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I don’t see Stella sitting on the logs and chairs around the fire when I walk back out, my guitar slung behind my back and the bag I know holds her notebook over my shoulder. I head toward the woods, taking the long way around the fire so no one stops me, eyes peeled to look for her.
I don’t see her, though. Instead, I hear her.
“No, thank you,” I hear Stella say in her sweet but firm voice, the one she uses when she doesn’t want to upset someone but also wants them to leave her alone.
“Aww, come on, your mom says we’d be good together,” a voice says and a chill runs down my back as I look around the bonfire searching while walking towards the direction I heard her.
“My mother doesn’t know much about me, but I’m sure you’re very nice. I’m not interested, though,” she says, and I shift my direction left a bit, still scanning for her, but she’s so goddamn small, I can’t find her.
“You’re at a party to have fun; you should have fun with me,” the man says.
“I came here with my friends, I?—”
“We could be friends,” he says and I finally get a view of her. Her back is to a tree, a man taller than me but shorter than Beck in front of her, fear and discomfort clear on her face. I start to jog her way, and the guys’ hand lifts to touch her cheek. She moves, trying to get away, but he has her pinned.
“I really should?—”
“She said no, man,” I say, walking over, my hands in fists as I approach where the fuckwad had Stella pinned.
“Hey, bud, we were having a conversation. Our moms are setting us up; I just wanted to—” Realizing who exactly this is, my blood boils. Tripp Vanderveer was the lacrosse captain at Ashford High during my senior year. This is who Rhonda Hart was trying to set Stella up with, the guy who has enough rumors about how shitty he treats women, even I’ve heard it. My hand moves to his shoulder, ripping him away from my girl. He’s been to parties here a few times, but I never know who invites him.
“You’ve got my girl pinned to a fucking tree; I think it’s my place to be here.” He turns to face me, and it’s clear he’s drunk and maybe impaired in some other way. But he wavers where he stands, so I know even though he’s bigger than me, he’s at a disadvantage.
“Maybe you should’ve kept a better eye on her,” he says, “Finders keepers, man.”
With his words, something in me snaps. I wish I could say I don’t know what pushes me, but that would be a lie.
It’s the look of fear on Stella’s face.
It’s the fact that she’s not mine in the way I need her to be yet, the fact that there’s so much unsaid between us.
The fact that I haven’t seen her in too long, and now we’re dealing with this bull shit.
I pull my fist back and slam it into his face, feeling his nose break beneath my knuckles. He stumbles back, holding his hand to his face and groaning as he does.
“What the fuck, man?”
I don’t have time for him, though. Instead, I grab Stella’s hand and start moving, walking toward the trees, toward escape.
Freedom.
“What was that, Rigs?” she asks as I tug her away from the bonfire, away from the chaos, away from the asshole who better be gone by the time I calm down and make it back to the house.
“He was scaring you,” is all I can say.
“You can’t just punch people because they scare me!” she shouts and I look over my shoulder at her as I continue to walk toward the woods, as I make my way toward our clearing where we can see the sky and maybe,maybeI can breathe again.
“I absolutely can, Stell. And I will anytime someone scares you.”
“Well, you’re scaring me right now, Riggins!” she shouts and I slow my steps.
“I’m scaring you?” I ask, slightly confused. She lets go of my hand and puts both of hers out to her sides.
“Yes! Who are you? Just out here punching people? I’m a big girl, Riggs. I can take care of myself! I have since you’ve been gone, and I’ll keep doing it when you leave again!” Her eyes go wide like she can’t believe she said that like it popped out and she didn’t mean it, but I heard it.
She heard it.
The birds hiding away heard it.
