Page 248 of Lessons in Cruelty

What was in that Gatorade bottle?

Everything feels like sex. The music. The lights. The rain.

My eyes latch onto the DJ. And that’s a bad thing, because he’s hot. Not as hot as Kai, obviously, but still…the way he’s dancing is giving me a clit boner.

Or maybe I still have one from what Kai just did to me.

Did I actually come? I thought I did, but it felt…different.

A thump goes through my body, and my eyes fly open. When did I close them?

I’m staring at the crowd.

But how?

I turn my head. I’m on the stage, close to the DJ box. There’s no music.

But why?

My body is electric. Pulsing with current. Mimicking the thunder-wreathed clouds above.

It’s raining, drops pattering on my trash bag dress.

My hair is wet.

What’s happening?

“…Haven Lee!”

I turn at the sound of my name and see Ezra nearby. Holding a microphone.

Why?

He winks at me, comes closer. Slides an arm around my shoulder. I shrug it off, but it’s back a second later.

Stop.

But my voice isn’t working. My body is limp, unresponsive. I’m just standing here, on the DJ deck, staring at a sea of glowing bodies.

Fuck, I’m so trashed. My jaw clenches, and I taste blood as I pull my lip into my mouth.

Ow.

“…tell us what it was like?”

Huh?

My voice echoes back to me so loud, I flinch. Only then do I notice the microphone by my mouth. I bat it away, sending a screech of feedback through the speaker system.

“The fuck are you doing, man?” someone calls out behind me.

But then the rain starts.

No, it’s always been raining.

What the fuck is happening?

I touch my hair, soaking wet. My trash bag plastered to my body.