Her dad wasn't supposed to follow her to the bookshelves,
because everyone knew that the bookstore was one of the top ways for girls to get hit on by super cute, super cool guys. But she didn't say anything, and pretended that her dad was just one of those weirdo old men that enjoyed perusing the teen bookshelves.
Until he, of course, spoke to her.
"Oh my god, yeah," Margot said as she slipped over to her dad's side. "Elle and I read the whole series and the movie just came out. We're totally going to watch it one of these weekends. The one guy in it? Oh my god, dad, he's so dreamy." She let out a breathy sigh, as her thoughts were filled with none other than her current teen celebrity crush, Nicholas Galitzine. Elle totally teased her about it, but he was so freaking hot.
"Dad, you don't get it. It's, like, a modern day Romeo and Juliet, except that neither one of them die. They're like -- okay so, like, Prince Henry and Alex from the United States don't like each other. But they're both, like, basically royalty, so their moms are like 'omg, you guys HAVE to get along,' and so they like, do. But it turns out that Henry has this crush on Alex, and so then they kiss and they're, like, secretly dating and it's just," she sighed. "Oh my god, dad, it's so freaking good. You should totally read it. Mom loved it."
(Logan had not, in fact, loved it, but she pretended for her daughter's sake.)
Colby's smile fell pretty quickly. But he covered it up, offering another little laugh as his dad ruffled his hair.
He did agree to mini golf, at least, so it must not have been that lame of an idea.
(Look at his parents, though. Of course his ideas were lame -- Tori and Zeph's idea of a wild night out was probably a single drink at dinner followed by being home after ten.)
His dad swerved a bit in the lanes, and Colby's fingers naturally tensed and pressed into the leather seat. But he kept that goofy, calm grin on his face, as if none of this was a bother to him whatsoever. And then his dad leaned over, slapped the glovebox, and glistening within was a flask. And Colby's jaw nearly dropped open, 'cept he'd realized that he needed to remain cool, calm, collected.
βHey, look in there,β Lin said. βSee that? Nice shit. You can take a drink if you want." His dad held his hand out. "I want some too, though.β
Drinking wasn't something he really did too much, but Axel was all about it, so Colby was familiar. He was also super familiar with his bestie getting super drunk, and having to wrestle the keys out of his drunken hands so that Colby could illegally drive the beat up old car back to one of their houses, where he'd help Axel in and to bed before falling asleep himself.
Micky was probably into guys that drank, though.
So Colby opened the flask, and he took a sip of the bitter liquid. 'Cept then he gagged a little bit, wincing as he passed it to his dad.
He was going to be entirely honestβsheβd lost him at Elle and I read the whole series. A whole fuckinβ series? You had to be shitting him. That shit was what sold? Mike could write a better story by taking a dump on some printer paper.
βOh my god, dad, itβs so freaking good,β Margot finished, after a dreamy sigh. βYou should totally read it. Mom loved it.β
Yeah, no. I would rather gouge out my own eyeballs and eat them deep fried. He grimaced, holding up a hand in resistance, as if to push the affront to the English language out of his sight. βMmmmmmmmmmβ¦.β He turned his head sideways, shaking it slightly. βYeahhhh, if Mom liked it, then Iβm going to have to pass. We donβt, uhβ¦β There were a lot of things he could put in that blank. βWe donβt have the same, ah, taste in literature.β
That was probably the most child-appropriate way to put it.
His eyes shifted to another book, and he shuffled a little down the aisle in morbid curiosity. With a look of moderate disgust, he peered at the cover, observing the shirtless, faceless body with rock hard abs which was likely supposed to be a hot boy on the football team. βWhy the hell is he soβ¦β
In his periphery, someone moved at the end of the aisle. Like an antelope fearing being made a lionβs prey, Mikeβs eyes flinched to the person and then flickered back to the shelf, his feet simultaneously instinctively taking a step back from the shelves as his mind rushed to find an explanation that was suitable that wasnβt as shit and embarrassing as the truth that his daughter was dragging him around the fucking frilly ass bookstore.
He double-taked.
Stunned, dumbfounded, Mike stared at the womanβs side profile like a deer in headlights. There was something different about her than he rememberedβsomething that he couldnβt place, but something that made him reconsider for a second that maybe his gut instinct could be wrong. But noβno, his instinct couldnβt be wrong, because the longer he stared at her, the more he watched the redheaded woman scan the biography section of the aisle with a focused expression on her face, the more that she looked like the girl she was in his memory, and the harder he strained to connect the resemblance to the one he recalled seeing even more recentlyβon her wedding invitation that heβd merely glanced at and thrown away, though that had been, what, over eleven years now?βthe more he felt assured that she was the woman who the pit of his stomach had told him she was.
It was her. It had to be her.
They hadnβt left on the best of terms. Hell, heβd kicked himself just about every night since, too. Itβd been, what, over twenty fucking years, but he still remembered it.
Did her skin still feel the same? Had she gotten any better at kissing?
Her body was still so fucking hot.
For a minute, or maybe two, he watched herβwatched her move from book to book, too fully entrenched in what she was doing to even notice himβand then, finally his dumbfounded expression formed into a small smirk. βShit,β he muttered. His daughter far from his mind, he swaggered to the end of the aisle with an easy stride.
When he reached the woman, he broke out into his lopsided grin. βVeronica, babe!β he said. βLong tiββ
But when the womanβs face snapped over to glare at him with a murderous look, he immediately realized, with a fall of his heart to his feet, that his gut had, for the first time in history, been totally fucking wrong.
