Free Promise Me Light by Paige Weaver

people stood around, laughing and having
a good time.
    Nathan led me over to a small cabana hut where a bar was set up. The
guy had a cabana in his backyard. Yeah, I was out of my league here.
    “Want anything?” Nathan asked, motioning to the half-empty
bottles sitting on the counter.
    “No, thank you,” I said, watching as two girls walked by. Each
had long blonde hair and perfect tans. They glanced over at me, their
eyes running up and down my body before turning their noses up and
walking away.
    Feeling a blush crawl up my neck, I checked my phone again. There was
still no answer from Ryder. Great.
    “So how do you know Ryder?” Nathan asked, leaning on the
cabana’s counter.
    “We’re neighbors. And friends.”
    When a large, muscular guy reached around me for a bottle of vodka, I
had no choice but to move closer to Nathan, touching my shoulder to his
side. Touching Nathan Phillips would have been epic if I was still a
high school freshman.
    “Friends? Really?” he asked, not hiding his disbelief.
    I pushed my straight hair behind my ear and blushed again. I hated
when people seemed surprised that Ryder and I were friends. Like I
wasn’t good enough to hang out with him or something.
    “I’m sorry if that sounded bad, it’s just that I didn’t think
Ryder could be friends with a girl,” Nathan said, shrugging.
“You’re not his type.”
    “Guess I’m special,” I mumbled, typing another text.
    Where r u, Ryder?
    “Did you go to school with us?” Nathan asked, leaning closer to
me.
    “I was two years behind you. Class of 09,” I answered, staring at
my phone and praying for a response.
    “You’re young.”
    “Hmmm,” I mumbled, glancing up from my phone when a shout came
from across the yard. A man and a woman were chasing each other, running
in a zigzag line and laughing.
    My eyes caught on the two blondes walking our way again. Their short
skirts swooshed, showing off their long legs. The flames of the tiki
torches made their hair shine perfectly, making me a tiny bit
jealous.
    Stopping in front of us, two sets of eyes looked me up and down with
something close to disgust.
    “Hey, Nathan. Who’s your friend?” one of the girls asked in a
high-pitched, shrill voice.
    Nathan didn’t move. He simply stared at her, annoyed. “She’s
Ryder’s friend. Why?”
    One of the girls giggled, pushing her hair back with perfectly
manicured fingernails.
    “Ryder doesn’t have friends. Just fuck buddies. I should know,”
blonde number one said smugly, looking me up and down. Her long
eyelashes missed nothing, including my cheap clothing. “Where did he
find her? Gas station parking lot?”
    “Shut up, Julia,” Nathan warned.
    Julia stuck her chin out, trying to appear hurt. “I don’t think
you’re in the right place, Ryder’s friend,” she said, glancing
down at my cheap flip-flops.
    “You’re higher than a kite, Julia. Back off,” Nathan said
through gritted teeth.
    Julia just smiled sweetly at him. But I had a feeling she didn’t
know what the word sweet meant.
    “Come on, Michele,” she said, grabbing her friend’s hand.
“The air out here is making me sick.”
    I watched as they walked away, glad to see them leave.
    “Ignore her. She’s a bitch,” Nathan said, leaning over the
counter to open a small fridge. A second later, he had a beer in his
hand, the confrontation with the girls obviously forgotten.
    I stuck my phone in my pocket, suddenly feeling very insecure. The
girl was right. I didn’t belong here. Drinking, sex, probably drugs. I
didn’t do this. I didn’t go to these kinds of parties and I didn’t
hang out with these kinds of people. I needed to get out of here.
Fast.
    Nathan leaned down, his head almost level with mine. “She’s just
jealous because she’s been trying to get Ryder all to herself for
weeks. You’re beautiful and a threat.” He paused, the beer bottle
almost to his lips. “No, I take that back