He stills and looks at me with raging eyes, breathing heavy.
“We need to help Noah,” I plead.
He looks at the guy on the floor, and comes down from his blind rage, getting off of him.
He grabs my upper arms and shakes me. “How stupid are you? Why would you jump in the middle of that? You could’ve gotten hurt!”
“Aiden! I’m okay—we need to help Noah.”
Anna’s already sitting with Noah, trying to stop the bleeding with a shirt. Some guys are helping escort the bottle attacker Aiden knocked out from the house.
Mason’s on the phone with someone while pacing in frustration—something about an ambulance. Kneeling beside Aiden on the floor, I notice the gash on Noah’s head is bigger than it originally seemed, and there is some glass sticking out.
Someone hands me a towel and I pass it to Anna, who discards the shirt and presses the clean towel against Noah’s head, being careful to avoid messing with the glass. I hear all the boys around me swearing. Chase says something to Mason about calling Noah’s parents. Charlotte is crying beside me, staring at the blood on the floor.
Poor, sweet, Noah. Why him? He’s the nicest, goofiest, easiest guy to get along with. And now he’s on the floor, unconscious and bleeding.
Damn it, where is this ambulance?
I stay on the floor with Noah and gently run my hand over his forehead, scared to do anything because of the glass lodged in his bleeding gash. Mason is still frantically speaking into the phone, talking to Noah’s parents from the sound of it. Chase is consoling a crying Charlotte, and Julian is running around gathering more towels.
And Aiden—he’s standing near the door that he just opened for the ambulance, taking in the scene with a blank, impassive face. But I notice the undeniable rage he’s managing to control. The anger is in his eyes—they look deadly and murderous, ready to take on and destroy anything that stands in his way.
Noah’s secured on the stretcher, and an oxygen mask is fixed over his mouth. Since only one person is allowed to ride in the ambulance with him, Mason follows him in without hesitation.
With the ambulance gone, the adrenaline slowly drains from the room. We turn to look at one another, and at the mess in Noah’s house, amplified from the fight. Blood, broken glass, and furniture are everywhere, mixed with scattered cups and bottles.
Chase is the first to speak, unwrapping his arms from around Charlotte and intertwining his fingers with hers. “I called us a taxi. I’m going to take Charlotte home, then sleep these drinks off before going to the hospital to see Noah.” He looks at me. “Amelia?”
I shake my head, indicating that they should go without me. Charlotte gives me a tight hug, then goes outside with Chase.
“There’s no way I can sit around and wait for Mason to call,” a now slightly calmer Annalisa says.
“There’s no point in us all going to the hospital; you need some sleep. We all need some sleep. Mason said he’d call the second they know anything about Noah,” Julian says, trying to reason with her.
“There’s no way in hell I’ll be able to sleep. If I can’t be useful and help Noah at the hospital, I’ll at least make myself useful and start cleaning his house.”
Before anyone can protest, Annalisa disappears into the kitchen. Julian sighs and follows her, and we hear them picking up bottles.
This leaves just me and Aiden in the room, and I still haven’t moved from the spot where Noah was on the floor.
Aiden sighs and walks over to me. “Come on, I’m driving you home.”
I hesitate, and he stiffens. “I think my saving your ass tonight shows that I’m not going to hurt you. And I haven’t had anything to drink, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Sav—saving my ass?! I was handling it just fine before you jumped in and caused the whole damn football team to get involved.”
“Handling it just fine?! You were being strangled. A simple ‘Thanks, Aiden’ would suffice. Now let’s go.”
He hoists me to my feet and leads me toward his car.
“Did you not see me take out Dave the first time? I could’ve handled it!”
The guilt and worry over Noah sit in the pit of my stomach. I know Aiden probably did save my ass, but I can’t accept that. If I can’t even handle some high school boys without Aiden’s help, how am I going to handle it when he comes for me?
Aiden doesn’t reply and instead guides me into the passenger seat. When he sits in the driver’s seat and turns the car on, he looks at me. “Address?”
I recite it, then realize something and get mad. “Why don’t you take me to the hospital instead of home? I can’t go home—I need to see if Noah is okay.”
Where’s my phone? I need to—I don’t know—find out if someone knows something already. I pat my pockets and search my purse. Damn it. I usually keep my phone in my hand instead of in my purse and I must’ve lost it without realizing during the fight.
Aiden’s grip on the steering wheel tightens, and he continues to drive toward my house; the opposite direction of the hospital.
“Aiden! Take me to the hospital! I want to see Noah!”
“Did it ever occur to you that maybe he won’t want to see you?” he explodes.
“Wha—”
“Seriously, you’ve done enough tonight.”
“But I don’t—”
“It’s your fault he’s in the hospital! The whole fight started because you got mixed up with the Silvers. We didn’t think there would be a problem tonight since Ryan wasn’t even here, but a fight started anyway! Because of you! I mean, do you go looking for trouble? Because ever since we’ve met you, you’ve done nothing but attract it. After this, you’ll be lucky if Noah ever hears your name without flinching, never mind wanting to see you.”
I start crying, never thinking to ask about this Ryan. Aiden’s right; of course he’s right. That whole fight wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t gone to that stupid party. And Noah would be at home, partying it up with everyone right now instead of at the hospital.
“They all probably hate you now, since it’s your fault we might never see Noah again,” he says calmly, his words shooting the second bullet of the night straight through my heart.
5
The tears that started in Aiden’s car didn’t stop all night. I couldn’t get his words out of my head.
It’s now two o’clock on Saturday afternoon, and I have no idea what’s going on with Noah. I don’t have my phone, and even if I did, I’m too much of a coward to call anyone, and I’m too scared to tell my mom I lost it. Then I’d have to explain what happened and she definitely would not be happy about that.
Every time someone gets close to me, they get hurt. This is why I’m supposed to keep my head down, but no, instead I gave into the need for friends.
God, if my mom finds out about Noah, she’s going to freak and I’ll get one hell of an I-told-you-so lecture. See, I warned you! You shouldn’t be involved with these people, Amelia. You need to keep your distance or they’ll end up hurt. He’s not even here and one of your friends is in the hospital! Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? The people around you get hurt.