“Wooooooo whooooo, yeah baby!” Reed slurred. Sean was walking up behind him, trying to grab his arms to get him to stop clapping, hushing him. He was embarrassing himself. “No, Sean. That was something. We should celebrate it, woooooooo! Come on everyone, give them a round of applause. Our girls can dance, woooooooo!”
I turned to Sienna, my eyes tearing up a little and I just grabbed her hand. I was so uncomfortable from the attention he was drawing. I wanted him to stop, but he wasn’t going to.
“That’s right…our girls can dance. Let’s celebrate!” he flung his head back gulping a half-bottle of beer at once, then throwing the bottle off into the brush behind him. He spun around on his heels, falling backwards a little and taking a minute to right his balance.
“Reed, come on man. Let me get you home,” Sean said, trying to get his friend to stop.
“I’m fine, Sean. Come on, let’s celebrate,” he said, walking over to one of the seniors he was hanging out with, grabbing his bottle of hard liquor. He raised it over his head. “Let’s toast. Let’s toast. Have you heard? I’m going to be a daddy! Woooooooooo, f**kin’ A! That’s right, wooooooo!”
He took a big drink, wiping his mouth across his sleeve when he was done, holding my gaze the entire time. I was frozen, and couldn’t help the single tear I let slide down my cheek. “That’s right, Nolan. I knocked Tatum up…” he slowly walked closer to me, and the smell of him was making me sick. He tilted his chin up, turned sideways to take another drink, and kept his eyes on me. “So whatcha gonna do about that, huh? How does that fit into your perfect world?”
His eyes flared a bit. He took two fingers and pushed them into my chest, pushing me off balance a little. This pissed Sarah off, who broke our gaze when she yelled at him: “Stay the f**k away from her, Reed. Knock this shit off. You’re drunk, and you’re being an ass**le!”
Reed just started laughing as he turned around in a slow circle, taking in the crowd of onlookers, who were several dozen now.
“Reed?” I said so quietly I wasn’t sure it was out loud. It was enough to jolt him to turn right back into my face, the stink of the alcohol on his breath stinging my eyes.
“Nooooooo-laaaaaan,” he said in a mean spirited tone, raising his eyebrows and mocking me, but for what who knew.
Suddenly Tyler was between us, and he was pushing me back. “Hey, man. Don’t talk to her like that,” he defended.
Reed stared at him blankly for a few uncomfortable seconds, and everyone stood silent, wondering if he was going to cry or throw a punch at Tyler’s face. Instead he started laughing, laughing so hard that he had to bend over and hold his knees to catch his breath. He started coughing a little when he grabbed Tyler’s shoulder to brace himself.
“This guy…” he started, pointing at Tyler with his thumb and looking at me, but not with clear focus. “You f**kin’ this guy now? First Sean, now him. Skipped me, huh?”
I don’t know how many milliseconds passed exactly, but I’m sure it was very few. My hand flew to his face so hard I knocked the spit from his lips and sent his head tottering to its side and he stumbled to one knee to get his balance. My face was wet with emotion, but my eyes were full of anger. I just stared at him and watched him try to get up. I didn’t dare say a word. I said all I needed to when my palm made contact with his face. I may have loved Reed, but right now I hated him.
We all watched in silence as he struggled to his feet, checking for blood on his lip with the back of his hand. He laughed a sinister sound as he walked backwards to the shadows again, still looking at me. There was nothing in his eyes. I wasn’t even sure if he would remember this. But I would.
Sean gathered him up and drove him home, Sarah, Sienna and Becky went along, riding in the back. Tyler offered to drive me home, and despite my uneasiness with ever letting anyone see where I lived, I let him.
“You ok?” he said, putting the car in park in my driveway.
I just shook my head in disbelief, staring out his front window, then I turned to him still wet-faced and red from crying. “No. So completely not OK.”
We both took a deep breath and sat there still. I wanted to try to gather myself together enough before I went inside. Tyler didn’t hurry me, and he didn’t talk. I was finally ready, but then a terrible thought hit me – I was working Reed’s shift on Monday.
“Oooooooh crap,” I turned to him. “I’m working the afternoon Monday.”
I just stared at him, sort of hoping he would convince me to call in sick. “It’s ok, I’ll work extra. I’ll be there, too. Since I’ll be in early, I’ll make sure the rotation paper puts you on opposite ends all day.”