by Cassie Mae
“Well, she’s excited.”
His tone is off all of a sudden, and I watch his eyes go to the cafeteria doorway and then back to the table. I glance over my shoulder and wave to Sydney. She waves back, but doesn’t join us. She ends up two tables away from Kevin and his monkeys.
“Tell me why we’re going to this party again?” Adam asks the tabletop.
“To keep our friend from doing something seriously stupid.” I stop twirling the bottle, stand it upright, then flick it at him. It smacks his forehead, and he looks up while I make a face at him.
He laughs, and I call success on the attempt to cheer him up.
He looks over my shoulder again. “Incoming.” He nods toward the door, and I flip around, forcing my body not to melt into the chair as Levi walks over with my backpack.
“Morning guys,” he says and flops in the seat next to me. My eyes feel like they’ll pop out and roll into the spilt apple juice. Levi is openly sitting with me and Adam here in the cafeteria. Sure, it’s not lunch time, it’s just a place to chill before first period, but still, I’m pretty sure the chair he sat on has about five layers of dust from being empty all month.
“Uh, hey.” Adam’s eyes are as wide as mine. Maybe wider with his glasses.
“How’s the jaw?” Levi asks, his hand twitching as he reaches up to examine my chin. I gulp, and he drops his fingers.
“It’s a little bruised.”
He laughs, giving Adam a look like they’re sharing some sort of inside joke. Adam laughs back, but his face totally says he has no idea what he’s laughing at.
Levi turns to me again. “And the tongue?”
Instead of answering, I stick it out, and he sucks a breath through his teeth.
“Ouch.”
I pull my tongue back in and snort. “It probably looks worse than it is. I mean, I can use my tongue, and it doesn’t hurt at all.”
His ears get red, and I glance at Adam who is full on lobster. Omigosh, did that come out as a pickup line?
Adam quirks a smile at me, then bends down to grab his backpack. “I, uh, gotta run. I’ll talk to you later?”
Levi and I nod, and he reaches over me to give Adam a fist pound. I don’t think anyone has ever done that with him. Adam fumbles a bit, but smiles as he returns the bro form of a hug, then leaves us alone.
“He’s cool,” Levi says when Adam’s out of earshot. I want to wrap him up in a huge snuggle. No one gives Adam the time of day to see how awesome he is. The only thing stopping me from throwing my arms around his neck is the fact we’re at school, and Levi shouldn’t have to deal with whatever dig someone says about me showing affection towards a guy.
“Hey, so, you left your backpack at my house yesterday.”
He lifts it up and sets it on the back of my chair for me.
“Thanks.”
“Oh!” He snaps his fingers then digs in his pocket. “And you’ve probably been missing this.”
My bubblegum pink cased phone looks so awesome in his man hand. I let out a small, “Oh, yay!” as I take it from him. It’s warm from his pocket, and I resist sticking it in front of my nose for a whiff to see if it’s got Adidas on it.
“Um…” he mumbles, and I move my eyes from my phone to him. He scratches his nose and puts an arm over the back of my chair. “So, Friday… are you still coming to the game?”
I nod, and find myself sliding toward him. Our faces are dangerously close for school time, but there aren’t too many people left in the cafeteria.
He lets out a breath, blowing strands of hair off my forehead. “Awesome. There’s a spot in the center bleachers where the acoustics rock. I can show you at lunch if you want.”
“I want.” I smile and inch toward him again. My rear won’t stop moving. I wiggle in my seat like I’m dancing, and I want to smack myself to cut it out.
“It’s gonna be sweet.” He nods toward the outside doors. “The band kicks ass on the field, even though I take ‘em down a notch.”
“Knock it off,” I say, surprising both of us. His eyebrow goes up, along with half his mouth. “I hear you play every day. If anything, you make the entire flutey section sound better.”
He chuckles at my terminology and moves his fingers from the back of my chair to my shoulder. Warm fuzzies latch onto my arm and prickle through my entire body.