And, for some reason, his heart gave a dull, saddened thud, and then his throat burned with irritation at the lady in front of himβwho was, in every way, disgusting, because she was not the redhead who heβd thought sheβd be.
βOh, Jesus,β Mike said, stepping back and turning his face away in distaste. βWrong woman. Sorry.β
Shit. Shit.
Fuck.
Fuck her stupid face and her stupid body and God, why canβt I ever fuckingβ¦
Turning away, now irritated, Mike walked back toward his daughter, shoving his hands in his pocket. He breezed right past Margot, muttering, βHurry up, Maggie. Iβm going to go sit in the car.β
Holy ess-aych-eye-tee was this kid a fuckinβ hoot. Not in the necessarily proud sort of dad-ish way, but Colby was seriously a fuckinβ riot. βBet youβre fun at parties, huh, boy?β he said, taking the flask from the kid with a wide grin. He took a big, long swig, and then made a soft grunting sound as he swallowed it down. βSee that? Get better,β he laughed, which was, in Linβs own way, a bit of encouragement.
He bet the kidβs little wimpy ass was probably a lightweight. He got it from his fuckinβ bitch ass mom, too.
βYou should start drinking more,β Lin told the boy, running a hand through his own black hair and drawing in a deep breath. βPeople like you better when youβre not a sober tightass like your bitchass stepfuck.β He reached over and patted Colby on the shoulder, a grin spreading wide across his face. βYouβre, what, fourteen now? Youβre getting a late start.β Not that Lin had started drinking until he was almost legal, anyway, but maybe that would help give Colby more of a personality.
He held out the flask again for the kid. βDrink,β he ushered, and then, with a grin, he slipped back into his old ways, chanting, βChug, chug, chug, chug, chugββ
Much like both his father who had raised him and his father who had... created him?
Either way, much like the both of them, Colby had a terrible time trying to hold his alcohol. As in, he was a basic lightweight. Just a shot or two would have him buzzed, and anything over would easily send the young boy into a stumbling haze.
He'd had plenty of fun hanging with his dad, though, and now night had set in the quiet suburb of his home. Lin had dropped him off but hadn't bothered to make sure Colby made it to the door safely, so now the skinny blonde was stumbling his way across the yard. At one point, he stubbed his toe on a sprinkler, which caused him to release a string of quiet, almost cuss words.
"Fudge n' nuts." he hissed.
Stumbling his way towards the door once more, Colby successfully set on a light, which caused a neighbor dog to bark, which caused him to get scared enough that he tripped and slammed heavily into their front door, which caused their family dog to start barking.
Sinking to the ground, Colby rubbed a hand against his sore head.
If you asked anyone who had known Victoria Sterling for any period of time
, they would be hard pressed to say that she was anything aside from utterly normal and stable. Yes, though she might have had writing talents unlike any sheβd known before and her gorgeous looks belonged more to a twenty-something than to someone nearing her forties, she was a completely normal and well-adjusted individual who responded aptly to any situation at hand. Did now, always had, and always would. She was predictable like thatβpredictably normal, and predictably never varying from the normal. She was fun, of courseβan absolute blast to have around, which you could ask anyone, tooβand she could, if she wanted, make parties an absolute ball, but she preferred to remain reserved because she didnβt want to show everyone up in every way of life. People were jealous enough of her already, jeez.
But, even as normal and as stable as Victoria wasβand she wasβthere were some timesβjust some times, mind youβthat she got someβ¦thoughts.
You know.
The thought that she could commit murderβand shouldβand that she could totally get the eff away with it.
It was usually in reference to her sonβs biological father.
That was the case again.
But also, she kind of wanted to kill Zeph a little bit, too. Not a ton, because sheβ¦ya know, was married to him and, yeah, you know, loved him, because, ya know, big hot husband who takes care of my kid, but also heβd let her son go with the motherfucker who was a danger to himself and society and anyone else around him when he could have easily just said no youβre not taking him or, ya know, taken down Lin and beaten him to a pulp (that would have been hot, too), or called the police to get him off of the property, orβorβor literally anything besides let their son go with the fucking deadbeat the one time that she wasnβt around. And no, she still wasnβt over it, and no, she wasnβt going to let it go, because this was not the first time that this had happened. Of course, sheβd scolded him for it, but thatβd mostly been it. But mostly, she wanted to kill Lin.
Like, murder him.
Brutally.
And never be found out.
And finally live in effing peace for one?
Jeez, couldnβt a girl dream.
She could so do itβ¦but she wouldnβt. She had to deal with her son first.
She needed kill him a little bit, too.
First of all, sheβd raised him better than to run off with randos just because they had cool vehicles, and thatβs what Lin was, pretty much. Sure, he was a hot stranger at one point, but now, he was just a greasy sewer rat in a leather jacket. Leather jackets hadnβt been cool since the effing 90s. Second off, thoughβsheβd raised Colby so much better than to run off with Lin, for Godβs sake. Didnβt he have more self-preservation? I mean, surely, he wasnβt dumb enough to think that Lin was going to be responsible with him, and hadnβt she raised him better than to be irresponsible?
Yes. Yes, she had raised him better than that. So, he was minorly dead.
β¦
She didnβt like how that sounded.
God, please donβt let him be dead.
She gnawed at the inside of her lower lip, her finger tapping rapidly on the windowsill as her eyes flickered unblinkingly from the view of the porch through the window to the image of the clock that ticked amazingly slow on the wall above fruit bowl. Her breathing was labored. Her heart thudded in her chest. At every car that passed, her shoulders tensed, but it was just one person or another making a wrong turn down the cul de sac or seeking to find their own driveway in the neighborhood.
