Chapter EightKami
People showed up early. By the time I walked in, ten people were in the living room, chattering with Taylor, who seemed to be enjoying himself. I hadn’t caught sight of the angry cheerleaders, but I knew they’d turn up. Practically the whole basketball team was there, and I knew wherever the boys were, the cheerleaders wouldn’t be far behind—even if Aaron had announced his party first.
Thiago nodded at a few people, and as soon as he could, he made a beeline upstairs to his room. Or so I assumed. Nobody was talking to me, and I wasn’t sure whether Ellie would even come. I started to feel slightly uncomfortable when it dawned on me I might not have anyone to talk to. Taylor was all but ignoring me, drinking beer and laughing. He seemed to want to prove he didn’t need me to have fun. Was he really that angry?
I walked over to the table where we’d set out potato chips and sandwiches earlier. There was also a big bowl of punch, Taylor’s specialty, which he’d spiked with enough booze to kill a rhino. I don’t know how many types of alcohol he’d put into that repugnant mixture, but I got a glass and filled it up, telling myself Iwouldn’t let anyone ruin my night. My father was leaving the next day, the whole school seemed to hate me, my boyfriend was mad at me, and I was worried I was in love with Thiago. Hearing his letter had made it worse, though at the same time it had revealed so much to me.
I downed my first glass within five minutes and felt my whole body warm up. I looked around, and there seemed to be twice as many people now. Most of them were wearing costumes they’d already worn before, but a few of them had put some time into dressing up and they looked really scary, like Harry Lionel in his incredible Khal Drogo costume.
“I’ve got to admit, your costume is fucking original. Are you trying to say something with it?” I heard someone whisper in my ear.
“Jesus!” I said, whipping around. “You scared the hell out of me, Julian.” He was dressed as a clown. I hated clowns.
“That’s the idea,” he said, pouring himself a glass of punch and grimacing as he drank it. “Who’s trying to kill us?”
“Taylor,” I said, looking over to where he was talking to a group of freshmen girls.
“Trouble in paradise?” He tried his punch again. “You know, this shit is really disgusting.”
“We just had a silly argument,” I said, feeling a stab of jealousy to see Taylor laughing and having such a good time with them.
“And what about the elder Di Bianco brother?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know if I care. To be honest, I’m tired of the drama. I want to have fun tonight. Every day, it seems like more and more bullshit comes my way, and I’m honestly not about to let some stupid letter ruin my night.” I refilled my glass and forced myself to drink, pinching my nose so I wouldn’t taste it.
“Letter?” Julian asked, clapping me softly on the back when the liquor made me cough.
“Don’t worry about it,” I responded. “You feel like dancing?”
He hesitated. “I’m not really the best dancer…”
“Just stand next to me and jump up and down,” I said, dragging him to the middle of the room. A makeshift dance floor had evolved, and I started dancing and jumping around.
He watched me, smiling, but there was something creepy about him. I guess it was his costume, but a shiver ran down my spine. I kept dancing and turned to look the other way, trying to have fun while ignoring all the looks I knew I was drawing. I managed to enjoy myself until I saw Kate walk through the door.
Just as I’d expected, the other cheerleaders, all my former friends, walked in behind her in exactly the same outfits: bodysuits with bones painted on them. I guess they were supposed to be skeletons, but it was obviously just an excuse for a sexy getup. Kate frowned when she saw me.
“Looks like the dead sisters’ club has arrived,” Julian said.
Ellie wasn’t with them, so I walked off to look for her, finally finding her in the kitchen, sitting on the counter. She was dressed as Katniss fromThe Hunger Games. She looked stunning, and I was glad she hadn’t played along with the rest of the cheerleaders, but I wasn’t surprised, either: she’d never been one to show off her body. One thing was weird, though: she was talking to Danny.
I hung back for a second in the doorway until she looked up at me. She tensed, and Danny noticed, and then he saw me too. I walked in slowly with Julian at my side.
“I’ve been looking for you,” I said, trying to pretend my ex-boyfriend wasn’t there.
“Yeah, I just got here, and came right in to grab a drink,” she said, trying to pretend like she hadn’t been flirting with my abusive ex-boyfriend. Or had I just imagined it?
“Nice costume,” Danny said, looking me up and down.
He was dressed as a soldier, fake machine gun and all. As he lifted it and pointed it at Julian, he said, “Sometimes I wish it were real.”
“You think that’s funny?” I asked.
“No. I’d actually like to shoot you all dead.” I froze. Then a second later, he said, “God, I’m kidding. I guess your sense of humor disappeared along with everything else everyone used to like about you.”
I ignored him and asked Ellie if she’d come to the living room with me. “Can’t you hear? It’s our song! Let’s go dance before they switch to hip-hop,” I said, trying to act normal.
“Hell yeah!” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me away. Julian was right on our heels. By now, the whole house was packed. I guess Taylor really had the whole school eating out of the palm of his hand. I looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. The music was booming, and I was ready to dance, but instead Ellie dragged me over to the drinks table.
