“So?”
“And you’re wearing makeup—”
His tone was increasingly amused. But who was I kidding?
I looked like a clown. Tiffany was so convincing making me believe I was beautiful that for a moment I’d thought so too.
I wanted to tell James to quit treating me like a kid or a little sister, but I ended up just glaring at him.
“After you, White,” he whispered, biting his lip, before pointing at the door.
27
June
“Let’s have some fun!” screamed Tiffany as soon as we set foot in the dark, crowded club.
“They didn’t check ID! We can’t be here!” I said, and James burst out laughing.
“White knows how to be fun, too, every once in a while.”
I rolled my eyes, which were inundated by the neon lights. The place was teeming with people, and the music was superloud. I’d gone out to spy on my mom, and now I was in a place where I shouldn’t be with two people I barely knew.
Before I could follow Tiffany into the crowd, James squeezed my arm firmly.
“Well?” he asked, looking me up and down.
“What do you want?”
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.
“Having fun. That’s what you two said, right?”
I was actually feeling a little hungry. I wanted to order French fries at the bar. But I didn’t say that.
And my saliva got caught in my throat when I saw William staring at me from far away under the psychedelic lights.
“What are your intentions?”
“What’s it to you?” I answered, distracted by Will’s presence.
“I don’t care about you. But I’ll rephrase the question: What are your intentions, princess?”
“I wanna get drunk.” I clucked my tongue.
James hinted at a surprised chuckle, but the dimples at the corners of his mouth quickly disappeared, because he realized that I wasn’t joking.
“You, White? Seriously?”
“No, look, I’m only doing it because I wanna see Mister I Don’t Give a Flying Fuck About You’s reaction. Who do you think you are?”
I saw him clench his jaw at that, but then he knit his brow, apparently confused by my sarcasm.
“That doesn’t seem like a good way to deal with what happened yesterday,” he suggested, following me to the bar.
“I definitely wouldn’t take advice from you, James. Oh, no, wait, you’re the most responsible guy I know, aren’t you?” I hit the counter with one hand like I’d seen in the movies.
“Are you done with your fucking jokes, White?”
