"I was caught in a place far away
From the light
What I saw
I couldn't face…
So I closed, my eyes" – Forever Is Over – The Satudays

~l~0~l~

-I think I can say, what happens next is probably the scariest thing I ever had to deal with. It's probably why I will always remember it. -

After another ten minutes in the garden alone, the slight chill of the night was starting to get to me.

Walking back through the man-made maze, I found myself surrounded by a group of boys who didn't seem to have their wits about them.

"Hey babe, you look cold…*hic* Come ooon! We'll kep ya war…warnn…WARM!" The boys started cracking up.

Scrunching my nose from the reeking smell of alcohol, I tried to slip past them. That apparently wasn't going to happen.

An arm caught me around the waist, and someone got a tight hold on my left arm. I whimpered in pain before my mind went in to hyper drive.

Running through the few years I had taken karate, I tried to find a move to use, something I knew could work. Letting myself go limp in their hold, my body weight submitted to gravity, the already tipsy boys lost their balance.

I then sprung back, digging the stupid heel of the knee boots I had been forced to wear into one of the boys sandal clad foot. He yelped in pain, and jumped away from me cursing, the tight hold on my arm loosened, and I swung it back to elbow the other guy in his gut. With an 'oof' sound, he stumbled backwards, only to get my round-house kick to the side of his head. The third guy kind of watched in a daze, then advanced at me.

Despite what I had just done, I was no fighter, and a surge of terror shot through me. He was the tallest, bulkiest one of the three. I then remembered the one thing my Sensei* always repeated.

"Scream. Scream, and more than usual, your attacker will run away."

So I did. I filled my lungs with as much air as I could, and I let out a high pitched, glass-shattering scream.

It lasted a little less than a minute, and once I opened my eyes again, only the one guy still laid crumpled on the ground, the other two having run away. My left arm throbbed in a pain that told me it would bruise.

As I gathered my nerves and started to head quickly out of the maze; I stumbled right into Bridget, her best friend Amber, Amber's boyfriend Trent and Indigo himself coming towards me.

Bridget asked if I was the one who screamed, and I nodded my head and tried to explain, my limps shaking. After getting to the part that one of them still lay back there, Trent went to investigate, Amber following behind him. Bridget apologized, and offered to help me find my friends so I could go home. Indigo said nothing, just watched from where he stood, a little behind Bridget.

Assuring her I could just walk, as I didn't want to ruin my friend's fun, I located my jacket in the coat room, and left the party – sending Jackie a text.

I had only just gotten out of the Upper's gate, and was making my way down the hill when a motorcycle pulled up beside me. I chose to ignore it.

The motorcycle kept pace with me all the way down the hill, and even when I crossed the street at the bottom of it, and made an unnecessary turn it continued to follow. Getting fed up with the helmet clad person and the thrum of fear that had reentered my body at the thought of another fight, I paused.

"Can I help you?" I asked, placing my fists on my hips in an attempt at a brave front. The cyclist chuckled at me.

"Wanna ride?" Though I could not see the person's face, the deep rumbling voice that came from him immediately told me that it was Indigo on that motorcycle.

"Um…those things are dangerous, I think I'll just continue my walk, if you don't mind." I waited for him to shrug and drive off. He didn't. Biting my lower lip, I started walking again, and once more he continued right next to me.

Gritting my teeth, I flipped back around to him.

"What? What do you want now? I don't need a ride. You are free to go back to the party, or drive on to your house!" I seethed, but didn't say any more, waiting for his response.

"I don't want you to walk alone. You seemed pretty shaken back there. My sister has always taught me to be the gentleman. What kind of gentleman would I be if I let a nice young girl like yourself walk home at night alone?" His rumbling voice hinted at amusement on my part.

"I'm not a damsel in distress. I can take care of myself just fine, so if you don't mind –!" I huffed, turning to stomp away from him.

He reached out and caught my left arm, causing me to take in a sharp breath and wince.

"What? I didn't hurt you did I? I just wanted you to stop walking…" He trailed off when I shook my head at him. "Want a ride now?" He asked softly, his voice low as ever. I nodded my head, just wanting to go home, giving up the resistance. He handed me his helmet, and I climbed on behind him, my arms circling his lean waist.

Suddenly, I was feeling very nervous of Indigo's driving skills and I unconsciously clung to him tighter. This just caused him to laugh at me softly, gently revving the motorcycle's engine. Then he sped off, me letting out a small scream of fright, I quickly buried my face in his back.

I could feel the motorcycle take the turns – tilting on it's side, only to straighten back up some seconds later.

The terror of how easily I could die on that contraption was tangible. So I closed my eyes tight, and I didn't dare open them till the motorcycle turned off.

"You can let go now." His voice, though always rumbled through me when he spoke, now was also felt from the fact that I was pressed into his back.

Slipping off the motorcycle, I took off the helmet and drew in a deep breath.

"That wasn't so awful, was it?" He asked his head tilted in a way that reminded me of Lacey. He was making fun of me.

Pushing his helmet back at him, I narrowed my eyes. "No, not so terrible." I agreed testily.

Whipping away to march back into my house, Indigo's voice echoed from behind me. "Desiree, try not to go to anymore parties…at least, not without a proper chaperon." His chuckle is what made me grit my teeth as I slammed my front door shut behind me.

~0~

I woke up to my cell phone going off. Deciding it would be better to ignore it, I shoved my cell that was playing, 'Take Me on the Floor' by The Veronicas under my pillow, and shifted deeper into my blankets.

