around the front for Natalie’s car, spotting it parked near the trees. I dash between the gaps of the cars to get to hers and look through the window. She isn’t here but an empty beer bottle has been placed on top of her car.
A rustling comes from the trees behind me and I spin around. Narrowing my eyes, I take a step forward. “Natalie?” I call.
The rustling stops and I take a step back. It must be someone from the party, I assume. I spin around with a shake of my head. She probably went for a walk with him somewhere and I’m just overreacting. I’m worried because in the back of my mind I know she could be doing anything with him. Holding his hand. Hugging. Kissing. Anything. At the thought of it, I cringe.
“Nolan,” I hear Natalie call from behind me. I spin around just as she steps from the shadows of the trees, hanging onto her middle with a face as pale as a sheet of paper.
“Natalie?” I rush for her and just as I meet up to her, she falls against me. “Natalie, what’s wrong?” I place my finger beneath her chin to lift her head up but it falls. “Look at me,” I tell her, lifting her head up again.
She struggles to keep it held up. She brings a hand up but that’s when I notice the blood on her hand and her shirt. “Tyler,” she mumbles.
“What?” I pick her up in my arms and pull her keys out of her pocket. “What the hell happened, Natalie? What did he do?”
“Tyler,” she mumbles again.
She mumbles something else as I swing her car door open but I can’t make out what she’s saying. I lay her in the backseat carefully and then shut the door. I lock the car behind me then rush for the house. Harper and Dawson are standing in the corner and I push through the crowd, throwing elbows just to get to them. “Something happened to Natalie.”
“What?” Harper frowns. “What do you mean? Where is she?”
“She’s in her car. We have to get her to the hospital. She’s bleeding and she’s barely responding to me.”
“Oh, no,” Harper mumbles. She rushes past me and Dawson and I follow after them but as I near the door, a hand grips my arm, stopping me from taking my next step. I look down at Sharon with a scowl but her eyes are worried. “What’s going on?” she asks.
“Don’t worry about it,” I snap.
“It’s Tyler, isn’t it?”
I begin to yank away from her but hesitate as she says his name. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She bites her bottom lip with a shake of her head. “Nothing. Never mind.”
“What the hell do you mean never mind? My girlfriend is almost unconscious and your brother is nowhere to be found. If you know something, tell me, otherwise get the hell off of me.”
She gulps, pulling her hand away. She doesn’t say anything so I step away from her and rush out of the door. I don’t have time for her games. I meet up at the car and Dawson and Harper are waiting for me. I unlock the doors right before tossing Harper the keys. “You drive. I’ll sit back here with her.”
“What happened to her?” she asks as we climb in.
“I don’t know. I think Tyler has something to do with it.” I pull Natalie up and lay her in my arms. She groans and her head falls. Her skin is clammy and I reach up to wipe the droplets of sweat away. “I swear I’m gonna beat his ass when I see him again.”
“You shouldn’t have let her go with him in the first place!” Harper snaps. “You came to the party to be with her so you should have kept her with you.”
“I couldn’t keep her on a leash, Harper! We’re not dating. She can do whatever the hell she wants right now.”
“That doesn’t mean shit,” she growls. Dawson places a hand on her lap as she whips the wheel to pull out of the driveway.
“Chill, babe,” he murmurs.
“I’m not going to chill, Dawson,” she snaps at him. “I swear if she’s hurt, I’m never helping you again, Nolan. Ever. You were supposed to stay with her, not leave her. You were supposed to be fighting for her, not handing her over to another guy. Tyler is cool but he’s not you and she knows that. She’ll choose you over any guy at any