“I’m so glad you’ll be there.” His half smile drops just a teeny bit. “Um, after the game—”
“Oh shoot!” I blast in his face. He jerks backward, grin back in place. I rush into my change of plans, hoping he doesn’t think I’m cancelling or that I don’t want to be with just him or anything. “Okay, so there’s this party Sydney was invited to, and she wants me to go with her, and I really didn’t want to go and I told her I had plans, but she was like, ‘Sierra, please, please, please!’ and she’s my friend so I said I’d go if I could bring you too. She said that’s totally fine, but I invited Adam too ‘cause I’m not sure what this party is or whose it is, or what’s going to be there, but I know having him and you as backup will help keep her from doing something stupid, you know? So, I hope that’s okay. I don’t want her going by herself, and she will even if I’m not there. But I so want to hang out with you. Yeah. So, what do you think?”
His mouth has turned down at some point while I was yapping. Crap, which part made him upset?
“I think I should’ve told my boss ‘no.’”
My eyebrows go in. “Huh?”
He sighs, dropping his hand from my shoulder. “I tried calling last night, but…” He gestures to my cell still sitting in my hand. “A shift opened up on Friday after the game, and I really needed to take it before someone else did.” His ears get red as he scratches his nose. “I’m sorry. Please don’t think I’m trying to bail or anything, I just want to reschedule, that’s all.”
If I hold my breath, he’ll see right through me, so I force my face into a smile. “Oh, it’s no big deal.” Even though I sort of feel like it is. He called to cancel our date. Or non-date. Not to just talk to me. And I know there’s a smile on my lips, but my eyes can’t help but shoot to something else so he doesn’t see what’s really going on in my head. “I’ve got the party now anyway, so…”
“Yeah.”
It’s quiet. And the room is getting more and more vacant.
“We’ve still got the game though,” he says with a light tone, and when I look at him, it doesn’t match his eyes.
I nod, still shining that uber fake smile.
He throws his head into his hands, and I scoot back to give him room. “Sierra, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to get out of it.”
“I don’t feel like that—”
“My life’s kind of crazy right now,” he continues into his fingers. “And when shifts open up at work, I gotta take them. I’m torn up because I can’t give that shift up, but I also don’t want you to go to that party by yourself.”
“I won’t be by my—”
“Whose party is it?” He tilts his face up, sitting straight.
“I’m not sure.”
It takes a minute for him to say something, his stare making me a little bit scared. Not like he’s scary, but afraid because he looks worried.
“Adam will be there?”
I nod.
The bell rings.
We still sit there.
“Should I not go?” I squeak.
He stares at me some more, then shakes his head and picks up his backpack. “Ignore me,” he says with a laugh and stands.
Um, no.
I snatch his T-shirt and stand next to him. “If you don’t want me to go, I won’t.”
He looks at my hand around the fabric of his sleeve, and I drop my fingers. “It’s not that,” he answers. “I’m just being paranoid. I’ve been to too many parties, I think.”
“And I’ve been to zero since I started high school. Should I be worried? Should I drag Sydney away from it too?”
“No.” He
puts his hands on my shoulders. “Go. Have fun. It’s a party. They’re supposed to be fun.”
He smiles, and it’s enough to ease my mind. Well, for now at least.
“I won’t drink.” I don’t know why I’m telling him that. “And I’ll make sure I take Sydney home.”
His hands drop from my shoulders, and he laughs. “You probably think I’m acting like your older brother or something.”
Ew. Does he want me to think that?
“I don’t.”
“Good.”
He slides my backpack off the back of my chair and glides it up my arm. He pats the strap when it hits my shoulder. “Do me a favor, though?”
“Sure.”
His blue eyes get serious, like I better be listening ‘cause it’s important. “Don’t separate from your friends. Keep them glued to your hips.”
I straighten up and salute, breaking the tension.
He laughs. “You’re adorable.”
Both our faces light up like fireworks, and the final bell rings. Levi grabs my hand, and we race down the hall to our first periods. I don’t even care I’m late for class, since I get to hold his hand without anyone yelling “tease!” at me.
