The Anti-Crush by Harper West

9

Nathan

I broughtmy beer to my lips and took another gulp.

The party was going pretty well. Even Elizabeth seemed to enjoy herself. Or at least I thought so. The entire house buzzed and dozens of people were drinking and laughing and dancing. A loud, hip-hop song blared from the stereo at the front of the living room, a rhythmic thumping pulsed through the entire building, punctuated by auto-tuned lyrics.

I noticed Tanner and McKenzie out of the corner of my eye. His arm was wrapped around her. They drank beer and talked to a group of people, though I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Kenz looked pretty damn tipsy, swaying slightly to the music and giggling just a little too loudly at Tanner's jokes. He was keeping a watchful eye on her. He pulled her a bit closer and kissed her on the cheek as she grinned and leaned into him.

That was one of the things I loved about Tanner. He was a good man, through and through. I didn't have to worry about any girl he was with. He would take good care of Kenz tonight, make sure she got home safely. Hell, he'd probably be holding her hair back as she puked in a couple hours, then placing a pillow under her head on the bathroom floor.

Turning my attention away from my best friend, I narrowed my eyes at a group of guys on the football team. They were pretty drunk and were talking loudly about different girls and who they thought they had a chance of hooking up with that night. I cringed a tad at the parts of the conversation I could hear from the other side of the room. They talked about girls as if they were objects, commenting mostly on their bodies, outfits, and any rumors they'd heard about their, well… sluttiness. A tall, muscular, blond guy at the center of the semicircle, Kyler, was dominating the conversation, having something gross and invasive to say about practically every girl mentioned.

Ugh, I almost forgot that Kyler would be here and I frowned in disgust. Kyler, business major hotshot whose father owned some huge company he would eventually inherit, was sleazy, easy, and filthy rich. He had a reputation for flirting with anything in a skirt, promising her the world and kicking her to the curb immediately after he got what he wanted from her. The really gross part was that he got away with his behavior thanks to his wealth and good looks. Kyler knew it and used his power to his advantage, wielding it like a weapon that he swung around anywhere he went.

Kyler was enormous, towering over most everyone in the room. His wide shoulders, giant frame, and perpetual devil-may-care attitude made him a force to be reckoned with. He seemed to eagerly invite drama into his life if it meant boosting his popularity around campus. I mostly tried to avoid him, but I had a bad feeling about tonight. I kept a watchful eye on him, but tried to avoid catching his attention unless he was about to attempt something really stupid. I glanced over at Elizabeth, who was sitting on the couch, smiling, with a drink in her hand. She was clearly out of her element, but trying to make the best of it. Hopefully, Kyler wouldn't notice her discomfort and exacerbate it. God, that would really get under my skin.

He and I never got along well, but we had a lot of mutual friends, so I ran into him often and had to put up with him. Strangely, for as obnoxious as he was, girls around campus seemed to adore him. I didn't know if it was his money, his looks, his status, or a mixture of all three, but he had a way with women that had gained him an interesting reputation on campus.

"Who's the sexy nerd on the couch?" he asked loudly.

Oh, no.

My eyes widened as I turned my attention to Kyler, staring at Elizabeth as she sat inconspicuously in the corner, not realizing she was Kyler’s new target.

“What about her?” I asked, puffing out my chest. I clenched my fist, suddenly not afraid to start shit if I had to.

Elizabeth was obviously trying to mind her own business and bide her time until she could leave the party and go back to studying. Now surrounded but obnoxious party guests and how loud music blaring from the speakers, I couldn't blame her. She got overwhelmed by loud noises and crowds easily, but she was putting on a brave face. Yet, I could see the discomfort from across the room. She noticed me staring at her and smiled sweetly, lifting her hand in a half-wave. Her glasses slid down her nose, and she pushed them up the bridge gently, tucking her hair behind her ear as she did so.

I heard a laugh come from one of the guys next to me. "Yo, that's McKenzie's friend, I think. What’s she doing here?” This time, it wasn’t Kyler talking. It was Jason, a shorter guy with a jet-black fade and fake gold chains around his neck. Jason has gone to high school with me and Elizabeth and, apparently, remembered her. "Damn, is that Elizabeth? She got hot.” He checked her out, shamelessly and my blood boiled.

My heart pounded in my chest. I really didn't want to have to step in, but these guys were closing in on her like a circle of vultures. The last thing Elizabeth needed was to deal with this group of morons. I mean, undoubtedly, they’d give her a panic attack or something.

"She lost a lot of weight, huh?" Kevin asked. He had messy, shoulder-length brown hair and a beer gut, despite being an athlete. He, too, went to our high school. He followed up that sentiment with a sickening belch. "Damn, I remember what she used to look like. If I knew she’d grow up hot, maybe I would’ve been nicer to her.”

The guys were drunk, stupid, and ready to make poor Elizabeth miserable. As soon as they downed a few beers, all of the blood in their brains got redirected to their groins, rendering them stupid and virtually worthless.

I wasn't too keen on ruining the party with a confrontation and drawing attention to myself, but if I had to in order to keep Elizabeth safe and happy, I would. I owed her for all the times I’d bullied her in high school. I would do anything to make it all up to her. I could feel one of my hands balling up into a fist. I clutched my beer in the other, crushing the red SOLO cup in simmering rage.