If heβs not back inβ¦tenβno, five minutes, Iβm going to go and look for him myself, she finally vowed; she struggled to swallow the bitter saliva that had gathered in her mouth.
She closed her aching eyes for a second and squeezed them tightly.
β¦actually, this was kind ofβ¦niceβ¦
Today had been aβ¦longβ¦dayβ¦
β¦
β¦
BARKBARKBARK!
Startled from her sleep, Toriβs eyes flung open.
Her eyes caught on a figure outside of the window.
Her stomach dropped to her feet.
For a moment, Tori was entirely frozen with her eyes horrifiedly glued to the slouching, falling, tripping boy who made his way toward the front porch, listening to the neighborβs dog bark, untilβ
SLAM!
Colbyβs head rammed into the door.
βShit!β she said, suddenly snapping out of her daze and jumping toward the door; Maxine jumped up from her dog bed to come barking at Toriβs knees.
Immediately, she wrapped Colby in her arms. She held him tight for a long moment, squeezing her eyes shut, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. βYouβre alive, my Godβyouβre alive!β She held him to herself, though he, even slouching, towered over her. Her eyes teared up, and she dragged him in the door, shutting it and locking it behind them, as Maxine excitedly jumped at the two of them.
She held him for another couple of moments, her eyes shut tightly, and her heart soothed slightly.
And thenβshe remembered.
Holding him tightly by the shoulders, Tori gripped her son and shoved him out to hold him away from her body. The million scathing questions sheβd thought before swarmed her head, all of them at onceβand the only one that came out was, in a furious hiss, βColby Major Kay, are you effing stupid?β
His mother's words echoed dully through his head as she held him close to her, as if he might slip away between her fingers.
Alive? 'Course he was alive.
"You're hurting me," he mumbled against her, although he made no move to pull away. Probably because Tori was the only thing keeping Colby upright at the moment.
And then she pushed him away from her, gripping his shoulders, and Colby thought he might be sick as his stomach lurched.
He was pretty sure she'd asked if he was stupid, and Colby pretty much proved that he was with his next choice in words.
"God mom," he slurred. "Don't be such a fuckin' bitch ass."
Yes, he was quoting Lin.
And yes, Colby then proceeded to lurch away from his mother and double over in front of a bush and vomit up tonight's fun.
The expression on her face was nothing but a smug smile,
as Adriane listened to Nickie tire herself out with a thousand weak insults. It wasn't as if Adriane hadn't heard these before and by this point, they mostly rolled right off her like water.
But Nickie attacking her like this proved one simply thing.
She had won.
As Nickie struggled with her tears, she uttered one, final sentence.
βWhatβs so fucking special about you?β
"Try asking your husband," Adriane stated simply with a smirk, and then she took a step back and slammed the door shut in front of Nickie's face before turning the lock.
Adriane headed into the living room, pausing by the drapes to peer out and make sure that Nickie wasn't going to do anything too crazy. Once satisfied, she stepped away from and headed towards the stairs, her hand resting on the railing before she called up to kids above.
"Hey Micky," she called. "Do you want to go shopping?"
And yet, they were coming from the mouth of Colby Major.
Toriβs face froze in shock and horror; in drunken response, Colby lurched away from her and backed out of the door to vomit into a bush.
She watched him for a second, her blood boiling, as she willed herself not to strangle her child. Donβtdoitdonβtdoitdonβtdoit, she repeated over and over in her head as Colbyβs shoulders heaved. He was drunkβtotally effing plasteredβand he was fifteen years old, and he was stupid, and he should have known better, and he had said that to his motherβ the one who birthed himβand now he was vomiting into her rhododendrons on her porch in the dead of the night. Her babyβthis is what was happening to her baby.
Myβ¦babyβ¦
Her heart gave a painful squeeze, and, cringing and shaking her head, she sighed. βJesus,β she muttered, taking a quick step forward and urgently grabbing Colbyβs shoulder, though heβd been vomiting for the past minute.
When there was a long pause in his puking, she yanked him up by his shoulder and held him by his shoulders again. She looked him in the dull eyes again, narrowing her eyes, and she said, with a sigh, βWhen youβre sober, you are grounded for the rest of your life.β
But for now, she walked him inside carefully, preparing to get him ready for bed.
Every single person in the world was an idiot except for Axel, apparently.
Look, heβd tried to give them a chanceβseriously had, you know, tried to imagine that there was some way in hell that maybe not everyone was on the same plain damn stupid level as, say, Maggot or Mom or Dadβbut the more of a chance he wound up giving to the general population, the more disappointed he found himself.
Ya see, it went like this: yesterday, some stupid asshat parked in his fucking parking spot and was surprised when, Oh, shit, there werenβt any windshield wipers left on it when he got back out there, and the fucking idiot had tattled like a little bitch to the principal instead of either manning up and facing the consequences of his idiotic actions or, ya know, punching him like a fucking man, and Axel had had to return the wipers or else blah blah blah, administration will [redacted] your [redacted], blah blah. And then, when he came back to class, the fucking idiot βsmartβass in class wouldnβt take a crisp five to let Axel copy her homework and the fucking idiot teacher wouldnβt trust Axel that he seriously just didnβt fucking have time to do his homework and instead failed him on it.
And then today, which had the chance to be even slightly better, his mom had told him that he, in the car that he fucking purchased and worked on himself and maintained himself and babied himself, had not only take Maggot but also her snot-nosed pick me bestie in a fucking oversized smock to a party that was supposed to just be him, his little non-bio bro, and a ton of hot asses. Yeah, you heard him right: he had to take his fucking little sister to a party and still try to get some. What the fuck, right?
