Risky

    It was the night of the big party that Maggie was preparing for for weeks. She bought a whole new wardrobe; a dress that was tight around the bosom and flowy down to her knees. It was red with a silver accent on the chest. When she turned, it spun around in a whirl of beauty. She ripped pages out of this month's Cosmopolitan showing new beauty tips for her hair and makeup. She stood in front of her mirror in her bra and underwear, hair wet after a shower, no makeup, and began to get ready. She began with her makeup. A light pink blush that highlighted her cheek bones and brightened her eyes. A dark black mascara with only a bit of eyeliner. A bright red lipstick that matched her dress which tied it all together. She put her hair up with a bunch of bobby pins and clips; giving it a very vintage look. She looked beautiful already. She slipped on the dress and zipped up the back. She slipped on her shoes; black heels with a big bow on each of them. She twirled in front of the mirror and never felt more beautiful.
     This party was a sweet sixteen for her best friend, Elle. She was having it on a cruise ship that showed the gorgeous skyline of New York City. Maggie was so excited for Elle, they had been planning this party for months, and finally it was here. But this party was more important to Maggie for a different reason than just Elle's birthday. It was because Dan was going to be there. Maggie had had a crush on Dan for months, there was just something about him that made her want to kiss him all day. He was so rugged, handsome, and absolutely perfect in her eyes.
     Maggie walked downstairs and there was Elle, in her long, blue dress that was skin tight. She was stunning. They hugged and took pictures together, got in the limo and went to the ship. They got there and were fashionably late obviously, checked in and walked on the boat. When they entered, everyone's heads turned. Elle walked in and hugged everyone, greeting them all and being complimented on how great she looked. Maggie followed, giving empty hellos to people but really looking for Dan. This kid Paul stepped out in front of Maggie as she was walking, making her stop short, almost running right into him.
"Wow, Maggie, you look great." She had never really talked to him before, and kind of got a weird vibe around him, but was still flattered.
"Thanks, Paul! You clean up well yourself." She tried to walk past him but he stepped in front of her again. She was getting kind of frustrated with him
"Excuse me, Paul, I have to go do some stuff." She pushed past him and walked rather quickly toward the kitchen area with her head down. As she was rushing towards the food, she ran right into someone and began to fall, it all happened so fast but right before she hit the floor she was caught. She looked up to see who had grabbed her, and it was Dan. Still holding her in his arms, he said
"Still just as clumsy as always I can see." And shot her a smile. He helped her up and she finally replied.
"Hey, Dan. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Mags." He looked her up and down "wow, you uh, you look... stunning."
She blushed and looked into his deep, blue eyes.
"Thank you. You look great too, like always." He laughed and sat down at one of the stools at the food bar. She followed him.
"Hey, um, do you by any chance know anything about that Paul Stevenson kid?" she asked him, eyes racing around.
"Yeah, he's on the basketball team. I think he's new. Why, is there something wrong?" She snapped out of it, and looked at Dan, smiled, and answered
"No, no. It's fine. I'm just wondering."
"Well, okay." He said "I'm gonna go see if John came, wanna sit together for dinner, Mags?"
Maggie's heart melted. She loved it when he called her that. She nodded and smiled. He winked at her and walked away.
     Maggie went out on the deck of the boat, admiring the beautiful skyline of New York. She felt someone come up behind her. It was Paul. She jumped, but composed herself, thinking she was just being silly.
"How're you enjoying the party, Mags?" Mags. Mags? He called her Mags. She didn't like that, but pushed it aside.
"Oh it's great, Elle looks beautiful and everyone seems to be having a great time. The food's great, too, haha. I think they're actually serving dinner soon."
"Well, do you want to sit together? We could continue our conversation at dinner." She didn't know what to say, she already said she'd sit with Dan, and obviously Elle, and only one other person could fit at the table, but she didn't want it to be Paul.
"I'm sorry, I actually have a full table right now. But I'll see you later." She began to walk back inside but he grabbed her arm.
"Who are you sitting with?" he asked with a harsh tone in his voice. panicked, she answered
"Well, Elle and Dan and .... and... probably Elle's sister. Sorry." She grabbed her arm and ran inside.
     Maggie saw Elle and ran towards the table. She grabbed Elle's arms, catching her attention.
"Elle! Who else is sitting at our table!?"
"I don't know, I figured Dan could sit with us, and one of his friends."
"Well just make sure--" before she could finish her sentence she was cut off by the arrival of two more people at the table. Sitting down next to Maggie was Dan, which sent shivers down her spine and a smile onto her face. When she looked across the table to see who had accompanied him, she was shocked to see it was Paul.
     Paul smiled at Maggie, and put his arm around Elle. Elle blushed and smiled at Maggie, gesturing to check her phone. She took her phone of of her bag and had one new text message. It was from Elle, saying "Paul is SO cute. I think I'm gonna dance with him tonight! ;)" Maggie replied, "Meet me in the bathroom ASAP." She put her phone in her purse, and turned to Dan.
"Excuse me, Dan. I'll be right back."
"Sure," he replied "I'll be waiting." He winked at her and she turned and walked towards the bathroom, blushing the whole way.
     Elle entered the bathroom, confused.
"Elle! I have a really bad feeling about Paul! When we first came in he stepped right in front of me, not allowing me to walk past him. Then he found me on the deck and asked me to sit with him for dinner. When I said no he must've found Dan and asked if he could sit with him. You can't like him, there's something up with him!" catching her breath, she let Elle take it all in.
