“I told you that the shoes were off.” Tamlin pointed at my shoes and giggled. I wasn’t sure why, but her comment made me regret my decision to turn down a pair of Monica’s shoes. I was never the type of girl that felt self-conscious or worried about my appearance, but this world was so different from what I was used to, I couldn’t help feeling that here what I looked like actually mattered.
“It’ll be fine. You look smokin’ hot.” She grabbed my hand and ushered me into the giant brick mansion, the glossy black doors flanked with stately pillars wrapped in ivy. As we entered, a loud engine rumbled down the street, and the sound of a bunch of girls shrieking as if they spotted a rockstar deafened our ears.
I turned around to see Kyler removing his helmet as he sat atop a sleek Harley. He was wearing a white t-shirt that highlighted all of his tattoos, making them glow vibrantly under the streetlight. The academy girls stumbled to him in their designer heels, each trying desperately to get him to look their way. He didn’t pay them any attention though, pushing past the pack as if they were pesky flies there simply to irritate him.
“Why do all those girls want to be around him?” I asked Tamlin. “He treats everyone like garbage.” As soon as I finished my sentence, I regretted it. Sure, Kyler was a complete jerk, but he was still Tamlin’s brother and for some insane reason she seemed to see good in him.
“It’s the tattoos and piercings,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, tugging at my arm and pulling me away. I knew that the tattoos and piercings were a draw--all the girls in my high school loved a bad boy--but there was something else about Kyler. Something living beneath all that moody darkness that piqued my interest.
“He must have a lot of girlfriends,” I commented under my breath, not really intending for anyone to hear me.
“Kyler?” Tamlin said with a scoff. “You’ve been around him--Kyler doesn’t really date, at least he’s never brought anyone around. He’s always been a loner, a popular one, but a loner nonetheless.” Tamlin’s comment shocked me a little, and pleased me even more. There was something about Kyler that drew me in, even when he’d been nothing but unkind to me. Maybe it was those tattoos, the way they twisted and danced like a snake wrapped around his defined forearms before the dark ink licked up the curve of his bicep and disappeared under his t-shirt.
On the other hand, maybe it was the piercing sadness in his rich, blue eyes, or the way he made the hairs at the back of my neck stand to attention whenever his gaze caught mine. No matter what it was, it seemed to pull me to him no matter how hard I tried to push away.
I abandoned my thoughts of Kyler and followed Tamlin into the house. Once we were inside, we were flooded by a pool of bodies, mindlessly wandering in a drunken, drug-induced abyss. It was a den of anarchy and disorder, chaos and the smell of weed clinging to every corner, so out of place in such a grand estate. Girls danced all around us, some on tables, some on couches, by the stairs couples kissed passionately, as if they were alone in the world. In one dark corner, two people were actually having sex; I looked away from them as quickly as I could, trying to avoid any more awkwardness. It felt like I’d just walked into the Twilight Zone. This was something I never thought I’d find myself doing in a million years.
“What’s your poison?” Tamlin asked as she started to rummage through different bottles of liquor on the island.
“Um, I don’t really drink,” I murmured, as I looked at the crowd of people bustling around us, jostling for the alcoholic beverages. “Who lives here?”
Tamlin shrugged, helping herself to a bottle of vodka. “See the guy on the couch?” She gestured to the handsome guy being straddled by a girl on what looked like a luxury velvet settee. I nodded, turning away as he groped under her shirt. “That’s Michael Stone. His dad’s a legislator or something like that. He spends all his time in the capitol and leaves him alone in this giant ass house, and you know how it goes,” she tipped a double shot of vodka to her lips with a smile, “when the cat’s away, the mouse will…” She cast her eyes around the room, the level of excitement at all the debauchery unfolding around us climbing in her eyes.
“Play?” I finished her sentence.
“I was gonna say lose their virginity on a beer-stained couch somewhere, but you summed it up pretty well too.” I had to control my laugh at Tamlin’s outrageous humor. She was unexpected, and I liked that.
“Would you mind driving us home? I mean, I’m here to party, and since you don’t drink...?” Tamlin shot me a big grin.
“I don’t mind,” I replied, as I backed away from the bodies crashing in on me from every direction.
Tamlin raised her shot glass in a toast, then the way she chugged it back you’d think that she was on the brink of dehydration in the desert, not really sure when she would see water again. I don’t know why that surprised me, maybe because she didn’t come off as some sort of party girl. Then again, I had no idea why I’d assumed that. People, really, never were what they seemed.
This particular crowd of people made me feel like I was drowning in the middle of the ocean; it was becoming so crowded that I actually lost sight of Tamlin, which caused panic to rush my
