2.
1639 Words
2. Riley
“Wow. You two walk fast.”
Joanna cussed and I groaned, slapping a hand against my temple. “Agnes. What are you doing?”
She stepped out from the shadows like some kind of unpleasant surprise nobody ordered. Her greasy blonde hair was pulled into a tight ponytail. She looked like a big lump of grease and disgust put together as I wondered how she managed to squeeze all her flappiness into the tight dress she wore.
“Why are you sneaking around like that?” Joanna asked.
“I wasn’t sneaking,” Agnes said. “I was walking.”
“Hidden. Behind us,” I reminded her in case she forgot.
“Oh, that. It was a uh— a coincidence.”
“Sure,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.
Agnes crossed her arms and looked between us. “You’re going to the welcome party, right?”
I instantly said, “No.” without a second thought. Knowing Agnes, she definitely wasn’t invited and had been scavenging for the nearest prey to piggyback with into the party. No thank you.
Joanna said, “Yes.”
I strangled her twice in my mind. She had just signed away our social life with that single word. Nobody liked Agnes and once people see her with us, we become the enemy by association.
Agnes smirked. “Great. I’ll come with you.”
“No,” I said immediately as I turned to Joanna with pleading eyes.
Joanna shrugged in response. Agnes ignored me and started walking ahead like the decision had already been made.
I stared at Joanna. “Why is this happening to us?”
Joanna sighed. “Just ignore her. They’ll probably think she’s alone.”
“She’s a walking disaster. How am I suppose to ignore that?”
“I heard that,” Agnes said from in front of us.
“Good,” I said in a low voice.
“What do you girls think he’s like?” Agnes asked in a voice that made her sound like a fan girl.
“Who?” We asked at the same time.
“You know, Rhy’s brother?” She rolled her huge eyes. “The party is for him, remember?”
I hadn’t even thought about it once. It was literally the second time I was hearing about him and I didn’t know what to think yet.
“I heard he’s irresistibly charming. I’m hoping he’s single.” Joanna admitted, her cheeks turning red.
“I heard he’s so hot and he’s going to join school.” Agnes said, her voice rising like she couldn’t wait to get it out.
Both girls squealed like a bunch of three year olds. I groaned, “Can we stop talking about this guy and focus on getting there first?”
The rest of the walk was painfully awkward. Agnes kept trying to start up another conversation like a mosquito that wouldn’t die. By the time the condo came into view, I was already exhausted.
The place was huge. The music was terribly loud and some frat wolves sat on the front yard smoking. There was a shirtless drunk guy on the floor passed out in his puke and artificial grass. I even heard someone howling at the moon like they were auditioning for a documentary.
I stopped walking. “I regret everything already. Take me back home, Joanna.” I grumbled.
Joanna grabbed my arm and dragged me forward. “You promised.”
“I was emotionally blackmailed. C’mon.”
We stepped inside or rather I was dragged inside. The house was packed. The air smelled like alcohol and testosterone it made me want to puke. I wasn’t sure I’d see so many shirtless guys in one place.
My wolf immediately wanted us to hide under a table and I completely agreed.
“This is overwhelming,” I said.
“You’re fine,” Joanna said, rubbing my elbow assuringly.
Agnes pushed past us and disappeared into the crowd like the parasite she was. That was one less worry. Joanna was already scanning the room looking for Castiel.
“Do you think this dress shows my shape?” She asked, her eyes filtering through the crowd.
“I think that dress shows a little more than just your shape.” I said, trying not to look at her cleavage or the cross she chose to bury between her melons.
“Perfect.” She grinned. “Don’t embarrass me tonight.”
“I’m not the embarrassing one.”
“Last time you tried to introduce yourself to someone you called them ‘sir.’” She said, raising a brow at me.
“Ouch. You just had to bring that up.” I sighed. “In my defense he had authority vibes.”
“He was a sophomore, Riley.”
I ignored her and wandered toward a group standing near the kitchen. Okay. Time to socialize. How hard can it be to say a couple of words to strangers? I could do this.
I walked up to them and smiled. “Hi.”
Three girls turned and stared at me like I wasn’t supposed to be there. One of them blinked slowly then studied me from up to down.
“Yes?” she said.
“I just thought I’d… join the conversation.”
“What conversation?” another girl asked.
Oh, my bad. They weren’t actually talking when I approached them. I made an assumption and missed.
My brain scrambled for something intelligent to say to save the situation.
“So… wolves,” I said.
One girl frowned. “What?”
“You know. Being wolves. Must be pretty crazy, huh?”
They all stared at me like I had grown a second head. Shame giggled in my ear.
“Okay,” I said quickly. “I’m going to leave now.”
“Wait.” One of the girls said fast, squinting at me. “Aren’t you that tragic omega in Class D?”
“Uhm, I wouldn’t say tragic…”
“What would you know about being a wolf?” She continued relentlessly.
“I heard she doesn’t have a wolf.” One of them added.
The girls gasped in disbelief. I tried to speak but my voice cracked under the weight of humiliation.
“If it was me,” another girl said twirling her perfectly manicured finger, “I’d have killed myself.”
I turned around and walked-ran away as fast as possible. Joanna appeared beside me.
“I saw you talking to those girls. What happened?” she asked seeing the look in my eyes.
“Just leave me and enjoy your party.” I said, pushing past her. I ran up to the first floor balcony to get fresh air. I heard a familiar voice and froze when I turned around to see Bianca across the room.
She stood near the couch with her group of minions, already looking drunk. Her laugh was loud and her words slurred so bad that her sentences didn’t make sense.
“Oh no.” I whispered to myself. “Why does she have to be here too? I knew I should have just stayed home.”
Suddenly a thought popped into my head. Bianca’s here. That’s terrible on so many levels but if she’s here that means— Cody might be here too.
My eyes scanned the room quickly, my beating faster with each breath. I snuck past Bianca and her girls till I climbed the stairs back down. I checked everywhere a nonchalant handsome heir might hang out but I couldn’t find him.
I casually walked past a group of guys talking near the window. I was sure I’d seen them with him before.
“…yeah Cody just left,” one of them said. My ears immediately locked onto the conversation.
“He was here for like ten minutes then he got a call and ran off.”
My shoulders dropped and my heart suddenly felt heavy. I slumped with my back to a wall. I didn’t know if I felt relieved or disappointed. It was probably both.
Bianca suddenly appeared beside me and burst into loud laughter. She nearly fell into one of her friends. She hasn’t seen me yet and I wanted it to stay that way so I crawled out of view.
For the next twenty minutes, I moved around the party like a nervous squirrel. Every time Bianca turned in my direction, I had to duck down behind someone taller. At one point I had to think fast and hid behind a coat rack.
I got tired of playing the cat mouse game with Bianca so I made up my mind to find Joanna so we can haul ass and get out of there. I walked toward the staircase and noticed how quiet the upstairs hallway sounded. But Joanna wasn’t down so she had to be up.
Several doors were closed as I walked down the hall.
“Joanna?” I called in a whisper. “Are you up here?”
I got no response. Maybe she was in one of these bathrooms. I reached the last door and pushed it open a crack.
I froze immediately and was about to subconsciously duck out when my brain registered what I was seeing.
Bianca was pressed against the wall and a guy had his hands around her ass as he kissed her aggressively. They were literally eating each other's mouths at this point. What shocked me was how the guy she was kissing wasn’t Cody.
Suddenly the guy stopped then turned around to look at me. My jaw dropped as I saw his ridiculous handsome smile. His aura was different and so was his scent too.
No way in hell that’s Cody… What the f**k is going on here?!?
- Writer