"Mag, you're just being silly. Maybe he just wanted to sit with me! I bet he has a crush on me, oh this party's so great!! Now let's go, I don't want to miss dinner."
She grabbed Maggie's arm and dragged her back to the table. Dan's face seemed to brighten as Maggie returned. They ate dinner, joked around, and had fun. Maggie still felt weird about Paul but decided maybe he did just have a crush on Elle, and let it go. She didn't want to ruin her best friend's party. After dinner was over, Dan turned to Maggie and asked her to dance. She said yes. They went to the center of the dance floor and danced to a slow song. Dan put his arms on Maggie's hips, while she put hers on his shoulders. He pulled her in closer and she rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and just took it all in. When she opened her eyes, she could see through a slit in the crowd of dancing people something that immediately freaked her out. It was Paul standing across the room, staring at her blatantly. She stepped back and asked Dan if they could step outside. He agreed, grabbed her hand, and walked her out onto the deck.
"I'm sorry, Dan. I have to tell you something." with a concerned look on his face, Dan asked
"What's wrong, Mags? Are you okay...?" She looked him in the eyes and told him everything about Paul that had freaked her out that night. He sat down on the rail and listened as she finished. She began to tear up, and he grabbed her hand.
"Hey, hey, hey. Don't cry, you're fine. It's okay. He's not gonna do anything. I'll be with you all night."
She hugged him, and they sat peacefully on the deck for most of the party, just talking. Eventually, Dan said,
"Are you gonna be okay if I run to the bathroom real quick?" she felt safe, and knew she'd be okay. So she said yes. He kissed her cheek, and went inside. She rested her elbows on the railing, just thinking about Dan. Suddenly, she felt someone's hands grab her hips, they flipped her around and it was Paul. It was dark out now, and the door was closed, so no one would hear if she screamed. He held her so tight, she couldn't move.
"I've been waiting to get you alone all night, Mags. And finally I have you all to myself." He pulled her really close, breathing into her ear, and whispered
"Just relax" She began to cry and scream but no one heard. He put his hand on her mouth to quiet her, and ran his other hand all over her body. Running from her hips up to her chest. He began to unzip her strapless dress from behind as she thrashed around, trying to regain control over her own body, but he was just so strong. Right before he unzipped her dress all the way, the door busted open with Dan running through it. Maggie screamed, with tears running down her face. Dan ran over and grabbed Paul, threw him off of her, and punched him in the face. Maggie collapsed to her knees, crying, and screaming for help since the door was now open. Elle's parents ran out onto the deck, and broke up the fight between Dan and Paul. Paul's face was dripping blood, and Dan's hand was covered in it as well. Elle's dad and security carried Paul in the boat, since it was about to dock. Dan ran over to Maggie, zipped up her dress and picked her up. He carried her inside, not allowing anyone to see her. He brought her outside onto land, now that the boat was at shore, and put her in her limo. Elle came running off the boat toward the limo. Dan kissed Maggie and went to leave but she grabbed his arm. He got into the limo and held her close. Elle got in and made sure everything was okay. Maggie told her the whole story and Elle apologized for not believing her.
     That night, Elle slept over Maggie's house. Maggie was in no state to be alone, and Elle wanted to get her mind off the whole thing. By the end of the night, Elle had her laughing and enjoying their sleepover. Suddenly, they heard a knock at Maggie's window.Elle crept over to it slowly as Maggie hid behind the bed, ready to call 911. As she opened the window, Maggie heard Elle breathe a sigh of relief. When she turned around she saw a soaking wet Dan climbing in through her window.
"Dan, what are you doing here, and why are you wet!?" She was so thrilled to see him but confused at the same time.
"It's raining pretty hard out there. And I had to make sure you were okay, but I didn't want to come in through the front since it's so late." He grabbed Maggie and gave her a hug. She looked up into his eyes and he gently planted a kiss on her lips. Elle quietly left the room so they could be alone.
"You saved my life today, Dan. How did you get the door open anyway?"
"When I saw it was closed I knew something was wrong since when I left I had left it open. I could hear very very faint screams so I threw myself at the door, when it broke open I saw your beautiful face filled with tears, it took me a second to snap out of the shock but I eventually realized that Paul was attacking you. I don't know what happened to me after that, some sort of rush of anger and adrenaline rushed through me wanting to kill him. I threw him off of you and started beating the crap out of him. I ended up breaking a few of my fingers but I couldn't even feel it because all I could think of was how he was hurting you, and how I wasn't there to protect you. I felt so bad that I would've risked killing him just to assure myself that you would be safe. I'm so sorry I wasn't there Mags, if I knew, if I had only knew that---" She cut him off and kissed him. She pulled him closer and hugged him for a few minutes before replying.
"Don't be sorry, Dan. Regardless of the horror that occurred tonight, it all ended with me and you. And that's all that matters. And if it wasn't for you, who knows where I'd be right now. Thank you. You're great."
He smiled and kissed her and picked her up, gently placing her on her bed.
"I'm gonna go home now, I'll leave you with Elle. You really need her right now. I'll call you first thing tomorrow morning to make sure you're okay, and if you need anything you know my number."
She smiled and thanked him, walking him towards her door. As she was closing it behind him he stopped it, peeking his head back in to say one more thing.
"Mags, I want you to know I've liked you for as long as I can remember. And even if you won't accept my apology for today, I want to apologize for not admitting this to you sooner. So, I'm sorry. And I hope you like me too." He kissed her and shut the door before she could say anything else.
She fell back on the door onto her knees, and whispered to herself, "Finally."