Then my door burst open and I was jumped by two not so light bodies. I groaned.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!" Jazzi sang into my ear. Jackie's soft chuckle vibrated into my right shoulder blade. They were evil. They were twins separated at birth, and they were evil!

"Go away!" I had whined, trying to wriggle out from underneath them to no avail.

"Sure, sure. How'd you get home yesterday?" Jazzi asked, removing herself from constricting my breath or movement any longer.

I flipped over to stare at them both. "A…" I was gonna say 'nice', but remembering his mocking made me say, "Marauding citizen offered to drop me off."

"What?" Jazzi asked, completely confused, but not Jackie. He raised an eyebrow (a talent I cannot do) and inclined his head slightly, pondering my words.

"Oh…?" He said his tone knowing and casual, causing Jazzi to start to whine about how best friends shouldn't keep secrets from each other.

I didn't say anything more and – avoiding Jackie's probing eyes, told them to wait down stairs while I showered and dressed.

~0~

I came down in jeans, a purple & white camouflage tank, and one of my Father's old red and white lumberjack button downs. My dark hair was thrown into a high ponytail, my face clear of last night's makeup.

When I was close enough, Jackie tugged on my red/brown hair. "It's damaged, Babe, are you conditioning?" I pulled away, making a disgruntled sound at his question.

"Yes, for you information, I am." Jackie shrugged, mumbling something about trimming the dead ends soon.

"Why are you guys here so early? It's only eleven, I expected you both to still be wiped out." I commented, taking a seat on my kitchen's island. Jackie started making omelets.

"Well, we bumped into Stacy – you know Stacy Hemmler, right? Any way, we bumped into Stacy and she was telling us about this big bonfire-party thing next Saturday up in Cape Cod. So, like, we could rent a cabin or whatever for one night, and it would be a lot of fun. What do you think?" Jazzi asked, all excited.

I inwardly grimaced. If you hadn't grasped by now, I was not a social butterfly like Jazzi, nor was I able to create my own comfort wherever I go like Jackie. I preferred a comfy seat to curl up in and read. Or sit at my computer and listen to music/ browse my writing sites. I closed my purple (colored contacts) eyes as to think of a way to say no without her whining ensuing.

"Listen, Jaz, I know you really want to go, but your just gonna have to take Jackie. You know I don't really do well at those events…" Jazzi's bottom lip pushed out in her full-on pout mode.

"Hey, Jaz, I forgot my bag in your trunk, go get it? I'll bully Des while your gone." Jackie interrupted, and Jazzi disappeared to go fetch his bag.

Jackie turned to me, gave me a look, and said, "When's the last time you went to Cape Cod?"

I frowned at him. Last time…? The year my Father died? Yea…but Jackie knew this. "So?" I said instead of really answering.

"Desiree, you can't always run away because something hurts, or makes you uncomfortable. You can't get through life if you're always afraid of what will happen to you." He lectured, placing the eggs on plates and pouring a mixture of orange and cranberry juice into cups.

Before I could answer him – not that I had a clue as to what I was gonna say, Jazzi reappeared still sulking.

Another look from Jackie, and I ended up telling Jaz I'd think about it.

~0~

My mom and I were working in her make-shift garden. She grew mostly stuff you could eat, but she had a few flowers in there.

I had just laid back in the grass to wait for her to bring the ice tea out, when a shadow fell over me, obscuring the sunlight.

"Hello Desiree. How are you this afternoon?" Lacey asked, her pink sun dress fluttering in the wind, a white sun hat perched atop her black curls of hair.

"Um…good. Yourself?" I asked, getting up to see her better.

Lacey could have been a supermodel, with her looks, tall stature, and body physique. She gave me a warm smile, and answered pretty similarly.

Then she asked me, "Would you go shopping with me Friday? It's a school holiday, and I don't really have any girl friends to go with around here…"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Um, I wouldn't mind, but I'm not really a fashion forward person…You know, my friend Jasmine would be a better choice, she –"

"Oh, it doesn't matter about fashion. I just buy things I like." She said, shrugging her shoulders and giving me another smile. "Unless you're not comfortable being alone with me?"

I shook my head that that was not reason, and, yes, of course I'd like to go with her.

As she walked back to her house, my mom came out singing about the lovely weather, and carrying my well needed drink.

I think if it hadn't been for Indigo's sister, we might never have spoken to each other unless we had to. Sometimes, I wish I could tell her 'thank you'.

~~0~~

~Updates – I just fixed up some errors and played with a sentence or two. OH! And below I added what the * means about Sensei. ~

*= When I took Karate, my teachers had us call them 'Sensei', which means Teacher in Japanese (and I'm not sure of other Asian languages.)

Well, that was probably my longest chapter yet, yes? I just kept typing, and typing…it was fun XD

So my one day-vacation ends tomorrow and I'll be back in school X.X But I wanted to give you guys this BECAUSE! You guys get an option.

See, I would love it if I could get SIX more reviews. That's all I want Six more (for now at least), and if you guys can do that, I'll do double time and try to give you two chapters in a row next week. If not, I'll try to give you the one, but your gonna have to wait a while for the sixth (I think it is). Cause if I don't know how you guys feel about my story, I'm not gonna stress my hw- and moving filled life out, with adding story up there. I know that sounds mean, but I'll still do the story, just at my pace.

SO if you want the chapters faster, give me those oh-so wonderful reviews that tell me if I'm suck-y or not.

~~Thanks,

~Cara