Chapter 26 Ava
The music was loud and thumping, but it was Saturday, the football team had won, and the college spirit was high.
Mia had scolded me for riling up Jett on Twitter.
I wasn’t sure that it had been my smartest move, but he pissed me off.
So, watching the game and seeing Kowoski make schoolboy errors that the Santo quarterback wouldn’t, weirdly made me angry.
And I didn’t even root for this team. Them playing like they’d never flung the ball before was good for Alabama.
But I knew if I was pissed at the way they were playing, Jett would be furious. He was already furious about not playing today and was a dick. A huge dick that needed to be reminded he was not God. No matter how much he loved himself.
His tweets and comments on Twitter had been downright insulting, and, feeling self-righteous on behalf of strangers, who I would normally believe were also assholes, I created a fake account and got involved.
Just because I knew it would wind him up. And it did.
And I felt . . . triumphant.
Especially when he immediately texted me to tell me to quit it.
Big mistake. Huge. He may as well have handed me his direct Twitter access. And I called him out, and I declared my team colors.
And now, in the corner of a large living room, at a college party, I may have been regretting my choices. Because the smart, funny shit stopped being funny when Twitter basically imploded on my phone, and I had ended up having to hide my phone as the hate got to be too much.
On the upside, Mia, after her lecture about my recklessness, had come bounding into my room to tell me that Alex had invited her to go to a party and that Shane had asked if I would go too. He’d texted, but I hadn’t answered, as my phone was still buried.
However, I felt like I needed to get Jett out of my mind, and before I knew it, I said yes.
I was strictly alcohol-free, though. That Friday and last night had been as much as I’d drunk the whole summer, never mind in a couple of weeks.
I was happy with my soda in the corner, watching Mia talk to a group of people on the other side of the room as Alex watched her, completely mesmerized.
Shane had gone to the bathroom, and he hadn’t come back.
I thought he’d ditched me . . . or the line was so incredibly long, he was still stuck in it.
The party was big. Students kept pouring into the house and were now spilling over to the backyard.
I wondered if Mia would mind if I bailed and went home. She was having a good time, and I watched with a smile as she laughed at something said among the group she was talking to. I edged toward the door to the hallway, leaving the sanctuary of my corner.
“Uptight kicked your ass?”
I turned to look at the tall girl who was often seen with Jett and Gray. Black hair spilled over her shoulders. Her height made her stand out, but I think even if she had been four feet tall, you would have noticed her.
“I’m sorry?” Denial was my preferred way to do this.
A small smile crossed her lips, but it was not friendly. “You will be.”
I looked her over quickly. Skinny black jeans, a black loose top with a wide neck that slipped off her shoulder.
The top had a thin red glittery thread running through it; it was pretty.
Wearing black heeled boots, which only gave her more height, she was stunning.
Wearing hardly any makeup except for a winged eyeliner made her almond-shaped eyes pop even more, and I felt like a grub beside her.
My jeans and blouse I had picked out to wear tonight, which I thought were girly and pretty, now made me feel like I was dressed like a kindergarten teacher.
Whereas she was sexy and classy and I could dislike her on that alone, I decided, even though it went against my entire nature, but for this girl, I would make an exception.
“Did you just threaten me?”
Dark brown eyes met mine, and there was no friendliness from this girl, not toward me.
“I’d have to care to threaten you. I don’t care.
” She raised her red Solo cup to her lips.
She even made drinking from a Solo cup look sophisticated.
“But I do find that intense stupidity can be quite intriguing. I mean, does the creature know they are so incredibly dense that they don’t recognize the danger?
Or do they simply lack the brain capacity to care?
” Dark eyes met mine again, and she smirked.
“Creature?” I asked, giving her my full attention. “Dense? I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you can go now.”
She huffed out a laugh as she looked over the room, and then some guy walked past her, and she handed him her cup like he was a waiter.
She didn’t even make eye contact with him.
And he took it! I wasn’t sure which one I was going to smack first, her and her stupid attitude, or him for being a sucker for the elitist bitch.
Looking down at me, her eyes narrowed. I hated how much taller than me she was, the heels gave her inches she didn’t need. “Is it a ploy? Do you want to get his attention, or do you just want to fuck him again?”
