Chapter 3 – Shiloh
Chapter Three
Shiloh
T hey say that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results…
After the last disastrous party, I don’t know what alchemy Bell used to drag me to this hellhole but I was not insane. Not in the slightest. So, as the shots are passed around and a fresh keg is rolled out onto the patio, I nurse my bottle of water a little tighter.
Bell on the other hand is happily dancing beside me cheering on Colton, the Alpha whose party this is, as he sets up beer pong across the way. Blonde curls bounce as Bell moves from foot to foot, swishing their floaty long-sleeved blouse.
“Should we play?” They ask, excitedly, looking up at me with wide, slightly hazy grey eyes. Their lips are glossy, where they’ve been licking them between taking sips from their red cup.
I’d met Campbell Parker at orientation, when they had accidently bumped into me, knocking my bag to the floor. It wasn’t hard to like them, they were easy to be around - for the most part - and always seemed to have this brightness around them. For some reason, I liked that. I was always seen as being this sarcastic, negative person, but when I was with Bell, I felt lighter somehow.
“You know I’m awful at beer pong, and you’re even worse!” I chuckle, rolling up the sleeves of my shirt. Bell had insisted on picking our outfits tonight, and while the white flowy shirt thing looked good on them, I looked like a skinny Halloween version of Frodo. A clumsy Frodo, since I’d covered up my fading mark with a square band-aid. Bell had paired their blouse with a pair of vintage flared jeans and platform sneakers, giving the impression they were taller than their normal five foot four.
Slapping my chest with a wide grin, Bell starts nodding. “I think I can do it. I have a good feeling.”
A small part of me wished I had Bell’s confidence. They wore whatever they wanted and didn’t care what the others thought. While I didn’t care about the others–I still rarely strayed away from my trusty jumpers and worn, faded jeans. Tonight, Bell had practically wrangled me into a pair of black drain pipe jeans, with a studded belt and a pair of black chucks, the entire ensemble gives off 2010 emo vibes. But it wasn’t just the clothes, Bell was confident about pretty much everything. They threw themselves wholeheartedly into college, relationships, parties, life in general. I wonder what that felt like.
“That’s the vodka talking,” I snort, leaning back against a pillar. The house we were at tonight was super fancy, but I was enjoying the backyard patio. House parties usually made me feel a little claustrophobic, the combination of people, lack of space and alcohol was always a bad idea.
Colton King didn’t have that issue, since his parents were high ranking government officials and this whole patio was practically the same size as the apartment I shared with Bell. There were even sofas out here, space for people to dance to the music blasting from some garden speakers, an area for grilling, a fire pit down towards the end of the garden and of course, a pool and a hot tub which people were already making the most of. I would lament about how the other half live, but in reality, my parents had a very similar setup at their beach house.
Running a hand into their hair, Bell narrows their eyes at the baseball player stripping off his shirt as he loses another cup in his game of beer pong. “Colton looks hot today, doesn’t he?”
“Still the vodka.” With a half-smile, I push my water bottle towards Bell, unscrewing the cap and bringing it to their lips. “Here, have some of this.”
“Eurgh, seriously?” Bell grumbles but they gulp down half my water like a little goldfish. Just like Millie, Bell seems to have that omega charm that makes everything they do appear effortless. Even being tipsy, swaying slightly out of sync to the background music, they look graceful.
Once I’ve screwed the lid back on, I give them a light flick on the forehead. “You aren’t a wicked witch— a little water won’t kill you.”
Bell starts shaking me, ignoring the strange looks we’re getting from the people around us. “Shillllly, why do you have to be so serious? Have a drink, let your hair down…have a little fun!”
We can’t all be social butterflies, like Bell, and that’s fine. But I don’t have to let my guard down either, I'd learnt that lesson the hard way.
“Like last time you mean?” I give them a hard look, crossing my arms across my chest as they try to tug on my hand. “And stop calling me that.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Shilly Billy.”
“No. Nope.” Suppressing a shiver, I shake them off. Bell may be my best friend but that didn’t mean I was going to let them call me stupid names. “Say it again and I’ll go back to the apartment.”
Rolling their eyes, Bell finally stops pouting and tries to give me a serious face. I say try, because their glassy eyes don’t quite focus on mine. “But you shouldn’t let one horrible experience ruin everything.”
“Alright, alright.” Ushering them towards the beer pong table, the corner of my mouth lifts when Colton yanks Bell into a giant hug, swinging them around as they let out a yelp.
When did the two of them become close anyway? Was Bell tutoring Colton? They did that sometimes for extra cash, even though I could afford to cover their share of the rent too—not that they’d let me.
Time seems to vanish as more people arrive, more drinks are consumed and the volume creeps up. I catch a glimpse of Zale and some of his football buddies in the throng of people spilling out of the house and into the garden. I wonder if Romilly is here too? We didn’t really hang out together outside of family events or keep tabs on each other's social lives, but she was still my sister, and besides Bell, one of the few people at Oakley that I could actually stand to be around.
Leaning against a low wall on the edge of the patio, near the pool, I sip on my one and only beer, having been pressured into accepting it by Colton a while ago. The heavy bass from the sound system fills the air, and I’m surprised that Colton’s neighbors haven’t called the cops already.
Bell has moved on from Colton, grinding against Evans, an alpha from my business module as they dance together near the sofas and grill area. I thought he was dating Sadie, but obviously not. Besides flicking my gaze to them every now and again, I keep to myself.
