Trying to push myself to my feet, I feel Bray’s hand on my back.
“Girl, come on,” she says, pulling me back down on the sand with her. “Don’t go over there. You’ll just get hurt.”
I jerk my wrist from her hand and try to get up again, but the sudden movements mixed with the frayed nerves just sends me back into a dry-heaving episode.
Then I hear Andrew above me.
“Shit,” he says to Bray. “Will you run to my car and get a bottle of water out of the ice chest in the back?”
Bray takes off to do it.
Andrew rolls me over onto his legs just as I stop dry-heaving. He brushes my hair away from my eyes and my mouth.
“They fucking drugged us, baby,” he says.
My eyes open a crack to see him above me, his palms resting on my cheeks.
“I’m going to kill that bitch. I swear to God, Andrew.”
The look in his eyes is that of a person being stunned. He probably didn’t know that I knew. “She’s still passed out. Baby, I’m…”
The guilt in his face cuts through me. “Andrew, I know what happened,” I say. “I know you thought she was me. I saw what you did.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he says, gritting his teeth. Moisture is forming around his eyes. “I should’ve known it wasn’t you. I’m so fucking sorry. I should’ve known.” His hands tighten a little around my face.
I’m about to tell him to stop blaming himself when Elias comes over to us.
“I’m sorry, man, we didn’t know. I swear.”
“I believe you,” Andrew says.
Bray comes back with the water, and I’m already regaining some of my strength. I lift myself up and sit upright, lying against Andrew’s bare chest. He wraps his arms around me and squeezes me so hard, like he’s afraid I’m going to get up and run away.
Then he reaches out and takes the bottle from Bray. He twists off the top and pours some in his hand and wipes it across my forehead and mouth. The coolness of it instantly soothes me.
“Look man, I’m sorry,” Tate says, coming up behind us. “We thought you wouldn’t care. We just dropped some in everybody’s drinks. Being generous. We didn’t bring you out here with any fucked-up intentions.”
Andrew manages to carefully move away from me, though still so fast I barely felt his absence and he punches Tate again. A nauseating crunch echoes through the space around us.
“Please, Andrew!” I shout.
Elias grabs Andrew and Caleb grabs Tate, holding them off of each other.
Andrew lets Elias hold him back, but he shakes him off and turns back to me, helping me up from the ground.
“Let’s go,” he says. He starts to carry me, but I shake my head at him, letting him know that I’m OK to walk on my own.
He grabs his guitar and I grab our blanket, and we head toward the Chevelle.
“Maybe we should give Bray and Elias a ride back,” I say.
Andrew tosses the guitar in the trunk and takes the blanket from me, throwing it back there with it. Then he walks over to his side of the car, lays his arms across the roof and then his head in between them. He takes a deep breath and then slams his fist down on the metal. “God damn it!” he shouts and hits it again.
Instead of trying to talk some sense into him, I decide to let him cool down on his own. I look at him with a kind expression from the other side of the car. And then I get inside and close the door. He stays there for a minute longer until I hear him say, “I’ll give you two a ride back if you want.”
Elias and Bray, carrying their stuff, approach the car and get in the backseat.
Andrew
25
I don’t even know how I find our way back so easily. I think at one point, I didn’t care much if we got lost. But I get us back without a wrong turn or having to pull over and ask for directions. Not much is said between the four of us. And the little that was spoken, I don’t remember any of it.
We pull into the parking lot of the hotel and part ways with Elias and Bray. Maybe I would’ve thanked Elias or wished them luck on the rest of their trip, or maybe even invited them with us somewhere tonight, but given the circumstances all I can do is nod when they thank us for the ride.
I pull away and drive around to our side of the hotel.
Camryn seems uncertain about talking to me yet. Not afraid, just uncertain. I can’t even look at her. I feel like fucking shit for what happened, and I’ll never forgive myself for it.
Camryn grabs my hand and we head straight up to our room. I swing open the door and start tossing our stuff in our bags.
“It wasn’t your—”
I stop her. “Don’t. Please. Just… give me a minute…”
She looks at me so dejectedly, but nods and gives in.