Sam left Erika back on the sofas and went to the kitchen to fetch fresh drinks. He hadn’t thought their little ‘bong sesh’ tonight would draw in such a big crowd. He was pleased. He enjoyed any social event where he could smoke, drink and make out with Erika. Reaching down into the fridge, he grabbed two beers and the large bottle of energy drink to put with the shots of Jägermeister. Straightening up, he noticed that Erika was no longer alone.
Sam observed with mute irritation as Sticks sat down beside her. She turned her body towards him, laughing at something he’d said. She licked her bottom lip and crossed one leg over the other, her thighs on display in her shorts and tights. There was a swell of jealousy inside Sam. He restrained himself. Sticks and Erika were just friends. Good friends. Even so, he couldn’t draw his focus away from them as he poured out several shots, spilling some of the sticky liquid onto the kitchen counter.
“Careful, dude. Jäger doesn’t grow on trees,” Tom chuckled, having returned to the dorm with Dominic who shot Sam a stern glare and took up a seat on the sofa beside Will.
Sam said nothing in reply, fixated on Sticks and Erika. He was leaning in close to whisper something into her ear. She smirked impishly, stoking the rage inside of Sam.
Who the fuck does he think he is?
Flirting with her in front of everyone.
She’s my girlfriend.
Has he forgotten what I’m capable of?
Does he not know who I am?
Slamming the glass bottle of Jägermeister down on the counter, Sam took his and Erika’s beers and marched across to the sofas. Looming over the two, he waited for them to notice. Erika looked up first, her face falling at the sight of his fury. Before she could say anything, Sam clicked his fingers at Sticks, urging him to move. Silence fell in the dorm and their friends watched with bated breath as a stunned Sticks glanced from Sam to Erika and scoffed a laugh. Getting to his feet, he brushed past Sam without a word. In his place, Sam sat down, enfolding a firm arm around Erika’s tense shoulders.
She wriggled out of his grip. “Seriously?” she choked. The conversation returned to the dorm, and the music muffled Erika’s words. “We were just talking.”
“He was flirting with you,” Sam hissed, sipping stiffly from his beer. His focus stayed with Sticks who’d started chatting to Zara Bajwa in the kitchen as if the last two minutes hadn’t happened. It only angered Sam further.
He doesn’t even fucking care.
“We were just talking,” Erika reiterated.
“I saw the way you were looking at him.” Sam switched his glower to her. She didn’t flinch. She was all too accustomed to his anger. With a shake of her head, she placed her beer on the coffee table and went to get to her feet. Sam grabbed her hand. “Where are you going?”
“Away from you.” She shrugged him off.
“Cheers!”
“You’re acting like a prick. Sticks is your mate and I’m your girlfriend.”
“Who was practically dribbling into his lap,” Sam sneered.
“Fuck you!” Climbing over his legs, she marched away from the sofas to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.
Stewing in his rage, Sam tore at the label of his beer bottle avoiding the several sets of eyes upon him. He’d overreacted. He hadn’t only humiliated Sticks but himself and Erika too. And for what? Didn’t he trust her? Sticks may have been flirting but Erika would never reciprocate. Was it his previous altercation with Dominic that had stirred the temper inside of him? The rampant animal within him had been released from his cage tonight – perhaps someone forgot to lock the door behind him? Or was it the booze? It certainly wasn’t the weed. Only alcohol made him this way. A jealous, aggressive mess.
Placing his half-drunk bottle down on the coffee table, he spotted Dominic watching him with a sneer. He’d decided to calm down; let it go and apologise to Erika and Sticks when his explosive anger had ceased. Upon seeing Dominic’s expression, it triggered something inside of him that he couldn’t control. It was the final straw.
“Have you got something to say, mate?” Sam said, silencing their friends again.
“Nope.” His unimpressed, self-satisfied expression didn’t waver, fuelling Sam’s anger further.
“Bullshit,” he hissed. “If you’ve got something to say to me, fucking say it!” He leapt to his feet, towering over Dominic whose face became pinched.
“Sam, chill out,” Will started when Dominic spoke over the top of him.
“You’re a piece of work.”
In unison, their friends inhaled sharply, their stares switching from Dominic to Sam, ready to implode.
“Yeah? I’m a piece of work? Fuck you. Get off your high fucking horse and stop judging me!”
“Stop being a douche bag and I’ll stop judging you,” Dominic retorted, slouched on the sofa, seemingly unperturbed by Sam’s powerful stature towering over him.
“You know what you are? You’re a fucking piece of shit.”
Dominic had been winding him up all week; judging him, sneering at him behind his back and acting as though he was the superior person. Sam knew otherwise and he was sick of it. Something had changed. He didn’t know what or why, all he knew was that Dominic Johnson needed to be put back in his place.
Before anyone could stop him, Sam lunged across the coffee table and grabbed a hold of Dominic’s collar. Yanking him to his feet, Sam grasped him in his strong grip and peered down into Dominic’s fiery moss-green eyes, daring him to keep going. Sam snarled as Dominic hung from his grip, not bothering to fight back for soon, Will and Dave were intervening.
Erika materialised between the two boys, hands to their heaving chests. She glared up at Sam with revulsion. “Fucking stop it! Both of you!” she shrieked, shoving Dominic away and tightening her grip around a fistful of Sam’s t-shirt. She was the only person in that room brave enough to step between the two boys when they came to blows. Will and Dave stayed safely behind them, watching, waiting in case Erika wasn’t enough. She looked from Dominic’s sneer to Sam’s grotesque contorted face and shook her head.
“Don’t,” Sam growled. “Don’t you dare shake your head at me, E.”
“You’re being a dick – both of you,” she said, glowering back at Dominic. Tom joined him at his side. He looked as confused as the rest of their friends.
“He started –,” Sam protested when Erika tugged him away from the sofas by his t-shirt. He tried to stop her, then gave up when he realised it was pointless. Sam allowed his girlfriend to drag him out of the room, knowing he deserved every single angry word she was about to yell at him. He was in the wrong, as usual. He’d disappointed her, again. He’d let his anger get the better of him and this time he’d taken it out on his best friend. Dominic may be infuriating of late but it didn’t mean Sam could start a fight with him.
He had to learn to control his temper but how could he control something that came as naturally to him as breathing?
Hillside Academy: September (Volume 1) Copyright © 2023 Jodie May Mullen