Selena rolls her eyes. “Because I have a social life? And Nathan was very casually asking if you were going.”
I groan. “I am the worst at parties. If he ever saw me at one, he’d realize I am the most unamazing person in the world.”
“That’s why you haven’t gone to any parties here?” Selena gawks at me. “Boy, you have issues. Okay. It’s settled. You’re going to this one.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No, you can’t make me, I won’t. I won’t!”
* * *
? ? ?
Friday night, Selena and I stand outside Phi Kappa, a house that’s quite literally vibrating with music. I mean, I can actually see the windows rattling with each deep bass beat.
“This is a bad idea,” I moan. The only parties I like are the sit-around-playing-board-games kind.
“Focus,” Selena says, grabbing me by the shoulders. “You look hot as shit, and we’re gonna go in there and you’re gonna find Nathan, and I’m gonna find some hot girl or guy, whichever comes first, and we’re both gonna score tonight.”
“Score?” I squeak.
“You know, smash?”
I narrow my eyes at her.
“Bone? Coitus? Do I really have to say ‘sexual intercourse’？”
My voice comes out several octaves higher than most human voices usually go. “I wasn’t going to—I’m not ready to—”
Selena cackles. “Oh god, your face. I’m just kidding. No fucking tonight, okay? You and Nathan are too adorable to fall for the drunk one-night-stand bullshit. We’ll just find him, he’ll take one look at you in this outfit, and that’ll be that. He’s going to DIE.”
“Not literally, I hope,” I mutter under my breath, just in case the curse is listening in. I take a deep breath and follow Selena as she struts confidently into the heaving frat house.
It’s even worse inside than I thought it would be. The music is so loud my teeth rattle to the beat. Selena dives into the crowd, slithering between the hot, pulsing bodies, pulling me along with her. I have no idea where we’re headed or how she even knows where to go. Someone spills an icy drink down the tight jeans Selena’s lent me for the night and I squeal, letting go of Selena’s hand, but any sound I make is immediately swallowed by the din. The bodies heave and close behind Selena. I cry out her name, but even I can’t hear my own voice.
And now I’m alone. I take a deep breath, which is a mistake. Frat houses probably don’t smell great at the best of times, and an hour into a roaring party, it smells radioactive. I gag, steel myself, and plunge back into the crowd, calling out for Selena. Some drunk guy stumbles and crashes into me, his sudden momentum making me stumble. I’m about to be trampled. This is not a good way to die—
“Whoa, hey,” someone says, pulling me off the sticky floor.
“Nathan,” I breathe.
He blinks. “Meddy?” Then he seems to actually see me for the first time, and his eyes widen. “Wow.”
I gnaw on my lip. Selena would be so proud of his reaction, but I feel stupid, as if I’m wearing someone else’s clothes. Which I am. Selena’s stuffed me into a pair of jeans so tight I’m pretty sure they’re going to have to be cut off my legs, and a shimmery, backless tank top that doesn’t allow for a bra. She says it’s fine since bras are really only for women with boobs. Harsh but true.
“Oh, hey,” I say, as if I totally was not expecting to see him here, as if I didn’t expressly come here half naked just to surprise him into loving me back.
“What?” he shouts.
“I said ‘Hey!’” I shout back.
“Hey yourself,” he shouts. At least, I think that’s what he shouts.
“What?” I shout. We both shake our heads and laugh, and whatever awkwardness there was between us melts away like a little piece of marshmallow. He takes my hand and squeezes it before leading me across the room. My heart squeezes painfully—argh, he’s going to notice how sweaty my palms are and then he’ll let go and I’ll lose him in the crowd the same way I lost Selena—but Nathan keeps a tight grip on my fingers and weaves through the crowd slowly, turning back every few steps to make sure I’m okay. And then suddenly, we’re out in the backyard, chilly night wind stinging my face and my bare back, making me break out in goose bumps. Nathan closes the glass door behind us, and the thumping music is cut off, thank god.