by Bella King
I nodded, afraid that he would snap my collarbone if he applied any more pressure. Now wasn’t the opportune time to fight back. I was alone and without a weapon. Next time, I wouldn’t let him win like this.
Austin dropped me to the floor after studying my face for a moment. As my feet pressed against the lovely plush carpet, the elevator dinged again, indicating that Brittany had returned.
Austin took a step back, running a finger across his neck slowly as he retreated. I rushed into the elevator to escape him as soon as it opened, but I knew he wasn’t coming after me. He had said what he wanted to say, and that was all he needed. He had made his intentions known.
“What the fuck was that?” Brittany asked as I ducked behind her in the elevator.
“Nothing,” I said, lying through my teeth. I was too shaken to talk about what had just happened without breaking out in tears. I was an emotional person, but I was also scared to show it, especially to someone I had just met.
“That asshole has it coming. I swear he’s going to get kicked out someday,” Brittany said, shaking her head as the elevator door rolled closed again.
I nodded but stayed silent. I just wanted to get the clothes from Brittany and return to my room. I was exhausted from everything that had happened today, and my new bed was far more comfortable than anything I had the displeasure of sleeping in my entire life.
Brittany’s room smelled like gum, perfume, and cigarettes. Did nobody at this school have an issue with her smoking indoors? I was pretty sure nowhere allowed that kind of thing anymore, but she seemed to be getting away with it.
I looked around, noting the pink walls and pink bedsheets. This girl really liked the color pink.
“You want a shot?” Brittany asked, opening up a small black fridge in the corner of the room.
“A shot of what?” I asked.
She pulled out a frozen bottle of vodka. “The devil’s cum,” she said, something wild in her eyes.
“Um, I probably shouldn’t drink tonight. I’m thinking of going to bed,” I replied, clasping my hands in front of me awkwardly.
“Fuck, well, I’ve been drinking all night. The buzz is fading, and if I don’t slam back a few shots now, then I’m not going to make it to the party tonight. I’ll fucking fall asleep,” she said, screwing off the metal cap and tossing it onto the ground in front of her.
Had I known she had been drinking, then I wouldn’t have gotten into a car with her. I was beginning to doubt that she would actually be of much help to me, besides providing something that conformed to the uniform code. She seemed a bit too off-the-rails for use to get along.
Then again, there was something charming about her demeanor. It put me at ease more than I would have thought. She seemed very confident in herself, a personality trait that I sorely lacked. I could learn a thing or two from Brittany.
She pressed the thick glass bottle to her full lips, gulping down several shots’ worth of vodka before bringing it back down and pushing it out toward me.
I reluctantly took it from her and took a sip, grimacing at the harsh taste of pure vodka. I didn’t have anything to chance it with, but Brittany didn’t seem bothered by that in the least. She smiled as I took another sip of the fiery poison for good measure and handed the frosty bottle back to her.
I could feel the cold liquid slither down into my stomach, burning the delicate lining of my esophagus on the way down. I was never much of a drinker, but this was horrid.
“You should come with me to the party tonight,” she said.
“It’s sort of late, though,” I said, hinting that I wasn’t in the party mood. Truthfully, I never was. I hadn’t attended a single party my whole life.
“You’re fucked if you’re a social outcast here, and not in a good way. If you want Austin to torment you the whole time you’re here, then, by all means, act antisocial. He’s the only one who is going to talk to you,” she explained, downing another shot of vodka from the bottle.
It wasn’t fair that I had to be social. Why couldn’t I just go to school, focus on my studies, and graduate with honors? It didn’t have to be any more complicated than that, but here Brittany was telling me that I would be thrown to the dogs if I didn’t party with her. It seemed so primitive.
“I’m sure I can come to another party sometime,” I said, still trying to get out of it.
Brittany laughed as she walked over to her closet. “I know your type, Jane. Smart, but somehow stupid at the same time. If you don’t follow the unwritten rules, you don’t last at East Bridge. I’ve seen brilliant people drop out because of it. You’re in a different league now. Grades are the last thing that matters.”
If all that was true, I was going to take a while for me to accept it. I was used to my academic achievements being belittled by my aunt, but to say that they didn’t matter more than my social status was a hard pill to swallow. I wasn’t a social person by any means.
Brittany pulled out a bright pink skirt and a white blouse from her closet. “Try this one,” she said, thrusting it out to me.
I took it from her hand and held it up to myself, looking at my reflection in the body-length mirror that was apparently in every room in the dorm. I barely recognized myself against the luxury fabric. It was so unlike me, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I had to wear it or get kicked out.
“Try it on,” Brittany urged, then slung back yet another shot of vodka.
“Right here?”
She laughed, then coughed from the liquid in her throat. “Yeah, Jane, we’re both women.”
I knew that I was shyer than other women were, and it bothered me that I felt strange about changing in front of Brittany. I had to be more courageous. How the hell was I going to make it through school if I was shy about the smallest things?
I sucked it up and pulled down my pants, stepping out of them as Brittany politely ignored me in favor of the bottle. I was quick to change, but I felt proud of myself for being able to do it in front of another person, as ridiculous as that was. It was the small victories that would keep me going in such a tough environment.
