1 WEEK EARLIER
It was tradition that one senior would throw a crazy party right before the school year started. Each year was crazier than the last out of some silly urge someone felt to outdo the last guy. Jessamine had been to quite a few parties before but she knew this one would be different. It ended up being different in a way she would have never imagined She found herself that Saturday night standing in front of a three-story, white house. It outshined the houses around it with beautiful architecture and tall white pillars on each side of a arched doorway. The front lawn seemed so well manicured that it took a double take for Jessamine to realize the grass was real. She stood outside, waiting for her friend Isabelle to accompany her, her dark-blue top glittering in the moonlight.
At last, the girl joined her in a short, lavender dress. Her hair was dark, long and about as a straight as a pin. Jessamine had never seen hair that looked nearly quite as healthy and shiny as Isabelle's did. Jessamine's hair was much the opposite of hers with golden blonde curls. She loved her long curls as much as any girl would yet sometimes she longed to be able to glide her hand through silky straight hair. "Ew."Jessamine said in a teasing tone of disgust, taking a step away from Isabelle.
"Ew yourself. "Isabelle said and laughed. She glanced at her and smiled. "You look amazing Jessamine where'd you get that top? I'm so borrowing it." She told her and gave her a tight hug.
"So do you!"Jessamine exclaimed and hugged her back. "And you are so not. This top wasn't cheap." She and Isabelle had been best friends since they were very young along with a girl named Marcy Salvatore. She and Marcy clicked like a lock and key. They were inseparable despite their age difference. That was except for tonight, that is. It was a seniors only party. However, her older brother Jason Salvatore seemed to find his way inside every year. Jessamine guessed he probably charmed his way in. No one was ever mad that he came but if it was any other person, it'd be a huge deal.
"Too bad. Soooo am." Isabelle giggled, "Now let's go inside already!!" She took Jessamine's arm and dragged her along through the open front door, teenagers piling into the house after them. The inside was simply elegant. All of the floors were marble, reflecting the huge chandelier that swung gently so many feet above them. There was, of course, a gorgeous staircase that looked straight out of the Titanic. Paintings of every kind were all over the walls. "We're so taking a bajillion pictures on this staircase." Isabelle announced.
Jessamine had been about to agree when her gaze fell on the tall, muscular boy standing near one of the paintings, seemingly examining it."Not now! Later. I want to see the party!" Jessamine cried rather anxiously. She didn't have to look twice to recognize her ex-boyfriend. Her excitement was immediately drained from her. Isabelle followed her gaze and her eyes widened. She got the hint quickly and headed out into the next room with Jessamine.
"Izzy I really can't run into him tonight."Jessamine said, "I can't do it. " She had been hoping to start over this year after the hell he had put her through last year.
"We won't okay?" Isabelle took her shoulders. "We're going to have fun tonight and it's going to be a totally Louis-less night. I promise."
And so they did. The next room had been full of at least dozens of people, dancing like they had never danced before to loud, obnoxious party music. There were crazy strobe lights and a disco ball installed. It was literally like walking into a club. The flood of people went through an open door and into a large indoor pool area where kids were drinking alcohol and bouncing around a beach ball in the pool. The first few hours the girls had made the most of the dancing and even drank a little. Jessamine spoke to a lot of people while Isabelle seemed intent on finding her boyfriend, Luke. She was naturally friendly and easy to talk to. It made making friends very easy for Jessamine. She knew most of the people here anyway.
It wasn't along until they ran into Jason Salvatore. He wasn't the tallest of boys but he was fairly average when it came to height. When it came to muscle, he was pretty much jacked. He had messy light brown hair much like his brother James and charming green eyes. Currently, he was walking around in his swim trunks. "Jess you skank, you. "Jason threw his arm around her shoulder with a smirk. Jason Salvatore was basically the definition of arrogance. All the girls seemed to bend over backwards for him and he absolutely adored the attention. She wrinkled her nose at the aroma of his alcohol breath. "God Jace how much did you drink? "
"The usual."Jason replied coolly. "The girl I just made out with didn't seem to mind and she was sober. She might have been too preoccupied with these babies though." He ran a hand over his abs.
"Yeah. Uh huh. "She replied with disinterest, "Any chance you smuggled your sister and brother here?"
"Maaaybe."Jason said and winked. With that, he turned and began walking away from her.
"Jason!" Jessamine groaned and tried to go after him but he disappeared into a crowd of people and out of sight.
"All alone, baby?"
Jessamine stiffened at the deep voice as a hand fell on her hip. She quickly pushed his hand off her and turned around. Her ex-boyfriend Louis stood there with his buzzcut and obnoxiously muscular arms. He smiled the way he used to smile when they had been together and things had been perfect.
"Leave me alone, Louis." She said firmly.
