She came out of the bathroom with a tank top and jean skirt overtop of a bikini. Thank God it didn’t take her another hour to get ready or I might’ve lost my mind.
“What time do we have to go?” I asked.
She looked at the clock beside her bed. “Now.”
“Great.” There was no enthusiasm in my tone.
Since Thea didn’t have a car, I drove. That was fine by me. It put me in control. If this thing sucked I could leave whenever I wanted.
We ended up at a community pool that had been closed off for the party. The place was already packed and I felt my anxiety grow. My hand tightened around the steering wheel—like as if I could sear myself to it and not have to go. This was the last place I wanted to be. Why had I agreed to this? Oh right, I was trying to be a good person.
Taking a deep breath I slipped out of my car and followed Thea over to the fence. She batted her eyes and told the guy standing there her name.
He waved us inside.
What the hell was this? A club? The guy was literally holding a clipboard and crossing off names.
Thea said hi to someone and then hissed under her breath to me, “God, I hate her. She’s such a bitch.”
“Oh look!” She clapped her hands together excitedly and pointed at two lounge chairs that were free. “Perfect spot!”
“Yippee,” I groaned.
She looked at me over her shoulder and laughed. “Most people would die to be at this party.”
“I’m not most people.”
“No, you’re not,” she agreed.
She dropped her tote bag on one of the lounges and I took the other. I looked extremely out of place in my grunge clothes compared to all the preppy hipsters surrounding me. Several people gave me dirty looks. I resisted the urge to show them my middle finger.
“Ignore them,” Thea said, catching on to what was happening.
“I am,” I told her.
I didn’t mind people staring at me when they didn’t know me. It was when they heard my story and looked at me with pity or horror that I couldn’t stand it.
“Oh! Look! There’s my brother!” Thea cried. “Cade!” She called. “Cade! Come over here and meet my friend!”
Ice slithered through my veins, wrapping around my heart and nearly stopping it.
First off: Cade? It couldn’t be...but I didn’t imagine there we
re very many Cade’s.
Secondly: friend? Since when were Thea and I friends? I didn’t know much about her besides the fact that she had a brother, didn’t have a major, and had horrible taste in colors.
“Hi,” a warm voice chuckled softly, “I’m Cade Montgomery.”
I knew that voice. Fuck.
I looked up slowly and there he was. “Cade.” He stood there smiling cockily, those dimples winking at me. His blue eyes sparkled with laughter—and I wasn’t sure if he was laughing at me, or with me, at the irony that he was Thea’s brother. Seriously, what were the freaking odds?
His smile widened as I stared at him. Despite introducing himself he’d known it was me sitting here. “Rae,” he replied. His eyes skimmed over my dark heavy clothes, but he made no comment on my lack of swimwear.
Thea’s mouth dropped as she looked between us. “You two know each other?”
Cade started to reply but I cut him off. “If being tackled to the ground by this ogre counts as knowing each other then the answer is yes.”