5
“I think the drinks are over this way,” I shout back towards Abi, looking over my shoulder, only to realise that she is no longer following me. She does this–disappears at parties and goes off into her little antisocial world.
The number of people at this party amazes me.
We never had parties this big at home unless the whole school was invited.
I spot a vacant chair by the edge of the crowd, thinking I’ll be able to get a better look if I’m higher.
The plastic chair wobbles beneath me as I climb to stand on it.
This was a bad idea. A group of people nearby look over, no doubt expecting me to face-plant into the crowd.
I’m looking for Abi when a drunken partygoer stumbles towards me, crashing into the chair and sweeping the legs.
The fall happens too quickly for me to think of a way to stop it, but also in slow motion.
The group of people who were watching me, predicting my fall, now stand there frozen, their mouths agape.
My hands instinctively cover my face, and my eyes screw shut.
This is going to hurt. But the ground never comes.
Two strong arms wrap around me, saving me from a majorly embarrassing tumble.
“Whoa, you ok?” I open my eyes and see Sam, his muscles flexing beneath me as he supports my weight. I didn’t notice before, but he’s ridiculously tall, and he’s pretty ripped, too.
“You saved my life!” I pull myself up to stand, only to throw my body back onto his in gratitude.
“You’re welcome,” he says with a nervous laugh, gently patting me on the back before stepping away.
“No, seriously. You saved me from being known as the girl who fell on her ass for the rest of the night. Let me buy you a drink.”
“The drinks are free.”
“I’m joking. Can you show me where they are, though?”
Sam offers me his arm with a sweet smile, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.
I loop my arm through his and let him guide me while I’m continuously scanning the crowd for Abi.
She probably changed her mind and snuck back into the apartment.
I can picture her standing on her toes to see into the mirror, cleaning her face in her bright yellow sunflower pyjamas, hair pulled back into a scrunchie as she congratulates herself for losing me so quickly.
Sam stops in his tracks, holding tightly onto my arm, preventing me from stumbling into the overflowing coolers. I bend down and grab two beers. With a smile, I pass one to Sam.
“There you go, and don’t say I never give you anything.” I bring my drink to his and clink them together.
“Yeah, a drink I already paid for.” He lifts his free hand to run it through his black hair. He hasn’t put any product in it, so his locks fall back down onto his forehead immediately.
“Exactly. So, which apartment is yours?” I ask, eager to keep the conversation flowing.
“Up the stairs to the left.” He points across the courtyard to an apartment on the second floor. The door is open, and people are overflowing from inside out onto the balcony.
“Party house?”
“Sometimes,” he replies, bringing his hand to my face and tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. The gesture catches me off guard. “It can get a little much. I have a roommate. His girlfriend and her friends are always over.”
“Girlfriend, hey? Lucky guy. Tell me, do you have a special someone?” I lean in closer so I don’t have to keep shouting over the music.
“Nope, no girlfriend. What about you?” he asks. He’s so tall he has to stoop a little. “I mean, do you have a boyfriend?”
“None for me,” I reply, slightly amused at how everyone always seems to jump to the conclusion that a person is only interested in the opposite gender.
When I was younger, my friends at school would play a game.
They’d have to list celebrities they thought were dreamy and wanted to marry.
Abi would list actors like Zac Efron and Chris Hemsworth.
They crossed my mind as well, but my list also had girls like Selena Gomez and Nina Dobrev.
Except no one else was listing girls, so I would list them only in my head.
I didn’t want to be different, even then.
“Who’s this?” Sam’s hot friend from earlier walks up to the cooler, pulling out a beer. He looks down at the almost-empty drink in my hand. “Do you need another?” he asks, his voice oozing with confidence.
“Love one, thanks.”
I can’t help but look back and forth between Sam and his friend. Forcing myself to stop from fear of whiplash. Is there a prerequisite for hotness to move into this place?
After a moment of silence, while I admire the attractive specimens in front of me, Sam introduces me. “This is Luna.”
I hold out my hand for his friend to shake, and he places a beer in it. I’m not sure if he did that on purpose to try and look cool, or if he honestly didn’t register my intention. He looks a little older than the rest of the crowd here, especially standing next to Sam.
“And this is Brooks,” Sam continues.
“Where’s your friend?” Brooks asks, his eyes fixed firmly on mine. Damn, he’s smooth. Sam chokes on his beer. I reach out and pat him on the back.
“I honestly have no idea,” I reply, shaking my head.
“Too bad,” he says coolly. Everything about this guy screams ‘player’. Maybe it’s lucky Abi isn’t here after all.
“Where’s your girlfriend?” I ask Brooks, watching for his reaction from the corner of my eye.
“What makes you think I have one?” he asks with a smirk. His eyes bore into mine as he brings the lip of his beer towards his mouth.
“Aren’t you the roommate?”
“Nope, not me and I don’t do girlfriends.”
Yep, I nailed it. Absolute player.