Chapter 15
Next time, I’m listening to the gross feeling in my gut.
“I can’t believe you convinced me to wear this.” I tug and pull at the chain on my hip, afraid it’ll catch on something and tear these tight pants clean off. “I look like Hot Topic’s number one shopper.”
“Good,” Sydney says, adjusting my bright purple bra strap so it’s in sight. “We want to go for the sexy, edgy look. And you totally pull it off, girl.” She spreads my screwdriver curled hair over my shoulders covering the bra she just made sure was showing.
“I feel like if I bend over, I’ll split a seam.”
“Then don’t bend over.” Sydney goes to fixing her own ensemble, wiggling her boobs and trying to hide the major muffin top exploding from her one-size-definitely-doesn’t-fit-all black jeans. Sydney isn’t big, but I told her I’d whip up some shorts and leggings that’ll complement her figure. She rolled her eyes and bought the black pair anyway. Is there a point to my voice box?
Sydney’s twisting the new ring she got for her second knuckle on her index finger when we hear Adam’s dinky horn through my window. I poke my head out and wave at him so he doesn’t honk again and wake Zak’s mom up. Adam still hasn’t figured out how to just send a text. Thank heavens Mom and Dad aren’t home, or I’d have some major explaining to do about where I’m going looking like a demon barfed on me.
I drag Sydney from my room, her hands still yanking on her belt loops to get the pants to go over her hips. I grab Levi’s hoodie that I conveniently forgot to give back and throw it over my head. Sydney starts to whine at me for destroying her “artwork,” but I tug her out the door before she can throw too big of a fit.
Adam gets out and opens the passenger door and flips the seat up so one of us can crawl in the back of his Geo. He gives us this scared shitless smile, and I stop dead in the middle of my lawn.
“What the hell are you wearing?” I ask, restraining myself from falling to the grass and giggling my face off. I know I can’t look any better, but this is Adam, and I’m finding it hard to push back laughter as I take in his outfit.
“Sydney made me,” he mumbles to the door frame. He pulls at the black shirt with some sort of flamed skull on it that totally clashes with his red hair. And he’s wearing bright green skinny jeans that are going to blind me.
The first bit of suppressed laughter seeps out when he smacks his fist against his leg, and swears under his breath from hitting a sharp stud along the seam.
“I think he looks awesome,” Sydney says, trying to saunter up to him, but she can’t move very gracefully in those pants. “Except, we need to get rid of these.” She reaches up for his glasses, and he pulls his face back.
“Yeah, unless you want me to crash the car you better keep those in place.”
She pouts at him, then crawls into the back. (Or fumbles, since those pants aren’t going to let her get in that easy.)
I flip the seat back to its usual position, and Adam says, “Nice hoodie.” He laughs when I wrinkle my nose at him, then shuts the door.
Sydney fidgets in the backseat, checking the contents of her purse about fifty times. Adam’s gaze flicks to the rearview about the same amount.
“So, uh…” he says, breaking the silence. “How was the game?” He turns to me quick then goes back to the road.
The game. Ugh. I shift in my seat and mumble a “fine” when really, it was everything under the sun except fine. I got there early so I could sit in the acoustic heaven Levi pointed out to me, but apparently, that spot is reserved for people who are… well, not me. There was a five-foot radius of empty bleacher space surrounding me like I was sending out stink lines. I sat up straight because I was there for Levi, and I tried to ignore the glances and whispers, but when Kevin started walking in my direction, I bolted. The game hadn’t even started yet, and I hadn’t seen Levi at all, but the second I saw my ex, my chin started pulsing like he’d tripped me into tile again. I spent the game under the bleachers in that same spot, avoiding spit, gum, and soda spills.
And even though I barely saw Levi through the cracks, I sure heard him, and he sounded amazing. As always.
But he didn’t see me, and he was gone before I could let him know I was there. So I just sent a text telling him he was awesome and I’d see him later. My phone is still blank in my pocket.