So the world was fucking stupid, and he was the only smart one, he guessed.
And listen, before you said that he was full of himself, just look at him. Heβd only be full of himself if he was, ya know, lying to himself, but he wasnβt, because, just as he was in his head, in reality, Axel was 1) swole, 2) smart, and 3) fucking sexy. The three Ss. They ran the fucking world. He ran the fucking world.
Or, well, he should have, anyway.
See, if Axel was in charge of the world, things would work like they should. People with brains and brawn like himself? They would fucking rule. Survival of the fittest. And whoever didnβt like that? They could kiss his fucking ass and polish it while they were back there.
Axel Reid for President 2040.
Anywayβ¦where was he?
Oh yeah. People were fucking stupid. Right.
So, people were fucking stupid, and his week had been ass because of said stupid people, and all he wanted to do after a week like this was drink the night away, maybe fuck some people, and try not to wind up having to go to the clinic with gonorrhea again or wind up in the back of a police car, and his little fucking idiot sister and her little fucking idiot friend were already trying to ruin it.
As soon as he parked the groaning car in the ill-maintained gravel lot beside the woods, he turned around to the backseat to glare at his sister. βYou donβt know me, got it?β he said in a growl. βGot it?β And he didnβt really wait for an answer before he turned his back on Maggot and got out of his prized clunker.
When Colby got out of the car, Axel gave him a small punch on the shoulder. He grinned, flinging his arm around his brother-from-another-mother. βHey, tonight?β he half-muttered. βTonight, youβre getting some, bro.β With a chuckle, he gave Colby a pat on the back and began to swagger toward a cooler overflowing with beer, expecting Colby to follow.
Cracking open a can one-handed, Axel turned toward Colby. βHey, Kay?β he said to get his attention, and then, tossing him the opened drink, said, βThink fast.β
This is the first time my mom is letting me out of the house unsupervised!
said the post that Ellie had spent the past twenty minutes trying to make aesthetically pleasing.
How crazy was that? Like, her mom always made her babysitβor well, told Micky to babysit, and Micky made Ellie babysitβbut for the first time ever, her mom was actually letting her go somewhere! Which was kind of crazy, right? Like, usually, sheβd try to convince Mr. Mason to let Micky come over and when that didnβt work, sheβd make Ellie babysit anyway, but tonight, her mom hadnβt said anything about her babysitting.
At first, when her mom and dad had left without really saying a word, Ellie had thought, Oh, sheβs just assuming that Iβll watch the babies, but then, it dawned on her: this was her mom saying, βBe free!β
And Ellie knew where to be free toβthat party!
Yes, that was rightβEllie herself had been invited to a party! Crazy, right? Sheβd never been invited to one before, so she didnβt really know what to expect. In the books she read, parties were full of hot guys, though, who always wanted to get with the unnoticed girl in the corner who, unlike all of the others, enjoyed reading and wasnβt just out for, like, money or whatever.
Which was, like, so her. So basically, tonight, she and Margot were the girls, and Ellie knew that she would have to bat everyone off.
The only dress she really had was a dress that she wore to her momβs great uncleβs funeral, but that was, like, not hot, so sheβd opted to dig through her momβs closet until she foundβooooohβa short blue number that was slightly too large for her. Which, like, was weird that her mom had, because sheβd never seen her mom wear it, so that showed Ellie even more that this was meant to be.
And, you know what was even better? She got to ride there with Axel and Colby!
Colby would so notice her tonight, she knew.
As she and Margot chatted in the backseat, Ellie couldnβt keep herself from glancing at Colbyβs reflection in the rearview mirror. As subtly as she could, she puffed out her chest, pulling on a smile that she kept the whole time even though it made her cheeks hurt, just so he would look at her and think she was pretty.
And by the end of the night, she expected a confession of his deep love, which she would laugh off and say, Nice try, buddy, because the hottest girls played it the coolest.
But when the vehicle stopped, Axel, who looked like he was really mad about something or other, barked at his sister to stay away, and Colby followed him out of the vehicle, and Ellieβs heart fell slightly. Confused, she looked over at Margot. βWhat was that about?β Ellie asked. βWhy is your brother a jerk like that?β
And does that mean that Iβm not supposed to see Colby all night?
Not that Ariana was necessarily surprised by her cousin's current state, but she was rather annoyed given that he'd offered to drive them all to said party.
He was known as a terrible driver sober, but that was just worsened when he was high. Such as now, as she clenched the driver and passenger seats, trying to steady herself at the sharp way he shifted between braking and pressing the gas. Of course, he'd only recently started taking driving lessons with her dad, and Ari knew she'd been this bad before but--
"You," she hissed, "are never talking me into letting you drive again."
(She'd said this several times before, and she'd sworn up and down that every time would be the last.)
As Miles pulled into a parking spot, Ari had already unbuckled her seatbelt and she was out the door before the car had even come to a complete stop.
"Don't get into any fights," she called over her shoulder to Miles and Micky. "Find me if you need me but like, don't need me? And I'll see you back here at ten thirty so we can go home."
She knew she'd end up having to hunt both of them down to be home by curfew, but alas. That was just the responsibility she carried as the eldest.
Ari headed into the party, sidestepping several already drunk (they really probably weren't) fellow peers, until she'd made her way over to the drinks. She poked through the coolers, grabbing out a Seagrams (straight beer was so gross) and cast a disgusted, rather annoyed look in the direction of Axel Reid and Colby what's-his-face as Axel tossed an open beer into his little buddy's hands.
Idiots, she thought to herself before she popped off the top off the drink, tucking the little metal cap into her pocket -- no, she wasn't a litterer -- and then started to peer around for her own idiot.
