You Stole My Heart

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

New Years Resolutions?

"I can't believe I'm at a party, at one of The Plastic's houses." I deadpan as I climb out of Shane's car.

"The Plastics, really?" Shane laughs as he comes around the back of the car and pulls me to him, his arm circling my waist. Almost as an afterthought, he pushes his hand into the back pocket of my pants, making my heart do a little dance and my stomach do back-flips at the same time.

"Yeah. Sabrina's Regina, Britney's Karen, and Amelia's Gretchen." I grin, but my boyfriend just shakes his head at me, amused.
"You're weird."

"Why thank you. I'd hate to be normal," I screw up my face on mock disgust at the thought of being "normal", and he laughs more.
The front yard is crowded with kids, who are drinking, laughing and dancing badly to the loud, obnoxious music.

So not my scene.

But, Shane's here, and hey, one wild out of control party in my senior year can't hurt, right?
So wrong.

Shane's having the time of his life, and I can't blame him. For the first time in his life, he was one of the "cool kids". He'd been picked on all his life, and now he's suddenly popular. But somehow, even though I'm the date of the newest member of the popular group, I remain invisible. As Shane stands with a bunch of guys from the football team, a warm beer in his hand, I can't help but feel like maybe he deserves someone who fit this life as well as he does.

"Um, how'd you get in here?" Sabrina suddenly stands in front of me, her snobbish voice barely audible over the sound of the music. I shrug, not wanting to deal with her tonight.
"I'm with my boyfriend, Shane." I gesture towards him, but he's not looking in my direction, and doesn't notice us.

"Aw, you think you actually have a chance with him. He's just with you until he can find someone better." Sabrina points towards him again, and for the first time I notice Britney giggling and twirling her hair, resting one of her palms on Shane's bicep.

That slut!

Sabrina yanks a stand of my hair away from my face, pulling it towards her and twisting it painfully.

"Back away from Zac, and Shane. No one actually cares about you or even likes you. Get out of here, leave. Go. I never want to see you again, you ugly little mutt."
I blink. At the beginning of the year, she scared the shit out of me. Now, she just sounds like a discount villain in one of those bad disney channel TV shows.

"Get lost." I roll my eyes and start making my way over to Shane.
"Ouch!" I completely forgot that she had ahold of my hair.

"I don't think so." She taunts. Some footballer I saw her talking to earlier grabs me from behind, his one hand covering my mouth, the other pinning my arms to my side. He drags me with him, away from an oblivious Shane, and up the elegant stairs of Amelia's grand house. I struggle and kick, but this guy is strong! How is no one seeing this? This is kidnapping!!
Sabrina follows behind us, cackling maniacally, confirming my suspicions of her being certifiably insane.

"If you're not going to leave, darling, we're going to have to detain you," she sings as she follows the meat bag holding me up the stairs.
"Someone's been a naughty, naughty girl." She laughs as Meat Bag shoves me into the coat-closet.

She leans in, rips my purse off of my shoulder and then slams the door shut, leaving me in thick, opaque darkness. The click of the lock sends me into a panic. I throw my body against the door, using the force of my anger and hatred towards Sabrina. When it doesn't open, I scream, and I don't stop. I scream for help, I scream obscenities at Sabrina, all the while banging my fists against the door. After what feels like hours, I fall to my knees, tears making their way down my cheeks. Great sobs escape, making my entire body shake.

I'm not just crying because I'm locked in a closet on New Year's Eve. I'm crying because I'm confused. I'm crying because I'm so tangled in my mess of emotions that a new year isn't going to be able to provide a new, clean slate for me.

I'm crying for everything, my parents, who are trying to rekindle their broken love, my sister, who's trying so hard to find out who she is, and me. I cry for me.
Lost, scared, trapped-both literally and figuratively-little Sarah.

"THREE! TWO! ONE!" I hear everyone downstairs call, and then the bang and pop of fireworks.
BANG! That wasn't a firework. I look up, the door's slammed open, and I can see a figure standing against the doorway.

Shane.

He came looking for me.

"Sarah," he breathes, then stumbles towards me. His strong arms lift me, and the door swings shut again, closing us in, but not locking.

"You came looking for me," I breathe. "You found me."

"Of course I found you. I...I love you." His breath is hot on my skin, and he smells like alcohol.

"I..." Something inside me snaps, and I know, that this boy, here, in front of me, is the man I love. "I love you too." His mouth crashes into mine. He doesn't start slowly, he's not gentle anymore. All our previous kisses, Shane was soft, almost cautious. But now, oh, now he's wild, almost like he hasn't eaten in years, he hungrily kisses me. He presses me against the closed door, his hands roaming all over my body; my hips, my stomach, my back, my face, my hair...

I kiss him back, my fingers tangling in his thick, soft hair, pressing closer to him. He deepens the kiss, lifting me to him, so that the tips of my flats only just touch the floor. Kicking them off, I bring my legs up to wrap around his waist, his hands holding me up underneath my upper thighs, my back pressed against the door.
Suddenly, warning bells go off in my head.

I'm so not ready to do what we're doing.

I tear my mouth away from his, and instead of pulling away, he just moves his lips to my neck. Suppressing a moan, I lower my legs to the floor, in an attempt to get him to stop.

"Sorry, I...uh, gotta pee." I pick my shoes up and run.

Nailed it.

Smooth Sarah.

I roll my eyes at myself. I'm such a dork.

Staring at my reflection in Amelia's bathroom, I cringe.

I'm a mess, my mascara's everywhere, my lips are swollen from kissing, my hair's a mess, and my cheeks are flushed. Finding some make-up remover, I take off all the gunk Daniella smeared on my face earlier, then, making use of Amelia's hairbrush, I pull it through my tangles, smoothing it out.
A quick "borrowing" of Amelia's mascara, and I'm good.

When I come downstairs, Shane is standing alone watching the crowd.

"Happy New Years, gorgeous." He kisses me softly on the lips, nothing like the burning passion from the closet.
"Happy New Years." I grin, and can't help but feel like my troubles with Zac are a thing of the past.

***********************************************
What the hell was I thinking?
I'm in such deep dog shit.
Holy crap. I can't believe I did that.
I mean, yeah I was drunk, but that can't be an excuse. I still knew what I was doing, right?
Aw man.
I love Sarah.
Damn it, I've know that I love her since I told her I didn't in Disneyland.
But she's with Shane, and when she finds out what I did tonight...
My life is officially over.
***********************************************

Hey Guys!!

So, Disneyland's done, but the drama lives on!

Do you think Zac's out of the picture for good?

What do you think he did to have him freak out so much?

How much of a bitch is Sabrina, right?

So, you guys'll have to wait and see. (Wait and read?)

Thanks to all our amazing readers, we love you guys to the moon and back!!!

Xoxo

Storm and Snow.