planned this chapter before I even wrote the first one!
THE NAME OF THE SONG IS WHAT INSPIRED ME!! 
The Wombats - Party in the Forest (Where's Laura?) 


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Chapter 6

Party in the Forest (Where's Laura?)

"You know what I've realized?"

Kate and I looked to Laura. "What?" Kate asked.

"That this was the best idea Damien has ever given you, Evie." She stared down at the football field and followed the ball with her eyes.

I hugged myself to keep warm. It was a grey day... Again. Laura, Kate and I were all sat on the highest row of the bleachers watching the boys practice. We had our arms pressed to each other to keep warm.

All of the boys were in their red football jerseys either doing laps, doing plays or stretching. Laura looked like she was having a field day, Katherine wasn't as interested but she did look at the occasional boy. Me? I wasn't really paying much attention but the game in general seemed interesting. 

"We've been out here for an hour now, where the hell is the hot coach." Laura said.

I watched as Damien threw the ball across half of the football field to the receiver. "I'm not sure." I said.

Damien glanced up here and waved. All three of us waved in unison and sighed. "We should watch Lucas practice next." Kate said.

"Hello." Laura said in a sing song voice. "Look who's finally shown up." She suddenly sat up right as her eyes stayed glued to a particular spot on the field. "And look who's with him. I guess gorgeous men stick together, eh?"

I followed her gaze and saw a blonde unfamiliar man and one I've just managed to push out of my mind. Mr. Reeves and the coach walked across the field talking enthusiastically about something.

From what I could see of the man he was breath taking. Not as much as Mr. Reeves but he was still unbelievably gorgeous. 

Laura stood up and moved down half of the rows to sit in the middle row of the bleachers. Kate and I smiled at each other and followed. Now that I could get a better look at the coach, I was right; totally gorgeous.

Straight jaw, short dirty blonde hair shooting out of his baseball cap, light hazel eyes, crooked smile. 

He looked like a real charmer. 

I scoffed slightly under my breath. Yes, this man was beautiful but just by looking at his muscular build and his smile, he was a true charmer. 

"What's up with you?" Kate asked with clear amusement in her voice. Sometimes I wondered if this girl knew what I was thinking because she was always either laughing when she asked me something or smirking. 

"Nothing," I said.

I saw Mr. Reeves' eyes flicker toward us for a moment before going back to the Coach. He laughed about something and they both grabbed each other's hands. Something in their exchange told me that they've known each other for a long time. The way Mr. Reeves smiled was so care free compared to some of the tight ones he gave. 

"Anyone know this man's name so at least I know what to scream in my dreams?" Laura said dreamily.

Katherine and I giggled. 

"Sorry no," I said.

But Kate cleared her throat. "John Harris!" She yelled.

Laura pushed up against my side as her eyes widened and moved over to the field to see if they heard. Oh, he heard. He looked over, smirked and waved.

Kate wiggled her fingers like an old friend would and started laughing.

"Don't you think this is kind of sad?" I said.

"Nope," Laura said as she rested her head on my shoulder.

I glanced to the further side of the bleachers. "Look at them over there,"

She looked at the group of girls drooling over everyone and giggling every five seconds. 

"Don't you think they look a bit sad?"

"Of course they look sad. You know why? Because they're calling out to the boys, flashing some leg even though it's like minus 30 degrees out here and showing off their boobs."

Kate laughed.

"Well, we've done one of those things." I said with a smile. "We just called down to Coach Harris."

"Correction! Katherine did and I think she knows him?" Laura leaned over me to look Kate in the eye. 

She shook her head. "Nope. I'm just a flirt." She winked.

Both Laura and I giggled.

The girls brought up a conversation about some of their classes while, despite my best abilities, I watched Mr. Reeves. He nodded at some of the boys as he practically floated over to the lower row of the bleachers.

"Evie, what are you wearing tonight?"

I brought my attention back to Laura. "I'm not sure. It's a bonfire so I'll wear something warm." I shrugged.