Adam reaches over and squeezes my hand, because he gets my “fine” was not really fine. I squeeze back and smile, then he puts his palm back on the wheel.
Sydney lets out a giant sigh. “You know, you guys really shouldn’t…”
Adam and I wait for her to finish that thought, but I don’t hear anything. I twist around to look at her.
“Were you going to finish that sentence?” I smile, and Adam chuckles.
Sydney slouches in her seat and rests her chin in her hand as she looks out the window. “No.”
Adam turns into a gated community, and Sydney mutters a code at him before we head in. For someone who wanted company for this party, she sure is acting like a poopface.
“Hey,” I say, pointing a finger at her. “We’re here for you. If you keep being grumpy, I’m out.”
“Me too,” Adam says, pressing the brake.
She shakes her head and forces my seat up so she can hop out. I end up smacking the rearview mirror as she maneuvers from the car.
I try really hard not to tell Adam to just drive away. But I can’t do that, since I don’t recognize this house, don’t know who’s in there, and I don’t trust Sydney to keep an eye on herself while she’s being such a brat. I climb out after her, and I hear Adam blow out a shaky breath before hoisting himself out as well.
The house is dark, and there’s no music that can be heard from the street. But it’s gotta be the right place with all the cars parked out front. Sydney straightens her shirt and gestures for me to take off my hoodie. I roll my eyes before sliding out of it and tossing it into Adam’s Geo. I already miss having Levi’s Adidas comfort.
Sydney leads the way up the walk, Adam and I sort of floating behind. He’s having a hard time walking too, and by the time we get to the door, we’re chuckling our heads off.
“Cut it out,” Sydney hisses, then does this weird knock with the door knocker.
Someone cracks open the door, and when he sees who we are, he pulls it wider. My stomach gets a really bizarre twist. Not the good kind. Not even the nervous kind. The kind that says, “Bolt from the porch now!”
Connor Jenkins is one of the guys who locked me in the janitor’s closet my first week of school. He looks at me and winks, and I sure as hell know what that wink means. I back into Adam as I take a step away from him.
“You made it,” Connor says, moving his gaze to Sydney who’s digging in her purse. He crosses his arms and leans
against the doorframe. “You got your payment, yeah?”
Payment?
Sydney nods, still ruffling through different pouches. I poke her side, and she jumps a little.
“What?”
I bring my voice to a whisper so Connor can’t hear me. “I didn’t bring anything. I’m not sure if Adam did either.”
She shakes her head and pulls out a small mint case. “I’ve got it, don’t worry.”
My stomach won’t stop twisting. It’s like it’s trying to wring itself out, but it’s bone dry. Adam shifts behind me, pushing his glasses up his nose and trying to cough or something, but it’s not coming out right.
Sydney puts the mint case in Connor’s palm, and he shakes it next to his ear.
“I brought two, one for each of us,” Sydney sputters out, waving her hand in the air at me and her. Adam shifts his feet, but Connor steps back so we all can walk in. Guess two whatever mints is enough. I keep as close to Adam as humanly possible as we pass.
It smells like cat pee. My nose instantly crinkles and my tummy goes, “Get the hell out!” But for some reason, my feet stay planted next to my friends.
“Everyone’s upstairs.” Connor points down a dark hallway, where I assume there’s a stairwell. “I’ll get your drinks. What’s your poison?”
“I don’t need anything,” Adam says, shoving his hands into his pockets as much as he can with the tight material. “Designated driver.”
Connor laughs. “Dude, no alcohol here. This isn’t that kind of party.” Then what kind of party is this? “I have Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper… shit like that.”
“Oh.” His face doesn’t go red like I expect it too. It goes just the opposite and Ghost Adam stares at his shoes as he answers. “I’m fine with Pepsi.”
“Me too,” Sydney and I say at the same time, then I let out a sort of laugh, but I’m still feeling funky.
Connor’s got this perma-smile plastered on. It’s not creepy, but he looks wasted. Even if there’s no alcohol. Well, I’m not snorting anything either.
“Head on upstairs. I’ll be there in a sec.”
