Protecting My Bodyguard

Ellie

It was the champagne.

That was the only reason I could use to excuse my decision that night.

I had been good for six whole months. I had followed the rules that my father and my therapist had set. I had been the perfect daughter that my mother wanted.

But when that first sip of the smooth alcohol hit my tongue - bubbles rising in the glass flute as I held it tightly - I felt my control splinter.

I hadn’t even planned to finish the glass. But one glass had suddenly turned to two, and the third glass, pushed into my hand by Keller when no one else was looking, had been enough for me to lose my inhibitions.

It had been enough for me to run upstairs to my bedroom away from my parents and my private school friends who were all celebrating my eighteenth birthday in my large backyard.

It had been enough for me to change out of the fussy pastel pink dress that I had been forced into by my mother and to instead change into cut-off denim shorts and a black tank top while I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was all tangled long copper hair and too-big blue eyes and a slim long body that crawled with energy.

It had been enough for me to slip out of the backyard with Keller, my best friend and all-around bad influence, and to race each other to the beach where her boyfriend Jake was going to meet us.

My heart was pumping as Jake handed us plastic cups of beer and a joint. My bare toes dug into the sand as I watched Keller take a long sip, a drag, and then start kissing Jake while a bonfire raged behind them.

I hesitated only a moment before taking a sip of the beer. I nearly gagged but managed to keep it down as I appraised the crowd around me.

I didn’t know anyone else on the beach. It was summer and a Saturday. Like every other Saturday in Arrowhead Pines - the small coastal town I had lived in my whole life - the teenage population had descended onto the shore to drink, party and have sex.

And not necessarily in that order.

But this wasn't my circle of carefully curated friends all chosen from my graduating class that my parents had allowed me to keep for the last few months.

This crowd was local. They were Keller's people, not mine. I felt isolated and awkward as I stood on the fringes, not quite drunk enough to join in and not sober enough to leave.

Still, as my eyes roamed and caught on the bodies glowing red and orange in the flickering light from the fire, the sight of couples grinding, making out and shooting up ramped up my pulse even more.

Once I would have lived for this. Once this was my whole world.

But I had distanced myself from that girl. That wasn't me anymore. At least, that is what I tried to tell myself.

Except tonight I didn't care anymore. The words were hollow and powerless. Tonight I was free, buzzed and restless.

“Drink the rest of your beer,” Keller instructed, and I obeyed, tipping the liquid down my throat with a laugh.

Bodies pushed against me as we swayed to music and the sound of the ocean crashing onto the beach drowned out my inner voice telling me to go home.

“I’ve got someone for you, Ellie.” Keller slurred then, breaking away from Jake long enough to lean into me and push my wind-tangled hair from my face. “He’s a birthday present. You can thank me later.”

A boy melted from the crowd, eyes focused on me with hungry intent. I watched him as he approached, and he grabbed my waist and tugged me into him.

I swallowed and quickly dropped the empty bottle in my hand before his mouth met mine in a kiss that made me dizzy.

I had seen this boy around town a few times. I didn’t know his name. I didn’t know where he went to school, since I went to the only private school in the area and barely had a chance to interact with anyone else except those strictly parental approved. I only knew that he had seemed dark and dangerous and now his hands were under my shirt, cupping my breasts, and I was gasping as the stars swirled above me. He tipped more beer into my mouth, lazily following and licking the small amount that dripped down my neck and into my cleavage with his hot tongue.

I had just enough sense left to turn my head back to Keller and to ask. “Should I be doing this?”

“It's fine.” She said confidently. “I've got you. I won't let anything bad happen.”

I turned back to the boy, back to his warm lips and forceful hands. Somehow I blinked and we were no longer standing next to Keller and Jake. We were now spread on a blanket behind a dune, and the boy's fingers were unsnapping my shorts.

I tried to float away and to let the inevitable happen.

I could do this. I could let this boy lie on top of me and use my body. I had done it dozens of times before and I had always derived a sick sense of satisfaction from it. But no matter how much alcohol I had swallowed, my body was resisting doing this again.

"Wait." I barely recognised my weak voice as the wind snatched it away before it even had a chance to hit the air.

"Just relax." The boy holding me down instructed, nipping my throat as his hands squeezed and stroked and flayed me open. "Keller told me what you need. I'll do everything." His body pushed me further into the sand and I heard the smugness in his smile as he continued. "And you want it too, don't you, Ellie?"

My mind faltered, stuttered. The question, the use of my name - everything sent a chill over my exposed skin. I didn't know if I did want this anymore. I certainly didn't need it. Ellie didn't need it.

But I was unable to make my limbs move, frozen between a blurry present and a past self that used to enjoy this.

The delay allowed the boy to widen my legs, to start unzipping his fly and rising over me.

I don't know his name, my mind chanted. I don't know his name.

I arched up, a scream building in my throat as I readied myself for what was to come next.

Except the scream never came. Between one breath and the next the boy disappeared and my lungs expanded with sticky salty air as the stars blinked out above me.

"Get up, Elodie."

