Friday Night

Ugh! I thought to myself as I ducked into a nearby room, closing the door quietly behind me. I was hiding from my ex. He was looking for me and I couldn't stand to be around him. Not for one more second. I had reached the end of my patience. If he found me now there was no telling what I would do and say to him.

Enough is enough! There would be no diplomacy or tact in what I would unleash on him. I leaned against the door as I briefly closed my eyes. This was beyond frustrating.

Even setting him up with a beautiful girl from one of my classes hadn't worked. Vicky had been interested when I had suggested Ryan. I was convinced she would be enough to capture his attention, but he hadn't even given her a second look. I crossed my arms as my feelings of frustration gave way to anger.

I didn't like that someone could impact my life the way he was. I was used to making my own decisions and doing what I wanted when I wanted.

Taking the fact I was hiding out in a stranger's room while I could hear music playing through the house notched my anger up. I should have been downstairs with Matthew, who had been talking to another girl when Ryan had found me.

It didn't help that I was feeling out my depth with Matthew. Things hadn't gone according to plan. If I was honest, my plan had completely failed. The first day he hadn't called I reasoned he didn't want to seem too interested. By the next day I was feeling nervous. By the third I was questioning whether I had imagined his interest.

I wasn't used to waiting around for a guy. They usually fell all over me. I was attractive and was used to guys hitting on me.

I had long dark hair with dark-brown eyes framed by thick dark eyelashes that brought out my eyes. I was a younger version of my mother.

There had been a moment of realization earlier that I was in a situation I had never experienced before—and I didn't like it one bit. He had caught me off guard and I struggled with what to do next. It would have been easier to walk away and admit defeat, but I was too stubborn for that.

I kept the distance between us, refusing to look in his direction. But nothing I did seemed to follow the path that others had walked before. He was an anomaly.

The girl in me wanted me to go up to him and find out why, but the determined part refused to give in to it. It would be showing a weakness for him. I understood guys well. If I came on too strong it would send him scattering in the opposite direction.

Playing harder to get was the way to go. So for the last week I had controlled every slight look in his direction, making sure not to meet his eyes. It wasn't like I would have ignored him if he'd made the move to talk to me, but he hadn't.

When the night of the party had arrived, I had felt nervous about the night that lay ahead. Usually I was confident and sure of myself—but for once I wasn't. I only had doubts. I had no way of knowing whether my tactics had worked or if I might have pushed him in the opposite direction.

How long did I need to stay here? I checked my watch. I'd been hiding for five minutes. I paced in the small room, trying to figure out what to do about my annoying ex and the sexy stranger who didn't seem to be interested in me.

A few minutes later there was a slight knock on the door.

I froze as I stared at the door. Had he found me? If it was him, I wouldn't be responsible for my actions. I had never gotten physical before but I was very tempted to slap some sense into Ryan.

When I didn't immediately reply, there was another knock. More insistent.

Should I answer or not?

"Sarah?"

It didn't sound like Ryan. Then I realized who it was.

"Matthew?" I stood by the door with my hand reaching for the handle.

This couldn't get any worse. The guy I had been trying to attract had discovered me hiding out in one of the spare rooms upstairs.

"Are you okay?" he asked. How had he known where I was?

"Yeah." I opened the door. His eyes met mine and I felt the familiar pull of my attraction to him. I wondered if he felt the same.

"What are you doing?" he asked, searching the room behind me.

"Hiding." I don't know why I admitted it. I knew it would only lead to more questions.

My eyes scanned the hallway to make sure there was no sign of Ryan.

"From who?" he asked, following my gaze.

"The ex."

"Was that the guy I saw you talking to earlier?"

He'd noticed? I thought he'd been too busy chatting up the girl I'd seen him with to notice. I smothered the sharp pang of jealously I felt—instead of talking to me, he'd been too interested in the bimbo who had hung on his every word.

I nodded, leaving the room and walking back to the stairs. Matthew followed beside me.

It was then it dawned on me. I stopped to face him.

"Why did you come looking for me?" I asked.

He shrugged. "The bathroom downstairs was busy so I came upstairs. I saw you duck into one of these rooms alone. I thought it was strange."

I continued to hold his gaze as I debated his answer. With a slight inclination of my head, I walked away.

"Is he harassing you?" he asked, putting a hand to my wrist to stop me at the top of the stairs. His touch sent a thrill of awareness through me. It was hard to think coherently with him so close. My pulse quickened.

It took me a few seconds to recover from the unfamiliar reaction. His eyebrows knitted together with concern.

"'Annoying me' would be a better description." It didn't seem to ease the concern on his features.

"Do you need me to have a talk with him?" he asked as his frown deepened.

"No. I can handle it." I wasn't a damsel in distress who needed a knight to swoop in to save me.

"Yeah, it looked like you were handling it well back there hiding in the room."

I pinned him with a glare as I tugged my wrist free from his grasp.

"So I don't have it all figured out. It's not like I have experience with stalkers," I muttered, turning away from him and intent on walking away.

"Stalking sounds pretty serious."

His words stopped me. I looked back at him over my shoulder. Despite his obvious concern, all I could think about was the moment he had shown interest in a girl who hadn't been me. It had put a dent in my ego—one which hurt more than I wanted to admit.

"Why don't you go and find the girl you were chatting up earlier. I'm sure she is much more interested in your company than I am."

And with that I left him at the top of the stairs without a look back in his direction. Telling him off had been a rash thing to do but it had been hard to control my anger. I was upset. He unsettled me and I didn't like it one bit. I went to find Courtney.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "I've been looking for you for the past ten minutes."

"I was hiding," I answered, surveying the crowd for my stalker.

Ryan's actions had gone past those of a boyfriend who couldn't come to terms with the ending of our short coupling. His actions were becoming more serious, which put me in a difficult situation. I had to figure out a way to deal with him or I would have to tell my mom about it—even when I knew what that would lead to.

"Ryan?" she questioned, and I nodded.

"You're going to have to do something about it before he becomes a real problem."

She was right but I had no idea what to do.