Chapter 10
TEN
The morning passed on Friday without incident. Students were all a-titter about that night's big back to school bash at a wealthy human student's mansion down on the ritzy end of my neighborhood.
Apparently he was known for his parties, as his house was massive and his parents always left town one weekend a month for work. Sounded to me like a recipe for teen pregnancy and alcohol poisoning, but I supposed that was part of the fun.
At lunch, Harriet, Jaime, and Vivi did their best to try to convince me to attend.
"Mave, come on," Harriet pleaded. "It's the first party of the year! Yes the Elites and the Alphawhores will be there, but they will be so vastly outnumbered by the... normal students." She winked at me. She meant humans with no knowledge of the wolf shit that had ruined my first week here.
"Yes, Damien's parties are always super fun!" Vivi gushed. "He's super welcoming to everyone, so there's always a diverse group."
"Guys, I have to work at Marilynn's tonight, you know that," I said for like the fourth time.
"I'll see how I'm feeling after that. Plus Clare said she wasn't going and you aren't harassing her!
" I pointed at Clare, who just shrugged her shoulders and ran a hand through her short blue hair.
She apparently hated people and parties and had long ago won the war on that front with the rest of her friends.
"Ben! You better be going tonight," Harriet barked at Ben as he slid into the chair next to me, handing me an iced coffee because he was a king.
"I'm working, too, babe," he replied. "But I find it hard to say no to making an appearance at things like this, so I bet you'll see me there." He grinned and winked at her.
I sighed. I definitely wasn't anti-social and had been to plenty of high school parties in my day—though, less historic mansion and more bonfires in a field type things, but the elements were all the same. Booze, dancing, and finding dark corners to hook up in.
I was just... exhausted. The week had been hell on me mentally and emotionally, and I wasn't sure I had anything left to hold up the hard mask I'd need to interact with my drunk classmates, especially the Elites and their ilk, out in the wild.
I survived Chem, only having to endure a huff and look of disdain from Nikka and Tits when I walked in.
Stats was similarly uneventful. Matt and Lukas made sure to remind me several times about the party, and Matt had me show him that I'd gotten his email with the address.
I felt Man Bun's judge-y eyes on me during that exchange, but I figured if I kept ignoring him he'd eventually get the hint that I did not give a fuck about his opinions.
Blake caught me watching the two girls next to him flirt with him, as they did daily, and I just smiled at him and wagged my eyebrows. He laughed and rolled his eyes, which was the extent of our interaction for the day.
After Study Hall, Ben and I changed into our work clothes in the library bathrooms, then headed to the car.
He was looking spiffy as usual in a gray fitted Henley with three-quarter-length sleeves and snug dark denim jeans.
I'd thrown on my usual tight-fitting black tank top that showed only the barest hint of cleavage (my B-cups were small but adequate), and my cut-off denim shorts.
My ratty black Converse shoes matched Ben's, only his were shiny new ones.
"Hmm, I wonder if we're allowed to walk around out of uniform like this on school grounds," Ben mused as we meandered through the parking lot to our car. "I mean, I know I look good, but I always look this good. I'm not sure the student body was ready for your show, though, Magic."
"What?" I asked, confused. I looked around us and realized we were getting a lot of stares. "Jesus Christ, it's not like these shorts are that much shorter than my fucking uniform skirt. Everyone can grow up," I huffed.
We cruised past Mason's G-Wagon where the usual suspects congregated after the final bell.
I caught Knox staring at me, looking pissed off as usual by my existence.
Mason frowned at me, looking concerned as he always did, while Thad managed to look both bored and angry as he watched both of us walk to the far side of the parking lot.
I heard Dani or Tits or someone do a slut-cough, because they were nothing if not original.
I turned around, walking backwards for a few steps, and flipped the group the double bird. I caught a few angry faces before Ben cackled and threw his arm around me.
"Come on, Magic," he said, dragging me the rest of the way to the car. "I think Mason is about sixty seconds away from wolf-ing out on you and putting you on your back in submission so you'll stop antagonizing Knoxy."
"Ha, I'd love it if he tried."
"I know you would. Let's go to work, Alpha wolf."
My shift at the bar was fairly busy, so time passed quickly and kept me distracted from my thoughts.