With my attention on the other guys talking about Elizabeth, I hadn't even noticed Kyler had disappeared from the group. I scanned the room frantically, trying to find him. My heart sank when I realized he was beelining for Elizabeth.

"Oh, shit. Kyler's going to go ask the nerdy chick to… tutor him," Jason slurred, menacingly.

I tried my best to stay calm, but I was pretty buzzed and my judgment was impaired. The guys zeroing in on Elizabeth was making me want to do some pretty rash things.

"Wonder if he'll score twice tonight, huh?" Kevin said with a sinister laugh. "Hell yeah, Kyler!" His obnoxious voice was audible even over the thumping bass and the chatter.

I narrowed my eyes in disgust, but I reminded myself that if I made a scene, I could possibly make this even worse for Elizabeth. I sat down my beer on the counter beside me and tried to calm down.

"Hey, can you guys just leave her alone?" I asked as calmly as possible. But my request was immediately swallowed up in the swirl of noise.

Kyler zeroed in on Elizabeth and I knew we had passed the point of calm resolution, and the only solution was confrontation.

"Shit, where's Nathan going?" Kevin asked.

I ignored everyone. I had to get to her.

"Oh, man. This is going to be good,” Jason cackled. “Nate wants to score with the hot nerd too.”

I pushed through the crowd and reached them just as Kyler plopped down onto the couch, next to Elizabeth and wrapped his arm around her, possessively. He whispered something in her ear, and she flushed red. She looked nervous, but stood her ground.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" I demanded, my pulse pounding in my ears. I was about to make a fool of myself and piss off the biggest guy on my team, but I didn’t care. I had to stop this.

Kyler's whipped around and faced me, his eyebrows raised as if challenging me to confront him again. I opened my mouth to unload on him, but when I saw Elizabeth’s worried expression, I softened a bit. Even in my tipsy state, I knew I had to try to handle this as diplomatically as possible.

"Hey, Nathan! What's going on, buddy?" Kyler bellowed. He sounded friendly, but I knew he was just stirring the pot.

"Nathan..." Elizabeth attempted to raise her voice, but Kyler held up a hand to silence her. She flinched a little and frowned, biting her lip pensively.

"I could ask you the same question, buddy," I said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the word

I seethed and gritted my teeth. "Elizabeth, is he bothering you?"

Kyler put up a hand as I took a step closer to them. "She's fine, dude. What's your problem? I'm just having a chat with this lovely lady here," he said. He offered a cheeky smile as he put his hand on Elizabeth’s lower back. She flinched. "Am I bothering you, beautiful?" His voice was low and seductive. My face felt hot. I was furious as I watched him touch her.

"N-no, everything's fine, Nathan. We're just t-talking," she stammered, her eyes wide like a deer caught headlights. Her words said one thing, but her face said something entirely different.

She squirmed in her seat, uncomfortably. Elizabeth liked her personal space, and I knew she hated when people didn’t respect her boundaries. But she was still learning how to stick up for herself.

"Listen, man, she doesn't want to talk to you," I growled.

Kyler threw his head back and laughed obnoxiously. Elizabeth cringed, setting her drink on the table. She looked like she wanted to disappear, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, her face redder than a tomato. People were starting to stare, which only made it worse.

"Every chick wants to talk to me, pal," Kyler bragged.

This wasn't going to be pretty. I just hoped Elizabeth would forgive me for what I was about to do.

"Okay, that's enough," I hissed, reaching out and yanking Kyler off of the couch by the collar of his shirt.

His arms flailed, knocking Elizabeth's drink into her lap. She gasped and put her face in her hands. I was seeing red, and there was no turning back now.

"What the fuck, dude?" Kyler howled.

Thankfully, he was pretty wasted and I had an edge on him. Elizabeth leaped up backed up against the wall, her eyes wide with shock and humiliation.

Still holding Kyler by the collar, I shoved him against the wall. "You need to back the hell off," I said, my voice low and furious. "Or we're going to have a problem."

"We already have problems, asshole!" Kyler bellowed. “And you’re fucking dead.”

The entire room went silent, and all eyes were on us. Even over the booming music in the background, I could hear people gasping and whispering about us.

"Is he seriously starting shit with Kyler?"

"This is going to be good.”

Kyler managed to struggle free from my grip as he took a swing at me. I dodged it, easily. He was pretty intoxicated and moving slowly. But, I knew that if he could land a punch, it would hurt. I wanted to resolve this without violence, but that wasn’t going to happen. I was about to fight the most powerful guy in the room over a girl who didn't even really want to be here in the first place.

I clocked him hard and he fell backward. His eyes were wild for a second before he caught his bearings. "Big mistake," he slurred, rubbing his cheek where I had struck him. "Huge mistake, Nathan. You’re going down.”

He steadied himself, stood up straighter, and prepared to fight back. I could hear Tanner in the distance, trying to stop me. Elizabeth looked mortified, her face still in her hands, her entire body shaking in fear. I mouthed I got this and cocked my fists. .