Okay then. I guess this was really happening.
It was just a party, what was the worst that could happen? I would show my face, smile in all the right places, then quietly slip out and retreat to my room. I wasn’t against faking a stomach-ache if absolutely necessary.
Madison, my best friend from back home, would be rolling her eyes at me if she saw me now. She’d made me pinkie promise that I’d try.
‘Try to make the most of it, she’d want you to’, had been her parting words as we’d hugged before she left for UCLA.
I’d never been like her: outgoing and warm, a real social butterfly. But I was even less so since my mom passed.
Losing her had been like losing a part of me—all the best parts. Now I didn’t feel whole. A ship without its anchor, drifting through uncharted waters.
I shut down those thoughts, not ready to deal with them.
“Okay, I brought you some apple and peach fizz; no alcohol, but it tastes like fancy champagne.” She waggled her brows as she pulled out the bottle. “Have you decided what you’re wearing?”
“I was just going to wear jeans and a t-shirt.” My shoulders lifted in a small shrug.
“Not going to cut it.” Josie thrust the bag at me and sauntered over to my closet. “It’s the first party of the semester. You want to make an impression.”
As if I cared.
“Jeans will work but you need to pair it with something sexy like...” she fingered through my limited array of blouses and halter tops, “this.” She pulled out a black lace cropped halter top. “Perfect.”
My brows furrowed. It was one my mom had insisted on buying last summer when she’d been going through her ‘push Calli to try new things’ phase.
“I’m not sure it’s—”
“It’s eighty degrees out. Trust me, the less you wear, the better. College parties can get crowded. Can I use your bathroom? I brought a couple of outfits to try.”
“Sure.” I flicked my head to the door, accepting the halter top from her.
“Joel is going to die when he sees you in this.” She shot me a saucy wink before grabbing her bag and ducking into the bathroom.
I spent the next thirty minutes helping Josie pick her outfit. She settled on jean shorts and a skintight cropped t-shirt with a black and gray ombre effect. She looked killer and was clearly confident in her own skin.
“Lip gloss?” she asked me.
“I’m good.”
“Suit yourself. We should probably leave soon if we want to get there ahead of time.”
“Do we want to get there ahead of time?”
“Sure we do.” Josie chuckled, rubbing the corners of her smoky-lined eyes. She caught my eye in the mirror and frowned. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“I’m just not sure I’m ready for a party.”
Disappointment glittered in her gaze, and I hated that I’d put it there when she’d been nothing but nice to me. “If you really don’t want to come, I can always go alone.”
“No, you don’t have to do that. I’ll come.”
“It’ll be fun, I promise.”
I wasn’t sure about that, but I could at least try.
“Ready?” I asked, not wanting the spotlight on me for a second longer.
Josie blotted her lips again before nodding. “Let me just finish up my drink.” She grabbed the glass and downed the rest of the contents. “All set. You won’t regret this, Calli, I promise.”
But all I could think as we left my dorm room and made our way downstairs was, famous last words.
The party at Joel’s house was everything I expected a college party would be. Loud and raucous, with hordes of half-drunk people lingering out front, drinking from red Solo cups.
There was something oddly reassuring about it.
“Whahoo,” Josie shrieked, grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the house. “I’m so freaking excited.”
“So you’ve never been to a college party before?”
“Of course I’ve been to a college party before.” She grinned. “But this year I’m not his annoying younger sister, I’m a freshman. I have just as much right to be here as Joel does.”
“If you say so,” I smiled, and this time, it did reach my eyes.
“Josie Molineux, is that you?”
“Hey, Brad.” We came to a stop in front of a giant of a guy.
“Little Josie Molineux, all grown up.” His eyes ran down her body, lingering on the ample cleavage spilling out her top.
My cheeks pinked at the crackling energy between them.
“Looking good, Brad,” she purred, fluffing her curly bangs.
“Joel know you’re here?”
“Of course,” she sassed. “Does Reese know you’re here?”
“We broke up.” He didn’t look in the least bit upset about it.
“I know.”
“Of course you do.” A smirk pulled at his full lips.
“Brad, you better not be hitting on my sister,” Joel yelled from the porch. He looked good in ripped jeans and a red and white athletic jersey that showcased his tan, muscular arms.
“Just being friendly, J.”
Although his words were for Josie’s brother, they never once left her face. She giggled, lifting a brow at me. Clearly, something was going on here.
“You’d better get inside before he blows a gasket.” Brad rubbed his thumb over his bottom lip. “Catch you later?”
“You know it.” Josie shot him a suggestive smile before pulling me around him. “Sorry,” she breathed once we were out of earshot. “I wasn’t expecting... crap, he’s so fine. I didn’t make a fool of myself, did I?”
“I don’t think he was too worried about what you were saying.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“He was blatantly checking you out, Josie.”
Her face lit up. “He was, wasn’t he?”
“He’s your brother’s friend?”
“Friend… housemate… teammate, they’re practically brothers.”
“T- teammate?” A sinking feeling spread through me.
“Yeah, Joel’s a Steinbeck Scorpion. Didn’t he tell you?”
“I guess it never came up. So he plays football then?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Joel didn’t play football.
He played basketball.
He played the one sport that had ruined my life.
Crap. How had I missed that?
“Football? Hell, no. Surely you know Steinbeck is a basketball school?”
Oh, I knew, I would just have preferred not to.
“I don’t really follow sport,” I said, trying to keep a neutral expression.
“But it’s... basketball. Everyone here loves—”
“Ladies,” Joel sauntered over to us as we reached the steps leading up to the porch. “It’s nice to see you again, Calli.” His gaze travelled lazily down my body, as if he was checking me out. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t exactly hate it either.
Knowing Joel played basketball was a huge bump in the road. I didn’t date at the best of times, but I definitely didn’t date basketball players. It was one of my life rules. You know, like never eat yellow snow or never put your hand into a hole you couldn’t see into.