I turned to look at Marvin, who was stroking his clean-shaven head, confused.
“What do you want from her, James?”
“I don’t want shit. Why don’t you ask her? She’s been on my ass all night.”
What a child.
Melanie kept warbling loudly from her end.
“He asked me if I had a friend! Why would he ask me that if he’s dating me? He made a fool out of me!”
James burst out laughing.
At that point Marvin finally came to his cousin’s defense.
“And I asked you not to be a dick. At least not to her.”
“What’d I do wrong now?” James kept egging the girl on. She met him halfway. Marvin could barely restrain her.
“You humiliated me with that terrible joke!”
“What joke?” asked Marvin.
James lost it. He looked like someone who had felt everything at eighteen, and boredom was all that was left.
“I didn’t want to get into the details, but you’ve given me no choice. The lady here said she wanted to”—James stopped to put a finger on his chin, holding back giggles like a bratty kid—“take a stroll holding hands, and I said no. I’m allowed to turn down a walk, aren’t I, Marvin?”
“Get to the point,” he snapped, irritated.
“And then I said, ‘Unless you have another friend. In that case, I might reconsider.’ What’s wrong with that?”
“You’re an animal! You said something completely different. And besides, am I not enough for you?” squawked Melanie, waving her arms around.
Her intent was anything but friendly. She wanted to get to James at all costs, but Marvin held her back and tried to calm her down.
“This is too much for me, Will. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to stay here and listen to this crap,” I whispered into his ear before walking away.
“Where are you going? June!”
“Inside,” I replied, without really knowing how to find my bearings.
That neon sign had glowed over my head twice, and now the moment had finally arrived to discover what this bizarre place was hiding. I heard the music blasting inside as rays of light shone out the door.
“Wait, not alone.”
William took my hand, grabbed James by his leather jacket, and dragged him in with us.
A bored bodyguard at the front door greeted Will without asking questions, despite us clearly being too young to be in a place like this. I wasn’t planning on staying; I just wanted to take a peek inside once and for all.
“James and I are gonna take care of something, then we’ll go home.” William’s words sounded far away even though he was close enough for our arms to touch.
The bass pounded in my chest, and my eyes took forever to adjust to the psychedelic lights. My vision seemed blurry, or maybe there was just a ton of smoke. The only thing I was sure about was the persistent smell of alcohol that enveloped me along with a hint of a woman’s perfume.
A guy with reddish hair approached me menacingly. It didn’t take long to realize it was Ethan Austin.
“Is blondie with you or Hunter?”
Will didn’t seem to understand, given how focused he was on holding James up by his jacket sleeve.
