“No.” The clothes were dropped, and I clutched my sleeping bag for support.
Despite how easily Rani attached herself to me, I wasn’t here to make friends or give in to the hookup culture that saturated the party scene. Been there, tried that. Human friends didn’t stick around long when they knew you were keeping secrets, or when your life got too weird. While I hoped my days of running in the middle of the night were over, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t have to.
As for hooking up, why bother? The few times I’d tried itwere nothing to swoon over. Boring, uncomfortable, and embarrassing were all I had to say about sex. Maybe it was me? The way everyone else went on about how great it was…I was obviously missing something.
“Hello, earth to Eryn.” Rani wiggled that red top until the subtle glitter in the material winked. “It’s not even that cold out yet.”
“It’s not thesubfreezing temperatureI’m worried about.” I wrinkled my nose. “It’s being charged with public indecency.”
The top wasn’t that bad, actually. I had ample breasts but nothing too outrageous. That skirt, however, would need every single one of its stitches to grow three inches if it wanted to cover my ass.
“Please,” Rani pleaded. “Your legs would look incredible, and you can even wear your boots. Edgy.”
I would have no choice but to wear the boots. For one thing, they were the only pair of shoes I owned, and for the other, there wasiceoutside. Why did tumbling temperatures mean putting on fewer clothes? Was hypothermia not a thing for humans anymore?
“I have class tomorrow,” I mumbled, but she wouldn’t accept my excuse.
“The whole campus has class tomorrow.”
I shrugged. The whole campus didn’t rely on the college for literally everything. They didn’t have a supernatural bounty on their heads. I couldn’t risk my future and safety over this never-ending need to feel included. I knew better.
“Babe, I’m going to be upfront with you. Okay? I know your life hasn’t been easy.” She held up her hand when I opened my mouth. “I won’t ask questions, and this is the only time I’ll bring it up unless you offer, but girl, you can't forget to live.”
‘It’s not unheard of for someone to not like to party.”
“It’s not. But,” she caught my gaze and held it, “have you ever been to one?”
Magick. She had to be using magick. How else did she know? How could she see me so clearly when everyone else saw what I wanted them to? I blushed at how exposed I felt, and Rani nodded.
“One party,” she said. “Try a drink. Meet new people. Who knows, you might enjoy yourself.” I eyed the outfit she selected, my fingers itching to try it on. “I’ll stay by your side the whole time, and if you want to leave five minutes after getting there, I’ll escort you back with a smile on my face.”
“Fine.”
And that’s how I ended up in front of a large house with too many windows and drunk humans mingling out of the door and onto the lawn. A steady bass smothered the sound of their revelry. My own body thrummed with it. The frat party resembled one from every movieever, and I was actually disappointed that it wasn’t something different.
Rani held my hand and led me inside before we froze. Past the dancing and beer pong, past the couples getting too handsy in the shadows, and straight to the kitchen. It was actually pretty tolerable in here and not that messy. A red solo cup appeared in front of me.
“I mixed it myself,” she warned. “It's strong, so baby it for a while. If you want more, I’ll get it. Or you. Don’t accept anything from anyone else.”
I nodded, familiar with the basics of drink safety: don’t set it down, keep it covered, those sorts of things. Some of the juice sloshed out as we rushed back to the music for dancing. Even more escaped as I swung my hips and pulled at my skirt to keep it covering all my important parts. An hour passed. Maybe two. Somewhere between a guy asking Rani to dance and my second cup, I realized I was having fun.
I raised my cup with the room—because the song told us to–and startled when a warm body pressed against me. My wide, panicked eyes begged my roommate for help, and she laughed.
“He’s cute!” she shouted over the music, then grabbed my free hand and swiveled her hips.
I could do this. It was just dancing. The song switched to a slower beat, and I let it carry me away. This was what I’ve been missing. I’d never felt more free than in this moment, lost in a crowded room of strangers. The song changed again, and it took me a moment to notice the pressure in my chest.
Standing near the speakers made it hard to separate my body from the music, but when I saw him, I knew I wasn’t imagining things. It was like my body had a warning signal for when he was around. His blond hair was darker inside, but nothing could mask that glare. Just like at the hospital and again later in the Commons, I was torn between challenging him or running and hiding behind whatever locked door I could find.
There was something about him that both frightened and excited me. Neither was good.
“Who’s that?” I asked Rani, gesturing to where the mystery guy leaned against the wall, watching me.
Her brows rose in shock when she saw who I meant. “That’s Kai,” she shouted into my ear. “He’s a TA and totally off-limits to undergrads.”
I frowned. Why was he here? And why hadn’t he said that when we first bumped into one another? Telling me to stay away from the hospital made more sense now that I knew he had some authority on the matter. But it didn’t explain why he kept popping up wherever I was. The guy behind me grew bolder with each song, and his roaming hands were a little much on top of the anger brewing in my chest.
I drained the last of my cup and pushed away. It was time to leave.
