Chapter 7 Motive

• ~ Zoie’s POV ~
• Lucas was now standing tall before her, holding four drinks in his hand. He gave the two glasses of martinis in his left hand to Emma and Brianna and he saved the last one for Zoie. He also had a glass of whiskey for himself.
• “Thanks, Luke!” Emma said as she took her glass.
• “Oh my God, Em, let’s dance!” Brianna squealed as she pulled Emma away, purposefully giving Zoie and Lucas some alone time.
• Lucas let out a chuckle as the girls weren’t being exactly smooth. Meanwhile, Zoie couldn’t do anything but stand there. Drowning in embarrassment.
• “Here you go, one peach martini, extra peachy,” Lucas said finally, giving her the last drink.
• “Thank you,” she said politely, taking the drink from his hand.
• “So, where’s your bodyguard tonight?”
• “They’re at home,”
• “You got rid of ‘em?”
• “Yup,”
• “Well, it’s about damn time,” he stifled a laugh. “Finally, you’re gonna have some fun,”
• “Yeah,” she stifled one too. “About four years late, but better late than never, right?”
• Zoie was laughing nervously, trying hard to hide the fact that her heart was beating like a drum. Her body was heating up, her stomach twisting into knots.
• Is this what it feels like to flirt with someone?
• Zoie swallowed hard and just stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say or do next. Meanwhile, Lucas was also shuffling in his spot. He looked rather nervous and Zoie found it flattering that someone like him would be nervous to talk to her.
• “Well, cheers then,” Lucas said finally, lifting his glass up. “To a night of fun and freedom,”
• Zoie let out a smile. She liked the sound of that.
• “A night of fun and freedom,” she agreed, toasting her glass to his.
• The two glasses made a clinking noise and Zoie brought her drink close to her mouth. But before she could even get a sip of her peach martini, someone came into her periphery and swatted the glass across her face. The glass came tumbling down in a frenzy, splashing and shattering on the floor.
• * SPLASH! *
• Some of the peach martinis ended up splattered across the front of her dress. Yes, her sexiest and prettiest Oscar De La Renta dress that she got specifically for this party.
• “What the—!" Zoie looked up to see the strange guy from before standing in front of her. He let out a small smirk before turning around to face Lucas, and before anyone could say peach martini, the guy swung his fist across Lucas’s face.
• * SMACK!! *
• Lucas came tumbling down in one punch. He was knocked out cold. The people around shrieked and screamed, including Zoie.
• “Oh my God! What the hell is your problem?!” Zoie yelled, pushing the strange guy away.
• “Woah, call 911!” Zoie heard the crowd behind her say.
• The guy didn’t budge no matter how hard Zoie punched and pushed. He simply bent down and reached for something inside Lucas’s suit pocket. And to her absolute surprise, he pulled out a small bag with white pills inside.
• “Roofies,” the stranger explained, tossing the bag at Zoie.
• Zoie grabbed the bag of pills and horror filled her face. She glanced at the broken glass on the floor and a pit grew in her stomach. The realization was sinking in. Those rumors were true. Lucas almost drugged her.
• And God only knows what will happen after that.
• “Oh my God! What an asshole!”
• Zoie whipped her head up as she heard a familiar voice. Her two friends, Emma and Brianna, were amongst the gasping crowd.
• “Zoe, babe, are you alright?” Emma asked as she lent a hand out.
• Zoie stared at Emma’s hand suspiciously and looked up. There was something off about her vibe.
• “You guys knew, didn’t you?” she deduced.
• “What?” Emma gaped.
• “Zoie, we didn’t know!" Brianna added quickly.
• “Save it,” Zoie cut her off and tossed the bag of pills at her face. The bag hit Brianna in the nose and she squeaked angrily. The crowd around them was gasping and whispering again, some even pulled out their phones to record the drama.
• “Oh, come on! You wanted to get laid anyway!” Emma groaned, defending her friend.
• * SMACK! *
• Zoie’s hand flew across the air and hit Emma straight in the face. She didn’t know what she was even doing. It just happened.
• “Ouw!” Emma flinched in pain. “What a bitch!”
• Emma was about to go ape-shit crazy on Zoie, but Brianna pulled her back. Brianna saw the security guards closing in and she knew they had to run.
• “Leave her, Em, let’s go!” Brianna flipped Zoie off angrily and turned away. “You and your perfect family can suck a dick!”
• Ah. So there it is. The motive.
• Just like Zoie’s family, Brianna’s family was also in politics. But while Damon Van Zandt was a democratic governor, Brianna’s dad was a stout conservative who probably saw Damon as an enemy. Now it all made sense to Zoie why Brianna was doing this. If rumors got out that Damon’s daughter was a wild party animal, her dad’s reputation might be tarnished.
• I should’ve known…
• The pit in Zoie’s stomach was sinking lower as she staggered to get away from the nearing guards. Tears were brimming in her eyes as people around whispered and pointed their fingers at her. Zoie kept her head down, looking for ways to escape while recognizing the trouble that she was in. How could she be so dumb? Of course, the popular kids were never interested in becoming her friends. This was why Emma and Brianna suddenly became close to her the past few weeks. She should’ve known that they were only nice to her because they wanted something.
• Dang! Where's the bodyguard when you need one?
• “Hey,”
• In the midst of the chaos, suddenly Zoie heard a voice and saw a hand being stretched out. She looked up to see the handsome stranger that punched Lucas in the face. He was standing tall in front of her, only inches away.
• “You okay?” he asked.
• Zoie didn’t have much of a choice. In her position right now, this stranger was her only friend.
• “Can you get me out of here?” she croaked. A single tear fell off her cheek involuntarily. “Please?”
• Without wasting any more time, the Stranger nodded his head and grabbed her by the hand. They raced out of the club as fast as humanely possible as he led her through the back door. They were moving so fast, Zoie didn’t have a chance to stop to think or even breathe.
• With the guards chasing after them, Zoie and the Stranger went out through the back alley and into the parking lot. The next thing she knew, she was being led to a black motorcycle parked on the side of the road. The Stranger got onto the bike swiftly as Zoie stood there like a statue. He secured his helmet over his head before giving the spare one to her. Zoie took the helmet, but she didn’t know what to do. She had never ridden a motorcycle before. Or got chased by club security guards.
• “What are you waiting for?!” the Stranger pressed.
• Zoie looked back to see the guards clamoring out of the back door. Before she could change her mind, she haphazardly put the helmet on her head, jumped onto the back of that motorcycle, and held on for dear life.
• *
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• - - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -