"Hey," A smoking gorgeous boy in black ripped pants said, walking up to us and beaming sheepishly. "Wanna dance?" Stacey took his hand, and I spotted a rush of disappointment wash over his face.
"Sure, handsome. Lead the way." She turned to go, and I held onto her, desperate.
"Stacey, you can't leave!" She shrugged my hands off.
"Stop being a baby. This is a party. Go have fun. Drink." The boy whisked her away, and she yelled, "Dance too. I mean it, Mira!" She turned to him, beaming. I watched them waltz into the crowd, heart stopping. What do I do now? I took one long look around the room filled with people mingling, talking, dancing, drinking, smooching. It felt so cold, so distant. I don't belong here. I slouched off to the bar counter after turning down five guys for a dance. I leaned across the stool and made circles on the dewy surface with my manicured fingers. I leaned through the makeshift bar, and the self-appointed bartender beamed at me, gazing.
"Hey there, pretty. What can I get you?"
"Do you have soda?" His brows quirked, and he stared at me strangely.
"Strange choice, but I'll check." He ran his hands through the large wine bottles perched on the shelf and flashed me a grin.
"Sorry. We're all out."
"Oh. Do you have water then?"
"I guess…"
"Hey, pretty," some sleazy guy with greasy hair said, walking up to me with a bottle of beer dangling from his arm. "Wanna dance?"
"No thanks."
"Come on," he said, leaning close and choking me with his horrible scent. "It's gonna be fun."
"No thanks. I'm tired. Maybe later."
"Don't be such a bitch, you little ass." He grabbed my arm, and I sat up, startled.
"Let go," I growled, wriggling my hand off his vice-like grip. He held on tighter, drawing me closer to him. "I said let me go!"
"Come on, bitch. It's just one little dance…"
"Let me go!" I yelled, and in one breath, he was toppled over the counter, writhing in pain. I looked up at my savior and let out a sigh of relief. Josh!
"She said let go, you asshole. Now scram!" The drunk dude scampered off, and I adjusted my skirt, coughing nervously.
"Thanks."
"No probs," he said, sitting next to me. "We guys tend to be assholes when we're drunk. Don't hold it against us." I nodded.
"Noted."
"You look great, Mira." He gushed, his eyes darting over my skin. I smiled.
"Thanks."
"Black looks good on you, you know. It gives you this aura," he held his hands up like a cat, "like lady-of-the-night vibes." I laughed.
"Lady-of-the-night, huh?"
"Yeah, totally. You needed to see the guys, Mira. You had them tripping over their legs with your killer looks."
"I do that all the time, so it doesn't sound strange." He laughed, and I smiled.
"Hey, do
"You want something?" he asked. "A… drink maybe?"
"Oh, I don't drink," he gaped.
"You don't… what?"
"I don't drink."
"What universe are you from? Planet You're-So-NOT-a-Teenager?"
"I don't find alcohol appetizing, Josh. That's it."
"So what do you want?"
"Oh, I asked for soda, and they were all out."
"That was just the bartender being nice. No one brings soda to a party."
I shrugged. "Guess I'm all on my own, then."
"Yeah," he nodded. "You're definitely on your own." I shuddered lightly and shrunk into my skin, casting nervous looks around, trying to spot a particular blonde in a hot pink dress and killer boots. No luck.
"Hey, do you wanna, I don't know, get out of here? I know a much quieter lounge. There are people, but they won't bother you."
I sat up. "Really? Where's that? Outside this house?"
"No. It's in here. The cool crowd likes to hang there, but looking like this, they'll want to adopt you ASAP."
"I'm fine being orphaned." He smiled, pinching my cheek.
"Who says you're orphaned when you've got Daddy Yo here?" I laughed, and he tugged on my arm. "Come on, let's go." I dragged my feet up and followed quietly. We walked up two flights of stairs, him trotting easily and me struggling to keep up in those terrible shoes. I slipped a few times, but luckily, I didn't fall over.
The last flight led us to a much quieter and darker part of the house. Josh was right. It was quiet in there, with soft jazz oozing in the background. There was a huge lounge table in the middle of three large leather couches filled with couples either making out or just talking. I recognized a few of them. They were mostly Alex's friends, the popular jocks, and the entire school cheer-leading team. They barely gave us a second glance when we walked in, and I heaved a sigh of relief. Finally! Some much-deserved invisibility.
Josh found us a table by the window, and we slipped in quietly, talking about school and his father's café. Somehow, his father's café drew my interest, and I probed further.
"What does he make? The regular coffee? Snacks? What?"
"Oh, he's into all of them. It's actually a restaurant, you know, because he sells food there too, but it started out as a café, and I guess the name stuck," he said, twirling his straw against his bottle of beer. I leaned forward, curious.
"He has a lot of hands helping him, then, I suppose?" He wriggled his brows and beamed.
"Sure." He wiggled his fingers. "These old boys do the trick."
"No way," I said, laughing. "You work for him?"
He made a look of disgust. "What? No, babe, how the hell am I supposed to take out girls like you to parties if I do? I just help with the dishes, that's all." My eyes widened even further.
"You cook?"
"Yeah, of course. Sometimes, though. I'm on a seafood diet, you see. I see food, and I eat it." I laughed, cranking up.
"The puns, Josh. The puns."
"What can I say? I'm a master at my field. I used to be a baker, but I couldn't make enough dough," he said, rubbing his index finger over his thumb. I laughed even harder, tears filling my eyes. He held his shoulder high. "I'm the king of puns, baby."
"Yeah, right," I scoffed. "I bet I could beat you at it."
"Yeah, right. You really can't out-pun me at my own game." I laughed.
"Yeah? Well…"
"Mira," a cheery, bell-like voice chimed with a dose of sugary sweetness. I looked up at Kimberly's smirking face as she scrutinized my outfit with those cold, dark eyes of hers. "You came? Isn't that a big surprise?"
"Yeah. I'm overwhelmed."
"Cute dress. It's really nice of Stacey to let you borrow her things," she beamed, and I winced, looking down and tugging at the dress. So she knew? "Anyway, would you like to join us for drinks? It's gonna be fun. Come on."
"I really can't…"
"Why not? A friend of Alexander's is a friend of mine."
"We are not friends." She smiled, tugging on my arm.
"Says who? You two talk a lot, don't you?"
"No. He just annoys me."
She squinted. "Annoys you?"
"Yeah, well…"
"We'll come over, Kim," Josh said, cutting in and nodding at me. "Go on. We'll be over there soon."
"Cute," she chimed, walking off. "See ya."
"Yeah." I waved, watching her saunter off to some dark corner with strange blue lights far to the left. I let out a scoff. How was I supposed to handle Kim? At least if she'd been mean, I'd know where I stand. But all this sugary sweetness is KILLING me.
"We don't have to go if you don't want to," Josh said, grabbing my hand. "Let's go back down…"
"No. This is what Kimberly wants. She wants me to chicken out." I turned to stare at him, forcing on my bravest face. "I've had momentary periods of chickening out in my life, but not this time." I stood up. "Let's go." He nodded, beaming. He held out his hand, and I took it. We walked up to the coziest corner of the room filled with soft blue lights, some hazy smoke effect, and smooth jazz music. I took a deep breath and exhaled. You can do this, Mira.
"Hey!" Kimberly sang, coming up from behind me. "You came." She grabbed my arm, holding it a tad too tight. "Come on. Take a seat." She dumped me hard on the couch behind some tall, hunky blonde with pretty bright yellow eyes and wide cheekbones. He looked familiar, like someone from Alex's gang. He beamed, smiling and leaning into me.
"Hey there, pretty. Remember me?"
"I… I don't know you." He ran his finger through a strand of my hair, smirking.
"Oh, you do, pretty. You just don't remember." Something about the way he stared at me struck a chord, like I'd seen him before. I just couldn't place it.
"I'm Ryan, by the way."
"I'm Mira…"
"Give way for the king," Josh yelled, squishing in between us. Ryan leaned back, glaring.
"The spot's taken, dick."
Josh shot him a not-so-nice smile. "Deal with it, ass."
Ryan jumped up to his feet, glaring and heaving long and hard. "How dare you? Get your butt off!!" Josh made a face.
"Make me," he smirked, and Ryan made a dive at him. Only he barely got halfway because someone held him back from behind. I looked up.
And right into Alex's deep, watery blue eyes.