“You’re a funny one, huh.” Blaze gives me a dark smile, and I know he recognizes me. Nice of him to pretend otherwise, though.
“You’re a firefighter and…” I glance at his friend, who’s been watching silently. “Some sort of Roman legionnaire?”
The guy shakes his head. “No. I was going for Perseus.” He holds up his shield, with its shiny foil. “But I did think I’d already cut Medusa’s head off.”
He’s got dark hair and a slightly crooked nose. I don’t recognize him at all, and I thought I knew all the Kappa Omega Shitheads by now. I’d scoured the current membership list and tracked down pics of them.
I scoff at him. “Perseus was Greek, not Roman. If you want an accurate costume, you need to strip naked. Those ancient Greek heroes battled in the nude.”
Blaze starts laughing, but he catches himself and shakes his head. “Fuck, you’re… Yeah. Get in there, have your drink, and then get out. We don’t really need snakes at this party.”
“Blaze!” the Nyxie woman scolds. “She paid. Let her enjoy herself.”
“Yeah,Blaze,” I mock. I take Carly’s hand—and I notice she’s trying very hard to pull away from the front door—and walk us both inside.
“He did recognize you,” Carly says. “Pandora,please. Let’s just get out of here.”
“You can go if you want,” I say. I’m disappointed, but I’m not going to force her to stay. My hand goes into my dress pocket, where I’ve got my charm, my knife, and a few fun party favors.
Carly looks torn, but in the end she sighs and follows me over to where the drinks are. I carefully check the can of IPA before handing it to Carly. I don’t think these people are resourceful enough to drug canned drinks.
I turn around right as someone approaches, and I grin when I see that it’s Asch. His costume is simple, with a doctor’s coat over a pair of scrubs.
“Subtle, Pandora,” he says, giving me a once-over.
I smile at him. “You’re getting your Greek myths mixed up. I’m Medusa, obviously. Pandora was the one with the box.”
“Uh-huh,” Asch says, not sounding impressed. He glances at Carly, nodding to her, but I recognize his abrupt caution when he realizes who she is. “Hey, Carly.”
Carly tenses and steps closer to me. “Hi. Asch, right?”
I put myself between Carly and Asch. “Are you here to refill your drink?” I ask, holding up my own beer. “Make sure not to take your eyes off it. You never know which best friend might drug you and fondle you in the night.”
Asch grips his red plastic cup tightly enough to bend it inward, but he forces a grin. “I’m sure no one here would do something like that. Perfectly safe.”
Carly scowls though. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s really not,” I agree, still smiling. “It’s okay, Asch doesn’t think I’m funny anyway. Not like Blaze. Do you think Blaze was laughing after the last time?”
“No,” he snaps.
I wonder who he’s more upset at, me or himself.
“What are you doing here?” Asch asks after a pause, gathering himself.
“To fundraise! I heard what happened to your frat house, and it was justawful,” I say with mock sincerity.
“Yeah, it was,” Asch replies. “Some of us lost everything.” His eyes narrow at me, but he glances at Carly instead of continuing.
Carly pulls on my arm. “Come on,Medusa. Let’s go.”
I blow a kiss at Asch. “Looks like I gotta go, Doctor. Maybe you can give River a full body check up next time. He was feeling under the weather last I saw him.”
“Can’t wait,” he deadpans before turning back to the table. I notice that he only pours soda into a cup, not adding any of the readily available booze nearby.
I follow Carly away, and she stops to glare at me when we’re far enough away from Asch.
“Seriously? What’s going on? Why are we here?” Carly demands. “If you’ve got a problem with these guys, there’s no need to torture ourselves like this.”
