I was reluctant. I didn't want to spend my first day in England, at Luca's girlfriend's house. But Luca was insistent. There was simply no arguing with him. His skull was as thick as an elephant's, but yet I needed to try and talk him out of it.

The grey somber sky was a reflection of my mood and the song of the rainbirds a reflection of my internal screaming. "How about this. You could leave me in an ice cream shop," I suggested. It wasn't the only suggestion I made. I also opted for a museum, art gallery, and the mall.

"For the seventh time princess and yes I have been counting. No," he breathed. Putting extra emphasis on the word no.

No matter how many times I asked I got the same answer over and over a resounding 'no'. I was persistent. I'd hope he'd see the obscurity of the situation and change his mind but to no avail. "Don't you think it's a bit strange for me to hang out with you and your girlfriend?" I voiced and he laughed hysterically.

Psychopath

I stared at him with narrow eyes. I didn't see what was so funny. Was there some underlying joke or was my misery his punchline. "Of course it is. It's completely mental. This entire predicament is strange princess but in England, you're my responsibility," he repeated the same words. 'His responsibility'. He made it sound like I was a goldfish he was taking care of for a few days.

Again I reminded him. "I'm not a child. I'm more than capable of handling myself, Luca."

He laughed again and I was getting sick of his condescension. "You're a foreigner in this country. You don't know all the places or the way home. You could get lost."

He looked through the cars review mirrors before parking on the pavement and turning off the ignition. He mumbled incoherently under his breath as he moved to get out. I didn't miss the look of frustration on his face as he walked over to my passenger's side door. He yanked the door open and gestured with his big head for me to get out.

Going to my last resort. I used his frustration against him. I offered him something I thought he wouldn't be able to refuse. "How about I wait in the car," I suggested. I had books loaded on my phone I wouldn't be bored. "I'm not walking around on my own. I'll be right here where you left me," I smiled.

He stared blankly at me and ran a hand down his face. "As much as I would love that princess. It's illegal to leave children locked in cars. Now come on. Don't make me carry you," he threatened, turning on his heel. I sighed and unbuckled my seat belt.

I got out of the car and followed behind him. "What does Allison think of me third wheeling?" I asked trailing behind him only to walk face-first into his hardback. It felt like walking into a brick wall.

He turned around, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I didn't actually tell her..."

My jaw fell open. "Are you serious?" I gawked.

"Slipped my mind, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind. She does understand the situation after all." He continued walking, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I counted in my head. There was no need to lose my cool and scream my lungs out at him. One: he is an idiot, Two: I'm the bigger idiot that lets him get away with crap, Three: murdering someone is not always the answer!

He walked up to the house that was painted brown and had a brickwork chimney. I followed him along the cobblestone pathway. This part of Liverpool was different from where Luca lived. There was less greenery and more civilization.

Luca walked through the front door of the house without knocking as if he owned the place. Loud music immediately hit me in waves causing my eardrums to vibrate. The room was packed with people and I really wanted at that moment for Luca to turn around and tell me that we walked into the wrong house.

The foul stench of alcohol, mixed with something else I couldn't pinpoint, hit my nostrils violently. I wished I didn't have to breathe to survive. Inhaling the smells felt like a punch in the lung.

I tugged on Luca's jacket to get his attention and he bent his head so that I could talk into his ear since it was too loud to have an open conversation. "I promise I'll leave you alone for this entire trip if you let me wait in the car."

He then spoke into my ear. "Just don't drink or eat anything anyone offers you," Luca warned, ignoring my plea and offering me a piece of obvious advice instead. After my first college party, I was never drinking or eating anything from anyone at a party.

Luca began moving through the crowds of people and I followed after him. The volume of the music decreased significantly and I was grateful to the person who lowered the volume.

Someone bumped into Luca as we were walking. Luca glared at the back of the man's head. He looked like he was about cuss the man out, but the man turned around. "Luca, mate you back," the man cheered.

Luca's scowl instantly vanished. "Hey Eric, how you've been," Luca greeted and the two men embraced in a manly hug, patting each other on the back. 

"Great, I've missed you, man. Are you staying this time because you have to come by the garage and see what I did to your..."

"Mums the word Eric and that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about," Luca said, cutting him off midsentence. "I hope you've been treating her well."

"Ahhh," Eric smiled in realization patting Luca's shoulder. "She's a beast."

"Feck off Eric, quit hogging my boyfriend." Allison walked over dodging people as she tried not to spill the contents of her red cup. She was dressed in denim shorts and a black off-shoulder top. Though it was freezing outside, inside the house was humid due to all the thermal radiation and heating. It felt like we weren't in Liverpool anymore.

