The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

“Look,” I said, all this emotional crap was making me want to run away, “if you’re Mandy’s friend, just be her friend. From what I’ve seen, there’s not many around who know what that word means. That’s all I care about.”

“Okay. Yeah. Sure,” she said, a bit too eagerly.

“Alright, well,” I edged towards the door, “I’ll see you guys tonight. You’re coming to Rickets’ House, right?”

“Yeah,” Tristan smiled widely at me looking relieved—from what I had no idea. “Tray’s at ten, right?”

“Right.” I slipped out the door and was in my car in an instant.

*

There were a few cars parked outside of Tray’s when I pulled up. Great. No sex. However, I brightened, no time for any more emotional conversations. Mainly, the one in which Tray and I disagreed.

I glanced at my hands and saw the cuts were not doing that great. The diving hadn’t helped, but it’d been worth it. I grinned, feeling the rush again, the water hitting my body, the air against me.

I stowed my bag in his bedroom first before moving into the main house. Everyone was out on a patio.

Around the table I could see there was a group of guys, Amber, Jasmine, Sasha and two other girls.

No Tray.

“He went to get some drinks,” Jasmine commented, seeing my sweeping glance. She gave me a friendly smile and, of course, I was automatically suspicious. “Sit.” She patted the empty chair beside her.

I noticed Sasha was glowering at her, but she remained silent.

I chose the empty chair beside Grant, at the end of the table.

Jasmine laughed. “Taryn, you’re hilarious, you know that.”

Now I was feeling patronized.

The room had grown quiet with an uneasy silence.

Amber broke it and asked, “Is Tristan at Mandy’s?”

My, isn’t she the curious one?

“Yeah,” I murmured coolly, leaning back and trying to relax.

“She’s a bitch,” Amber announced, grinning as Sasha burst out laughing, “and psychotic.”

“She’s not that bad,” Jasmine argued, look surreptitiously at me. “You’re just jealous of her, Ams.”

“Jealous? Of what?” Amber swore. “Better watch it, Taryn. Tristan thinks she’s the only one Mandy can be friends with. She’s going to hate you.”

“And she’s in love with Tray,” Sasha included.

“Oh my God. I’d forgotten that. Tristan thinks that her and Tray have this star-crossed lover thing, like Romeo and Juliet,” Amber exclaimed excitedly.

“Maybe she’ll kill herself then,” Sasha suggested, looking evil.

I rolled my eyes and remarked, “Why do you fucking care so much? This is just unnecessary drama.” I stood up. “You, people, are exhausting. Just freaking get over it and live your own damn life.”

Walking back through the palace, I heard Tray in the kitchen. He was talking on his phone, his head inside the fridge.

“Yeah, dude. No.” He chuckled. “I’ve got the stuff. We’ll be at Rickets’ tonight. Yeah, yeah, you can get it then.”

He saw me when he stood, one hand holding a bucket of KFC, the other a twelve-pack of beer; his cellphone was tucked between his ear and neck.