Kara and Steph consider what I said then Steph sticks out her fist toward Kara. “Truce?”
Kara nods and hitches her pinkie with Steph’s. “Fine. Truce, I guess.”
“Well, I was going for a fist bump, but whatever. I guess this works too.” Steph moves her hand away and turns back to the crowd, unzipping the leather jacket she’s wearing. “So, where should we start first?”
Kara’s eyes skim the dance floor. “Jay’s on the dance floor so my vote’s there.”
“We agreed no more playing with Jay,” Steph warns Kara. You’ve already messed up that poor boy’s head enough.”
“But he’s such a fun toy,” Kara whines, jutting out her lip.
Steph shakes her head. “No more Jay. He can’t handle you.”
“We could go sit in the Jacuzzi,” Jane suggests with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “No one’s in it right now.”
Steph grimaces. “Jane, I love you to death, but I can’t do another party where we just sit around on our asses in the hot tub. I want to have fun tonight.” She wiggles her hips, doing a dance.
“I love you Steph!” A guy shouts from the dance floor.
She winks at him then looks at Kara. “Okay, maybe the dance floor isn’t that bad.”
The two of them exchange a devious look and grin. I know what’s coming next. They’ll go to the dance floor with the intention of dancing with Jay and the guy who just shouted. But then they’ll unintentionally reel in every guy within a fifty-foot radius, and eventually a fight will break out over who gets their attention for the evening. And just like that, the party will come to a screeching end.
How do I know this? Because it’s happened at least a dozen times.
To a lot of people, I’m sure this sounds great. Having whatever you ask for, whenever you want it, what could be so bad about that? But there’s a dark side to drawing so much attention. Like Max Tavishson.
Max. Poor Max. Max was the reason I searched the internet for weeks upon weeks, trying to find reasons why someone would obey a person, no matter how ludicrous of a request they made. A lot of weird shit came up that freaked me out, so eventually I gave up. I’ve never told anyone about my fear that something might be wrong with me, like maybe I have mind controlling powers. But that fear plagues me every single day.
“How about this,” I chime in, trying to distract my friends from hot guys and dancing. “I’ll go to the hot tub with Jane. And Steph, you go with Kara to get us some drinks. Then we can meet up and figure out our next step.”
Kara scans the backyard until she spots the kegs and liquor area. Her eyes light up, probably because the entire football team is hanging out there. “Sounds like a fantastic plan.” She adjusts her tight-fitted dress, then heads down the porch stairs, swaying her hips.
Steph heaves a sigh, trudging after her. “I’ll go keep an eye on her.”
Once they vanish into the crowd, Jane turns to me. “They’re never going to make it to the hot tub with our drinks. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, probably.” I shrug then smile. “Oh well. I guess it’s just you and me.”
She laughs and then we start to make our way toward the hot tub. “I don’t know why Kara and Steph have to flirt with everyone.”
“It’s just who they are,” I keep walking and people scurry out of my way. They keep apologizing to me, which is just crazy. They’re not doing anything wrong. But I’ll admit, I appreciate that they’re making it ten times easier for us to get to the hot tub. “They like guys. A lot. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Yeah, but I just wish that they’d pick one guy, at least for a little while. I don’t know why they think they have to,” she makes air quotes, “’sample all the tasty treats,’ before they pick one. It always causes fights wherever we go.”
“They don’t mean to cause fights,” I say, but I’m not sure if I believe my own words. Sometimes I think they do. But since they’re my friends, there’s not much I can do or say. “Did you wear your swimsuit underneath your dress?” I change the subject as Jane and I arrive at the hot tub.
She nods. “Did you?”
I nod, unbuttoning my cut off shorts. “Yep. I’m wearing my lucky plaid bikini. And you know what that means.” I wink at her then bob my head and shake my ass. “I’m bringing the nineties back.”
She chuckles but then hugs her arms around herself. “I’d rather not undress in front of everyone.”
Her statement doesn’t surprise me. Jane has always been the more modest, shy one in the group, and I’ve often prefer spending time with her, because she draws less attention.
I search the overcrowded backyard until I spot a small, building. “I’m betting that’s the pool house. I’m sure you can go change in there.”