And when she saw him, yes, she smiled, but shut up, it wasn't anything super weird.
"Hey you," Ari said as she walked up to Donna. "Have you been waiting for me?"
If Donahueβs dad (or his mom or his brother, for that matter) knew that he vaped,
Donahue would probably be shitting out of a new hole. But the good thing was that, while most people didnβt know the art of being slick, Donna was quite well-versed. I mean, anyone could pick that up, what with his vibe. You know. Slicked hair. Leather jacket. Shoulders back. You understood. So the whole being slick thing came very naturally. It was his nature. Not second nature. His nature. In his blood.
Ask the two-year-old tattoo Meryl Streep on the inside of his upper thigh that still no one knew about.
Not that he tried to be secretive. But Donna knew that his dad wouldnβt get it, and his mom wouldnβt get it, and neither would Jay, so he had to do what he had to do.
So yes, that meant driving separate from his brother and leaving from a different place at a much different time so he could hotbox his car. It was what it was. It wasnβt like Jay didnβt have hisβ¦well, ya know, something. And Donnaβs something was that he just needed his nicotine fix.
Anyway, he hid everything away by the time that heβd reached the party in his BMW, and heβd strolled around sort of aimlessly from a bit, his hands in the pocket of his leather jacket, his dark eyes searching the crowd forβ¦
No one in particular. It wasnβt like heβ¦wasβ¦looking for someone or anything. He perched against a tree and watched the crowd.
A girl who had a thing for Jay in fourth grade scowled at a boy with a faux hawk. Ax-hole Reid tossed an opened drink to that loser Colby. Yo mama made eyes at whoever else, blah, blah, this was boring.
Where is she?
βHey you.β
Donna perked up instinctively at the sound of the voice, his head turning toward the source. A sort of smile curled onto his lip before he could catch himself. βHey,β he said, finally gaining a sort of control over himself, though he ran a hand over his gelled hair to make sure it was all in its place.
"Have you been waiting for me?" she asked.
He chuckled, gave a shrug. βHa, only as much as you were waiting for me.β He pushed off of the tree. He made eye contact with her, and a small smile broke over this face again. βBut you werenβt seriously looking for one of the Freud pricks, were you? Tsk. A good girl like you? For shame.β
He glanced over her outfit and stifled a wider grin. βI like those jeans,β he said, like he knew jack squat about fashion or like he recognized those jeans at all.
Miles had had some false confidence about his abilities to drive. But hey, listen, they had made it safely to the party in one piece and he hadn't even scratched the side of the car.
You know, the car that was definitely Ari's and not his, but that Mason had insisted she had to share with all three of them since Adriane had only purchased the one car. It was real nice, though. Or well-- okay it was better than that dickhead Axel Reid's car, but sure, it wasn't as nice as like the fucking Freuds, but it was middle of the road okay.
"See ya, use condoms," he called after Ariana as she faded into the distance. There was a playful grin on his face as he pocketed the keys, 'cause guess what, she'd been so in her own head that she'd forgotten to snatch them from them.
Haha, idiot.
"C'mon, let's go get drunk," Miles said, tossing his arm around Micky's shoulder -- and not because he was trying to keep himself upright, thank you very much.
As they approached, his sleepy eyes moved around the groups of people, his smile falling when he noticed who was currently occupying the space by the drinks. "Shit," he hissed, 'cause it just had to be Colby and--
He blinked, confused, as he saw a couple of vaguely familiar brunettes.
"Your mom let your sister come out?" he asked, as he squinted his eyes and pointed a partially crooked finger in Eleanor's direction.
She'd said he was grounded, but his mother hadn't been prepared for how good Colby was at breaking out of the house.
... Okay to be honest, he wasn't that good at it. 'Cept tonight was their high school reunion, which meant that Laura was downstairs being babysat by some loser old lady 'cause Colby wasn't "trusted" to watch his parents' precious little princess tonight. And after they'd left, he'd feigned a sore stomach, and headed to his bedroom.
Where he'd crawled out the window like a real cool badass, and then he'd met Axel in front of his house. There were a couple chicks in the back, and Colby had thought that Axel had started early. So he'd turned in his seat, trying to look all cool, 'till he realized it was just Axel's weird little sister and their neighbor that stared at him a lot.
His smile turned from real to fake real fast, so he spun back around in his seat, buckling up as Axel's hot piece of garbage stuttered its way down his quiet suburban street and towards the party.
When they arrived, Axel spent a good bit being all grrr at his little sister, and Margot gave him some real dark, angry eyes, 'cept that Colby knew they really loved each other and it was all just an act. So he kept a beaming smile up on his face, until Axel was stalking away towards the party. And with that, he gave a small wave at the girls.
"See ya guys later," he said, before he hurried to catch up with his friend (which wasn't too hard since Axel had probably been cursed with the Reid family's short man gene).
βHey, tonight?β Axel said, his arm tossed around Colby's shoulders. βTonight, youβre getting some, bro.β
And that made Colby blush, and kinda freeze up for a moment as Axel continued on ahead of him, 'cause all Colby could really think about in that moment was--
Well you know--
Michelle Rivera.
Soon, Axel was speaking his name and pulling Colby out of his little reverie, as a beer was tossed in his direction. He fumbled momentarily with it, spilling a bit of beer on himself, and mumbling a quick apology to the girl nearby that gave him a dirty look. And then he was smiling once again, taking a sip of the kinda icky liquid.
It was getting better each taste, though.
