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She stops, adjusting her hair. Her dyed red ponytail has come loose. She ties it back up, then shivers, causing the pins and pendants on her jacket to shake metallically.
“No arguments here,” I say dryly.
“Don’t listen to anything he says,” Rachael replies. “He’s wrong. You’ve got so much going for you.”
I smile. “Thanks, Rach.”
Rachael and I have been friends since our freshmen year. Now, going into senior year, I easily consider her my best friend. We bonded over poetry and silliness and that, in high school, we were both a little too awkward to have real friends. It’s like we were waiting for each other.
“I wish there was a way to get revenge on that asshat.”
I laugh, more real this time. “Asshat?”
“Yes, the idiot is so much of an idiot, he’d wear an ass for a hat.Ass.”
She drops onto the beanbag.
“Are you done?” I ask, grinning.
“I’m sorry for encouraging you to date that douche,” she says.
“Hey, it’s not your fault. I was the one who wanted to try my luck in the dating world. I wanted to be normal. It turns out normal isn’t as all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Let’s go out tonight,” Rachael says. She must see my face because she rushes to add, “I’m not saying we get blackout drunk. We don’t even have todrink. Let’s just forget about Ryan and college and everything, yeah? You can be my wing-woman.”
I’m not exactly in the mood, but my latest assignment is already done. If I stay here, I’ll spend way too much time going over and over all the cruel things Ryan ever said to me, which is a lot.
“Okay, let’s do it,” I say, “but no drinking.”
Rachael frowns for a moment. I can see the message in her eyes. It reminds me of something she said when I turned twenty-one.You know you can have one or two drinks, right? I promise you’ll be okay.
But it’s a promise she can’t make. Either way, at least the club will have music and mayhem, enough to drown out the sound of Ryan’s belittling voice.
* * *
We sit in a corner of the bar, Rachael attempting to balance several beer mats on top of each other. She laughs when her creation tumbles to the table again. “This looked way easier in the video.”
I laugh, sipping my soda. The bar is quiet. It’s only eight p.m. I know we’ll move to a club soon, but it won’t be a late one for me. The smell of alcohol… I wouldn’t say ittriggersme, exactly, but I don’t like it.
“God, I wish we could hurt that prick,” Rachael says.
“Maybe you should challenge him to a fight.”
“Oh, yeah, one-hundred-pound me against that big bulky bag of douchebaggery.”
“I think you’re making up words now.”
She grins. “There’s a lot worse I could say.”
She goes on, but it’s difficult to hear anything else. At first, I think somebody has turned the music up, but no, it’s the rushing in my ears. It’s the sound of my heartbeat thudding through me.
“Molly?” Rachael says. “You good?”
“Uh… that’s Ryan’s dad.” I nod across the bar.
I don’t know his name, but I recognize his tall, muscular body. He’s wearing a sharp blue suit and a silver wristwatch. Every single woman in here turns to look at him. I sense it. He wears the suit well, highlighting his powerful shoulders, thick arms, and chest. My heart is drumming way too fast, but I can’t help it.
Rachael beams at me and leans forward, an excited glint in her eye. “I’ve got an idea. A way we can get revenge on that douche.”