"Come on Al, he is my best mate and I haven't seen him in months." Allison rolled her eyes and placed a kiss on Luca's cheek. The height difference between them was a heads difference. Her attention then fell on me and the smile on her face dipped.

"Oh, you brought her," she smiled displaying her perfect set of teeth. "How lovely," she clasped her hands together.

"Hey," I greeted. Her eyes began flickering between soft and hard as she looked between me and Luca.

"Hey there," Eric smiled. "I didn't see you there, behind this big beluga."

"Hi," I greeted back and Luca put his hand on my back. Suddenly Allison snatched Luca's arm and pulled him away.

"Love there is something I wish to show you. Come with me," she said coolly.

"U-r-h wait," Luca tried to stop her from pulling him away.

Eric chuckled and turned to me. "I'm Eric," he said, charmingly. His blue eyes sparkled as a mischief filled grin formed on his face.

"Liz," I said, taking his outstretched hand.

He suddenly put a finger up. "One second," he said, fishing his phone out of his pocket and putting it to his ear."

The smile he had on his face disappeared as he ran a hand through his brownish blonde locks. "You've got to be kidding me. I've only been gone for twenty minutes," he fumed holding his one ear as he spoke into his phone. He then turned his attention back to me. "It was lovely learning your name, but sadly duty calls. I hope we meet again," he gave me a wink and a small smile before he moved through the crowd.

I looked around at everyone and swallowed hard. The key was to act like I belonged here. Confidence. I took in a deep breath which was a huge mistake. Bad oxygen. I began to cough and if I could do anything more moronic, I tried to spit the oxygen back as if it were something I swallowed. I began exhaling more than I was inhaling.

Why couldn't I just be normal. Calm down. Just breathe, no wait don't breathe. If I don't breathe I'll die! If I do breathe then I feel like I'm breathing in the foul stench of death. Maybe this was what deaths morning breath smelt like.

"You look lost," a dull voice got my attention, I shook away my thoughts of deaths morning breath and smiled sheepishly at the woman. Hopefully, she didn't see me try to spit the oxygen back.

She was dressed in full black. Tattoos littered her pale skin. Her eyebrows, nose, and chin were pierced with silver studs. "My name is Regina. What's yours?" she dragged in that gloomy eerie voice. Her voice was void of any emotions as she spoke and so was her face. "But my friends call me bubbles because of my bubbly personality." The corner of her lip turned up in a small smile. 

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear."Elizabeth."

"Would you like a drink Beth?" she offered. No one had ever called me Beth before.

Ignoring the nickname the stranger gave me. I smiled. "No thank you."

"You look like you could use one. Like a wilted flower. Like a rare desert flower," she analyzed me with her eyes taking a step forward. "I sensed your sadness and anger, Beth. You don't want to be here do you?" She asked in a hushed whisper, her ravenous eyes boring deep into mine. She had this hypnotic effect.

I cleared my throat. "Urm.. well how do you know that?" I asked and a smile formed on her face.

"I just do," she dragged, without blinking and I gulped. "I'm doing my third year in psychology. My professor says I have a knack for psychology."I wanted to wipe a hand across my forehead in relief. "I could use that drink, Beth. I'll be back," she said, walking away and I let out a breath.

Bubbles seemed cool. Though she creeped me out at first. She seemed like a really interesting individual. She was nice enough to come over when she noticed something was bothering me.

I folded my arms around my body as I recoiled and stood against a wall. The various smells were making me sick and I wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else on the planet.

If it wasn't this it was schmoozing with classy high-end people. Even though it had only been a day away. I missed my friends. I missed the normalcy of my life. Uncomfortable wasn't even the appropriate terminology for what I was feeling. I was feeling something stronger.

Someone sniffed me and I jumped. "Who are you?" I asked the red-haired guy, holding a lock of my hair between his fingers as he brought it to his nose to take a whiff. His eyes were pink and narrowed as if he hadn't slept for days.

"My friends call me Adam. Want to be my Eve?" I cringed and took a huge step away from the guy. "Come on babe. I don't bite, unless you into that sort of thing. Plus you smell pretty," he slurred.

I couldn't take it anymore. I headed for the door. Despite Luca's protests of me being by myself. I couldn't deal with the party anymore. I would rather be alone. Luca was nowhere to be seen and if I stayed a minute longer, I'd end up throwing up.

