Jamie McGuire - Beautiful Disaster

Shepley pulled me to the stairs, shoving anyone who stood in his path. He helped me through an open window, and then down a fire escape, catching me when I leaped the few feet to the ground.

“You okay, Abby? Did he hurt you?” Shepley asked.

One sleeve of my white sweater was hanging by threads, otherwise I had escaped unscathed. I shook my head, still stunned.

Shepley gently took my cheeks in his hands, looking into my eyes. “Abby, answer me. Are you all right?”

I nodded. As the adrenaline absorbed into my blood stream, the tears began to flow. “I’m okay.”

He hugged me, pressing his cheek against my forehead, and then stiffened. “Over here, Trav!”

Travis ran at us full speed, slowing only when had me in his arms. He was covered in blood, his eye dripping and his mouth spattered with red.

“Jesus Christ…is she hurt?” he asked.

Shepley’s hand was still on my back. “She said she’s okay.”

Travis held me at arm’s length by my shoulders and frowned. “Are you hurt, Pidge?”

Just as I shook my head, I saw the first of the mob from the basement trickling down from the fire escape. Travis kept me tight in his arms, silently scanning the faces. A short, squat man hopped down from the ladder and froze when he noticed us standing on the sidewalk.

“You,” Travis snarled.

He let me go, running across the grass, tackling the man to the ground.

I looked to Shepley, confused and horrified.

“That’s the guy that kept shoving Travis back in the circle,” Shepley said.

A small crowd gathered around them as they scuffled on the ground. Travis pounded his fist into the man’s face over and over. Shepley pulled me into his chest, still panting. The man stopped fighting back, and Travis left him on the ground in a bloody heap. Those gathered around him fanned out, giving Travis a wide birth, seeing the rage in his eyes.

“Travis!” Shepley yelled, pointing to the other side of the building.

Ethan hobbled in the shadows, using the brick wall of Hellerton to hold himself up. When he heard Shepley yell for Travis, he turned just in time to see his assailant charge. Ethan limped across the lawn, throwing down the beer bottle in his hands and moving as fast as his legs could carry him to the street. Just as he reached his car, Travis grabbed him and slammed him against it.

Ethan pleaded with Travis, even as Travis gripped his shirt and rammed his head into the car door. The begging was cut off with the loud thud of his skull against the windshield, and then Travis pulled him to the front of the car and shattered the headlight with Ethan’s face. Travis launched him onto the hood, pressing his face into the metal while shouting obscenities.

“Shit,” Shepley said. I turned to see Hellerton glow blue and red from the lights of a quickly approaching police cruiser. Droves of people jumped from the landing, forming a human waterfall down the fire escape, and a flurry of running students burst into every direction.

“Travis!” I screamed.

Travis left Ethan’s limp body on the hood of the car to sprint towards us. Shepley pulled me to the parking lot, ripping open his door. I jumped into the back seat, anxiously waiting for them both to get in. Cars were flying from their spots and out of the drive way, screeching to a halt when a second police car blocked the drive.

Travis and Shepley jumped into their seats, and Shepley cursed when he saw the trapped cars backing from the only exit. He slammed the car into drive, and the Charger bounced as it jumped the curb. He spun out over the grass, and we flew between two buildings, bouncing again when he hit the road behind the school.

The tires squealed and the engine snarled when Shepley slammed his foot on the accelerator. I slid across the seat into the wall of the cab when we took a turn, bumping my already sore elbow. The street lights were streaks across the window as we raced to the apartment, but it seemed like an hour had passed by the time we pulled into the parking lot.

Shepley threw the Charger into park and turned off the ignition. The boys opened their doors in silence, and Travis reached into the back seat, lifting me into his arms.

“What happened? Holy shit, Trav, what happened to your face?” America said, running down the stairs.

“I’ll tell you inside,” Shepley said, guiding her to the door.

Travis carried me up the stairs, through the living and down the hall without a word, setting me on his bed. Toto pawed at my legs, jumping onto the bed to lick my face.

“Not now, buddy,” Travis said in a hushed voice, taking the puppy to the hall and shutting the door.

He kneeled in front of me, touching the frayed edges of my sleeve. His eye was in the beginning stages of a bruise, red and swollen. The angry skin above it was cut and wet with blood. His lips were smeared with scarlet, and the hide was ripped away from some of his knuckles. His once white t-shirt was now soiled with a combination of blood, grass and dirt.

I touched his eye and he winced, pulling away from my hand. “I’m so sorry, Pigeon. I tried to get to you. I tried….” He cleared his throat of the anger and worry that choked him. “I couldn’t get to you.”

“Will you ask America to take me back to Morgan?” I said.

“You can’t go back there tonight. The place is crawling with cops. Just stay here. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

I sucked in a faltering breath, trying to ward off any more tears. He felt bad enough.

Travis stood up and opened the door.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I’ve gotta get a shower. I’ll be right back.”

America shoved past him, sitting beside me on the bed, pulling me into her chest. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there!” she cried.

“I’m fine,” I said, wiping my tear stained face.

Shepley knocked on the door as he entered, bringing me a short glass half-full of whiskey.

“Here,” he said, handing it to America. She cupped my hands around it and nudged me.

I tipped back my head, letting the liquid flow down my throat. My face compressed as the whiskey burned its way to my stomach. “Thanks,” I said, handing the glass back to Shepley.

“I should have gotten to her sooner. I didn’t even realize she was gone. I’m sorry, Abby. I should’ve….”

“It’s not your fault, Shep. It’s not anyone’s fault.”

“It’s Ethan’s fault,” he seethed. “That sick bastard was dry fucking her against the wall.”

“Baby!” America said, pulling me to her side.

“I need another drink,” I said, shoving my empty glass at Shepley.

“Me, too,” Shepley said, returning to the kitchen.

Travis walked in with a towel around his waist, holding a cold can of beer against his eye. America left the room without a word as Travis slipped on his boxers, and then he grabbed his pillow. Shepley brought four glasses this time, all full to the brim with amber liquor. We all knocked back the whiskey without hesitation.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” America said, kissing my cheek.

Travis took my glass, sitting it on the night stand. He watched me for a moment and then walked over to his closet, pulling a t-shirt off the hanger and tossing it to the bed.

“I’m sorry I’m such a fuck up,” he said, holding the beer to his eye.

“You look awful. You’re going to feel like shit tomorrow.”

He shook his head, disgusted. “Abby, you were attacked tonight. Don’t worry about me.”

“It’s hard not to when your eye is swelling shut,” I said, situating his shirt on my lap.

His jaw tensed. “It wouldn’t’ve happened if I’d just let you stay with Parker. But I knew if I asked you, you’d come. I wanted to show him that you were still mine, and then you get hurt.”

The words took me off-guard, as if I hadn’t heard him right. “That’s why you ask me to come tonight? To prove a point to Parker?”

“It was part of it,” he said, ashamed.

The blood drained from my face. For the first time since we’d met, Travis had fooled me. I had gone to Hellerton with him thinking he needed me, thinking that despite everything, we were back to where we were before. I was nothing more than a water hydrant; he had marked his territory, and I had allowed him to do it.

My eyes filled with tears. “Get out.”

“Pigeon,” he said, taking a step toward me.

“Get OUT!” I said, grabbing the glass from the night stand and throwing it at him. He ducked, and it shattered against the wall in hundreds of tiny, glistening shards. “I hate you!”

Travis heaved as if the air had been knocked out of him, and with a pained expression, he left me alone.

I yanked off my clothes and pulled the t-shirt on. The noise that burst from my throat surprised me. It had been a long time since I had sobbed uncontrollably. Within moments, America rushed into the room.

She crawled into the bed and wrapped her arms around me. She didn’t ask me questions or try to console me, she only held me as I let the tears drench the pillow case.

Just before the sun breached the horizon, America and I quietly left the apartment behind. We didn’t speak on the way to Morgan, and I was glad for the silence. I didn’t want to talk, I didn’t want to think, I just wanted to block out the last twelve hours. My body felt heavy and sore, as if I’d been in a car accident. When we walked into my room, I saw that Kara’s bed was made.

“Can I borrow your flat iron?” America asked.

“Mare, I’m fine. Go to class.”

“You’re not fine. I don’t want to leave you alone right now.”