I start to shimmy out of my shorts, but she snatches hold of my hand and drags me along with her as she hurries toward the pool house.
“Okay, I guess I’m going with you,” I call out through a laugh.
She smiles gratefully as she makes a beeline toward the pool house, towing me along with her. She’s small enough that with her head tucked down that not too many people notice her. Me, I’m the exact opposite. My five foot ten height is about as attention grabbing as the disco ball spinning above the pool. I get a few nods, hellos, and hey-how’s-it-going, and some people don’t say anything at all, just gawk at me.
It’s not like I don’t have friends outside of our circle. I do. I socialize with a few people from my art classes. But as for close friends, all it’s ever been is Jane, Steph, and Kara. Honestly, sometimes it feels like I never had a choice, like they were chosen for me and I can’t leave the group. But it’s such a strange thought and it probably makes me sound very ungrateful. Still, I’ve sometimes wondered what it would be like to hang out with a quieter group who doesn’t like getting attention all the time. Would I still get attention? Or would I be able to blend in with the shadows?
The longer Jane and I walk through the mob of people, the more gawking I endure. The gawking goes on for so long, I find myself wishing for a break. It becomes even more tiring when Ian, a guy from my English class who has a reputation for being a pervert, jumps in front of me, bobbing to the rhythm of the music.
“Hey sexy.” His cheeks are flushed, his hair is damp with sweat, and he’s panting for air. “I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight. I thought I heard you say you weren’t going to make it.”
I force a tolerant smile. Ian has never been my favorite person. In fact, he creeps me out. “I wasn’t, but my friends and I decided to hit it up for a while.”
A grin spreads across his face. “Good. I’ve been wanting to talk to you outside of class.” He places his hands on my hips and pulls me toward him.
A cold chill slithers up my spine. “Please get your hands off me.”
His grin broadens, his meaty hands pawing me. “You know you want me touching you like this. I bet you’ve been dreaming about it for years.”
“No, I really haven’t.” I sidestep to swing around him, but he matches my move, blocking my way.
“Oh, come on. Just one dance.” He gives me a come-hither look as he puts his sweaty hands on my waist again, his fingers digging into my flesh. With a jerk, he roughly yanks me toward him.
“Stop it,” I warn through gritted teeth.
But he only becomes more handsy, touching me without permission, as if he has the right to. I’ve seen him do this to plenty of girls. It’s what he’s known for. Even when I try to shove him away, he comes right back at me.
I grind my teeth until my jaw aches.
Don’t. Just ignore him. Just walk away—
He grabs my ass.
A darkness fills my chest, a hunger I don’t understand, but have felt a couple of times over the last few months, which was the starting point of why I thought I had mind controlling powers.
Screw it. He deserves this.
Leaning forward, I seductively whisper in his ear, “You want to dance
, huh?”
He bobs his head up and down. “Fuck yeah, I do.”
“Okay, then let’s dance.” I whirl around, aligning my back with his chest.
I let my head fall from side to side as I rock my hips, my body fluidly moving to the tune of the song. He struggles to keep up with me as his hands slide around my waist, his fingers dipping downward as his tongue finds my neck. He licks my skin and I internally gag, but keep moving forward with my plan.
“You know what I just realized?” I shout over the music. “I don’t know anything about you.”
“That’s not true.” His tongue slides across my neck again and he starts licking me like a freakin’ dog. “I think you’re hot. That’s all you need to know.” His fingers fiddle with the top of my shorts, dipping beneath the waistband.
I spin around before he can get his hand down my pants, hook my arms around his neck, and put my lips beside his ear. “I want to know more about you. Tell me more, please.”
He groans. “Can we at least go up to a room or something? And talk in private.”
“No, you wanted to dance, so we’re going to dance,” I tell him forcefully. “And you’re going to tell me your darkest secrets, because I’m guessing you have a lot.”
“You right, I do,” he mutters with his brows dipped. “I’m actually a pretty terrible person. I do terrible things… Like to Sally Mintone… I made her kiss me, touch me… She didn’t want to. I also hate dancing. I just asked you to dance so I could get you alone and slip something into your drink.”
I press my lips together, my heart thundering in my chest. “Do you do that a lot?”
He nods. “Yes.”
“Where do you keep the drugs?”