AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I burst out laughing as Pen points at a girl in a sweater vest, her hair spray-painted gray. “Ew. And alsoamazing.”
Carly’s house isn’t in the country like my dad’s, but it’s huge. Two storeys, stone, with columns flanking the double doors. Ten bedrooms, which she likes to tell everyone. I’m guessing the indoor great room will be packed full of drunk teenagers instead of its usual charityevents.
As we make our way up the stairs to the open front doors, I’m grateful we decided to take Pen’s mom up on her offer to drop usoff.
It’s my second time in this house. The first time was Carly’s party last year, where Pen and I got eliminated from the contest in the first hour, forced to wear our stamped hands for the rest of thenight.
Now, from the way bodies flood the hallways, dressed as all kinds of real and imagined creatures, with music pounding from unseen speakers, it appears the entire junior and senior classes arehere.
“I’m glad you decided to go through with our plan,” my friend calls, poking at the cupcake on myhead.
I nod to the giant heart hanging from her wrist that tops off her Polly Pocket ensemble. “Solidarity.”
“Do you know what Tyler’s dressedas?”
I shake my head. “He leftearly.”
The other night in the laundry room left me craving more than torturedlooks.
No more. I’m here to have fun. Not to worry about what Tyler’s up to. The rest of the student body can obsess overhim.
We follow the flow of traffic and end up in the kitchen, where Carly is dressed as a mermaid, surrounded by herminions.
Each is equipped with an uncapped bingo dabber. Each surveys the scene hungrily, as if looking for their nextvictim.
“That’s subtle,” Pen mutters, leaningin.
“Huh?”
“The auditions for the musical?The Little Mermaid? She’s going allout.”
If there was any doubt of whether trying out would cause a shitstorm, it’s clear now. It’d mean going head-to-head with her and herminions.
There’s no sign of Carly’s parents—or any adults actually—as we fill ourcups.
“What is it?” I shout at the guy doing the honors. He shrugs, and I sniff the liquid. My stomachturns.
Sweet, but there’s a heavy, unmistakeable scent of liquorunderneath.
A few people comment on our costumes, laughing, and I grab Pen’s hand and tug her toward the living room. A stage is set up in the middle, and my gaze drags toit.
Girls surround the band, dancing as close as they can get. It’s not for the music. It’s for the four boys onstage.
Brandon’s a skeleton. The drummer’s dressed some kind of hula girl, a coconut bra on his chest. The bassist has a unicornhorn.
AndTyler…
I shake myhead.
“What is he?” Pen asks, taking in his all-black outfit, the dull silver crown on his head at anangle.
“A prince,” I answerimmediately.
Knowing Tyler, he was going for irony. But it’s not irony that has me memorizing the way his flowy button-down shirt skims the muscled lines of his body, the way his hair falls over his face under the crookedcrown.
It might be a costume, but Tyler lookshot,like he’s on a mission to steal hearts and panties from the entire female population ofOakwood.
“Are you going to sayhello?”