Coach Harris blew the whistle and the boys stopped whatever they were doing. All three of us started making our way down passing Mr. Reeves on the way. I hadn't seen him since my last lecture. I hadn't said anything to anyone about... well, anything. I'm debating on whether to tell Laura that Mr. Reeves was the man from the laundry room. But I wouldn't know what she would think. Actually, I don't think she'll judge me. She looked keen on getting Coach Harris as it was.

Damien ran up to us and took his helmet off. "Hey girls. So, not bad huh?"

I had to admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. 

"Not bad at all," Laura said as she linked arms with him. We followed him as he walked toward Coach Harris.

"Good job today," 

Just as I suspected. His voice was sweet. Alluring. 

"Considering the fact that you weren't even here for practice, yeah I did do a good job." Damien chuckled with him. 

"I apologize," Coach Harris smiled a picture perfect smile. I glanced at Katherine and she looked like she wanted to roll her eyes. I just wanted to laugh at her facial expression. 

The attractive man looked to me and smiled. "Friends of yours, Damien?"

He nodded and pointed to each of us. "Laura, Evangeline, Katherine." 

Laura made it looked like she was barely interested when it was completely there in her body language and Kate just waved. I nodded my head and smiled.

"Nice to meet you all," He glanced at me one last time before turning back to Damien. "You all better get home and rested if you're going to the bonfire tonight. You'll be seeing me and Michael there," He pointed over to the bench. "Count on it."

Laura smiled briefly but I could see that inside she was dancing with joy.

We all said our goodbyes and started walking toward our house. I had one last look at Mr. Reeves before stepping out of view. He looked like he was in deep conversation with Coach Harris. 
I wonder if I'll see either of them tonight. Knowing my luck, I probably will.


**

"Ready!" 

I put my grey hat on along with my grey scarf and gloves.

Laura walked to my open door and winked. "Are we taking your car down there?"

I shrugged on my brown leather jacket and smiled. "Of course, it's too cold to walk. Plus the buses don't run past eight thirty and it is now..." I looked at my phone. "Eight forty-five."

"Fine with me. Do I look alright?"

I turned to her and took in her jeans, Ugg boots, coat and scarf. "Yes you look fine. It's going to get colder later anyway."

"That's what the fire is for!" 

I grabbed my keys and shut my door. The boys were already downstairs waiting for us. Lucas was driving his own car while me and Laura were driving down. It was at the far side of campus. There was a trail leading to the open area not too far into the forest.

We all left at the same time and got to the spot where the cars were parked. We could hear the party before we could even see it. The smoke filling the dark air a fair distance away. The music blasting out into the dimming sky.

The trail leading into the forest was lit by a few scattered lights so at least no one would get lost. 

"Where's Kate?" Damien said.

"She's in there somewhere," Laura muttered.

It took us about ten minutes to finally get into the heart of the party. The area was absolutely huge. It was filled with different groups of teens all either laughing, dancing, sitting by the huge fire in the middle or... Drinking. 

A girl dressed in casual blue jeans, a black thick coat and a scarf with long brown hair danced toward us. I recognized her straight away.

She pushed a bottle of unopened beer toward me. "Dance. Drink. Enjoy...!" She clipped off the lid with a handy bottle opener and danced off toward a group of people.

"Found her." Lucas said with a snigger.

We all separated from there. Lucas and Damien went off to talk to their friends. I went with Laura for a while as she had a number of drinks I lost count of. Kate disappeared after she handed me the drink and I haven't seen her since.

There were a few songs that came on that I liked but I just wasn't in the mood to do anything. 

Laura had rotated around while I felt like I was just following her. I knew a few people from my poetry, Greek Civ and my literature class and I may have wandered over to say hi but that's it. I've stuck with Laura otherwise.

"Laura, should you be drinking so much?" I said. I was still on my first bottle of beer not willing to finish it or even near the end. I was afraid someone would offer me another drink. It'd been a while since we got here and the party was getting wilder by the minute. 

Her tired, red eyes moved over me. "It's fine... I'm fine... Why don't you get a drink..."

I rolled my eyes at her, finished off the bottle and shoved my empty bottle in the trash bag near the logs.

