Spiked drink
Chapter 24
SOPHIA
At first it is hard to ignore the nervousness ,the heat sitting under my skin, the tightness in my chest that won't quite let go. But it loosens, slowly, after Maria presses a non-alcoholic cocktail into my hand and we start to actually enjoy ourselves.
And then a song comes on that I know inside and out — every beat of it, every word — and Maria leans in and tells me to dance like I'm alone in my room, like no one is watching, and somehow I do.
Somehow I let it happen.
The weight on my shoulders. The uneasy feeling sitting in my stomach.
The sharp ache that's been lodged somewhere near my heart since this whole night started all of it grows quieter with every move, every beat, every step further into the music.
The cool breeze coming in off the water.
The strange, specific freedom of dancing under an open sky full of stars.
The ridiculous, easy conversation with Maria.
Somewhere in all of it, something shifts in me that I genuinely didn't think was still possible tonight.
The heavy, suffocating feeling of being alone in this it dissolves a little more with every laugh.
My body starts moving on its own, finding the rhythm without my permission. My hair whips around with every turn. My arms go up toward the sky like I could actually reach the stars if I tried hard enough.
"Sophi" Maria's voice cuts through the music and she grabs my arm, pulling me slightly to the side. "Shopi."
"What?"
"We need to start the plan," she shouts over the bass, reaching for another drink off a passing tray.
Wait.
Start the plan?
"I thought this already was the plan," I say, confused, pushing a strand of hair out of my face.
"No." Maria laughs, short and bright, and spins me around by the wrist. "Do you see Lorenzo anywhere?"
"No, but..."
"No buts. We need to get to the other deck ...I bet that's where they all are." She's already pulling me through the crowd. "You said it yourself. He has to come to me "
"Right, but for that he needs to actually know your having the time of your life," she explains, slightly tipsy now, towing me forward through the bodies, "not hiding somewhere counting down the minutes until this boat docks again."
We keep dancing, further toward the front of the boat this time. This yacht is so enormous I genuinely couldn't tell you which floor the bathroom I used earlier was even on. The crowd moves and shifts and absorbs us into it.
For one brief moment I just close my eyes and let it all wash over me ,the music, the smell of open ocean suddenly so much stronger than before, the bodies dancing all around me. Maria, somewhere beside me, is suddenly making out with some guy without missing a single beat of the song.
"Hey sweetie."
The voice is right against my ear and I spin around, startled.
"Well, well." The guy grins, shirtless, painted with the school colors across his chest, deeply tan and muscular, dark brown hair pushed back. His grin spreads wide and his hazel eyes drop — just slightly too long, just slightly too obvious — to my chest.
Right.
The neckline.
I bring my hand up fast to cover it and turn slightly away, which — predictably — does absolutely nothing to discourage him.
"Hey, I'm Toby," he introduces himself, clearly drunk, and I press a hand flat against his chest to stop him leaning any closer.
"Nice to meet you," I lie, already shaking my head. "Sorry, but I have a boyfriend." Another lie, delivered smoothly, and I am more grateful than I can say when Maria materializes at my side a second later with two drinks in hand.
"Get lost, Toby," she shouts, and presses a glass into my hand.
I take it gratefully, hoping for something that might cool me down, and take a long sip.
But a sharp, burning taste spreads through my mouth instead . I swallow it fast and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.
"Shit, Maria, what is this," I say, holding the glass out toward her. "What is in here?"
"It's the same cocktail from before... I watched them make it, I swear there's no alcohol in it." She looks genuinely concerned now, lifting her own glass to her nose.
"Mine tastes completely normal."
Heat rises through my body, fast, and the image in front of me tilts slightly sideways.
My whole body suddenly feels light — weightless, almost, like I could float right over everyone's heads if I wanted to.
My legs are already moving before I've even fully registered the beat of the song, and to my surprise I just let it happen.
To my suprise i like it very much .
"Shopi, are you okay?" Maria asks beside me, a thread of worry under the words.
"YEAS" I shout back, feeling my body rise and fall with the music, every cell of me suddenly, completely alive.
"I feel fantastic"