Chapter 40

"What's up?" asked Corey.

"Nuthin'," said Ryan.

"Let's go out. There's a party tonight."

"Oh yeah? Oh. I don't know... "

"Come on! It'll be fun! It'll get your mind off Jen. It's supposed to be really good."

He sighed. "Aright."

So they went, finally. It took them forever to find out where it was. But finally they showed up, at half past eleven. It was huge, and a lot of people he didn't know were there. But there were some people who he knew. Like Jen.

But Jen didn't see him. She couldn't, she was passed out on a couch. She was by herself, cuddled up in the corner of the couch. Her hair was different, but he recognized her instantly. She still looked beautiful.

What could he do? He wasn't going to leave just because she was there. He looked around though, trying to find out who she was with. He wouldn't recognize Kasey if he saw him, but he didn't see any stray guys who seemed to be paying any attention to Jen.

Ryan kept an eye on her for a couple of hours. She didn't wake up, and nobody went over to see her either. He wondered if she came by herself. He hadn't seen her car though, and they walked past a whole slew of cars. Then he saw a guy sitting down next to her, looking at her. The guy reached out and touched one of her braids. Ryan walked over immediately, wanting to see if it was Kasey or not. He wanted to see what the guy was like.

The guy looked up at Ryan looking at him. He dropped her braid and inched away from her huddled figure.

"Oh, sorry. Is she with you?" he asked Ryan guiltily.

Ryan shook his head. "No. You don't know who she's with?"

He shrugged.

Some girl who was sitting in the chair spoke up. "She was with some guy but he left awhile ago... "

"He left?" Ryan asked her. "Is he coming back?"

"Uh, I don't think so. Why?"

"Well, he left her here... What a nice guy. Something could happen to her!"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know."

Ryan looked down at Jen, sleeping there. He leaned down and shook her. "Jen, Jen wake up... "

She opened one eye finally, then closed it, turning away from him.

"Jen, how are you getting home?"

"This is my home," she mumbled. She passed back out.

"Ryan, what are you doing?" Corey asked, exasperated.

"Dude, whoever she was with just left her here!"

"Don't worry about it Ryan! You can't follow her around the rest of her life! Just leave her alone!"

"I can't! I'm not following her around! I didn't know she was gonna be here! Listen, I gotta take her home. Look at her. She might wake up and try to drive for all we know. And no one's gonna try to stop her."