Jackson’s taunting voice made me roll my eyes toward the dark, starless night sky.
“Will stood her up again. Imagine how little he gives a shit about seeing her.” I heard James Hunter’s deep voice lord over me.
“James,” the blond guy warned.
“What? I was just telling the truth,” he spat cynically.
The two started vaping near me and Jackson shot me a compassionate look. “June, he’ll be here. You’ll see. He’s just gonna be late.”
I appreciated his attempt to calm me down, but I honestly didn’t believe him either. Will had been standoffish the whole day, so I doubted he’d keep his promise and show up at Tropical.
“Did Will text you?” James asked Jackson.
“No, he didn’t tell me shit.”
The two were soon surrounded by people I didn’t know. I’d seen some of them, but others seemed were new to me. They vaped and talked loudly, and I wondered what the hell they were doing there. I should’ve met up with Poppy and Ari and found Will, but the things weren’t going the way I hoped they would.
I checked the time. It was already ten, and not a word from Will.
I glanced at Ari, who was leaving teary-eyed. She looked distraught.
“Where’s Will?” she asked. “Is he standing you up like he did this afternoon?”
“No, he had something come up.” I tried to defend him. She stared at me, disappointed.
“Okay, yeah, he stood me up,” I snapped, irritated. “What about Brian?”
“He didn’t feel like coming.”
Feeling down, we leaned against the wall. We could’ve had a fun girls’ night, but Ari and I weren’t friends. We didn’t have much in common, maybe because I didn’t know what to say to her.
She hinted at a smile, then checked her phone. “Poppy’s late like always, but she said she’d join us.”
“Okay.”
I rubbed my forearms to warm myself up. Ari looked over at the nearby chatter. Her eyes were glued to James, who somehow managed to draw all the attention to himself in the middle of the giggling group of people. Maybe it was his childish laugh and irresistible dimples, or maybe it was the furtive glances he shot at us.
That contemptible creature and I weren’t talking anymore, and I couldn’t help but feel happy about that.
“I’m gonna grab another drink. Do you want anything?” Ari pointed at the empty bottle she was holding.
“No, want me to come with you?”
“It’s better if you wait for Poppy here. If we both go in, we might not find each other.”
Ari disappeared into the crowd surrounding the entrance.
Marvin and a girl with a black bob and inky black eyes approached me.
“Hey,” she said, smoking with half-opened eyes.
“Hey,” I replied, surly.
“This is June White.” Marvin chortled, introducing me. “And his is my cousin.”
Her legs were tattooed, she had the gift of gab, and she wouldn’t take her eyes off James Hunter. He didn’t seem remotely interested in her chatter, so much so that at a certain point he started to look for me.
“White?”
