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It infuriated me every time. I didn’t care what anyone said. Eve was my best friend, and I’d never let anyone keep me away from her. The pretentiousness of the student body and their wealthy parents drove me insane. It was so out of touch and ridiculous, yet I couldn’t see it changing anytime soon. My family wasn’t exactly wealthy, but my father’s position as coach put us in a special bracket.
Eve shook the umbrella and propped it beside the door to dry. She took my stiff hand in hers and gave me an excited smile. “Ready?”
“Not even remotely,” I muttered.
She laughed and tugged me into the house.
Inside was packed already. It was warm, with that steamy atmosphere that came from hundreds of damp, hormone-ridden bodies pressed too closely together.
“Let’s get a drink first. I want to have a couple before Asher gets here,” Eve yelled in my ear.
The music was loud as hell. Some rap song I didn’t know was blasting loud enough to vibrate the floor. Eve grabbed my hand and pushed through the crowd. No one moved as we shoved our way through. Voices were raised, excited or drunk, I couldn’t tell. Maybe it was a little of both. I’d already decided that I wouldn’t be drinking, seeing as I needed to drive us home in an hour.
It’s only an hour, Lillian. Calm down.
We made it through the entrance hall, an area nearly as big as the entire ground floor of my house. A huge staircase branched off in two directions, and students hung out on the upper floors, leaning on the railings and looking down at the mass assembled below. There had to be two hundred students here. It was crazy.
“I think it’s this way!” Eve shouted in my ear and took a left, heading through a corridor with black-and-white floor tiles and dark red walls.
Framed photographs dotted the wall, and I stared at them as we passed. Beckett and his father. I didn’t know the richest boy in school at all, but I couldn’t deny he was nice to look at.
We walked down the quieter hall, and then, right back into the din. The kitchen. It was huge, with high ceilings and marble counters. A wall of windows stared out at the dark night and the faraway lights of Hade Harbor. So, this was the side of the house that peered out over the bluff. I’d bet the view from here in the daylight was stunning, not that I’d have any reason to be at the Anderson house during the day.
“How do you know your way around so well?” I wondered as we pushed through the groups of people gathered in front of the counter, where the drinks seemed to be.
“My mom. She’s worked here for years. Sometimes, I have to come with her,” Eve said, her voice dimming.
Right. Eve and Asher’s mom was a cleaner, and she had a bunch of clients in town. I wondered how weird it was for Asher that his mom cleaned his best friend’s house.
We got to the counter, and I blinked at the array of bottles there. No expense had been spared, it seemed, for Beckett’s guests. There was all the liquor you could drink, punch, sodas and then, to top it off, at the very end of the counter, a bartender dressed in black, mixing cocktails with a theatrical flair.
“A bartender for a high school party? That’s crazy.”
Eve laughed. “They’re called mixologists these days, and relax. If Beckett freaking Anderson wants to waste his money, who cares?”
She was right, of course. I hated the judgmental voice that was always chirping in my head. The voice sounded like my parents. I could hear their words in my head without them even needing to speak them. I didn’t need my mother to see the opulent spread in the kitchen to hear her derision.
“Come on, have one drink and relax,” Eve was saying, grabbing a bottle of beer.
“No, none for me. I’m driving, remember?” I checked my watch. “In approximately fifty minutes from now.”
“Stop! You’re stressing me out,” Eve complained. “We’re here now. Let’s have a little fun.”
I sighed when she pouted at me. Goddamn it. I could never tell her no.
“Whatever. As soon as it gets too boring to stand or your brother makes a fuss, we’re out of here.” I grabbed a can of Coke and popped it opened.
Eve grinned victoriously and pulled me close for a hug. “Thank you, you’re amazing. Now, shall we go and explore more, or mingle or something?”
“Who would we mingle with?”
“I don’t know.” Eve chewed her lip for a moment. “Let’s just walk around a bit and see who’s here.”
That sounded terrible, but I nodded. It was bright in the kitchen, and I wanted to disappear into a crowd. A couple of hockey players had already looked in my direction. I could only hope they wouldn’t tell my dad that they’d seen me here. He’d bedisappointed.That was always the worst outcome. I could take anger, raging, grounding, all of it. Anything but his disappointment.
We left the kitchen and headed deeper into the house.
“Let’s go out to the pool house. There’s a pool table and arcade games out there,” Eve said.
