Ian peeked is head above the crowd of people and once he spotted what he was looking for, grabbed my arm and headed in the direction of a small loveseat.



“Ian, where are we going?” I asked.



“Remember that guy I was telling you about?” Oh yea. How could I have forgotten about that? Ian’s ‘friend’ that he wanted me to meet. I didn’t have a chance to respond because we were now standing in front of the couch where a presumably tall muscular boy with short ash brown hair was sitting. He had on a sports jacket so I guessed that was the reason he was so burly. He smiled at Ian and me, me a little longer. When I turned to Ian once he began to speak I felt like he was still looking at me. I didn’t like the feeling.



“Sam, this is Drew Garrison.” He motioned his hands toward the boy sitting on the couch. He smiled at me again and I weakly returned the gesture. “Well I think I’m going to go get a drink.” Ian turned to leave and winked at me before vanishing among the crowd. I awkwardly sat down on the couch and placed my hands in my lap. Drew scooted closer and put his arm around the couch. It felt uncomfortable being close to him.



“So you’re the Sam I’ve heard so much about?” Drew said lightheartedly. I gave him a questioning look.



“What exactly have you heard about me?” He shrugged then scooted even closer. “Oh, it doesn’t really matter. I just know enough that I’ve wanted to meet you for a very long time.” I couldn’t help but be flattered. His arm then fell down around my shoulder. I wanted to shrug it off but then I saw Ian watching from the punch bowl across the room and let it stay.



“So why haven’t I ever met you before tonight?” I asked friendly. He still continued to move closer, inch by inch.



“I don’t know. I guess we just roll with different crowds.” I nodded, it made sense. Drew was staring at me intently and I quickly changed the subject.



“So where do you know Ian from?” I asked. My tone sounded rushed and my question took him by surprise and he had to think about it for a second. I suppose his attention was elsewhere.



“Um, we know each other from hockey.” That explained his sport jacket I thought I recognized it from somewhere; Ian had one just like it.



“Oh, that’s cool.” I paused for a moment trying to think of another question I could ask to stay away from an uncomfortable silence. “How long have you guys known each other?” He thought about my question for a short minute. He obviously wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box if you know what I mean.



“About a year.” I felt Drew’s hand begin to caress my shoulder and I gritted my teeth to keep from wiping that smug little smirk off his face that kept surfacing every time he did something like that. The same smile had appeared when he dropped his arm around me. I sensed he was someone who was pretty good with the ladies and was used to getting what he wanted, he just better not try any moves on me. It’s not that I didn’t find Drew attractive or anything because he actually was quite handsome, it’s just that, well, I didn’t quite know what it was, but I didn’t like him. He was staring at me keenly and used his hand that wasn’t around my shoulder to play with a strand of my hair. He twisted it around his index finger and that same stupid smile appeared. I had to keep my cool, for Ian’s sake. And then when Drew and I were finished talking I would just tell Ian I wasn’t interested. I stiffened my body, not wanting to make any more physical contact than was absolutely necessary. It took all my strength just to let his arm rest on my shoulder and a few times I even tried to duck under it and make an excuse like I had to use the restroom, or I was thirsty, but Ian kept shooting me warning glances and I stayed put. After a long while of not talking things were beginning to get excessively awkward with Drew, especially with the way he was staring at me. I couldn’t take the silence any longer so I shot out a random question at him.



“So how do you like the party so far?” At first I thought he didn’t hear me because he sat unmoved with the same look on his face. He was concentrated on the strand of the hair he was playing with and answered me without moving his eyes.



“It’s ok, I guess.” He moved his eyes to mine. They now looked as if they were concentrated, and had a question. At the same moment I thought this he began to speak. “What about you? I thought you and Kate weren’t exactly on good terms, you must be petrified she’s going to pop up behind you and claw your eyes out or something.” I stared thoughtfully at him. I hardly knew him and at least he cared what might happen if Kate found out I was here. Unfortunately after I didn’t answer right away distant thoughts filled his eyes one more.



“Yeah, you could say I didn’t come here willingly. Ian had to drag me here.” I paused for another moment to sigh. “How did you know about me and Kate anyway? That was years ago, I didn’t think she told people anymore.”



