Lost Paradise (The Savages of the Blue Lagoon)

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As soon as I saw that low-life gangster, the orchestrator of this debauchery, approach Byron, I knew he was trouble. I’ve seen assholes like him, my high school had an entire gang of thugs, and I’m pretty sure they produce them in the thousands all over the world. They like to party hard and push their product even harder. I knew what this event was as soon as I saw the strips of white powder neatly lined up on three tables and glass bowls filled with an array of pills greeting me like a twisted buffet. This wasn't just a party; it was a drug-sampling event, a blatant attempt to lure in new customers.

Anger boiled within me as this wasn’t the scene I aimed to be involved with. I’m an athlete on a scholarship, but Eve and the girls stomped ahead of us into the house, grabbing drinks, bypassing the substance section, and heading to the quieter area of the kitchen.

But it was a while ago, and right now, as I walk through the rooms, my mind fills with concern as I search for both Byron and Eve. She said earlier she needed some air, and even though I said I would accompany her, she put her hand on my chest and said she was fine.

My roommate, Byron, and I ran into her and her girl crew on our way to this party. He initially had no interest in coming tonight, but I convinced him that if Eve wasn’t here, we’d leave. I’ve had my eye on that vision from the moment I saw her waiting by the docks next to her three large luggage for the ferry to collect us and bring us to this island.

Her eyes are brighter than the clearest summer sky, a piercing blue that seems to hold the secrets of the universe. And her hair... cascading waves of light blonde silk, framing her delicate features like a crown of golden sunshine.

The fact that we’re the only two Americans at this exclusive college gives me that extra footing with her because, regarding everything else, she and I come from two different worlds. Eve Winters comes from upper-crust affluence, and in her eyes, I’m just some jock from the Midwest on a sports scholarship. Technically, I have no business playing in these crowds of royalty and multi-billionaires. But I’ve been talking with her all night, and she definitely doesn’t come off as some stuck-up bitch.

Back home, as a star quarterback, I had girls at abundance, but I wasn’t some cocky dickhead looking for cheap lays. My focus was always on the game.

It still is.

But differently.

None that I care to explain, least of all to anyone here.

But my point is that it had to take someone like Eve to stop me in my tracks and slow me down to appreciate the beauty before me.

And judging from her IG profile, she’s single.

Byron has been my roommate for the last ten or so hours. We all arrived on this island early this morning, and we’ve been busy getting settled in and signing up for the different orientation events going on for the next two weeks until classes start.

The seriousness of what we’ve all signed up for the next three years settled in the moment we arrived at this private, elite college.

Especially for me, because I’m here expecting to represent the college in the next Olympics and I first need to meet the trials. If I don’t perform, they’ll be shipping my ass back home, and there’s no damn way I’m returning to the small town I was dying to escape from. It’s this or enlisting. I’m not keen to be a soldier, but I’ll avoid going home and settling down as some ranch helper.

My roommate, Byron, is the epitome of quiet confidence. He’s been at Hawthornes for a year and mentioned that he spent two years traveling abroad prior to attending here, which, considering he's my age, means he finished school a good three years ahead of me.

He's likely one of those rare geniuses, perhaps even a member of Mensa, given his precocious achievements. Judging by his reaction to my chaotic unpacking of dumping everything on my bed and the meticulous organization of his side of the room, it's possible he also has a touch of OCD.

Although reserved and reluctant to join me, I didn’t need to convince him as much as I initially thought .

Byron also warned not to get involved with Eve and her three friends.

“It will do you no good, getting involved with the likes of those three, and if Eve is part of that girl crew, I can only imagine the wickedness their hearts possess,” he cautioned earlier today.

He said he knows the three and almost compared them to the likes of Mean Girls. Dude, nah…. I don’t have any interest in that histrionic personality disorder, but I think Eve is different.

When she steps foot in a room, the girl’s presence is electrifying, like the sudden crackle of a sparkler that makes you stop and take notice. I definitely want to get to know her a bit more.

Ever since we stepped foot inside this house and mingled with the four women, Byron’s kept a certain distance as if there's some unspoken history between him and the other three English girls. But Eve and I, on the other hand, seemed to hit it off quite well despite her inclination to keep her guard up and remain at arm's length from everyone else. She's reserved, reluctant to open up and let anyone in, yet there's a subtle connection between us that seems to transcend the barriers she erects.

But damn, she’s pretty. More than just pretty.

As I step into the pulsating heart of this student house, the thumping bass of music envelops me. This party is pretty wild and the main room here is where it’s all happening. I scan the room, recognizing the faces of fellow students who seemed pretty serious at sign-up today but have now crossed a line into the realm of illicit drugs. Prioritizing a good time over everything else, including their studies and risking their place here at the college.

