Page 6 of Against All Odds

People all around us started kissing. I didn’t want to watch Rebekah with Parker, so I turned around to try and smooch Kyle, but he pushed me away.

“Not when you’re drunk,” he muttered.

“I’m not fucking drunk,” I slurred, but he only shook his head.

Fine. His loss, then.

At some point, I lost my friends in the crowd – but could I really call them friends? I had seen Emmy’s judgmental looks, Tracy’s annoyed disdain, and Rebekah grinding on Parker as if she had not just dropped an earth-shattering confession on me on the bike ride here.

I stood in line for the bar, struggling to focus my eyes.

“What can I get you?” A tall guy behind me asked, sliding his arm around my waist.

“Coke.” The word left my mouth like a magical cure. “I need some fucking cocaine.”

When you drop a truth like this within two seconds of meeting someone, two things can happen. Either they think you’re crazy and walk away, or they’re on your level. This guy, to my relief, fell into the second category.

“Oh, you’re going for it, aren’t you?” He laughed. “I can get you some, beautiful, but you’ve got to pay.”

“I don’t have cash with me.” I struggled to form the words properly.

He spun me around to face me and lifted my chin. “That’s okay. Come with me to the bathroom and snort it off my dick.”

Now, that sounded like the best idea I’d heard all night.

The cocaine turned out to be some of the better stuff – and I ended up sucking him off, because why not?

People who say cocaine sobers you up from alcohol, clearly have never taken cocaine after three mojitos. It made me sharper, yes – more focused. More energetic. Not sober, but more powerful. Anxiety was nothing but a weak, laughable memory – something taught that wasn’t the real me. The real me was here, alive, ready to burn down this fucking club.

I blinked, and my vision shimmered back to reality. I didn’t remember what had happened before or how I got here, but Rebekah and I were standing next to the bar. We mirrored each other’s positions, one arm leaning on the bar, head tilted to the side. More likely, I was mirroring hers.

She bowed her head as she laughed about something I said, a strand of blonde hair falling in front of her face.

Even after a night of dancing, she still looked flawless. Not a hair out of place, make-up still perfect. I didn’t know how she did it – every time I went to the bathroom to snort another bump off my house key, I had to wipe the worn-down mascara off my face.

I watched her as she talked about herself, barely registering what she said, and I wondered if I should confess my feelings to her. She might not like me back, but maybe she would appreciate it, right? A girl like her was used to people falling for her. Maybe I could make her feel special. She knew she was, but I would happily confirm it. I didn’t need her to love me back; I was perfectly content worshipping her from a distance.

“You’re beautiful when you laugh.” The words had slipped from my mouth before I made the conscious decision to. “You always are, but when you laugh, it lights up the room.”

“Ahw, thanks.” She smiled, in the way she rarely did – fully, genuinely, showing her perfect teeth. “You’re pretty, too.”

She leaned in, and my heart skipped a beat when I thought, for the briefest moment, she might kiss me. But instead, she leaned past my parted lips to shout her question into my ear over the loud music. “Can you get this round?”

I nodded, turning back to the bar to get us both another cocktail.

Rebekah blew me a kiss and turned back to Parker. I blinked, only now realizing he was there.

My stomach dropped when she slid her arm around his waist and kissed him like her life depended on it, and suddenly, I saw things crystal clear. She had been manipulating me. Dropping all these hints on the bike, flirting with me to get a free drink before going back to her boyfriend – as if I was dumb enough to be played like that.

I should show her she picked the wrong person to mess with.

Screams filled the club as my glass shattered against the wall behind the couple – glass splinters barely missing Parker’s despicable face.

The last thing I saw were their shocked faces, alcohol soaking their clothes and hair, before I turned around to run. I didn’t make it far. Two large, muscular bouncers had appeared out of nowhere, their faces contorted with anger as they both grabbed one arm and dragged me to the exit.

Chapter 3.

Seren