My mouth dropped open at her callousness.
I swore all the time. I was me, Ava; swearing was part of me.
This girl didn’t look like she should know swear words, never mind say them.
“I don’t want to be anywhere near him again,” I spluttered.
“Any of them — they’re sick, twisted shits.
” I immediately felt guilty, as Ash had been nice to me. “Well, Ash is different.”
Her peal of laughter was heard by others, even with the music being so loud. Long, slender fingers pushed her hair over her shoulder as she gave me a condescending smile. “I’m no longer intrigued. You’re an idiot.”
“You’re a bitch.” Her eyebrow rose in question at my statement, and I shrugged with an indifference I wasn’t feeling. “What? I thought we were just saying what we thought with no holds barred,” I told her.
Cold eyes held mine, and I actually felt more threatened by her than I did with either of the Santo boys, and they had trapped me in a meat sandwich for crap’s sake.
“He will destroy you. He will literally ruin you for what you’ve done to him. He may have been lenient. I believe he may actually have been kinder, but you fucked yourself this afternoon with your desperate need to be seen by him.”
“He isn’t a god.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but her look and her words had my insides trembling with fear.
She was as psycho as the others. Was she their sister?
“He can do nothing to me that he’s not already done.
” I mean, he’d already spread the rumors I had stolen from him.
His housemates knew I slept with him, and now my reputation was in ruin, and I’d been reprimanded in class because of him.
What else could he do? Really? I said as much to the psycho bitch in front of me, and she smiled.
Her hand reached out, and instinctively, I jerked back.
Her victorious smile at my reaction made me curse inwardly at myself for reacting to her, but it didn’t help my nerves when she rubbed a lock of my hair between her fingers before tucking it behind my ear.
Her head lowered, and she spoke into my ear, ensuring she’d be heard over the music.
“You’re a fool. Jett will eat you up and spit you out, and you won’t even know he’s done with you until you’re back home in your two-bed apartment in Knoxville with your mama, attending community college.
” Stepping back, she smiled a wide, bright smile.
“It will be fun to watch though. Be seeing you, Ava. Be seeing you real soon.”
She walked by me, making sure not to touch me, and with grace, she crossed the room to join a group of girls, who all welcomed her like she was the queen.
My eyes stayed glued to her for a few minutes, watching her interact. She never looked back, and it was as if I hadn’t existed.
“Hey.” Mia had joined me, and Alex had followed. “You were talking to Quinn Lawrence; how do you know her?” Mia was smiling and happy. It was not the time to tell Mia that I didn’t know her or to reiterate what she had said to me.
“I just met her,” I mumbled into my cup of soda, wishing it held something harder.
“I think I need a drink.” Heading to the kitchen area, I surveyed the range of alcohol.
There was no way in hell I was touching the large bowl of punch; I had no idea what was in there.
Opting for safety, I took a bottle of beer from one of the ice coolers.
“She’s besties with your friend,” Mia told me as she accepted a beer from me. Alex shook his head and held up his bottle of water.
“Designated driver,” he told me.
“Cool.” Twisting the cap off the bottle, I looked at Mia. “I’m aware of who she’s friends with,” I told Mia dryly. And if I hadn’t been before, I surely was now.
“Quinn’s cool,” Alex said easily as he looked over in the direction of the bitch from hell. “She’s in my sociology class. Smart too.”
Mia gave him a sly grin as she looked at him and then over at Quinn. “Brainy and drop dead gorgeous,” she said as she turned to me. “Can we hate her on principle?” she joked with a good-natured laugh.
Easy. “Consider it done.” I took a large swig of beer as I listened to Mia assure Alex we weren’t bitches, we were merely joking. I kept my comments to myself.
“Where’s Shane?” Alex suddenly seemed to realize his bandmate was missing.
“Bathroom.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Alex said, putting his empty water bottle down. He tugged Mia closer to him, placing a chaste kiss on her temple. “Don’t let me lose you,” he murmured. Her face flushed with warmth, and I saw the shy smile she gave him as he walked away from us to find the bathrooms.
“Smitten?” I teased her. Her happiness and the fact that she was having a good time soothed my own rancor at the words I had exchanged with Quinn.