"Hey Evie,"

I turned and smiled at my friend from Literature. "Hey Stacey."

We talked about how class would probably be later on in the semester what with all the assignments and things.

The night was starting to quiet down slightly but everyone was either sitting down, swaying to the music or dancing.

I sat on one of the logs and zipped my coat up to my neck. The fire was still burning bright and was keeping me nice and warm. A familiar song I used to love came on by Bombay Bicycle Club - How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep.

A body sat a fair distance away from me and for some reason I just knew who it was without even having to look at them.

"Is this not your scene?" He asked.

"I should not be here tonight." I mumbled.

"It's not as bad as last year. You should be grateful it isn't as mad, trust me." 

I glanced up at his beautiful face. The flames sent an orange glow onto the side of his face and dark hair. Mr. Reeves met my gaze with a sweet smile. Not the same one he gave Coach Harris but it was getting there.

He then sighed. "You're really not enjoying yourself?"

I shrugged. "I thought it'd be better."

"Maybe the next social event, then." He said quietly.

"Depending on whether I want go, Reeves." I replied.

He was silent a minute and then he sighed. "We're not in class. You can call me Michael."

I glanced up at his face. He looked torn again; that same facial expression from the coffee shop before he helped me, the facial expression before he offered me his t-shirt and when we were in the closet the other day. 

"Are you sure?" I asked for some reason.

He chuckled. "I wouldn't have said it otherwise."

"But... Sometimes you look like you're torn between doing something and not doing it."

The smile slowly wiped from his face and he looked down at me. "Really?" 

I stared at the flames. "I don't think you mean to do it..." I shouldn't really be saying this but I couldn't stop myself. "It's in the way you frown."

He was silent and I immediately regretted saying it. But then I realized we weren't exactly sitting far apart anymore. Our arms were pressed together and I suddenly felt warmer. I looked down at his hand that was twisting a very interesting ring around on his finger. I tilted my head toward it briefly but looked back up when his eyes caught mine.

"I don't mean to," He mumbled.

A laugh escaped my lips. He sounded just like a child. "Wow, do you sound childish." I said trying to make a joke out of it.

He bumped my arm with his and I hid my smile. "Make sure you don't call me Michael anywhere else. We don't want anyone getting jealous." He winked and I rolled my eyes but inside I was glowing. 

I sighed and glanced at a sleeping girl on the floor. That reminds me... "I'll be right back I need to make sure Laura hasn't fallen in a hole."

He nodded and I stood up to walk to the group I saw her with last. She wasn't there. "Hey guys, where's Laura?"

They looked at each other. "She went off a while ago." A boy said.

I frowned and walked off to look for her. I found Lucas sitting with his friends so I asked him. He said he hadn't seen her all night so I went to Damien. He also said he hadn't seen her all night and that's when I started to worry.

Laura was completely drunk she shouldn't be wondering around. I started asking everyone if they'd seen a blonde girl with green eyes wondering around. 

No one had seen her. 

It was almost two o'clock, it was starting to rain and no one had seen her. 

I ran to the last person I hadn't asked and they said she walked down the trail a while ago. I'd completely forgotten about Mr. Reeves because of the panic I was in. I started down the trail and got halfway when I stepped on something soft. I looked down and gasped.

Laura's scarf. 

I looked around the dark areas of the forest and then at the floor. There were footsteps leading into the dark area where her scarf was. I glanced back at where the part was and groaned. When have I ever been in a forest? The only wood area in New York was Central Park and that was the most dangerous in the dark. Was I making a mistake going in there?

Of course I was! But Laura could be unconscious somewhere or worse, taken.

I started walking into the forest dodging in and out of the trees and calling her name.

I was going deeper and deeper and still I heard nothing. By now the rain was coming down harder and it was getting harder to see. I stopped for a moment and looked around.

Then I heard it. 

A scream. 

I whipped around in a circle as my heart pounded in my chest. I started running toward the screams without even thinking about. It must be Laura. It has to be. I was hoping it was.

I plummeted to the ground like I'd just been pushed. I knew I'd been pushed I felt the pressure on my back. Something very, very sharp sliced through my coat as I fell to the wet floor. "Shit." I hissed.