“You look so much better in that,” Brittany said, pressing her lips together and nodding once I had gotten dressed.
“You think so?” I asked, doubting myself as I looked at my new reflection. I looked nice, but so unlike me.
“For sure,” she replied. “Let’s get out of here. The party already started like two hours ago.”
I shrugged, continuing to look at myself in the mirror. It was strange, but I guess I was starting to like this look. I could go to a party tonight like this. Why not?
“One more for the road,” Brittany said, throwing the bottle back once again and taking a large gulp of ice-cold vodka. Before picking the lid off the ground and screwing it back on. “We’ll bum some drinks off the boys when we get there. No reason to bring our own booze,” she said, placing the bottle back into her fridge.
I nodded. “Sure,” I said, already beginning to feel the first shot I took. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling, easing my social anxiety just enough for me to agree to go with her.
“Let’s light those fuckers up,” Brittany said, pulling out a cigarette and placing it in her mouth. “Are you sure you don’t want one?” she asked, holding out the pack to me.
I reached out and grabbed one from the box, feeling giddy that I was doing something like this. If smoking for the first time was any indication, tonight was the start of a new journey in my life.
Jane Devlin wasn’t the little bookworm she used to be, and after East Bridge got ahold of her, she never would be.
Chapter 11
The party was being held on the top floor of the last dorm building in the lot. It was as far away from the center of the campus. Security must have been looser around the perimeter because I didn’t see a single guard strolling around campus when Brittany and I arrived at the final building.
“There’s always a lot of parties before school starts, but this one is proba
bly going to be one of the bigger ones you’ll go to,” Brittany explained as she keyed us into the building.
“Do people party a lot here?” I asked, surprised that such a prestigious school would allow something like this.
“All the time. It’s the only way to stay sane,” she replied.
I could think of other ways to unwind, but I didn’t want to brush off Brittany so quickly. After all, she had been here longer than I had, and she seemed to know a thing or two about the school. A few drinks, maybe a little dancing, and some socializing couldn’t hurt me. I wouldn’t go too far.
I could already hear the bass of the music upstairs thumping through the walls. This was a full-fledged college party. I thought stuff like this only existed in the movies.
“Okay, first thing’s first. You need to promise me that you’re not going to fuck Austin,” Brittany said, turning to me once we got in the elevator.
“I already said I’m not into him,” I said.
“That’s not good enough. You need to promise. Booze fucks with your head,” she said, her blue eyes wide and serious.
“Yes, of course. I promise.”
“You promise what?”
I felt like I was being interrogated. “I promise I won’t fuck Austin.”
Just the words rolling off my tongue aroused me, and I didn’t know why. It seemed insane that I would be attracted to someone so horrid. Looks weren’t everything. Besides, I think he wanted to kill me more than he wanted to fuck me. Maybe he would do both if he got the chance.
Brittany smiled at me, changing from her preciously serious expression. “Good. Let’s get fucked up,” she said as the elevator doors opened, and the music hit in full force.
I stepped out into the hallway, hoping that I wouldn’t have to deal with Austin that night. I had experienced enough of his threats and intimidation not to like him anymore, even if he was the most attractive man that I had ever laid eyes on. Totally not important. Yeah.
I still felt out of place even though I had straightened myself up and was wearing some of Brittany’s clothes. It was as though I was faking being a part of East Bridge and that I had never actually been accepted here. Even if my parents were known here, it didn’t mean that people would like me. In fact, I was finding it to be quite the opposite.
People were crowded in the hallway, and several of the rooms had their doors open. Brittany tugged me along through the throngs of students and brought me to a room where they were serving drinks. Great, more alcohol. I had to be careful with it because the two shots I had taken before were making me feel warm already.
“If you want to smoke, there’s a balcony on this floor,” Brittany said as she handed me a mixed drink. “The fire alarms work in this building, unfortunately.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, okay,” I said, twirling the cigarette that she had given me between my fingers. I still hadn’t smoked it, but I planned to. Maybe it would be quieter outside on the balcony.
I walked out toward the end of the hall, leaving Brittany in the drink room. She had already smoked through two cigarettes on the way here, and she didn’t look like she was ready for another one yet. I had to go alone.
I passed a couple making out in the hallway. The girl’s legs were all the way up on the wall, and the guy was feeling up her thigh like he wanted to fuck her on the spot.
Get a room.
I laughed to myself. There were tons of rooms in the hall, and yet they were doing this in public. I guess they had been partying pretty hard already and couldn’t hold back anymore. I tried not to judge. I wasn’t exactly a saint myself, even if I was shy. That didn’t make me a prude.
The air was clearer on the balcony, and I enjoyed the coolness of the night now that I wasn’t on the side of the road in danger of being eaten by a bear. It was nice to pop out and have a smoke. I guess that was one of the reasons people did it.
There was a group of people talking, and another man leaning against the balcony with a full cigar clenched in his teeth. He nodded at me and flicked his lighter as I placed the menthol cigarette into my mouth.
