Declan was a total noob, asking again if he could come. I shut him up by embarrassing him, telling him to watch porn with the speakers on. Wasn’t that something guys did? Watch loads of porn? I bet he was feeling deprived since he roomed with Ash. If Declan and Ash had done any hanky-panky-spanky, I would’ve heard of it by now.
Ash and I walked to my car, only getting Declan off our backs by promising to text him the address of the party. I guess it was smart, just in case something happened, but come on. This wasn’t my first rodeo, or my first college party. This was like stepping back into an old skin.
We made it to my car. As Ash buckled up and I did the same, I fumbled with my phone, telling it to map the way to Stanton. I knew it was nearby, but I didn’t know the area. It was a bit warmer here than it was at SCC, so there was that. Not that it was summertime here, but whatever. I started driving us there.
“So your plan is literally just to drive to Stanton and see what party we can crash?” Ash asked me after a while, shooting me a small smile. She looked good with her makeup—she hardly ever wore makeup. Same with me. Too poor to afford the fancy eye palettes that cost forty bucks for eight things of eyeshadow.
I nodded eagerly. “Yep.”
“You’d think after driving all the way here, you’d have a better plan than that.”
Tossing her a mock glare, I said, “Hey, I’ll have you know that there is more to the plan than that.” It involved vampires, every tween girl’s dream. Tonight I was going to fulfill that destiny. Bang me a fanger.
“Then what is this bright, amazing plan of yours, huh?”
I could tell Ash didn’t believe me, and it kind of annoyed me. Not much, but a bit. She never questioned my plans before. Maybe time had changed us both. Her, for the better; me, for the worse.
“Well, we find a party, I park this amazing beauty, and we crash it,” I started. We were already on the streets around Stanton. Since it was a local community college, most of its campus was intersected by roads. “And,” I went on, pulling the rust bucket off on the side of the road. We were on a side street near Stanton’s main campus, near the Greek houses, from what I could tell. Me and Greek didn’t really mix, but I would have to swallow my aversion to those fancy letters for one night, at least.
No thinking of Levi.
“If it doesn’t happen to be a costume party—which I so hope it is, because Halloween is in two fucking days and I need to fuck a vampire—we can take these off and boom! Normal outfits.” I thought my idea was a grand one, but Ash clearly thought otherwise.
Ash watched me turn the car off, lifting her blonde brows slowly. “You want to fuck a vampire?”
I shot back, “Don’t act like you’ve never thought about it. I mean, if vampires were real and, you know, out like they were in True Blood, I’d definitely be a fang-banger.”
She laughed, and we got out of the car.
“I am being one hundred percent serious, Ash. I don’t even care if he looks like Edward Cullen. Give me Dracula, give me Edward, give me Spike or Angel—I don’t care. I really don’t.”
“I know,” Ash muttered, still giggling, as we headed to the sidewalk. Looked like a party at a Greek house a few houses down. A bunch of people stood outside in the front, sipping from red cups.
And, by God, they were dressed up.
Yes. A costume party. How fucking fortuitous.
I glanced at my nametag as we walked to the house. “The Devil and a vampire. The perfect combination.” Wasn’t sure whether or not it really was a perfect combination, but I didn’t care. We were here now, and our costumes were cheap. So what if the makeup we used was a bit old and crusty? So what if other girls looked better in their slutty police uniforms and nurse outfits?
This was our night. My night. This was the night I needed to lose it all.
I led us inside the house. It was just what you’d imagine a college Halloween party to be. Music, alcohol, skimpy outfits and guys wearing latex who had no reason whatsoever to wear latex. Ash stuck by me as we headed through the house, right through the kitchen, and out into the back, where a bonfire sat, along with a bunch of coolers.
I went to the nearest cooler, pulling out a beer as I said, “Awesome. Let’s scope some hotties out—”
We needn’t have looked far, for a tall man came up to us, grinning. His blonde hair was combed to the side, and he wore a hotdog suit. One of those guys who wore latex who should not be wearing latex. Not my kind of hottie. I liked the ones with a bit of beef on them—and I meant their arms, not their guts or their, uh, hotdog suits.
He zeroed in on me instantly, barely looking at Ash. “Hello, Devil,” he said, flashing us his teeth. “I’m—”
I gave him a shrug, cutting in, “Sorry, buddy. Not tonight.” With my beer in one hand, I used my other to hook my arm through Ash’s and lead us back inside, away from hotdog guy.
“At least he understood our costumes,” Ash mumbled under her breath.
“I know, but I don’t care. I
