Chapter 5
1531words
For them, this was heaven. For me, it was hell.
We were assigned to a tent area marked with the school logo, but within half an hour, all social boundaries had blurred. The smell of tobacco and more suspicious substances wafted through the air, boys in tie-dyed shirts and girls wearing flower crowns flirted shamelessly, and the music was deafening.
In the sweltering heat of 103 degrees, my carefully applied waterproof foundation began to feel ominously like it was melting. Sweat seeped from my hairline, carving tiny rivers across my face, threatening to expose the disaster zone of my real skin underneath.
I wore a wide-brimmed hat and enormous sunglasses, shrinking into the shadow of the tent.
"Jules! Stop hiding and come out to play!" Savannah Pierce's voice cut through the air. She wore a fluorescent pink bikini so tiny it barely existed, looking absolutely flawless, followed by her equally perfect entourage.
I ignored her. My full attention was fixed on the distance, where Ryder Kang leaned against a modified Jeep, smoking with his band members and tuning an old electric guitar.
He saw me and grinned, flashing pearly white teeth. That smile was full of sunshine, confidence, and unmistakable invitation.
My heart skipped a beat.
Then I felt another gaze.
Leo Vance.
He sat alone in the farthest corner, drawing in a sketchbook, surrounded by an invisible wall that blocked out all noise. He wore a black T-shirt, like a silent black hole amid the colorful crowd.
He wasn't looking at me, but I could feel his gaze piercing my skin like needles.
This celebration was destined to be a trial from the very beginning.
At seven in the evening, Ryder's band took to one of the smallest side stages. The stage was pitifully crude, just a platform made of a few wooden crates, with only two or three lights.
But the moment Ryder grabbed the microphone, this place became the center of the entire music festival.
He possessed a natural magic that could make even the most indifferent person stop and stare. His voice was husky, sexy, with a dangerous rasp to it, singing songs about summer nights, betrayal, and outlaws.
He tossed his sweat-soaked black hair, light shining from behind giving him a golden outline. He was a god on stage.
I squeezed into the crowd, looking up at him, momentarily forgetting the mask on my face, forgetting Leo's persistent gaze. In this moment, I was just a girl captivated by his music.
As the performance neared its end, he suddenly signaled the band to stop.
"The next song," he panted, sweat sliding down his well-defined jawline, dripping onto the guitar in his arms, "I want to dedicate to someone."
A stir rippled through the crowd.
His gaze cut through the bobbing heads and waving arms, landing precisely on me.
"For Jules," he said into the microphone, his voice spreading across the small desert through the amplifier, "thank you for making me want to write songs again."
Time stood still.
The entire world disappeared, leaving only me and the boy on stage shining for me. Screams and whistles roared in my ears, and everyone turned to look at me, their gazes mixed with admiration, jealousy, and naked curiosity.
My cheeks burned beneath the heavy foundation.
When the last note fell, Ryder leaped down from the stage, full of vigor. He walked straight through the crowd that parted for him, coming directly to me.
"Did you like it?" He smelled of sweat, tobacco, and that unique dry, dusty scent from the stage, so real and so aggressive.
I could only nod, my throat feeling stuffed with cotton.
"Come with me then." He didn't even give me a chance to refuse, grabbing my hand and pulling me straight into the most crowded part of the dance floor.
The alcohol began to ferment in his blood. He pulled me along as we spun through the crowd, pressing tightly against me, his burning body nearly setting my clothes on fire. The dance floor was filled with the smell of sweat and beer, strange bodies colliding with each other, primitive desires undisguised beneath the flashing lights.
"You're beautiful, Jules," he whispered against my ear, his breath carrying the sweet scent of beer, "more beautiful than all of them."
His hand began to wander improperly around my waist, while his other hand gripped the back of my neck, forcing me to look up at him. His face appeared unusually handsome in the psychedelic lights, and also unusually dangerous.
"Ryder, I..." I tried to push him away, but his strength, enhanced by alcohol and adrenaline, was surprisingly powerful.
"Be my girlfriend, Jules." He lowered his head, his lips almost touching mine, a declaration that left no room for refusal.
At that critical moment.
A hand.
A cold, powerful hand filled with destructive anger, like iron tongs, suddenly gripped my wrist.
I didn't even have time to see clearly before my entire body was yanked out of Ryder's arms by an irresistible force.
It was Leo.
His face was terrifyingly grim under the bizarre lights, those usually indifferent eyes now burning with black flames. He stared fixedly at Ryder, the possessiveness and ferocity in his gaze causing the noisy air around them to freeze for a moment.
"Let her go." Ryder also stood up straight, the drunkenness from alcohol instantly half cleared, as he defiantly met Leo's gaze. Two once best friends, now in confrontation.
Leo ignored him, didn't even look at Ryder again.
He gripped my wrist with enough force to nearly crush my bones, dragging me without saying a word, forcefully cutting through the crowded throng like parting the Red Sea.
"Leo! Let go of me! Are you crazy?!" I struggled, but to no avail. He was like an enraged bull, and I was merely the sacrifice being dragged along.
Behind us came Ryder's roars of anger and the crowd's startled exclamations, but they were all quickly left behind.
He dragged me away from the music, away from the lights, away from all the people. We walked all the way to the edge of the tent area, until beneath our feet was no longer the earth packed down by countless footsteps, but soft, cold desert sand.
Until the last trace of music disappeared into the wind, and the world contained only our heavy breathing and that indifferent night sky above, studded with countless stars.
He violently released my hand, with such force that I staggered several steps before regaining my balance.
"What exactly do you want?!" I rubbed my wrist that had turned red from his grip, finally shouting at him as all the fear and humiliation that had accumulated throughout the night completely erupted in this moment. "What gives you the right to treat me like this?!"
"What gives me the right?" He sneered, stepping closer. Under the cold moonlight, I could clearly see his tense jawline and the suppressed madness in his eyes. "What about you? Do you enjoy being shown off like a trophy by him?"
"That's none of your business!" My voice trembled with anger. "What I do and who I'm with has nothing to do with you, Leo Vance!"
"Nothing to do with me?" He repeated my words, his voice deep and dangerous, stepping closer to me again. There was less than an arm's length between us now. "You wear that ridiculous fake face to please him, letting him hold you in his arms like a doll, and you say that has nothing to do with me?"
"I didn't!" I was stung by the insult in his words. "I'm not doing it for him! I am..."
I'm doing this for myself. To survive.
But I can't say it out loud.
"What is it for?" he pressed aggressively, not giving me any chance to breathe. "Is it so he can pin you down on the dance floor and stick his tongue down your throat in front of everyone?"
"Shut up!" I screamed out of control, pushing him with all my strength.
He didn't budge an inch.
My resistance seemed to be the final straw that broke his restraint.
In the next second, he gripped the back of my head and kissed me hard and mercilessly.
This wasn't a kiss.
This was a punishment, an invasion, a war.
His lips were cold and unyielding, carrying the chill of the desert night, roughly crushing against mine. His teeth even knocked against my lips, and I tasted a hint of blood's sweet tang.
His other hand gripped my waist tightly, imprisoning me firmly in his embrace, not giving me even the slightest possibility of escape. This kiss contained not a trace of gentleness, only pure, undisguised fury and jealousy.
In the vast desert far from the noise of the human world, under the watchful gaze of countless stars.
My first kiss was filled with pain, anger, and the taste of blood.
