AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Paige nodded. “Okay.”
She’d lost sight of Tess and Bailey as soon as Reggie had arrived and rushed her into the kitchen. He hadn’t even given her enough time to introduce them. She’d tried to wave goodbye to her friends, but when she’d glanced behind her, they were already gone, swallowed by a sea of head-banging bodies.
Reggie slid his hand down her arm to her hand and interlaced their fingers so they wouldn’t get separated, but she still felt lost and overwhelmed as she trailed him down a jam-packed hall and into another enormous room.
Someone rang a bell as soon as they entered, and everyone in room cheered, lifting their plastic red cups before chugging. When Reggie noticed she wasn’t following along, he yelled into her ear, explaining it was the house rule to drink whenever someone rang the bell.
As if on cue, the bell rang again. Paige didn’t lift her cup.
Reggie leaned in again to speak into her ear. “Don’t worry. Campus cops never bust these parties. You won’t get into trouble.”
That wasn’t exactly her problem. Leaning in close to his ear, she lied, “I don’t like the taste.”
A light dawned in his eyes as he nodded his understanding. Taking the cup from her, he held up one finger, motioning her to stay put. Abandoning her in the middle of a horde of strangers, he disappeared.
Her heart immediately dropped into her stomach. Paige wrapped her arms around her middle, glancing left and right, hoping to spot someone she knew. When she saw Kevin from her grief group, she waved and tried to make her way to him, but he didn’t even glance in her direction. He was so busy talking to the girl with him, focusing all his attention on her, he didn’t notice Paige.
She paused, watching him. He didn’t act like someone who attended a regular meeting to get over the loss of his father. He didn’t act as if he felt like an outsider among the world of the living.
Suddenly self-conscious because she obviously hadn’t healed as much as he had, she turned away and almost ran into Reggie as he returned with a glass bottle in hand. “Here you go.”
He gave her the wine cooler, and she sighed aloud, though he didn’t hear her disappointment over all the commotion. Maybe she should’ve just been honest and said her father was an awful drunk and she didn’t want to be anything like him.
Holding the bottle as if she had every intention of drinking from it, she followed Reggie as he circulated the party, shouting good-mannered insults to his friends. He never introduced her or included her in his conversations. He simply held her around the waist as if she was an accessory.
When she tried to smile at another piece of arm candy dangling off another guy’s arm, the girl with devil horns in her hair scowled back. Paige gulped and looked around for an ally. A couple of guys were checking her out, running their gazes appreciatively down Mariah’s tight red dress. But none of them made eye contact. Adrift in a sea of strangers, loneliness crept in, squeezing her lungs and making it hard to breathe. She wondered if her suitemates were having a good time.
After an hour passed of Reggie ignoring her except to yell into her ear to direct her to another part of the party, Paige was ready to go home.
When her date leaned in to asked, “Having fun?” she didn’t bother to hide the boredom on her face as she lifted her eyebrows his way.
He grinned, sliding his hand down from her waist to cup her butt. “Want to go somewhere private?”
Right. What girl didn’t love being ignored all evening only for her date to haul her off to a dank corner where he could grope her for the rest of the night? She shook her head and refrained from slapping him away as she answered. “Is there a bathroom around here?”
He pointed and gave her a bunch of confusing directions. She smiled, nodding her fake thanks. When he let go of her butt with a degrading pat, she took off with no intention of returning.
Tess and Bailey had to be somewhere. She rambled through every downstairs room, and had to wallop three drunks with wandering hands. When she didn’t spot her suitemates anywhere, she began to feel a little frantic. Had they abandoned her? She escaped out the front door, nearly running right out of her borrowed heels in her haste.
Finally, she caught sight of bouncing red curls. Some guy in a ball cap and a bright red shirt was helping Tess and Bailey slide into the back seat of an old, huge boat of a car. Upset they were deserting her and even more leery of whose car they were climbing into, Paige hurried after them.
“Bailey! Wait!” Waving her hand, she raced to catch up. What were they thinking, getting into a car with a complete stranger? But she barely glanced at the words Designated Driver branded across the guy’s chest before relief swamped her. Oh, what a good idea. And in that case…
“Can I ride back with you guys?”
Bailey frowned. “What about your date?”
Paige made a pained face. “He’s lame. I’m ready to leave.”
Scowling as if she wanted to say something snide, Bailey studied her a moment before rolling her eyes and muttering, “Okay, fine. Get in.”
When she disappeared into the car, Paige hurried to follow her. The designated driver continued to hold the door open for her, and she managed a winded, “Thanks,” as she brushed past, ducking her head before crawling into the backseat as well. When the door shut, Tess squealed out an excited sound.
“Paige, oh my God. There you are! I’m so happy to see you.” She leaned across Bailey to send Paige a huge, sloppy grin. Then she began to crawl over Bailey’s lap. “I want to sit by Paige.”
Paige’s mouth fell open as she watched the show. “Wow. You’re, like, totally drunk.”
“Gee, you think?” Bailey sent her a dry look, and then nudged Tess along when she got stuck trying to wiggle across her knees.
