'Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting HOLY CRAP... WHAT A RIDE!'
| sixteen |
''Do something!'' The girl screams in my ear, panicking. I rush to Davey's body, hearing the police sirens coming closer, cursing myself for even coming to the damned party. ''Go get his brother, he's on the stairs waiting.'' I order her, placing my fingers on Davey's neck, feeling his pulse. Erratic.
''Move, you dumb bitch!'' I shout at her, seeing her frozen in place, her eyes wide like a rabbit caught in the headlights. She squeals and disappears from the room, leaving the door wide open behind her.
I can hear the commotion downstairs, people running about, screaming, things being thrown, the place being trashed as people hurry to get out and find somewhere to go.
I grab Davey under the arms and drag him to the door, glad I'm not weak and can manage the boy's body, but even so, he's still heavy.
''Indie!'' Brad's voice reaches me and I shout at him, ''Grab Davey, he's okay but we need to get out of here!''
I'm glad he's here, glad I don't have to do this on my own. Brad's arms encircle his brother's form, holding him bridal style and I hurry to the stairs, my eyes moving around frantically looking for Bumper or Reagen or anyone. ''Indie, I need you to drive us home, I need to make sure he's okay.'' I turn and look up at Brad, who's looking down at me pleading. I know he's too panicked about his brother to be able to drive normally, he could cause an accident. Or even worse, be the accident.
I nod, grabbing onto the waistband of his jeans and pulling him towards me, digging my hand around in his front pocket for his keys. My fingers close around the cold metal and I shove my way through the adrenaline filled crowd, spotting Bumper across the room.
When we reach him I shove my keys into his hands, telling him to find Alex and round up Reagen and Delilah, get in my car and come to Brad's as soon as possible. Bumper nods, ''Be careful, we have to get out of here.''
I nod and I can feel the tension in the air, the teenagers screaming, the police cars coming even closer, the wails of the sirens deafening against the musicless air. ''Fuck, fuck, fuck.'' I mutter to myself, following behind Brad, who's shoving his way out of the house, Bumper and I on his heels. I spot Reagen and Delilah waiting outside, their eyes frantically looking for us, looks of panic clearly written on their faces. ''Alex is waiting for us by the cars, we told him we'd need him there,'' Reagen says as soon as we're close enough to hear her. I nod, silent, Delilah's worried eyes flicking to Davey's body in Brad's arms and I grab her hand, squeezing her, offering her some comfort.
''He's fine, he just passed out because of the alcohol.''
As we make our way across the garden, the cops start yelling at us all to stop and Brad curses under his breath. People push past us, running, shoving us, elbowing us as they all hurry to leave the premises. I look at Brad, who suddenly weaves to the right, shoving himself into the bushes of the neighboring house. I raise an eyebrow and follow, pulling Delilah after me, who's quiet and keeps observing everything.
The bushes, from outside, look thick and horribly full of needles, but at closer inspection, I know it's easy to get through, without getting scratched. I follow Brad as he ducks and gives one last push, coming out the other side, waiting to make sure everyone's through before starting off again. He decides to run this time though, picking up the pace, making it seem like carrying a teenage boy in his arms while running from the cops is easy. We all follow behind him, me tugging on Delilah's hand as she keeps pace with me, Brad's keys in my other hand. We hear the cops on the other side of the bush, shouting at every single teenager to stop, flashlights flailing everywhere.