"Totally, bro," he said, nodding his head vigorously as one hand slipped into his pocket, and he started looking around -- only to catch the eye of that one dude that hung around Micky all the time, and he was pointing at Colby! Offering a little half-smile, Colby gave a real cool nod of his head in direction of the dude and Micky.
He tried to flex his muscles without looking too obvious.
"Oh so dude, guess what? My dad said he's gonna get me one of those real cool sports cars."
Naturally, she'd liked Eleanor's post while she was getting ready for the party,
and a smile had grown on her face as she stared down at the little heart -- of course she'd been the only one to like it, or at least so far.
She'd finished trying to get a handle on her tangled mess of curly hair, and after the second time stabbing herself in the eye with her mom's makeup pencils, Margot had yelled for her to come help. And her mom, albeit with an exhausted expression on her face, made her way into her daughter's bedroom to help her get ready.
Her heart was pounding as she followed her mom's directions.
"Do you think I look alright?" Margot asked, in an attempt to break the silence. She shifted in her seat, tugging at the blouse she wore, alongside the skinny jeans and old Converse sneakers that finished off her rather messy ensemble.
"You look beautiful, sweetheart," her mother responded, her voice like warm honey that calmed Margot's shaky nerves, and a warm smile covered her face.
It was nice -- until Axel yelled for her to get in the car.
The car ride could've been worse, but her and Eleanor were in the backseat, and Axel's shitty ass car meant that Margot couldn't really hear what her brother and his stupid friend were saying over the rumbling of the barely working engine.
Once they got to the party, though, she was subjected to an onslaught of her brother's vicious words. And her attitude instantly soured, eyebrows narrowing over pale eyes as she glared at Axel.
"Wouldn't wanna claim you, anyway," Margot grumbled under her breath before she got out of the car and -- with as much force as she could muster -- slammed her brother's shitty car door shut.
It was fine, though. He was like the troll that tried to ruin the princesses' night, but they weren't going to let the likes of him do something so horrid. No, they were going to have a fun, amazing time, even with the presence of her brother looming nearby.
"He's just an asshole," Margot stated bluntly before she grabbed Ellie's hand, and started tugging her towards the party. Her annoyance and hate from before now forgotten and replaced once more with a bright, happy smile.
"C'mon, let's go see the umm... there's always dancing, right? At parties?" Margot asked but, as they grew closer, she realized that although there was some form of music coming from someone's car, there wasn't any dancing. At least not yet. "Maybe... games?" she suggested, although as she glanced around, she realized it was mostly just...
People making out or talking in the woods with alcohol.
She swore, up and down, that she was a lot bitchier with other people.
And not nearly as much of a pushover, but there was something about the boy named fucking Donna that made her--
Stupid.
That was the best way to describe it, and it embarrassed her a lot.
(If Miles or Micky said anything else, she was going to punch them.)
βHa, only as much as you were waiting for me.β Donna said as he pushed off the tree, and Ari scoffed. βBut you werenβt seriously looking for one of the Freud pricks, were you? Tsk. A good girl like you? For shame.β
"Oh yeah, imagine that," she said, as she brought the drink to her lips to try and cover the reddening of her cheeks because what in the actual fuck was wrong with her?"My reputation? Ruined if I was caught with one of them, especially that... what's his name? Dana?" With a smile, she took a sip from the drink.
It tasted nice, way better than any other like straight alcohols.
βI like those jeans,β he said.
"Yeah, thanks, my--" she cut herself off, when Ariana realized that admitting that her mom had purchased these jeans for her and made her wear them over the other outfit that Ariana had planned made her sound kind of... well, you know, lame. "I stole them.... not, not really. That was a joke."
See? He made her stupid.
Ari scooted over to stand beside him, looking out over the party. "This is kind of a bummer," she stated, before smiling up at the boy beside her. "You should get out there and show off your sick dance moves. You've gotta be good at the worm, I mean..." Ari gestured vaguely in his direction with her free hand, "look at you."
No. Had Micky ever learned how to drive a car? No. Did Micky know what a single damn button on the vehicle did? Hell no.
Had Micky ever even wanted to drive a vehicle? Never.
But was she still seething in the passenger seat since Miles didnβt let her drive? The answer to that question was: obviously.
Micky had asked Miles to let her drive, but when heβd insisted that heβd drive, sheβd gotten distracted from arguing but the blunt she was smoking. But now, the thought occurred to her again, so she crossed her arms tightly and glared at her cousin as he rushed around corners and down the straights at probably fifteen over the speed limit.
βIβm driving next time,β she muttered after Ariβs comment. She glowered at Miles. βYouβre letting me drive back, asshole.β
But by the time she arrived at the party substantially high, any thought of anything besides the boys and drugs sheβd do tonight had entirely left her mind.
God, had she ever mentioned that she loved parties? She loved everything about them. The stench of hormones and cheap liquor in the air, the way that everyone was so ready to shit talk people who theyβd never met a day in their life, the drugs in the bathroomβ¦
The only part about it was the fact that there were people. And before you said, Oh, arenβt you a whore, though, and you say you donβt like people?, no, Micky didnβt claim that title, and also, yes, Micky wasnβt much of a people person. There were very few people who she even reallyβ¦tolerated, much less liked or enjoyed being around. That was just how it worked.
βSee ya, use condoms,β Miles said to Ari as she walked away.
Micky clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. βOh, please,β she said, smiling wickedly. βSheβs going to have a little Freud-Rivera before next summer.β
Her cousin slung his arm around her shoulder. βCβmon, letβs go get drunk,β he said, leaning his weight against her, which made her sway, too.
She chuckled. βSounds like a great fuckinβ plan to me.β
They made their way over, and Micky got a couple of steps ahead, though her gaze was focused more on the vehicles parked in random ass places all around.
