The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,13

“Will and I were dancing!” she declared giddily, thrilled that he had appeared after so long. His embrace was warm and gentle, just like Trevor, and she was so happy to be there she could have stayed in his arms all night.

Something seemed to alarm Trevor, because he suddenly looked down at her with wide, confused eyes. Then he looked over at Will, who crossed his arms and returned the look coldly. The boys stared at each other for several moments before Trevor sighed and broke the glare.

“Do you want to go home?” he asked her gently.

“Home?” she repeated distastefully, thinking of sitting in bed with her abundance of energy and nothing to do with it. “No. I want to dance.” She peered up at him, feeling all of the love she had for him pour out of her as if it were tangible. “I want to dance with you.”

Trevor smiled weakly. “I, ah, I don’t really dance…”

“Will danced with me,” she protested, frowning. “And he’s really good. You come from the same gene pool. Surely you can manage.”

Trevor’s smile was tight. “Will’s had a lot of practice,” he told her, almost shortly. She watched as he looked over at his younger brother—who Annabelle suddenly noticed was the same height as him. “Do you need a ride home?”

Will shook his head, even as Annabelle released her grip on Trevor and took Will’s hand as inspiration struck her. “You should come with us!” she insisted, not wanting to miss out on Will’s company, which she was thoroughly enjoying. “We can sing at the top of our lungs!”

Will’s hand lightly squeezed hers before letting go, looking up at Trevor with a cold smile. “You should stay. Get her some much-needed water.”

Trevor tensed, but Annabelle looked up at him pleadingly. “Can we?” she begged.

Trevor looked down at her, his expression torn. It was Will who spoke up, his voice low. “Unless you can guarantee her parents are already asleep, you probably shouldn’t take her home yet if you ever want to take her out again.”

Annabelle looked over at his cold glare, then up at Trevor, wrapping her arms around the older Scarlett. She fit so well against him, and strength just exuded from him. She relished in the sensation. “Do you want to take me out again?” she asked coyly.

He smiled weakly. “I’d like it if I could, yeah… If you’d want to.”

A large grin spread over her features. “I would love to!” she declared happily.

“You two should go park somewhere,” Will suggested behind her.

“Will—“ Trevor began angrily. He interrupted himself, looking disgusted, and stared out at the crowd. He sighed, then let out an aggravated, “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Will arched an eyebrow. “What do you think? A friend of mine was asked to bring some…” he paused, his eyes meeting Annabelle’s, “party favors.” He looked back up at Trevor. “She wanted some backup.”

“Party favors?” Annabelle repeated, frowning. It was like someone had tossed cold water on her. Everything was still brighter than normal, but somehow she felt sobered up. She looked up at Trevor, then over at Will, who was staring at her. “You mean…” She stumbled quickly out of Trevor’s arms, a cold sweat breaking out over her body. “Oh. Oh god.” She wrapped Will’s shirt around herself tightly, feeling violated and terrified. “Am I…?”

“Yup,” Will confirmed cheerfully. “How’s it feel?”

She looked over at him in horror. “You knew?” she demanded helplessly, feeling tears well up in her eyes.

He rolled his eyes. “Of course I did. You’re not really the type to let a guy practically undress her in front of a crowd of people.”

Her stomach churned. Her face flushed in humiliation. And then, unable to speak, she broke away from both of them and ran toward the trees she had escaped to earlier, her heart racing. She tried to throw up, but nothing came out. Exhausted, she collapsed to her knees on the dirt, using her hands to keep herself braced as she tried to control her breathing. She could feel the dirt under her hands, moist and rich, thick unlike anything she had ever felt before. And yet some part of her knew that it was just dirt.

Oh god, how had this happened to her?

She heard a noise behind her and whirled around, the trees spinning slightly with the movement. Trevor stood there, a look of concern on his face. “Are you okay?” he asked her worriedly.

She tried not to cry. Why did she have to realize