I looked to my side as the boy started scrambling back to the bonfire, casting quick frantic looks behind him.

"Elodie."

I ran a hand over myself, noting I was still mostly clothed. I pulled my shirt down and started snapping my shorts closed with numb shaking fingers.

"If you make me say your name one more time..."

I finally looked up into the burning eyes of Hunter, the personal security my father had assigned me six months ago. He had been by my side ever since, casting a judgemental attitude over every personal decision I made.

It had been bizarre at first, having this male with sharp grey eyes short dark hair and a strong agile body trailing behind me. He was older, late twenties at least, and I didn't know how to behave around him. He wasn't a boy I could manipulate. He wasn't a man I should respect. He was just always there, with eyes trained on me and an expression I could never read. I both feared and loathed the way my heart raced and my body heated up every time he was next to me.

But tonight my heart wasn't racing and my body wasn't hot. The alcohol had taken all of that away.

So my voice was surprisingly clear as I stood and replied. "My name isn't Elodie. It's Ellie."

“Ellie is your nickname. Your father gave you the name Elodie and it is the one I will continue to use.”

“I've told you a hundred times. I don’t like anyone calling me Elodie.”

Hunter ignored me and flashed the light from his phone into my eyes. "What did you take?"

I winced and ducked away from him. "Nothing. I'm just having fun."

"The fun is over now. Your parents are expecting you home."

I swung away from him and back toward the fire. "Leave me alone."

Hunter grabbed my arm and stilled my retreat. "I can't leave you alone. You are drunk and vulnerable and -."

"I'm not a child." I spat back.

"You are certainly acting like one."

I shook him off and backed up a step. "I told you to leave me alone. Your job here is done."

Hunter held my gaze steadily. "My job isn't done until you are safe."

I swept an angry hand through my hair, noting distantly that it was tangled with scratchy sand. "You can report to my father that you saved me from making another horrible decision. You can collect whatever bonus he promised you. Now fuck off."

"Ellie? Are you okay?" Keller came running over then, eyes unfocused. "Where's Matt?"

"Who's Matt?" I frowned.

"The boy you were about to have sex with," Hunter answered cuttingly.

I blinked because I had already forgotten him.

"Shit." Keller breathed, noting the man beside me for the first time. "The soldier is here. Can't you leave Ellie alone for one night? It's her birthday for fuck sake."

"No, I can’t leave her alone," Hunter replied succinctly. "Someone needs to take care of her right now."

I winced as Hunter took my arm again, now no longer having the strength to fight him. My initial resistance had faded into a soul-deep exhaustion that dragged me under its relentless current.

"Get your hands off her." Keller protested with a sharp snap. "I'm Ellie's best friend. I can take care of her."

Hunter pulled me into his side while aiming a vicious tirade at my friend. "You encouraged Elodie to get drunk and leave the safety of her home. You left her alone with a boy - again - while she couldn't defend herself or make a rational decision, even after what happened six months ago. You are a horrible -."

"Stop." My voice was shaky and barely a whisper, but Hunter broke off anyway and cast me an annoyed look.

"Stop blaming Keller." I continued. "I chose to come here. And I'm choosing to leave so you can stop yelling and take me home."

"Ellie, no. " Keller protested. “You don’t have to obey him. He is just a stupid rent-a-cop. Stay here.”

"I'm sorry I wasn’t fun tonight," I said to Keller, cutting off whatever further objection she was going to make. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Hunter's hand tightened on mine and I winced again.

He wasn't hurting me. But his touch was dragging me back to the first time I had met him, in circumstances much worse than this. I had nearly overdosed in a random house a few towns away. I had let the boy I had been hanging out with take me there, knowing exactly what would greet me when I stumbled inside but still going anyway. And I had been right. There were other boys in the house waiting, boys that I had known would want to take more of me than I usually gave. But the drugs - a pill and then something racing through my veins as a needle dropped to the dirty floor - had dulled any protest I would have made.

Hunter had found me though before that happened and hauled me out of there while I had fought him like a wildcat. He had sported scratches on his cheek for weeks afterwards.

Even though I had known I would have left that house even more broken than I already was I had still raged against the man trying to save me. Because the thing was, back then, I hadn't wanted to be saved.

It was different now.

But the memories of past me, only six months ago, were drowning the new me, mixing with the beer and champagne in my stomach until I knew I was going to throw up soon.

I let Hunter lead me away from the light the music and the people. I let him lead me away from a silent Keller.

She had been in that house too. She had been pissed that I was taken before we had fun. She had been even more pissed when it became clear Hunter would be a permanent fixture in my life until I turned eighteen and could make the choice for myself to get rid of him.

But I wasn't officially eighteen for a few more hours. Hunter had to save me one last time so he could get a bonus in his pay and a pat on the back from my father for a job well done.

And I was just too tired to fight anymore.

So when I swayed, my vision wavering and my stomach rioting again, I also let Hunter wrap an arm around me and support me. He guided me back to the safety of my home, my father, and the harsh reality of my new life now.

Well... he almost did. But it turned out I wasn't done for the night. And neither was Hunter.