" I wouldn't speak to me that way if I were you. I still can tell everyone how you lost your virginity to me." Louis told her with a malicious smile. There was no longer any love. He made that evident when the ordeal happened. He had blackmailed her into staying silent.
"And I'll tell them and the cops how you raped me. "Jessamine managed angrily through clenched teeth.
"Sweetpea, no one would believe you. Everyone is going to think you were a drunken slut who's now trying to uphold her reputation. You're still mine and always will be. However, fortunately for you, I've lost interest in you this year. I have a new target."
Jessamine glared at him, "When did you become such a fucking psychopath? Just leave everyone alone, including me." She hurriedly went outside, eyes watering. She sat down on the porch and buried her head in her knees.
Isabelle joined her a minute later, "Are you okay, Jess?" She rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "You miss him don't you?"
Jessamine wanted to vomit. Miss him? It was really much the opposite. However, she usually went with that explanation. It explained why she had acted so depressed last year. "Yeah. "She said quietly.
"Whoaaa party over here." Jason plopped down behind them. "What are you ladies doing out here? They're blowing up a waterslide in the back!"
"You go, Jason. She needs a minute." Isabelle replied with annoyance.
Jason looked back inside to see Louis watching. "Oh God. That creep's here. I can't even fathom why you would date him in the first place. I'm sorry Jess..."
"It's fine."Jessamine sighed and glanced forward toward the road. Some guy was stumbling into it, staggering in every direction, his head limply hanging downward. The bright lights of a car made her whip her head to stare at it. "HEY!"She yelled, jumping to her feet. "Get out of the street!"
Her eyes widened as the car slammed into him and he went tumbling over the roof. The car stopped but no one got out yet. The three of them ran forward over to the guy and knelt beside him while Isabelle immediately began dialing the police.
He was unconscious and very bloody. Bruises were already forming. Jessamine didn't recognize him at all; he didn't even look young enough to be in high school. She took his arm and winced at the feeling of it. "It's broken." She informed them. There was a snap and the bone suddenly cracked back in the place. Another cracking sound filled the air and the man's eyes shot open as his bruises seemed to disappear. They were all grabbed from behind so tightly none of them could even turn around to see who was grabbing them. The bloody man sat up and raised his hand. Smoke was blown, from what seemed like no where, into their faces. Then everything went black. The day after, the three of them had no recollection of what happened after that. They had all just woken up in their beds as per usual.
It was tradition that one senior would throw a crazy party right before the school year started. Each year was crazier than the last out of some silly urge someone felt to outdo the last guy. Jessamine had been to quite a few parties before but she knew this one would be different. It ended up being different in a way she would have never imagined She found herself that Saturday night standing in front of a three-story, white house. It outshined the houses around it with beautiful architecture and tall white pillars on each side of a arched doorway. The front lawn seemed so well manicured that it took a double take for Jessamine to realize the grass was real. She stood outside, waiting for her friend Isabelle to accompany her, her dark-blue top glittering in the moonlight.
At last, the girl joined her in a short, lavender dress. Her hair was dark, long and about as a straight as a pin. Jessamine had never seen hair that looked nearly quite as healthy and shiny as Isabelle's did. Jessamine's hair was much the opposite of hers with golden blonde curls. She loved her long curls as much as any girl would yet sometimes she longed to be able to glide her hand through silky straight hair. "Ew."Jessamine said in a teasing tone of disgust, taking a step away from Isabelle.
"Ew yourself. "Isabelle said and laughed. She glanced at her and smiled. "You look amazing Jessamine where'd you get that top? I'm so borrowing it." She told her and gave her a tight hug.
"So do you!"Jessamine exclaimed and hugged her back. "And you are so not. This top wasn't cheap." She and Isabelle had been best friends since they were very young along with a girl named Marcy Salvatore. She and Marcy clicked like a lock and key. They were inseparable despite their age difference. That was except for tonight, that is. It was a seniors only party. However, her older brother Jason Salvatore seemed to find his way inside every year. Jessamine guessed he probably charmed his way in. No one was ever mad that he came but if it was any other person, it'd be a huge deal.
"Too bad. Soooo am." Isabelle giggled, "Now let's go inside already!!" She took Jessamine's arm and dragged her along through the open front door, teenagers piling into the house after them. The inside was simply elegant. All of the floors were marble, reflecting the huge chandelier that swung gently so many feet above them. There was, of course, a gorgeous staircase that looked straight out of the Titanic. Paintings of every kind were all over the walls. "We're so taking a bajillion pictures on this staircase." Isabelle announced.
Jessamine had been about to agree when her gaze fell on the tall, muscular boy standing near one of the paintings, seemingly examining it."Not now! Later. I want to see the party!" Jessamine cried rather anxiously. She didn't have to look twice to recognize her ex-boyfriend. Her excitement was immediately drained from her. Isabelle followed her gaze and her eyes widened. She got the hint quickly and headed out into the next room with Jessamine.
