life.

  "Trent?" Charlie was beside him now. He opened his eyes and when he saw Charlie looming over him, he wigged.

  "Get away from me, you psycho bitch!"

  Ouch, okay maybe she deserved that.

  "Hey, watch your mouth," Michael snapped.

  "Fuck you, Barton. I'll be lucky if I can have kids after that...Shit, Charlie. I said I was sorry about that night. Damn! You used to be sweet. What the fuck happened to you?"

  He pushed off the ground and limped away.

  Her head hung in shame. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Her liquor-addled brain thought it was just what he deserved. She was still seeing double despite the drama and tears, but the fog was starting to lift. This was going to leave a mark tomorrow.

  "Come on, Charlie, I'll take you home," Jess offered.

  "You've been doing shots too, right?" Michael pointed out.

  "Yeah, but I can hold my liquor." She got up pulling Charlie with her.

  "Please let me drive you two home. You can leave her car here and get it in the morning." Jess seemed to be mulling it over. She had had a lot to drink.

  "Please? I won't be able to relax unless I know you two are safe."

  "Charlie, is that all right with you?" Jess asked. She was a bit out of breath because she was propping up her much taller friend.

  "Okay." Defeat laced her tired voice.

  "Here, let me take over." Michael switched places with Jess and threw Charlie's arm around his neck.

  She laid her head on his shoulder and noticed the faint remnants of Drakkar on his skin. That was her favorite. She sighed into his embrace and let him help her to his car. She'd worry about the embarrassing repercussions of this night tomorrow. Right now she was feeling nothing but the descent of her own impending unconsciousness. As soon as she laid her head down on the soft leather of his back seat...night night.