“Not really, but I figured I’d be an ass if I didn’t ask.”
“You’re an ass anyway.”
He nodded and went back the game. He was probably ready for another punch soon.
***
I came back loaded down and found the apartment in chaos.
“Hey, we’re going out to Blue Lagoon, you want to come?” Darah was sliding long silver earrings into her ears and had changed into skinny jeans and a glittery silver top.
“I can’t. Not twenty-one,” I said, pointing to myself.
Blue Lagoon was the current name of the club right off campus. It kept getting shut down due to underage kids getting in or too many bloody fights. Sometimes both. It had a new owner, but I didn’t hold out that this one would last any longer than the previous.
“Crap, I forgot. Sorry.”
A blow-dryer sounded in the bathroom. Oh, this must be serious if Renee was straightening her hair.
“Where’s Hunter?” I hated saying his name out loud.
“Hunter? Don’t know. His cousin came back, and they went off somewhere. He said he’d be back before we left.” She winced as she shoved one of her earrings in.
“He’s not twenty-one either.”
“You know he probably has a fake ID.” Yeah, he probably did. “Maybe we can sneak you in.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just hang out here. Maybe I’ll call Megan and see if she wants to come over.”
Megan was a friend from my women’s studies classes I’d gotten close with last year and the only other person I’d actually call a friend. She lived with her boyfriend in an off-campus apartment, but his friends were always crashing there so she was always desperate for girl time.
Just then the door opened, and Hunter and Mase came in, with two other guys trailing behind.
“Hey,” he said, nodding to me. “This is Dev and Sean. Guys, this is Taylor and that’s Darah.”
“Hi,” I said, waving.
Darah said hello.
Dev had lovely dark skin the color of earthenware, and dark hair and eyes. He was also crazy tall and thin as a rail. Sean was blocky and built like a wrestler, with short blond hair and brown eyes. They both gave me and Darah the once-over. I’d never been checked out so much in my life.
“So, you coming out with us, Missy?” He was staring at my boobs again.
I crossed my arms. “Some of us aren’t into breaking the law.”
“You are now,” he said, holding something out to me. It was a fake ID, complete with a picture of a girl who could almost be me, and a birth date that wasn’t mine, but was at least twenty-one.
“Where the hell did you get this?”
He shared a look with the guys. “I have my sources. Go, get ready. You’re not wearing that.”
“What’s wrong with this?” I would never go out clubbing in my current attire, but I wanted to push his buttons.
“I’d want to screw you no matter what you’re wearing, but you might want to spruce up a little so everyone will want you,” he said.
“Fuck you,” I said, chucking the ID in his face and going to my room. I heard the guys ribbing Hunter as I shut the door.
I rifled through my dresser, coming up with a pair of black leggings, a red tunic and a pair of black boots. I yanked my hair out of the bun and brushed it furiously before drawing on a quick stroke of eyeliner around my bluish-greenish eyes and slicking on some lip gloss. I walked into a cloud of my favorite grapefruit body spray, and I was ready.
“Better?” I said, leaning against the wall.
“Fuckable. Let’s go.”
Darah and Renee were already chatting with the other guys like they’d known each other forever.
I wasn’t going to admit that I was scared of getting caught. I was nervous, sure, but it was more than that. Being in the club would mean I’d be pressed up against a ton of sweaty strangers. That was the part I didn’t like. But there was no way I was going to let Hunter call me a pussy. So I shoved the fake ID in my pants pocket, grabbed some cash and followed everyone outside.
The night was balmy, the summer not having loosened its grip on Maine yet. We all walked in a large blob, no one really in front. Luckily, the club was within stumbling distance of campus.
“You won’t have to buy any drinks tonight,” Hunter said, turning around and walking backward while simultaneously leering at me.
“And why is that?”
He shook his head. “Do you seriously not see it? Mase, man. Would you screw Taylor?”
“Hell, yeah,” Mase said, giving me a thumbs-up. “I mean, if you wanted to.”
“Dev?”
“Yeah, sure.” Sean also agreed that he’d do me.
“Is that all you think about? Sex?”
“What else is there to think about? Everyone thinks about it. We’re programmed to think about it. Even you, Missy.” He stopped walking, and I nearly bumped into him. He grabbed my arms to steady me.
“Let me go.”
“It’s on you, Missy. I’ll be gone in five seconds. Just prove to me that you love me or hate me.”
“Love and hate are completely different.”
“Not really. They’re the two sides of the same coin. One flip and you can be on the other side before you know it. I’ll take either one from you.”
“I hate you right now. What do I have to do to prove that to you?”
He touched the bruise on his face that I couldn’t see in the dark. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” He turned around and jumped on Mase’s back, nearly taking him down.
The boys were acting like they were already drunk, pushing and laughing and being too loud. I stuck close to Darah and Renee because they had previous club experience. I didn’t.
The closer we got to the club, the more nervous I got. I could practically feel the music pounding through the pavement out front. The building was small and had no windows. Several people smoked around the edges, and a few girls wearing clothes that hardly qualified as clothes stumbled outside, laughing and clutching on to each other.
I rubbed my arms, even though I wasn’t cold. We made a line, and Hunter put himself in front of me. The bouncer looked like he was probably on the football team and greeted Mase like they were long-lost friends, doing that weird one-armed hug, back-pat thing dudes do when they don’t want to hug. He waved the other guys in and gave the girls IDs a cursory check.
“Jay, man, how are you? Long time no see. This is my new friend, Taylor.”
“Another friend, Z? You have more friends than I have socks. Nice to meet you. Be careful,” he said, laughing and waving us in before I could say, “Nice to meet you, too.”
The club was dark, loud and hot, just like I’d thought it would be. The ceiling was low; there were too many tables and too many people. Lights flashed, nearly blinding me.
“Let me get you a drink,” Hunter said in my ear.
He had to yell because the music was so loud. I couldn’t see a DJ anywhere. My eyes searched and finally found Darah, Renee and the guys at a corner table. They all had drinks.
“Come on. Let me buy you a drink.”
“Whatever,”