β¨βShit,β Miles hissed under his breath, and Micky, curious, followed his gaze to where it landed.
She immediately regretted it and looked away, scrunching her nose. βOh, God,β she muttered.
It was that fuckinβ Colby kid. Axel Reidβs little whinyass shadow baby.
βYour mom let your sister come out?β Miles asked.
Micky cocked her head. βMy momβ¦?β She followed his eyes againβand then did a double-take. βMy mom let my sister come out?!β she said, her voice louder than she really wanted it to be. βThe fuck?!β
She turned her face away again, shielding it from Ellieβs angle with her hand. βGod. Fuck. Miles, this is so fucking embarrassing.β Her brows knit together, and she let out a whine. βI canβt believe she left the house,β she said, glancing over her hand and recoiling slightly. βEspecially looking like that.β But also, at allβbecause Ellie literally never got out. βGod, Miles, hide me.β
She looked longing at the drinks. βBut alsoβ¦I reaaaaally need a drink.β
Axel popped open his own can of beer and took a big gulp,
and he closed his eyes for a second and just grinned slightly. This shit was really nostalgic for him, you knowβreminded him of the beers he used to sneak of his dadβs when he was in the sixth grade. It tasted like piss water, sure, but it was piss water that had at least some memories attached to it. Memories associated with a shitty person, but the memories themselves, ignoring the existence of his dad, werenβt shitty, ya feel?
Colby said something about his deadbeat saying heβd buy him some bougie random ass thing that Axel could only ever see in his dreams, and Axel took another gulp from his beer can and burped. βDid he?β he said flippantly, not really paying much attention to Colbyβs words. Colbyβs bio dad was pretty cool, but he was also a fucking deadbeat. At least Lin gave Colby cool shit, unlike Axelβs own deadbeat.
Fuck, anyone would be better than his dad.
Instead, his eyes began to search the crowd for reasonable targets for tonight. Most girls stood either in groups or already talking to a guy. Not that any of that would deter Axelβand fuck yeah, he loved a good challenge, everyone knew thatβbut he would rather go for an easier target tonight after this shitty ass week.
He looked in the direction which Colby had just looked andβbingo. Hot girl alert.
β¦
Oh wait, heβd already screwed her before, hadnβt he?
Ohhh, yeah. Uncle Nateβs stepkid. Uhβ¦shit, what was her name? He always forgot. Sheβd dyed her hair blonde recently, but it was mostly grown out now. Uhβ¦it wasnβt Nickie, that was her momβs name. Uhβ¦Vickyβ¦?
No, Micky. That was it.
And Colby was fucking eyeing her up.
Grinning widely and knowingly, Axel chuckled and threw his arm around his friendβs shoulder. βWho you sizing up over there, Major Kay?β
βSee ya guys later,β he said, and it echoed in her head over and over again. Her heart pounded in her chest, her armpits broke out in a nervous sweat, her face turned a bright pink, and her mouth went dry with each time it bounced off the inside of her head.
She stood stone still for a moment, unable to move as he started away with Axel. βUh!β she finally managed, but no more words came out,, even as he got further and further away.
Cβmon, Ellie, youβre missing your chance! she screamed at herself, but it was no use; he was already well out of earshot.
She glanced at her hands, which she was unaware gripped the sides of her dress. She pried them away from the skirt tail and held them out in front of herself. Her fingers trembled excitedly.
She stared at them for a second, and then, she held them up against her hot face and let out a loud squeal, allowing a wide, dumb smile to spread across her face.
She hopped up and down, giggling. βDid you hear that?!β she whispered to Margot. βHe said heβd see us later! Heβll see us later!β Gosh, she couldnβt believe it! βLike, laterβlike, later tonightβlike, weβll see him again tonightβlike, heβll see us and heβll see me!β she chattered excitedly.
She followed behind Margot as they made their way in some general direction. βDid you see the way he looked at me sort of when he said that? Like, almost looked at me when he said that? And, like, he was so looking at me in the rearview mirror, wasnβt he?β
βCβmon, letβs go see the ummβ¦thereβs always dancing, right?β Margot asked. βAt parties?β
Ellie let her other train of thought subside for a moment, allowing her hands to fall back at her sides. βUhm, I mean, in Mean Girls, I think they dance some, maybe?β
βMaybeβ¦games?β Margot suggested.
Ellie frowned slightly. βLikeβ¦what? Likeβ¦Truth or Dare, you mean?β Most of the people around were alreadyβ¦well, doing things that people did on dares. She gasped suddenly, and then bounced slightly, a sly smile pulling onto her face. βOrrrr, like, uhm, spin the bottle?β Like in To All the Boys Iβve Loved Before.
Ellie could already see it: tonight was so going to be movie-worthy.
βBut who would we spin the bottle with?β she asked, frowning slightly. βOr do you just want to, likeβ¦get a drink of some sort?β
Not that Ellie would drink or anything, but she didnβt know if Margot, like, wanted to try it.
Donna hid his amusement at her flusteredness behind curled knuckles. He cleared his throat, pretending that was why he was covering his mouth and not to, you know, cover up his laughter. He perked up an eyebrow. βTheβ¦worm?β he repeated, letting a chuckle escape at the utter absurdity of this poor attempt at banter. βYeah, I mean, the first thing that you think when you see me has gotta be, βOh, that sexy beast looks like he could really do the worm,β huh?β he teased.