He shrugged. “I didn’t hear it from Kate.” Just as I was about to ask who told him he answered my question. “Ian told me. Like forever ago though, when he was still trying to convince me to meet with you.” Forever ago? How long had Ian been planning this? He said it had only been a week but this comment suggested otherwise.



“And how exactly did he do that?” I smiled, curious at what his answer would be.



“Well,” He returned the smile, “He started by telling me how cool you were.”



“Define cool?”



“He said you were really smart, and funny, and knew how to have a good time.” My cheeks turned bright red from the flattery, but not because Drew was saying it, because that’s what Ian had thought of me. Seeing how delighted I was, and thinking it was because of him, continued. “He also told me how your hair always fell the right way, and smelled like a garden. And how you have the most honest smile, and how your heart melts when you hear your giggle, and how when you looked into your crystal eyes they sparkled and showed all the innocence left in the world.” I couldn’t help but smile and I think Drew took the gesture as an opening and started to move closer to me.



“Does Ian really think that?” I asked elatedly. Wrong question. Drew’s smile instantly morphed into a scowl and his grip tightened around my shoulder and he dropped his hand from my hair.



“Why is all you ever want to talk about involves Ian? Aren’t you even mildly interested in me?” I looked at him with a stunned expression but before I could answer all of a sudden he was on top of me. He pressed his lips hard to mine and I struggled to push him off, but he was to strong. My hands clenched into fists and as soon as he came up for air I used all my strength and hurled my fist towards his face. He cursed and took his hands off of me to cover his nose which was now bleeding wildly. I felt warm tears beginning to form in my eyes and seizing the opportunity hastily squirmed off of the couch and ran towards the porch. As I passed the punch table Ian flashed me a worried glance but instead of coming after me he started walking to where Drew was now frantically gathering tissues to stop his bleeding nose. Ian’s face was now filled with rage and he clenched his hands into fists turning his knuckles white. I made it out the door just as Ian began to shout at Drew. I hope Ian didn’t hurt him too much. Not that Drew wasn’t strong enough to beat Ian, he just wasn’t smart enough.



The porch wasn’t nearly as crowded as inside the house but there were still a lot of people. Below you could hear people down by the lake, and near the shore there was a huge bonfire with people sitting around it roasting marshmallows. I thought I spotted Olivia sitting on a log next to Peter Landry but didn’t give it a second thought. I was too upset to think about anything else right now. By now tears were rapidly streaming down my cheeks and I could taste the salt on my lips. I sat down on a wooden chair and buried my head in my hands. I few minutes later I heard someone sit down beside me and take me in their arms.



“I’m so sorry.” Ian’s voice whispered into my ear. “I didn’t know he would do that. Will you please forgive me?” I peeked out from behind my hands to look at Ian.



“It wasn’t you fault.” I sniffled and then whipped my tears away. Ian cringed when he saw I had been crying. He softly caressed my cheek as if to wipe away a tear I had missed. “You didn’t hurt him did you?” Ian shook his head and chuckled.



“No more than you did. You broke his nose Sam.” I looked down at my hands. I had no idea I had hit him that hard.



“Oh. Well what did you do?”I asked inquisitively. He just smiled.



“Let’s just say he won’t ever try that move again.”



“So you kicked his a**?” Ian laughed.



“One might say so.” Ian and I sat in silence as we stared out into the black, starry night. Almost everyone had left the porch now and had gone by the bonfire. I didn’t blame them; I was almost certainly ruining their party frame of mind. The cackling fire rose higher and higher and I could now hardly make out the silhouettes of Kate’s guests below. After a while I noticed Ian looking through the windows at the party anxiously.



“It’s ok if you go back inside, I’ll be fine by myself.” I whispered but Ian just shook his head.



“No, if you stay I stay.” I just sighed.



“I guess I’m not staying then.” I got up and headed towards the door. Ian followed behind me and put his hand on the door handle just before I was about to.



“Are you sure you want to?” I rolled my eyes at him.



“Of course, I’m not a baby Ian.” He then opened the door and led the way for me with his hand. Good there was no sign of Kate, or Drew. I sat down at the nearest barstool while Ian grabbed us each a soda from a nearby cooler. Ian looked over the party with eager eyes. “Go have fun.” Ian turned to look at me, surprised but I just encouraged him with the wave of my hand.



“Are you really sure you’ll be alright?” I rolled my eyes at him



“Oh, just go already.” He smiled and in the next instant was off.