Chapter 15
June
“There’s a two-drink limit. Not one more, not one less.”
“What do you mean?”
“That way you’re happier but not drunk.”
The girls and I had locked ourselves in William’s bathroom for five minutes, really as soon as we got there. Amelia and Poppy wanted to fix their makeup, and I’d followed them because I didn’t know where else to go. The living room was empty except for a few guys, and there was no trace of William.
“Does this really look good on me like this?” Pointing at the dress I was wearing, I asked Poppy because I wanted the truth.
She played with a piece of purple-and-blond hair. “Yeah, but your boobs are too big for it,” she replied without thinking.
“What? Oh jeez, I gotta change,” I exclaimed in a panic. Amelia gave us an icy death stare.
“Obviously, the rules are different for Poppy. One at the most. Otherwise she’ll talk your ear off about her imaginary rabbit.”
“His name is Mr. Rabbit, and he’s not imaginary. He just gets out of his crate a lot, so Amelia’s never seen him. But I swear he’s real, June.”
Poppy’s na?veté made me smile.
“Besides, I don’t need to drink. I can have fun with or without alcohol,” she added nonchalantly, without realizing she’d made a dig at her friend.
Amelia glossed over those words, maybe because she was too busy putting blood-red lipstick on her thin lips. She turned around when she was satisfied and then started arranging my hair without asking me, separating it with her hands.
“You look great, June. Can I put some liner on you? It’ll make your gorgeous blue eyes stand out.”
The compliment made me even more skeptical.
“No, thanks. Why’d we come early?” I asked, perplexed.
“To test the waters. To do a vibe check and see if we match it. Do I have to explain everything to you?”
“And we’re hiding in the bathroom because?”
I kept asking questions that seemed ridiculous to her, but everything was new for me. I’d never been invited to a party, let alone one that was being hosted by the guy I liked. It was automatic—as soon as I thought of William, I started checking myself in the mirror.
Amelia was a little taller than me, but she was much willowier. And that difference was emphasized as soon as I’d agreed to wear one of her tight minidresses.
On the one hand, I was reluctant because we weren’t the same size, and I wasn’t used to wearing provocative clothes.
On the other hand, I was tired of spending my evenings in bed listening to Taylor Swift as I watched true crime documentaries.
I also wanted to feel the rush of feeling beautiful for an evening.
Of course, I wasn’t expecting Amelia to wear a black minidress so similar to mine. And while her dress fit her like a glove, I felt like I was going to burst out of mine at any moment. I kept pulling it down on my thighs and up on my cleavage.
“Where’s Ari?”
“With Brian.”
“They slipped away for some foreplay. They’ve been doing that for almost two years.”
I scowled at Poppy’s answer, but Amelia quickly changed the subject.
“Don’t worry about it, June. You should only think about William now. That was a clear declaration that he made outside my house,” she whispered, hoisting up my cleavage and showcasing my curves. “Let’s go.”
“No, wait,” I whined, looking at myself in the mirror.
I didn’t feel like myself. I’d insisted on leaving my hair loose, but Amelia had the last word on the clothes and makeup.
“Let’s make a deal. You can keep your tennis shoes on if you at least put on some mascara,” she declared, coming closer to me.
I let her put it on, but now I didn’t even recognize myself. I looked like one of those bimbos that my mom gave death stares to in the grocery store for extra reward points.
“You look so hot. What are you afraid of?” Amelia tried to console me.
“I don’t really feel—”
“You don’t feel comfortable dressed like a guy magnet,” Poppy said.
“You really know how to boost someone’s ego,” Amelia teased.
“I would’ve said ‘turn on’ instead of ‘attract’ but I controlled myself because of June’s sensitivity.”
“Thanks, Poppy, I appreciate it,” I quipped sarcastically.
“Did you memorize the drink rule, June?”
“I don’t think I’m gonna drink, but thanks for the tip, Amelia.”
“And don’t eat any candy if they offer it to you,” added Poppy.
“Candy? Are we in kindergarten?” I exclaimed, making them laugh. I didn’t understand why they were laughing, but I got a weirdly anxious feeling when they got serious.
“Seriously. Be careful.”
I thought about my mom again and the umpteenth lie I’d told her to be here.
I’m gonna study at Amelia’s, I have so much to catch up on . . .
After all, what could go wrong? I had my answer as soon as we got out of the bathroom.
The living room I’d seen ten minutes ago was unrecognizable. There were people everywhere, the music was pounding, and I could barely hear Poppy a few inches away from me. William’s house looked like it’d been invaded by an army of ants.
