Very Bad Things (Briarwood Academy 1)

Leo seemed nervous, and I wanted to assure him it would be awesome, but Tiffani was flitting in and out of the party area. As he conferred with Tiffani about last minutes details, we set up our instruments and spotlights.

After a quick run through with the band, I was back in my attic room with Mila getting dressed. She grunted and squirmed as she lay on the bed, tugging on her tight leather pants. I chuckled, watching her red face. I still couldn’t believe she’d chosen such a racy costume. “Everything okay?”

She snorted and yanked harder, finally getting them zipped. “Gah, dressing as Lady Gaga sucks!”

I tsked at her pants. “And there’re gonna make your butt sweat.”

She heaved herself up, her black-clad legs looking stiff and uncomfortable. “That’s a good point, but they’re on, so I’m never taking them off. There.”

I picked my Wonder Woman costume up, not missing the irony of dressing as an Amazon. As I dressed, Mila looked at my tat with big eyes. “Go ahead,” I teased her, “I know you wanna touch it.”

“You got your own set of wings!” she squealed, happier than I thought she would be. She ran her fingers across them.

“And I didn’t die of ink poisoning.”

She arched her brow. “Could have.”

I pulled on the red thigh-high boots and picked up my Lasso of Truth. Mila helped me tease my hot-rolled hair into a 60s style bouffant, and I adjusted her platinum wig and black corset. I put my gold cuffs and crown on. She slid on her bedazzled sunglasses.

“We look like hookers,” I mused at our reflection. “And not the expensive kind.”

“Yep,” she said.

I laughed and gave her a little hug, feeling excited about what I’d planned.

“Now don’t mess up my hair,” she said. She looked at her ass in the mirror and shook it. I snickered. My bunny was turning bad.

VITAL REJECTS OPENED the party with some cover songs from Cold Play and Kings of Leon. Sebastian, who’d dressed as the floppy haired Justin Beiber belted out lyrics and played the easier guitar parts. He told me I was eye candy and had worked too hard to not be on stage, so he forced me up with the band, where I pretended to sing backup into the microphone. It wasn’t plugged in.

This was Teddy’s first time to play in front of a large crowd, and he’d had started off anxiously, pacing around the piano, flapping his arms more than usual. His sister assured us he would be fine once he began playing, and sure enough, once his fingers hit the keys, he calmed. He rocked the crowd with his piano skills, wearing a white Elvis costume. Vixen played the drums dressed in a cheetah costume.

We were missing Leo.

I’d glimpsed him briefly as soon as I’d arrived, dressed as a tall, strapping gladiator. I’d smiled at him, and he’d just stood there staring at me until Tiffani had walked up and grabbed his arm. He’d pulled away from her, and their conversation seemed intense. Later as we’d performed, I’d seen him standing alone with a pensive look on his face, and I wondered what he was thinking about.

We took our first break and milled around the party eventually ending up by the buffet table. Mila came over to join us.

“Tell me about Drew,” Sebastian said as he checked out the appetizers.

“We talked for a long time, and I told him that Leo was it for me.”

“And?” he asked, popping a shrimp in his mouth.

“He said he understood, but I know it hurt him. It hurt me, too,” I admitted, remembering our long talk the night before. He’d walked away from me, but not before telling me that I was making a mistake. “But Leo is it for me.”

“Do you think he’ll take you back if things don’t work out with Leo?” Mila asked.

I laughed darkly. “Um, no.”

“We’ll all be at UT together,” Sebastian pointed out.

“Hey, I need your help tonight,” I asked him, changing the subject. “Tonight, when you’re singing, will you ask Leo to sing the new song he’s been working on?”

“You sure?” he said, raising his brows. He’d heard Leo practicing the song. We spent an entire evening talking about it.

I nodded.

Mila squeaked, “Incoming, incoming, super-slutty nurse arriving in three, two, one.”

Tiffani stopped in front of us. She gave us a huge smile. “Enjoying the party, guys?” she asked, her eyes on me.

“We were,” I said cattily. I briefly wondered if she’d ever told Leo about me. I wondered what her reaction was when she realized he already knew.

She fluttered her eyelashes at Sebastian. “So what’s Leo making us for breakfast in the morning?”

He shrugged uncomfortably. “No idea. I didn’t realize you’d be around to eat with us.”

“Leo doesn’t tell you everything, silly! Maybe we’ll just sleep in and skip breakfast,” she giggled, her big chest quivering. Then she gave me a smirk and flounced off.

“Maybe she really is psychic,” I said.

Sebastian snorted. “No way.”

“She knows I love Leo.”

He elbowed me. “Dude, we all know. Just ignore her. She’s not once spent the night at the loft. Come on, let’s go get Leo. We’ve got some songs to do.”

A few minutes later, the band, plus Leo, took the stage, and I sat at a table with Mila. They opened with “Great Balls of Fire,” and Teddy attacked the piano like Elvis on crack. He was fantastic. I saw him glance up at one point, and his eyes met mine for the tiniest little second, and I knew he’d wanted me to see him. “Play it, Teddy!” I yelled out, smiling and waving at him like a rabid King fan. After that they played Warren Zeron’s “Werewolves of London,” and Mila and I ran out to dance. We twirled around, howling and singing the chorus with everyone else.