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Returning to the lounge area, Jess and I sat down to find Steph and Tammy gossiping about me.
“Let’s be real for a moment, shall we? Aria would have wound up sitting at the loser table if I hadn’t taken her under my wing. She acts like she runs this group! We all knowI’mqueen bee! I don’t understand how you girls could like her. I mean, I’m only friends with her because I wanna hook up with her dad.”
The bitch was howling, not realizing that I was right behind her.
“I bet she was nobody back in New York… Unpopular and unimportant. She’s lucky we’re friends with her. I’m pretty sure Ryan only wants to date her because he wants to sleep with her. We all know she’s a virgin, and he wants to pop that cherry! I hate how she acts all ‘holier than thou.’Ugh! I can’t stand her!”
“Um, Steph…” Tammy looked up at me.
This was it. I wasn’t going to be nice to that broad any longer. I’d already given her way too many chances she didn’t deserve.
“What?” Steph let out a ditsy laugh and twisted her head around. “Oh, shit. Aria…” She stood up and looked at me,dumbfounded. “I talk so much crap when I’m drunk. Please don’t take it personally.”
I’m not gullible.
“Save your sorry ass lies for your bathroom mirror because I’m sure that’s the only way you can tolerate your pathetic existence and get out of bed every morning. What to do you tell yourself, Steph? ‘I’m beautiful, I’m rich, I have everything, and all the boys want me?’ Someone needs to give you a reality check, and as your ‘friend’ I’ll honestly tell you that all they want is that used upthingthat hangs loose between your legs… Because that’s all you are to them, and all you will ever be: a cum dumpster!”
I didn’t know I could say those things to her. The booze had made me braver.
“You bitch!” She lunged toward me, but Tammy grabbed her in time. “You better take that back!”
I was ready to fight her. In fact, I secretly wished she had laid her hands on me. I would have made her eat the floor. My inner rage monster was desperate to come out.
“Kiss your social life goodbye, Aria!”
Jessica got in between us to make sure I wouldn’t attack.
“You’re the nastiest bitch I’ve ever met!” I shouted. “You’re a shallow slut! No one likes you! They pretend to like you! You have no real friends and I feel sorry for you. You hate me because you feel threatened by me. Consider us officially un-friended! And for the record, Ryan told me you were a lousy lay!” I annihilated her overgrown ego with my last comment.
Tammy seemed to struggle to restrain her, and Jess kept urging me to leave. My shadow side took gratification in humiliating Steph like that. I had always been passive as a child and let everyone bully me, but I wasn’t a little girl anymore, nor was I going to be Stephanie Cohen’s doormat any longer.
“There’s one last thing I need to say to you before I stop wasting my breath,” I added.
“Shut the F up and leave if you know what’s good for you!” Steph screamed, slapping Tammy’s hands away. She was really losing it.
Marco showed up just in time and locked his arms around her. “Cool it, Steph, or I’m gonna kick you out!”
“It’sher!She’s making me lose it!” Steph glared at me with murderous eyes.
“You’re a two-faced twat! Noah would never sleep with a chick whose password to her vagina is as easy as one-two-three!” I gave one last blow, adding insult to injury, before I grabbed two shots from our table and left the VIP lounge. Jessica tried to match my stride as I threw back the vodka.
“Aria, wait! Where are you going?”
“Home!” A server brushed past me, giving me the chance to place the empty shot glasses on a tray.
“Don’t let Steph ruin our night!” Jess finally caught up. “I know she said some shitty things, but she wasn’t speaking on my behalf. We can party without her and go back to my place afterwards.”
“I don’t feel like partying anymore after hearing her say all that stuff—and we can’t go back to your place. We’ll get busted. I’m sure your mom would go ballistic. I’m calling a cab.” I took out my cell and walked toward the nearest exit. Distracted with my phone, I didn’t even look up to see who or what was in front of me, which led to me slamming into someone.
“Oh, my gosh! I’m so—”
“Aria?”
Evan…
I couldn’t believe it. What were the odds of running into him at this place? Unlike all the times I had seen him in casual wear,Evan cleaned up nicely. His outfit was hot. I noticed a pretty brunette on his arm—presumably his date.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, looking just as stunned as I was.