And here I thought it was gonna be a chill night.
“Everything okay, June?” I read Poppy’s lips.
“I had to tell a few white lies to come to the party. My mom thinks I’m studying at Amelia’s,” I whined, mildly afraid.
“And I imagine that she believed you. Also because who wouldn’t study dressed like that.”
That grating tone made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Amelia stared furtively at James Hunter as she ran her fingers through her dark hair.
“Come on! June looks great,” Poppy shot back, while I felt so dejected that I couldn’t even reply.
“You look great, sweetheart,” James whispered, biting his lip. His intense cologne burned in my nostrils. I wondered how he had the balls to talk to me about clothes given that his outfit left a lot to be desired. He was wearing sweatpants and an unzipped blue hoodie.
As usual, he was flanked by Jackson, with his bleach-blond hair and wearing a red vest. They looked like they’d just walked out of a comic strip.
“Forget it, June, you look superhot,” whispered Marvin, his eyes on my cleavage.
“Marvin, you have three fucking seconds.” James raised his hand to start counting.
“Huh?” Marvin seemed confused
“Three! Get me a drink,” James ordered brusquely.
“What a dick,” I muttered.
“Just a little advice, White. If you don’t want half the school to motorboat you, maybe you should make an effort next time,” he commented acidly, staring at me.
“Make an effort to do what, Hunter?” I growled between clenched teeth.
“To cover up, you moron.”
He turned around and followed his friends before I could answer.
“You’re talking to me about clothes when you walk around looking like a drug dealer in a back alley?” I blurted.
Amelia burst out laughing, and with the reflexes of a cat grabbed a cocktail from the tray that was being passed in front of us.
“That’s the first one. I’m keeping track,” I told her, mildly concerned.
“James only ever keeps his clothes on for ten minutes, especially at parties,” said Poppy, staring at the meathead’s back as he blended into the crowd.
I didn’t have time to dwell on the absurdity of that statement because I got distracted by a melodious voice I knew all too well.
“Hey, ladies.” We all turned around. “Can I borrow June?” William asked.
I was taken aback by how gorgeous his smile was.
“Of course!” Amelia swooned and pushed me forward like I was a package.
“I wanna show you some of my house. Even though I know this isn’t the best time.”
He looked me in the eyes, and I barely understood what he meant.
“You sure it’ll all be in one piece tomorrow, Will?”
We smiled again even though there wasn’t much to joke about. Some guys were playing beer pong on the kitchen table; others were throwing a rugby ball from one end of the living room to the other without any regard for the expensive vases and light fixtures.
“Your parents must be pretty chill,” I guessed.
“They left this morning.”
I followed him as we walked through the crowded hallways.
“And since they don’t come back tomorrow, let’s just say I have all the time in the world to make up for it.” William’s voice was calm and reflective. It was almost relaxing to listen to him, especially in the middle of this chaos.
“Are you used to throwing parties?”
“James throws them, I just provide the place. His dad’s home right now so we can’t do it at his house. What are you thinking about, June?” he abruptly asked, noticing my expression.
“My mom would hang me from the chandelier if I ever dared to throw a party like this.”
William cracked up. “Our parents did a whole lot worse when we were younger.” He raised his voice a bit so I could hear him over the noise.
I looked around. Some people were making out on the stairs, others were bending down to snort drugs on a small table, and half-naked girls were standing on the armchairs, trying to dance on them.
“I doubt . . .” I muttered reluctantly.
“Tell me the truth, were your friends making fun of me for coming just to talk to you?”
We got to the garden, and I took a deep breath of fresh air.
“No, they said it was cute. You were very sweet to apologize in person.”
“The girls say one thing, but they always end up meaning the opposite.” William made that statement without taking his eyes off two figures who were just going inside.
It was Brian and Ari, walking hand in hand like the perfect couple.
They were so beautiful that they made us mere mortals look like dweebs.
“That’s not true. I thought that too. That you were cute,” I added, brushing against William’s arm.
That caught his attention again. He didn’t think about it twice. He put his hand on my hips. He did it with such unexpected confidence that it took me by surprise. Our eyes lingered on each other’s lips.
Was this finally the moment?
A tall, clumsy guy bumped into us without even apologizing.
“Come with me. It’s too crowded here.”
Will led the way through the garden to a more isolated area.
It was too late to ask him where we were going. But when we got there, I swallowed loudly.
“Wow.”