He glanced at the drink in her hand, then grinned widely. βWow, and you brought me a drink? You shouldnβt have.β He reached for it sarcastically. βYouβre really outdoing yourself to impress me, arenβt you?β he said, and then he gave a cheeky sigh and held up his palm. He shook his head. βTsk. Too bad I have to decline. Iβm so responsible, after all.β
He gave her another once over. Damn. He looked up at the sky and sighed, leaning back up against the tree and smirking slightly. βBut you didnβt just come over here to say hey, did you?β He turned his head over to her, his smirk spreading into a crooked grin. βYou want to get away, donβt you?β
He was trying to keep the dopey smile off his face, and failing miserably.
Micky's reaction to her sister being out here was just real funny, though, ya know?
"Is it fucked if I say I think she looks kinda hot in that dress?" he asked, 'cause like, he was related to Micky, but he wasn't related to Micky's sister. At least not by blood, or by marriage he supposed, 'cause she was uhh... someone's else kid. Same mom, different dads, some shit like that, not that he really kept up.
(Things got real confusing if you tried to remember who was related to who in this town.)
βBut alsoβ¦I reaaaaally need a drink.β
"Yeah, but... look," Miles said and gave a not so subtle tilt of his head in the direction of the drinks, where a certain blonde Casanova was currently doing his best to look in their direction without looking like he was looking in their direction. And maybe Miles would've been a little more casual 'bout it like Colby was trying to be, 'cept he was anything but subtle -- at least when he was high. So he was staring straight back, hands on his hips, dark eyes squinting.
"Ah, fuck it, c'mon, just don't make eye contact," he ordered, and looped his arm through Micky's, yanking his cousin up next to his side before they started walking towards the drinks. This time, Miles kept his gaze fully focused on the drinks in front of them, and not on anything else -- certainly not the boys that were right there.
"If he comes over," Miles whispered, "just say you're a nun, yeah? No, no, say your dad said you can't talk to boys."
and Colby was totally trying to act like he didn't notice. He was kind of flexing his muscles, acting all nonchalant, 'cept that Axel noticed, and soon his friend's arm was around his shoulders.
The older guy (who was basically like a cool big brother to Colby) had clearly noticed who he'd been looking at, and Colby just kind of gave an awkward little chuckle.
βWho you sizing up over there, Major Kay?β
"Ah, just, ah..." he coughed, awkwardly clearing his throat, and trying to keep his eyes away, 'cept that her... brother? Friend? Whoever the fuck he was happened to be very clearly staring in their direction, which definitely meant that they were talking about him -- the one and only super cool Colby Major Kay.
(He'd tried to go by Major for a while, but unfortunately it had never stuck.)
And then they started walking in the direction of them, and totally in the direction of the drinks where Colby and Axel were standing right next to. No she was definitely coming towards HIM.
"Oh fu-- what do I do? What do I do?" he hissed to Axel, quickly taking a quick chug of his beer, which tasted worse than he'd imagined in a large quantity. So he ended up coughing on it, kind of gagging, and covering up his mouth with the back of his hand, because ohhhh fuck, right? Ya know?
Margot said, a smile growing on her face. "Truth or Dare? Perfect game for a party like this, right? And like, who wouldn't want to play with us? I mean, look at you."
Although another glance around kind of... well, like, Margot had king of expected a party to be filled with more sophistication and hotter guys. So maybe that had been her bad, 'cause clearly she'd been overestimating what a high school party was actually like. But that was fine, because every time people started playing games like Truth or Dare, it would be like--
Like, some hot guy would come out of the crowd, and he'd be like "I want in" and then he'd make eye contact with Margot and she'd be all blush-y, tucking the hair behind her ear, and--
But that would mean they needed a--
βBut who would we spin the bottle with?β Ellie asked, frowning slightly. βOr do you just want to, likeβ¦get a drink of some sort?β
"Axel's over there," Margot pointed out, her lips turning downwards into a disgusted frown as she glanced in the direction of her stupid, gross brother and his stupid, grosser friend. "You just want to go get a drink 'cause Colby's over there, don't you?" She asked, eyes narrowing slightly, a little mischievous smile crossing her face.
"Ellie and Colby, sittin' in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."
where she was constantly flirting with other people and had a hookup sheet a mile long. Rather, Ari had like-- well, to be honest, she hadn't really done much.
Kissing here or there, but like--
Listen. It just hadn't ever been something that really crossed her mind all that often, so flirting had never become something she'd been good at. Plus like, most guys didn't even need her to be good with her words to want to make out with her.
(Yeah, she was the polar opposite of Mason and Adriane in some vague ways.)
βWow, and you brought me a drink? You shouldnβt have.β He reached for it sarcastically, and Ari, with a smile on her face, pulled it away from me. βYouβre really outdoing yourself to impress me, arenβt you?β he said, βTsk. Too bad I have to decline. Iβm so responsible, after all.β
Now that made Ariana laugh. "You? Responsible?" she echoed. "Didn't you have to stay late like two days ago for putting Callaghan's books in the sink or something? And what about the class hamster in third grade that you totally lost?" It had taken years, but she'd finally moved on from that.
With a roll of her eyes, she held the drink out to him.
He leaned back against the tree. βBut you didnβt just come over here to say hey, did you?β He turned his head over to her, his smirk spreading into a crooked grin. βYou want to get away, donβt you?β
Her jaw dropped, a hand dramatically pressing against her chest. "Me?" She said, "Please, as if I would ever be caught sneaking away with you..." but as she said, it a smile curled the edges of her lips, and she took a small step forward, closing the distance between them just a touch.
Her hand reached down, taking his hand in hers, and she gave a little tug.
"C'mon -- what were you thinking? 'Cause like, I know you were totally waiting for me."
