“Okaaay ...,” Taylor says, looking at me suspiciously. “So, hi, Aleeza. Who are you here with?”
“They’re with me,” Aster says. I can’t tell if Taylor’s frown is because she doesn’t like Aster, or because she’s annoyed that Aster brought us to the party.
Gracie loops her arm in mine. “Mia, right? I’m Gracie. Aleeza lives next door to me now, and we’ve become so close.”
Mia is still glaring at me, and Taylor doesn’t look very happy that I’m here. I don’t get it. When I left Mia’s dorm room, she begged me not to go, and now she acts like I’ve been her antagonist for years. And Taylor ... I have no idea why Taylor seems to hate me.
I look at Taylor, then smile at Mia. “I didn’t expect to see you here!” I’m at this party for Jay, and letting these people know how much I dislike Mia and Taylor isn’t the way to get them to talk to me.
“Taylor’s known Jack forever,” Mia says.
Seems everyone has known Jack forever. At that, Jack himself saunters into the fold of our group. He puts a loose arm around my shoulders and one around the straight-haired girl standing closest to me. “This is where all the ladies are.”
Jack smells like old beer and expensive cologne. I don’t know what I expected a rich person to smell like, but it isn’t this. The other girl giggles. I do not. Gracie, who’s still holding my other arm, pulls me away from physical contact with Jack.
He suddenly turns and looks right at me, his face inches from mine. The vodka bubbles in my stomach, and the smell of him is making me sick. Jack looks exactly like Harry Styles, except blond and tan. It’s March. Is it a spray tan? Or from a holiday in Cabo?
His eyelids droop as he looks me over. “Whereexactlydid you come from?” I’m not sure whether that’s a pickup line or a racial microaggression. He squints. “Are you one of Natasha’s lesbian friends? I hope so. Lesbians arefantasticin bed.”
Mia snorts at that.
“Um, no,” I say. “I’m not a lesbian, I mean. But I am Nat’s friend. Or, I should say, a friend of a friend.”
“Right,” Jack says. “Aster’s friend. I remember.”
“Jack,” Aster herself says. “Leave Aleeza alone. Stop trying to corrupt anyone new.”
“Oh, she’s not new,” he says, taking half a step away from me. He pouts. “She’d be the one corrupting me. She’s exquisite, this one. I see his fascination.”
Before I can figure out what the hell he’s talking about, Mia literally laughs out loud at Jack.
“You’re making Aleeza uncomfortable,” Taylor says. Which is a surprise. Why is Taylor coming to my rescue?
With a bored expression, Jack looks over to the other side of the room. “Looks like Lance is making a move on Tamara again.”
Mia’s Lance? I look at her, one brow raised, but her head whips over to where Tamara is standing. Why is Mia’s boyfriend making a move on another girl? Jack looks at me again. “Lesson one:nevertrust us, new girl.” He shrugs and walks away.
Mia is still glaring at Tamara. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Lance and Taylor are here. I knew they came from a wealthy family, and Lance has this rich–frat boy quality—of course he’d be buddies with the trust-fund group. I wonder if these are the same people who were laughing at me at the Halloween party. I don’t remember anyone specific from that night, except Lance, because I was drunk and they were in costumes. But this might not be my first interaction with the TCU one percenters.
I exhale. At least Jack is gone. I understand Jay’s warnings now. Jack seems ...dangerous. And not just because his flirting made me uncomfortable, although that was the first time anyone has ever called me exquisite. There’s something about him that’s both compelling and off-putting, and I can’t put my finger on it.
Actually,both compelling and off-puttingis the best way to describe this whole party.
“Don’t mind Jack. He’s coked out of his mind,” Bailey says. Then she giggles.
Cokedlike as in cocaine? I amreally,reallynot in Alderville anymore.
“Here,” Nat says, coming toward us and handing me, Gracie, and Aster new bottles of premixed cocktails. “Mai tais. You’ll love them. Doesn’t taste like alcohol at all.”
“Oh, I—” My head’s spinning from my first drink. I’m not sure I should have a second.
Mia snorts. “Careful, Aleeza. That’s a big-girl drink.” Her voice drips with condescension.
I look at Mia. Two weeks ago, she was begging me not to end our friendship. But Mia has always been a different person when others are around. She always ignored me in favor of whoever seemed cooler.
“Oh, I love mai tais! I have them all the time!” I smile at Mia. I have to fit in with these people. The first sip is actually delicious. But strong. I immediately cough.
This is a disaster. Everyone here can probably see that I am an awkward idiot. Thankfully, Gracie is much better at peopling than I am and gets the conversation where we need it once Nat leaves.