“Thank you,” I said, leaning in to light the end of my cigarette. I tried not to cough as I took the first drag.
“You’re new here,” he stated.
“That’s correct,” I said with a smile. I didn’t find him to be as handsome as Austin, but he wasn’t ugly by any means.
“Where are you from? I don’t remember seeing you around town. Are you from out of state?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m from the other side of the country, actually.”
“Your parents must be loaded then. Out of state tuition is like triple the regular,” he said, growing interested.
I took a drag of my cigarette and coughed. “No, actually, I just got a scholarship.”
“A nerd,” he said with a laugh. “That’s cute. You don’t look like one.”
Thank god. It wasn’t a look I would be proud to have. At East Bridge, I doubted being a nerd would get me very far, if what Brittany had told me had any truth to it. This was a party school for elites, not a place for quiet nerds like me.
I batted my lashes at the man and took a sip of my drink to balance the harshness of the smoke in my throat.
“Do you want to dance?” the man asked me, looking me up and down.
I wasn’t used to the attention I had been getting lately, but I didn’t trust men much either. “I don’t know,” I said, hoping that he would convince me.
“It’ll be fun. What’s your name, by the way?” he asked, removing himself from the balcony railing and standing up straight.
“Jane,” I answered, not wanting to reveal my last name.
“Jane. Plain Jane,” he said with a chuckle.
I froze, panic rising inside of my body like a thermometer dipped in a boiling pot. Did he already know who I was? Was he friends with Austin? I knew that he caught my awkward expression because he was quick to correct himself.
“It was a joke. Obviously, you’re very beautiful,” he said, trying to smooth out the crease in the fabric of my mind.
I sighed, then laughed with him. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want me to dance with you.” I felt my shoulders drop down as he smiled, realizing that it had just been a coincidence that he had chosen the same cruel nickname for me. He probably didn’t know Austin.
“Let me try again,” the man said. “Nice to meet you, Jane. My name is Brad.”
Typical jock name. I was tempted to make a joke about it, but I couldn’t think of anything clever enough to impress him. I wasn’t good with words unless I was writing them. My brain didn’t think well on the spot. Introvert problems.
I shook his hand and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Brad.”
“So come, let’s dance,” he said, flicking his head toward the door back into the dormitory.
I took a final puff of my cigarette before tossing it into the metal bin outside. I followed that with a large gulp of my drink, and I was ready to go. Brad opened the door for me, and we went back inside.
“This place gets wild on the weekends,” Brad said, raising his voice to be heard over the clubbing music.
“Is it always like this?” I asked.
“Yep. East Bridge is a party school. We live for it here,” Brad said, taking my hand and pulling me into a bedroom that had been turned into a dance floor.
Someone had moved all the furniture out of the room and taped a mat down over the carpet so that people could dance. There were speakers on all four walls, centering the music onto the dancefloor. Lights blinked on and off as everyone swayed together on the dance floor with drinks in hand.
My drink got knocked the second I stepped into the room, sloshing over on the mat. Thank god it was there or whoever’s room this was would be ruined by the end of the night. Brad pulled me into the crowd and led the dance.
I let myself forget about my worries as soundwaves crashed through my body, and bass rumbled my insides. I felt myself unwinding like
a cramped muscle under pressure, the alcohol, music, and movement easing me into a party state of mind. I was actually enjoying this.
Brad moved his hand around my waist and guided me with his narrow hips, swaying to the music with seductive perfection. Even though I wasn’t especially into him, he held me captive with his dance moves and made me want to stay on the floor with him all night.
Three songs in, after we had moved so close that our bodies were moving as one, Brad leaned back and said something to me. I saw his lips move, but I couldn’t hear the words.
I frowned, which prompted him to move toward my ear and shout, “I need to get another drink.”
I nodded, looking at the long-empty glass in my hand. I thrust it out to him and grinned. He laughed and took it from me, disappearing from the dance floor as the music slowed. Damn, this would have been the perfect time for a slow dance with him.
I moved out of the crowd before someone paired up with me. I felt an odd loyalty to Brad even though I didn’t know him well. He probably danced with every girl like this, but I wanted to believe otherwise. I wanted to feel special.
I finally found the exit and moved out into the hallway, where I caught sight of Brittany talking to a group of three large men. They all looked like football players. I had the urge to join her, but I was intimidated by the men. I didn’t want to get wrapped up in whatever they were doing.
I waited in the hallway as Brad took his time coming back. Maybe I was just drunk, but it felt like he was taking forever just to get more drinks. Brittany had only taken a second. Where was he?
I leaned against the wall, drumming my fingers against the white plaster while I impatiently waited for Brad to return. After five more minutes, I went to see what was up. If he was in the bathroom, then I would just have to get a drink myself. I didn’t feel like waiting.
I breezed past Brittany in the hall, who was still too absorbed in conversation with the football players to notice me, and I reached the room where drinks were being served. As I went through the doorway, I spotted Brad leaning with his arm up on the wall, a small woman under him looking like she was ready to drop her panties at his command.