I pushed through the crowds of people and went out of the front door. I didn't look back as I walked out of the house. The fresh air hit my face and I was grateful. Air never smelled so good.

I didn't know where I was going. I had dollars with me and the currency in England was pounds. I couldn't go anywhere except for a bank. I didn't know where the nearest bank was. Luca was right I didn't know my way around these streets, but I did have a cell phone that had Google maps.

I typed in my location and a map of where I was appeared on my phone. There was a bank fifteen minutes away on the next street. I began walking. Hopefully, Luca wouldn't notice my absence until he wanted to return home. I didn't want to ruin his day back in England but I also couldn't endure the party.

Given my impeccable luck. The sky finally gave out releasing the abundance it held. The rain poured down heavily.

A little water was nothing. I could endure it. I hugged my body as I walked. It was hard to see where I was going and I couldn't help but shiver as the tiny droplets of water hit my face and neck. With blurry vision, I dodged mounds of trash bags on the sidewalk.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out to see Luca's name flashing across the screen. I swiped my finger across the screen and put the phone to my ear. "Hey," my teeth chattered.

"Princess, where are you?" He asked frantically.

"I'm on my way to the bank. Don't worry."

"Are you fucking insane!" He shouted and I cringed at the anger in his voice.

"No, no I'm not. What's insane is wanting me to stay at a party with strangers while you have fun. I'm sorry Luca but I tried. People kept approaching me and this one guy..."

"What!" He shouted. "What did he do? who was he?" He bombarded me with questions instead of listening.

I sighed. "He didn't do anything to me. What I'm trying to say is, you go have fun with your friends and I'll keep myself entertained."

"Elizabeth," he shouted in frustration and the call got cut. I looked at my phone screen and it was blank. I pressed the button on the side and the screen lit up, showing a flashing red battery before going blank again.

Just great.

Getting lost didn't seem so bad. It's not like I was in a forest. I could always ask for help. I could have an adventure. This might be a great story to tell the grandkids one day.

I accompanied a sasquatch to England and he forced me to go to his girlfriend's house. I ran away and got lost...

I crossed the street and continued walking. I just hoped that I was walking in the right direction to the bank. I didn't memorize Luca's number so there was no way I could call him. The only numbers I memorized were my mom's and my own.

The rainwater soaked my shoes all the way to my socks and walking became uncomfortable. So much for new shoes.

"Elizabeth," Luca's stern voice came from behind me. I turned around to see him walking towards me with equally drenched clothes. His hair was matted to his forehead, framing his face. His green luminescent orbs showed pure rage as he put a hand around my arm and pulled me towards him. He examined me with his eyes, a look of relief washing over his features.  His breathing was ragged and his warm minty breath hit my face. A shiver ran down my spine with the way he was looking at me."Do you have any idea how worried I was!" He let go of me abruptly and took a step back. His eyes softening for a second. "We going home," and just like that, his scowl resurfaced.

"There was no need for you to be worried. I'm fine," I snapped.

He whirled on me. "This is not a fucking fairy tale, Lala, circus land. You are wandering around. You haven't the slightest clue as to where you are going and if you come into contact with the wrong person then it's a little fucking too late now isn't it?" He spat.

"I told you I'm going to the bank!"

His jaw clenched. "It's past two the bank closes at two on Saturday. Unless you think they going to stay open for you because some magical arse fairy told them you coming!"

We were arguing on the sidewalk and the rain got heavier. I was on the brink of losing my temper and saying something I'd regret. Luca's chest was heaving as his devilish eyes bore holes into me. I held his gaze not backing down. He was a fool if he thought he would scare me into submission.

He had no right to be angry in the first place. I was not his to protect. Why the hell did even care where I was. He was a control freak and I wasn't going to be subdued. He turned around and started walking in the direction he came from.

"I said it before and I'll say it again. I am not your responsibility," I shouted and he stopped walking, turning his head around slightly.

"Heard you loud and clear," he muttered and continued walking.

I watched his receding figure into the rain. It took me a while to follow behind him. For a minute I didn't want to go back with him but I had nowhere else to go since the bank was closed.

When we got to the car he unlocked it and silently went to the driver's side.
I got into the car and it felt good to be out of the rain.

I glanced at Luca and he was staring blankly at the car's steering wheel. The water was dripping off him and his black shirt clung to his body. We sat in silence as the rain pelted against the car's windows.

I started to feel guilty for screaming at him. I understood that he was only trying to look out for me, but my reasons for not wanting to be at that party were valid.

I was wrong but so was he and if he didn't understand then I didn't care. I stand by what I said. I'm not his liability.