I brought my hand up to my throbbing arm and felt the blood oozing from it. I looked around to try and spot who pushed me but there was no one there, no one around me. But boy, did I not feel alone.

The girl screamed again but now it was closer. I glanced around one last time before standing up quickly and heading toward her. 

Sure enough, Laura was there but she was unconscious. Her blonde dirty hair matted to her face as she lay limp on the ground.

I stood there completely frozen and stared at her wrist. It looked like an animal had torn through her jacket and tried to bite her arm off. Her arm had a clear bite mark and blood dripped to the ground.

I shook my head to get over the shock and dropped to the ground. "Laura?" I said in a shaky voice. "Oh god, Laura!" I picked up her head.

I knew I wasn't alone I could feel it. I started panicking as I looked around the pitch black forest.

A figure was walking fast toward us and I tried pulling Laura away with me. I shut my eyes ready for whatever was to come but soft hands landed on my face. There was something hard pressed to my face and I was guessing it was a ring.

I could hear them saying my name over the heavy rain fall so I opened my eyes. They widened at the sight of Mr. Reeves. His face was mere inches from mine telling me to stay calm and asking me if I was alright.

I nodded slowly in his hands and he let go to pick Laura up. Somebody else was behind me helping me up and I came face to face with Coach Harris. 

My mind was blank and I felt completely numb. 

I didn't know if we were walking or not but we were suddenly where my car was. My car was the only one left signalling that the party must have ended a while ago because of the rain.

"Is that your car?" 

I didn't know who asked but I nodded and shoved my shaky hand into my pocket for my keys. Someone took them out of my hands and Coach Harris helped me into the front seat of the car. 

I didn't know how long we were driving for but I saw the lights of buildings and street lights telling me we weren't on campus anymore. The windows were wide open for some reason and I was shaking like crazy from both the shock and the cold. The droplets of rain hit my face as we raced down the road.

The car was going down a long private road when it suddenly stopped and this time I think Mr. Reeves was helping me into wherever we were. I was sat on what I was guessing was a couch while Coach Harris carried Laura upstairs. 

I sat there shaking my ass off for a while going through what I'd seen and what had happened. What pushed me? It felt like hands but I didn't see anyone. What the hell was that bite mark on Laura's arm?

The throbbing pain in my arm registered and I winced with a small groan. 

Mr. Reeves was down in seconds like he'd heard me. The lights in the house were still off. 

He stepped forward cautiously. "You said you were okay."

"I hurt myself when I fell." I said with a really shaky voice.

I was swiftly helped up and my coat was unzipped and ripped off. From what I could see of my arm in the dark, the blood was dripping down my arm.

I looked up to Mr. Reeves face and took a slight step back. I don't know why I did it, but I did. His green eyes were dilated but not in the usual way one would when in the dark. But his pupils were unusually large and almost covering the beautiful green.

His top lip twitched. His jaw looked clamped shut because his jaw ticked every few seconds.

He closed the distance between us and stared into my eyes. I felt like I was being pulled into a black hole. 

He inhaled deeply and smirked down at me.

His whole face looked threatening. I'd never seen such a... A dark look before.

"Mr. Reeves," I whispered.

He wasn't paying any attention. He looked like he couldn't even hear me.

He glanced at my arm.

"Mr. Reeves," I said slightly louder trying to find my voice.

His hand lifted.

I put my hand on his hard chest. "Michael." I said in a stronger voice.

His arm faltered and he blinked. The look disappeared from his face almost like it wasn't even there and he looked completely vulnerable. His eyes returned to normal and he looked down at my hand on his chest. I was about to remove it but he picked it up in his cool hand. My hand tingled just like my chin the other day but it was intensified.

What had just happened?

Someone bounded down the stairs and I was guessing it was Coach Harris because Mr. Reeves dropped my hand. 

"Evie, come here." He demanded. The voice didn't match his calm and cool demeanour I saw earlier on the field.

How he knew my nickname I'm wasn't sure. Maybe Michael told him?