Scrolling through a hook-up app called A/O Connections, even though I know I’d never match with anyone since I can’t let my guard down again, I ignore the few curious stares I feel coming my way. There’s a huge cheer as someone wins beer pong, and someone else has ordered a load of pizzas, the boxes are being passed around just as freely as the weed and pills. It’s all exactly what you’d expect from a college house party.
People liked to try their luck, thinking after the last party that I was an easy lay. The rumors about me spread like wildfire, until people I’d never even met started propositioning me or calling me a whore under their breath.
As if summoned by just thinking the word whore , Sadie emerges from the bodies moving in and out of the house like Moses parting the sea, followed by her usual cronies, Sage and Catrin. She glances over at Bell and Evans, but when the alpha turns his back to her, obviously ignoring the omega, she stomps over to a table where someone has laid out lots of drinks.
I think I’ve managed to get away with a quiet night, right up until a waft of cloying pheromones drifts my way.
“Oh look…It’s the slutty omega’s, sluttier beta bestie.” Sadie stands before me, flanked by the other two, a bottle of beer in her hand. She looks like she always does, beautiful. Expensive. Immaculate. Like Romilly. “Why are you freaks even here?”
“Why are you?” Tilting my head at her, I sip my beer before placing the empty bottle in a nearby trash bag someone had hooked on the back of a chair. “I don’t think your friend-with-bennies has even noticed your arrival.”
Is it horrible that I relished the look on her face as she freezes, even if it barely lasts for more than a minute?
“He’ll be in my bed when the night ends. That’s all that matters.” She clicks her tongue, eyes moving over me critically from head to foot, and back up again.
If her stare could peel my skin off, I’d be standing before her as nothing more than a skeleton. I don’t need to be a mind reader to know that she disapproved of my clothes, my face, my glasses, my hair. The list was endless really. If Sadie’s lip didn’t curl up at the sight of me, like I was some awful stench, then something was wrong with the world.
“I don’t care,” I say on an exhale, my words sound like a tired sigh. Maybe it’s time to leave? After all, I doubt Bell will be coming back to the apartment tonight and my social battery ran flat the second we arrived.]“Of course you do,” she laughs, cruelly, drawing a few glances our way. “We see you Shiloh Vos, lingering on the outside looking in like some abandoned starved puppy sitting in the rain.”
Lifting a brow, I take half a step forward pushing off the wall and inching into her space. With a patronizing tilt of my head, I give her a pitying look. “That was oddly specific. Maybe you need a hobby?”
Sadie was an entitled omega, raised in a wealthy family where they placed her on a pedestal like the very act of her breathing was a gift the rest of the world should be thankful for. My sarcasm rolls over her in heavy fat droplets that barely graze her skin, with no hope of soaking in. Proven by the way she closes the space between us without any hesitation, her lips practically bushing against my ear.
“How do you look at yourself in the mirror each morning knowing you are always going to be inferior to her?” A wave of pheromones, thick and heavy, tasting like smug self-satisfaction makes my nostrils twitch.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” My fists are balled up tight as my nails bite crescent shaped marks into my palm, rolling my eyes. I'd had enough of Sadie’s venom.
“She’s here tonight, you know.” Her sultry voice is low, taunting. “Maybe she’s avoiding you. If you were my twin, I know I would.”
Was Millie ashamed of me?
Maybe. I wouldn’t blame her. But she was also my better half, and her heart was too kind for her not to still have my back. Sadie can spout whatever shit she likes, I know that Romilly and I have a bond that she can’t even begin to understand.
“I wish you would.” I’m done with this entire exchange. Sadie’s using me to distract herself from the fact her boyfriend-not-boyfriend is currently swapping spit with my housemate. Hands are wandering. Limbs overlapping, entwining like branches. Oh how that must hurt her pride. “She’s probably avoiding you and this whole possessive, territorial bullshit thing you have going on over a guy who clearly is avoiding you. Why don’t you just go over there, piss on him and be done with it.”
I should have known that she wouldn’t let it go, with all that bitchy pettiness barely contained in her five-foot-five frame. Should have realized that she needed an output for her anger and the shame – after all, if an omega isn’t desirable, then in the eyes of their peers, what are they even worth?
Focused on finding my way back to Bell and getting away from the gaggle of sickly smelling harridans surrounding me, I don’t notice her foot darting out until it’s too late. It’s almost like some strange slow-motion experience as I stumble in a way that has been careening head first into the pool with a loud splash.
“Shiloh!” I hear Bell yelling when I resurface, sputtering and coughing as I tread water. Others clap and cheer, assuming I’d jumped in deliberately, but when Zale’s eyes lock with mine, I see an odd sort of pity there. When his gaze flits to Sadie, I know that he knows exactly what just happened.
Does he say anything?
Do anything?
No. I wasn’t expecting him to, and I certainly don’t need him to leap to my defense but it just reminds me that he’s exactly who I think he is. Another selfish Alpha, only concerned with football, their omega and having a good time. Zale turns back to whoever he’s with and I drag my drenched self out of the pool, flopping against the tiles with a wet slapping noise.
“Oh no, was that my fault?” Sadie asks, voice oozing with faux concern as Sage and Caitlin hide their sniggers behind their hands. It was like crystalized honey, sickly sweet but hard and sharp around the edges. Getting to my feet, I straighten my shoulders before pushing back my dripping curls.
“It’s fine.” I lean in, mimicking her earlier encroachment, letting the cold-water drip all over her exposed toes. “I’d have some unresolved rage too if I had to force an Alpha to pick me. Every. Single. Time.”
With a confidence I don’t feel, I stride past everyone, and into the house, Bell and Colton close behind where the surprisingly sweet Alpha directs me to his room to freshen up.