Since we'd come in a little early, Marilynn had let Ben go around nine, so he'd kissed my head and told me he was going to pick up Harriet and head to the party.
I'd elected to stay until the end of my shift and planned to just grab a rideshare home.
I was wiping down the counters and prepping everything for the late-night bartender to take over when Blake came in through one of the open bay doors.
He looked smoking hot in his dark black jeans, boots, and fitted hunter-green long-sleeve T-shirt.
His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, and his tattoos danced along his muscular forearms. His dark hair was styled to perfection, and his green eyes twinkled.
He grinned at me as he sauntered up to the bar and sat down on an open stool.
"Rodney Blaze," I said with a straight face, walking over to him. "Care for another local beer? We just got a new keg of Reasonably Corrupt from Great Raft Brewing on tap."
"I'd love that," he replied. "You won't get in trouble for serving me?"
"I've seen your ID, it says you're twenty-one," I said as I smiled back. "Doing a little pre-gaming for the big party tonight?"
"Maybe," he said, giving me a knowing look. "Are you going to try to skip our first big Blackstone Academy rager with the old 'I have to work' excuse?"
"Maybe," I echoed him. I paused, then I said, "But I do get off in fifteen minutes."
"And that is why I'm here," he said, smiling again. "Come with me to the party."
He gave me some serious puppy dog eyes as I slid his beer in front of him. Damn, I did not know he had that in his repertoire. Combine that hot bad boy look with a little pouty face?
Lethal.
"I don't know...," I said. "I've just had kind of a rough week, Blake. I love a good party, but I just don't know if I have the energy."
He sobered a bit and looked at me intently. "I know, Mave. I know you had... a tough start at school, but I also know you've handled all the bullshit thrown at you like a complete fucking pro. I wanna watch you handle it some more at this party."
I laughed at that. This boy knew how to pay a girl a compliment.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said with a sly smile. "And if you punch Monroe again it's going to turn me the fuck on."
I grinned wider. Somehow the idea of the party was less overwhelming if I was going to have Blake there with me, and I couldn’t say I was opposed to the idea of turning him on, especially with violence.
"You've got yourself a deal, Rodney Blaze," I said. "Drive me to my place after my shift so I can change? My house isn't far from the party."
"You're on, Wild Girl."
He finished his beer, and I finished my chores. I clocked out and met him in the parking lot next to his pretty black BMW 4 Series. I climbed into the passenger seat and rubbed the brown leather affectionately.
"Mmm, this is nice," I said as he slid into the driver's seat.
"Thanks. It was an attempt by my parents to placate me after they told me they were sending me to live here." He pushed the start button and pulled the car out onto the main road.
"Sounds like there's a story there," I said, not wanting to pry.
"Yeah, nothing too dramatic, I promise," he said. "I have to say, though, when I found out hot bartender girl drove a Tesla, I was pretty shocked. Not what I expected. I had been thinking more like a... motorcycle."
"Well, my dad is a tech nerd and bought it in Salt Lake with his bonus for starting his new job here," I explained. "It's funny, it was also a moving-to-Shreveport present for Ben and me, but we were happy to be leaving our p... hometown."
"Mmm," he just nodded. He drove us down into the South Highlands neighborhood, and I gave him directions to my house.
"I'll just be a few minutes," I said, opening the car door. "Unless you wanna sneak in with me and try not to wake up my parents?"
"I'll pass," he said, grinning. "I'll meet your parents properly the first time you want to bring me into your house."
That was very... gentlemanly. He was wiser than he realized, as he hadn't yet met my six-foot-four giant wolf father.
Dad lived in reality and wasn't trying to guard my virtue or anything gross and antiquated like that, but he definitely wouldn't appreciate strange people sneaking into his house at night while he was asleep.
I made my way quietly to my bedroom and stripped off my work clothes.
I expected that a lot of the girls would be dressed up for this kind of party, but I was post-work grungy and wasn't feeling it.
I teased out my braid and threw some dry shampoo in my blonde locks, which left me with some kinky tousled waves.
I threw on a cropped black t-shirt that had “NIRVANA” scrawled across the front and paired it with a fitted high-waisted cheetah-print mini-skirt.
I tossed on my combat boots since Blake was hoping to see me battle, and I needed to feel the part.
I reapplied my makeup, spritzed some perfume, and was back out the door in seven minutes.