Horror at the House Party

(TW: Gore and domestic violence)

I pulled Jasper’s sweatshirt off and balled it up, resting it over the wound. I held his head up, my other hand pressing into the sweatshirt. Blood soaked through the fabric, quickly coating my fingers in a gooey warm liquid. His black locks fell through my fingers as I adjusted my hand. How did I go from painting my nails to trying to keep my best friends, ex-boyfriend alive? Let’s rewind.

               “Daddy?” I asked in my most innocent voice. It always gets me a “yes” when I want one.

               “Yeah baby?” My dad responded with his tired-from-work tone.

 I put my hands together in front of me and blinked a few times.

“Can I go to Sue Brunner’s party tonight?”

“Will there be alcohol?”

“Daddy, it’s a high school party. Of course not.” Lies.

“Will there be boys?”

“I mean, I can’t avoid boys.” Or rather, I don’t want to.

He looked at me through narrowed brows, then to my mother who sat at the table, silently poking at her peas.

               “Tiva, honey, you know the rules. No parties on school nights.” She said softly.

I groaned and threw the napkin on my plate. Unlike my father, my mother is an immovable force when it comes to rules.

               “Please. There’s like, a month left of school. I’m a Junior. I should be allowed a little bit more responsibility. I’ll be home at a reasonable time.”

               “Listen to your mother Tiva, you know the rules.”

I huffed and left the table, not bothering to clear my plate. I didn’t want to go all that bad. It’s just annoying that they can’t let me have a little fun. I have good grades and never get in trouble, cut me some slack. When I reached my room, I picked up my phone to see two Snap Chats from my best friend Roxanne. The first one was a picture of her crying, He cheated again, the caption said. I skipped to the second one that was an actual message. We broke up and now I’m gonna fucking kill him. It said. I felt bad for her, I did. But she started the whole cheating game first. Jasper tried to break up with her two months ago and she threatened to kill herself. It’s a dick move to cheat, but when she’s forcing you into a relationship when you want to explore other options, it’s hard to hold the other person completely accountable. Plus, like I said, she cheated with Tommy Nelson last year which broke Jasper into pieces. I replied with a frowny face. My best option without being a complete liar and telling her I think he’s trash, which I don’t. I picked up a bottle of pink nail polish and began to run it along my smooth nails. She responded immediately, asking if I was going to the party. I explained to her that I can’t because of my mom’s rules, and she snapped back with her usual, “I can’t be seen in public without you” spiel. She said that this time, his cheating wouldn’t go without real punishment, whatever that meant. I felt like it was right for me to accompany her and talk her out of making a bigger fool of herself than she had likely already done on social media. I groaned and shook the polish bottle. I responded with a simple I’ll figure out how to sneak out. She sent a short video of herself squealing and I locked my phone.

               Getting out of the house was easier than I thought. Mom and dad had a “date night” and sent my brother to an overnight sitter. These date nights usually went until bar close, so I had until two in the morning to get back home. They didn’t leave Danny home with me because “Overnight is too much responsibility”. I left my phone on my bed so if they tried to track me, it would say I was home. It would be a quick run to the party. I was only going for moral support and to possibly deescalate anything between Jasper and Roxanne.

               When I got to the house, it was already booming. People were doing keg stands near the side of the house and a couple was making out on the front stoop. Roxanne paced nervously near her car down the street. I pulled up in front of her and threw my old Toyota into park before stepping out to greet her. Her hair and makeup were done, and she looked more nervous than pissed off for once. Usually, after he cheated on her she wouldn’t be able to stop crying long enough to even get an outfit together. Her long, sandy blond hair, was curled into beach waves that cascaded down her back. She picked out the shortest skirt and highest heels, she was defiantly here for other boys’ attention, or to at least make a scene. I felt kind of bad for Jasper in a way. He loved her, and I’m sure he still does, but she’s seriously unstable and it’s hard for him to live a normal life dating her. He had opened up to me plenty of times about it when we would be left alone at the lunch table together before Roxanne would show up.

               The party inside the house was even more lively than it looked outside. Sue had set up a strobe light in the Livingroom and her boyfriend, Kenny, lined the hallways with fog machines his dad lent him. I wished desperately that my parents allowed this. I mean, how many would? It’s a mess to clean up and things always go missing. At the last party Sue hosted, Danny Reinheart and Lindsy Grahm had sex on her parents’ bed. I would not let my child throw a party if that happened on my bed. Through the kitchen, on the back porch, I could see Jasper laughing, some brunette had her hand on his scrawny upper arm. I cringed knowing that if Roxanne saw, she would flip. I steered her back outside to the keg stand area and encouraged her to drink. Sometimes when she got drunk quick enough, she would be too flirty to act hostile. She would get delusional and unable to function and I would bring her home to her angry parents and tell mine she called to have me pick her up. It was really a win for me.

               Lucky for Jasper, one of the football players, Dustin Brown, distracted Roxanne with his tall bronze handsomeness. I needed to find Jasper to warn him that she was angry and here for revenge. I crept back into the house, a relief compared to the chilly spring air. I wasn’t here to hook up, but I dressed to impress regardless so my hem wasn’t much longer than Roxanne’s. I couldn’t be caught looking like a slob. I had a crumb of reputation to uphold. I pushed through the sweaty bodies, towards the back porch where I had last seen Jasper. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs now, still talking to the brunette girl. I crept down the stairs, trying not to draw too much attention so he wouldn’t-

               “TIVA!” He howled. His arm wrapped around my waist as he pulled me into a hug. He was drunk. So very drunk. My cheeks turned a bright crimson as he nuzzled his face into my exposed chest. The unfamiliar girl frowned but perked up when I peeled myself away. The way her eyes glistened as she looked at him told me all I needed to know. I didn’t blame her. He wasn’t buff or super popular but boy was he cute to broken girls like us. His deep brown eyes and dark, shaggy hair played with our heartstrings. I must admit that since Roxanne started dating him, I was a bit jealous of her. I wanted a boy like him. I probably would have treated him a lot better too.

