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“Why are we hanging out with the guys again?” Piper asks, her voice bouncing from the bumpy road. “We would have a much better time with just us.”
I sigh. “Because, where Vera goes, Malik goes. Where Malik goes, his three besties go. You know we’re not getting out of it.”
“True,” Blaire says from beside me.
Piper groans. “Whatever. If one of them pisses me off, I’m taking the car and leaving.”
I say nothing, because I’ll do the exact same. Ever since we started hanging out with the guys, it’s like Felix has made it his mission to drive me insane. He’s crueler than he’s ever been, but he does it silently. He, Levi, and Atticus taunt me, tease me. Do everything in their power to make me lose my mind. But once Malik is around, they just ignore me, as if I’m a speck of dust in the air around them.
The sound of music booms through the silence as we grow closer to the house. I slow down when I hit the curve in the road and turn right, making my way down the small driveway. Already parked in the narrow driveway is Felix’s inky black Range Rover, and combined with the black rims, the car is almost indistinguishable at night. Mostly with the heavy, looming clouds hanging overhead, it’s even darker than normal.
I pull up behind the Rover, shifting into park and turning off my car. Piper swings her door open, two bottles of liquor under her arms. “I’m going to get drunk.”
Blaire sighs, “Same.” She turns to me. “You coming?”
A part of me wants to sink into my leather seats and sleep until tomorrow, but it’s graduation night, and I’m so fucking ready to get wasted and celebrate the fact that I’ll never, ever have to go back to that shithole.
Not only is Castle Pointe Academy creepy as hell, but the nuns are abusive, and the vibes in that place are not good, not even for someone like me, who usually enjoys the spooky and weird.
“I’m coming.” I toss my keys into my black backpack, slinging it over my shoulder, and opening my car door. Immediately, my boot smushes into another pile of mud, and I grind my teeth together and let out a growl. My red-and-black plaid skirt flutters around my knees, and my oversized tee sliced into a crop top barely covers me from the crisp air.
I cross my arms across my chest as I catch up to Piper and Blaire. Piper strides up to the door, swinging it open without knocking. The music blares through the air, and I wince as my ears start ringing. We all step inside, and I see Atticus first, slouching on the couch with a blunt pinched between his lips.
“Party people are finally here.” He raises his arms, a devilish smirk lifting his lips, his eyes rimmed red.
“You’re already obnoxious,” Blaire groans, tossing her backpack next to him. His smile broadens as he leans over, unzipping it and pulling out a small baggie of weed.
“Good thing you brought some weed, or we wouldn’t have let you in,” comes a growl from behind me. I nearly leap out of my skin as I spin around, Felix standing so close that if I breathed hard enough, my back would graze his front. He wears a black hoodie, the dark locks of his hair falling over his forehead. Drips of water from the rain fall down the bridge of his nose, wetting his plump lips. “Or maybe they can stay, and you can go party alone in the cemetery. Seems like your type of people. Boring.Dead.”
I sneer at him. “You can stay outside if you want. Drowning might do you some good.”
Fuck, I hate him so much.
He smiles, dimples popping on both sides of his cheeks. Then he raises his hand, shoving his hood off. And like the dog he is, he whips his head back and forth, shaking out his hair and sprinkling me with droplets that somehow smell like him.
I flinch, taking a step back because I cannot touch him. I refuse for him to even brush against me. “Gross, go change or something. You smell like a fucking dog.” He actually smells so good, my knees grow weak, but I refuse to ever say those words out loud.
He brings his hands down, tugging his sweatshirt over his head, only leaving him in a form-fitting black t-shirt. He drops it to his feet and walks past me, his shoulder chucking against mine. “I’d offer for you to warm me up, but you weren’t great the first time, so I’ll pass,” he snaps, shoving the backpack on the couch aside as he sits next to Atticus.
“I’d rather drown in Superior than relive that moment,” I grumble.
The stairs creak, and the pounding of footsteps follows. Levi walks in moments later, his hair a little damp as well. “Shit, I can hear you bitching from all the way upstairs. Do you guys ever stop?”
Piper walks over to Atticus, her sweater discarded, her green shirt dress hanging mid-thigh. She pulls the blunt from Atticus’s fingers, bringing it to her own lips. “It’s hard to stop when you guys are all jackasses.”
I nod, and as always, my mind turns fuzzy when the three of them are around. When it’s the four of them, I might as well have taken some acid or something. They make it entirely too difficult to focus or function like a normal human.
And whatever clarity I have always seems to cling toanger. Mostly around Felix.
I’m not the only one with this unfortunate problem. Even standing in this dilapidated home, with the faded wood floors, warped and uneven, the windows that have been boarded up to keep the rain out, and the secondhand couch and coffee table, it’s like none of it exists around these men.
They aren’t just an aphrodisiac for me and my friends; they are a drug to every single person that ever crosses their paths.
Felix walks up to Piper, lifting the bottles of liquor from her arms. He sets them down on the table, taking the whiskey and opening the top. Atticus hands him the stack of cups, and he fills up five, one for each of them. And none for me. He brings his own to his mouth, lifting it slightly as his eyes lock with mine over the rim. His eyebrow lifts, and I swear I can see the small smirk behind his cup.
“Really, Felix?” I snap, slipping my backpack off my shoulder and setting it against the far wall. We’ll most likely be spending the night, might as well get comfortable.
He shrugs as he sets his cup on the table, then standing up and running his fingers through his wet hair, he gives me a blank look. His eyes are deadly, and his jaw is ticking as he watches me. I can’t help the way my insides flutter, and I bring my hand to my abdomen, wishing away any feelings about Felix that aren’t in the category of hatred.