"Izzy I really can't run into him tonight."Jessamine said, "I can't do it. " She had been hoping to start over this year after the hell he had put her through last year.
"We won't okay?" Isabelle took her shoulders. "We're going to have fun tonight and it's going to be a totally Louis-less night. I promise."
And so they did. The next room had been full of at least dozens of people, dancing like they had never danced before to loud, obnoxious party music. There were crazy strobe lights and a disco ball installed. It was literally like walking into a club. The flood of people went through an open door and into a large indoor pool area where kids were drinking alcohol and bouncing around a beach ball in the pool. The first few hours the girls had made the most of the dancing and even drank a little. Jessamine spoke to a lot of people while Isabelle seemed intent on finding her boyfriend, Luke. She was naturally friendly and easy to talk to. It made making friends very easy for Jessamine. She knew most of the people here anyway.
It wasn't along until they ran into Jason Salvatore. He wasn't the tallest of boys but he was fairly average when it came to height. When it came to muscle, he was pretty much jacked. He had messy light brown hair much like his brother James and charming green eyes. Currently, he was walking around in his swim trunks. "Jess you skank, you. "Jason threw his arm around her shoulder with a smirk. Jason Salvatore was basically the definition of arrogance. All the girls seemed to bend over backwards for him and he absolutely adored the attention. She wrinkled her nose at the aroma of his alcohol breath. "God Jace how much did you drink? "
"The usual."Jason replied coolly. "The girl I just made out with didn't seem to mind and she was sober. She might have been too preoccupied with these babies though." He ran a hand over his abs.
"Yeah. Uh huh. "She replied with disinterest, "Any chance you smuggled your sister and brother here?"
"Maaaybe."Jason said and winked. With that, he turned and began walking away from her.
"Jason!" Jessamine groaned and tried to go after him but he disappeared into a crowd of people and out of sight.
"All alone, baby?"
Jessamine stiffened at the deep voice as a hand fell on her hip. She quickly pushed his hand off her and turned around. Her ex-boyfriend Louis stood there with his buzzcut and obnoxiously muscular arms. He smiled the way he used to smile when they had been together and things had been perfect.
"Leave me alone, Louis." She said firmly.
" I wouldn't speak to me that way if I were you. I still can tell everyone how you lost your virginity to me." Louis told her with a malicious smile. There was no longer any love. He made that evident when the ordeal happened. He had blackmailed her into staying silent.
"And I'll tell them and the cops how you raped me. "Jessamine managed angrily through clenched teeth.
"Sweetpea, no one would believe you. Everyone is going to think you were a drunken slut who's now trying to uphold her reputation. You're still mine and always will be. However, fortunately for you, I've lost interest in you this year. I have a new target."
Jessamine glared at him, "When did you become such a fucking psychopath? Just leave everyone alone, including me." She hurriedly went outside, eyes watering. She sat down on the porch and buried her head in her knees.
Isabelle joined her a minute later, "Are you okay, Jess?" She rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "You miss him don't you?"
Jessamine wanted to vomit. Miss him? It was really much the opposite. However, she usually went with that explanation. It explained why she had acted so depressed last year. "Yeah. "She said quietly.
"Whoaaa party over here." Jason plopped down behind them. "What are you ladies doing out here? They're blowing up a waterslide in the back!"
"You go, Jason. She needs a minute." Isabelle replied with annoyance.
Jason looked back inside to see Louis watching. "Oh God. That creep's here. I can't even fathom why you would date him in the first place. I'm sorry Jess..."
"It's fine."Jessamine sighed and glanced forward toward the road. Some guy was stumbling into it, staggering in every direction, his head limply hanging downward. The bright lights of a car made her whip her head to stare at it. "HEY!"She yelled, jumping to her feet. "Get out of the street!"
Her eyes widened as the car slammed into him and he went tumbling over the roof. The car stopped but no one got out yet. The three of them ran forward over to the guy and knelt beside him while Isabelle immediately began dialing the police.
He was unconscious and very bloody. Bruises were already forming. Jessamine didn't recognize him at all; he didn't even look young enough to be in high school. She took his arm and winced at the feeling of it. "It's broken." She informed them. There was a snap and the bone suddenly cracked back in the place. Another cracking sound filled the air and the man's eyes shot open as his bruises seemed to disappear. They were all grabbed from behind so tightly none of them could even turn around to see who was grabbing them. The bloody man sat up and raised his hand. Smoke was blown, from what seemed like no where, into their faces. Then everything went black. The day after, the three of them had no recollection of what happened after that. They had all just woken up in their beds as per usual.