She thinks she’s whispering, but I’m pretty sure people four acres away can hear her.
“What the hell? You were supposed to drive!” Blair practically screeches. “Jeez, Laur, my dad is going to kill me.”
I know for a fact that Todd probably couldn’t give two shits if his daughter was out drinking. Shit, he’s probably ecstatic that she’s even at a party. No, this is all Blair talking; she’s freaking out thinking she couldn’t control where she was sleeping or when she was leaving.
“Can you take her home?” Laura hangs off my shoulder in an uncharacteristically friendly move.
She must be drunker than usual, because no way would she be asking me to take Blair home. No way would she even be speaking to me, since she hates me almost as much as her best friend.
“Hell no.”
“But her dad is going to be pissed.” Laura gives me a puppy dog face.
We all know Todd won’t be anything of the sort, but just that inkling of doubt that I could fall onto his shit list has me reaching for Blair’s hand.
The minute our fingers touch, it’s like one giant spark explodes all over my entire body. I feel it down to my toes, and I’m surprised to look up and see the power still on in Hailey’s cabin. And it makes me want to be alone with her, to fight or fuck or do whatever it is we can’t do in front of all these people.
“Come on. Now.” I’m over being here, now that I see how much fun she is having.
Plus, I wasn’t even really planning on staying. Or maybe I decided that the minute Laura asked me to take Blair home. Either way, I don’t want to be here anymore.
“You’re not taking me home.” My former friend scoffs, wrenching her hand out of my grasp.
“And I’m not going to be the reason your dad is pissed. So let’s go.” I’m talking to her like she’s the dumbest person on the planet.
“Fuck you, I’m not five.” Blair clearly noticed my tone.
We may be arguing, but we still end up outside, where only the scantest of partygoers are loitering. The night is warm with a hint of the autumn air that is to come in the following weeks.
“Get in the truck, Blair.” It’s the first time I think I’ve said her name out loud, to her, in a year.
“Stuff it, Sawyer.” She’s drunk and clearly it’s giving her some kind of false confidence. “You’ll probably shove me out the side while the car is moving or something, anyway.”
“Yeah, because attempted murder looks real good on a college application.” I roll my eyes.
She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me.
“You really don’t have to take me home. I’m pretty certain you still might dump me two miles from my house and make me walk, so thanks, but no thanks. You’re not some knight in shining armor. And I wouldn’t want to hold you back from dating someone prettier,” Blair slurs, her face coming close to mine.
Those final words she speaks dance in my head, sounding so familiar, and she spits them like venom.
“Who said we were going to date? And why would you ever hold me back?” I fire back, frustrated and confused.
“Just something I heard,” she singsongs in the most annoying voice I’ve ever heard.
I’m trying to suss out the cobwebs in my brain that are reassembling themselves around the words Blair has just spoken. And even though we’re arguing about whether or not she’s going to let me take her home, we somehow drift to the spot right in front of my truck. Both of us seem to keep saying we’ll avoid each other, that we want nothing to do with each other, but we’re constantly doing this circling dance around one another.
It’s dark, and I’m not paying attention to anything as Blair’s words swim in my head. That is, until I unlock my car and the interior lights go on.
“What the fuck?” I pull my hand away from the handle on my driver’s side door, something sticky coating my palm.
That’s when I notice the hundreds of … Jesus Christ, tampons are covering my Jeep.
Blair is practically doubled over, snickering like a hyena.
“Are you fucking serious with this shit?” I whirl on her, and she straightens.
“So maybe I had an ulterior motive for coming to this party.” She shrugs, a smug grin painting lips that are so full, they look like they’ve been sucked and bitten on for hours.
My car is covered in tampons, from roof to wheels, all over the windshield and in every nook and cranny. It smells like she put gobs and gobs of honey under the handle of my door, so that it’ll be sticky for weeks to come.
I round on her, and walk us backward, Blair stumbling as I advance on her. When her back meets the door of my truck, I bracket her body with my arms and get right in her face.
“Get. In. The. Car.”
7 Blair
I came to the party tonight because … well, I freaking wanted to.
Over the course of high school, I’ve been invited to fewer parties than I can count on my hand. Honestly, these things usually aren’t an invite-only type of event, but after the way Sawyer and his friends blackballed me from basically every social gathering or normalcy, I never wanted to show my face.
Until now. Laura and Nate convinced me to let my hair down and let loose, especially after the shitty week I had with losing the Spirit Night theme vote. And I figured, if you can’t beat the popular crowd, you could join ’em. And drink free alcohol while you’re at it.
Not that I’m an experienced drinker, or even a casual one. I’ve snuck a Mike’s Hard Lemonade here and there, maybe had a crappy cup of keg beer. But something in me kind of snapped this week, and I wanted to forget about the turmoil on student government, my