               “Oh Tiva, this is Ashley. She’s—nice.” He said, looking down to her breasts that were also exposed like mine. I laughed and shook her hand.

               “Hi Ashley, listen I don’t mean to intrude but I do need to talk to Jasper about something private, I’ll have him back ASAP.”

I couldn’t ruin this for Jasper. Hell, with her doe eyes and soft skin I’d date her too. She pouted again as I grasped his arm and yanked him away.

I pulled him up the balcony, into the house, and up the other flight of stairs into Sue’s sky-blue bedroom. She had a cloud lamp lit, illuminating the room in a warm glow. I had to go somewhere private. If Roxanne saw me talking to him, she would know I was siding with him. At least partially. I peeked out the window to see if she was still chatting with the football player but neither of them was anywhere to be seen.

“Jasper, Roxanne is super pissed. Like, so mad she got ready for this party. I think she’s gonna make a scene and I don’t know what kind that’ll be.” I said it to a version of Jasper who wasn’t present. He was off on the other side of the room, pawing through photos of Sue with wild animals, next to tall men in white coats, all sorts of places. He turned to me and gave me a beaming white smile.

“I wanted to date you…you know that right? I didn’t think a girl like you would go for a guy like me. But I mean, a girl like Ashley is talking to a guy like me so, I think I’m have more of what I think I do…” He trailed off into gibberish nonsense. Although he was drunk, I could tell he was serious, which made me blush even more than I already had been. I shook the thoughts from my head.

“Jasper, I think you should leave. I can drive you home or whatever. I just don’t want Roxanne to go crazy on you, or poor Ash—” A few screams startled me out of speaking. We both looked to each other, eyes wide.

“Come to the bathroom quick! It’s Ashley!” The muffled voice shouted downstairs.

More screams erupted from downstairs throwing me into a state of panic. Jasper grabbed my arm and walked slowly to the door where I cracked it open, not my wisest choice. We were shoved back, stumbling until we both crashed to the ground. I fell into Jasper’s lap, gasping when I saw Roxanne above us. My first thought was: Boy is she going to be pissed that I was in here telling him to leave, but pure horror struck me when I saw the red glistening blade in her hand. Her aqua shirt had burgundy splattered across it.

“I expected it from him Tiva, but you? What part of ‘I’m gonna kill him’ didn’t you understand?”

“Roxanne, what the fuck?” It was all I could utter. I didn’t think she would literally kill him. I thought she was being hypothetical.

“I can kill you all like I killed that dirty bitch, Ashley.” She hissed through gritted teeth.

She came towards us so I kicked as hard as I could, but it didn’t stop her from falling onto Japer, blade ready to plunge through this stomach. I pushed her off him hard as I could, sending her stumbling onto her side. Downstairs I could hear the party clearing out and I was willing to bet nobody called the police. I stepped on her hand, crushing it under my weight as best I could. She let out a distressed wail and cradled her injury. I tried to pull Jasper up, but he was losing blood fast, consciousness fleeting, and my arms felt so numb. I pulled the knife from the floor next to Roxanne and kicked at her again, just for good measure. Adrenaline flowed through me, so I pulled Jasper from the floor with what little strength I had and drug him to the hall. Lucky for me, he’s a skinny guy. Roxanne came from the bedroom, tackling me and shoving me into the wall. The framed picture of Sue’s family shattered at my feet. She picked up a large piece of glass and began swiping at me, catching my arm and hand in the process. Jasper fell to the ground, grunting and gasping for air. My only strength was in my running legs, so I kicked again, this time Roxanne tumbled down the stairs, lying unconscious at the bottom. Blood pooled around her mouth.

               “Help!” I shouted.

I pulled Jasper’s sweatshirt off and balled it up, resting it over the wound. I held his head up, my other hand pressing into the sweatshirt. Blood soaked through the fabric, quickly coating my fingers in the gooey warm liquid. His black locks fell through my fingers as I adjusted my hand.

               “Oh god Jasper, it’s okay.” I whispered. My voice trembled into silence.

He lifted his hand to wipe tears from my face. I hadn’t realized how hard I was crying. Jasper’s hand trembled as he pulled his phone from his pocket. I dialed 911. As I spoke frantically to the operator, my vision began to darken, and I realized that the blood coating my shirt wasn’t just from Jasper. I had been stabbed too.

               I lay in a white room, the heart monitor beeping every few seconds to let me know I was alive. I looked down at my wrist to see the scratchy hospital band with my name and date of birth on it. Next to the bed was my sleeping father. His head was bowed uncomfortably to the left. He would be feeling that when he woke up. I could just hear him already bitching about it for the next week.

               “Honey!” My mother shouted, dropping a yogurt cup to rush to my side.

               “Momma.” I said, my voice raspier than I expected it to be. She pushed my bangs back, kissing my forehead a dozen times before shouting again to wake my father up. He rose, rubbing out the kink in his neck like I expected him to, and rushed to my side smelling strongly like cigarettes and coffee. He kissed my cheeks and squeezed my head in his arms.

               “I’m sorry for going to the party, Roxanne was just so mad at Jasper I didn’t want them to fight.” I wheezed through my dry throat.

               “It’s okay baby, you fought off the attacker. You saved Jasper. And you went for a good reason.”

               “Is Jasper okay?”

               “Yes baby,” My mom said, kissing my head again, “Jasper and Roxanne are both okay. She’s in the room with Jasper right now.”  

I sat up quickly, a piercing pain shooting through my stomach. Just as I did this, the intercom announced a code blue. Fuck.