I think hard and remember the sketchy dealer who organized this party looking in at us from a distance. At first, his eyes were fixated on something. He was silently scrutinizing the group I was with. I’m pretty sure his focus was on Eve momentarily before moving on to Byron and approaching him before leading him towards the staircase. Then, I lost sight of them as soon as Eve caught my attention, saying she needed to get some fresh air.

Searching my memory, I recall a moment when I saw the dealer again, this time without Byron. I remember watching him with disgust as he laughed and joked with his newfound “best friends,” beckoning his lackey over to push drugs into their eager hands.

Bastard won’t get his own hands dirty. He’ll always be orchestrating his business from a safe distance .

The way everyone flocked to him, desperate for his approval and eager to be in his inner circle, ignited a fiery rage within me. It was infuriating to witness how easily he wielded influence and manipulated those around him, all while remaining untouchable and unscathed.

“A raid is going down,” Emily says, her hand gripping my forearm and catching my attention. She’s one of Eve’s three roommates, but where the fuck is Eve?

A sudden sense of urgency tightens its hold on me as Emily's words about campus police drug bust rumors hit me with hard realization. I watch as everyone around me scrambles to their feet, rushing toward exits and windows with desperate urgency.

My heart pounds with fear and anxiety as I realize the gravity of the situation. My scholarship. My entire future hangs precariously in the balance, and I know that if I don't move quickly, I could be swept up in the chaos and face dire consequences.

With adrenaline coursing through my veins, I’m aware my future hangs in the balance if I don’t get my ass out of here. Yet, despite the impending danger, I can’t bring myself to abandon the two people I came with, even if I barely know them.

“Are you coming?” Emily asks, gripping my arm tighter. I’m sure she has more in mind than just escaping with me. She’s had her hands on me all night, but I have zero interest in her. My attention is a hundred percent on another princess, and while Eve has no connection to regal blood, I’d love to give her my own kind of royal attention.

Fuck, I need to get my head straight and my cock to stop doing the slimy thinking for me.

“Go,” I tell Emily, shoving her into the crowd. “I’ll be right behind you,” I say, and as if she’s satisfied by my remark, she smirks and climbs out the window.

I frantically scan the room again, searching for Eve and Byron amidst the chaos, my head pulsing with worry. This protective instinct surges deeper within me, a connection forged in the heat of the moment. I can’t leave them behind, not when we we are all in this together, facing the same uncertain fate.

Moving towards the staircase where I last saw Byron, I notice the door that’s camouflaged within the side of it, and I press the bolt to unlock it. I yank it open to find the stairs leading to a cellar, and there’s a dimly lit ceiling lamp at the top of the stairs.

“Byron?” I shout down and hear the campus police entering the house.

Fuck, I slip inside and close the door behind me. Every cellar should have casement windows. Maybe I can find an escape or at least hide out until they finish raiding the house.

I quickly dash down and find Byron standing on a chair and trying to open a locked hopper window.

“What the fuck are you doing down here?” I shout at him. “Campus police raided the house!”

“That arsehole, Astro, locked me in,” he barks back angrily, his hair disheveled and flopping over his irritated face.

“Fucking piece of shit,” I scorn angrily. I knew he was trouble from the moment I saw him.

Byron adjusts his dark-rimmed glasses, pushing them back up his nose. Frustration is evident in his face.

“Tosser said he needed help to change the pump of the kegs. There are no fucking kegs down here!” His words drip with exasperation, and irritation crosses his features.

When I find the bastard….my thoughts are interrupted as we hear heavy, pounding footsteps above us hitting the old floorboards, and I’m sure it’s the raid.

“We need to get out of here,” I say with a sense of urgency.

“You think I want to stay here and count the cobwebs?” he looks at me mockingly. “This is the only window down here, and I’ve been trying to get in unlocked for the past twenty minutes!”

Fuck. I’m doomed.

I’m fucking fated to get kicked out of this college, and I haven’t even been here for twenty-four hours.

“Let me try,” I say, and he gets down the chair. I put one leg on and hop on. “It’s jammed. Is there something I can smash it with?”

“If I found something, don’t you think I would have tried that already?” Byron looks at me, blinking. He isn’t stupid, but he was gullible enough to allow this Astro asshole to lock him down here.

There’s always going to be that one kid in high school who will be picked on again and again. Although we’re young adults now, and this isn’t high school, people like Astro will always exist in the sinister shadows, targeting unsuspecting victims.

I try smashing the window with my elbow and manage to crack it, and with one more hit, it shatters, along with the glass cutting into my skin .

“Dammit,” I curse all sorts as I pick a small piece out of my flesh.

Suddenly, the basement door crashes open, and a series of flashlights flash downwards, and two cops follow.

“Don’t move,” one says to us. “I got two more down here,” he shouts to his talk piece.

Fuck.