(AN) This chapter is dedicated to all of my most awesome friends :-)

Chapter 49: God is a DJ

(EVA)

I was overwhelmed. In truth, I'd never felt smaller in my life. Not when I'd fallen out of that tree as a kid and broke my arm, not when I'd been surrounded by werewolves and vampires, not when I'd found myself lost in a sea of high school students.

But the better things was…I wasn't different anymore. I wasn't the pale skinned girl in a class full of native Americans, my blonde curls were no different than the girl to the right of me scribbling in a notebook. Even if I was shocked by the scale of the city and the students around me, I was no different. I could see several other people that were staring, wide-eyed, at everything around them.

"It wears off eventually." A soft, familiar voice whispered in my ear. "You get jaded."

I started, spilling a bit of the hot coffee over my hand. The person behind me laughed and I whirled around.

"Calm down, Eva. How do you manage without somebody watching your every movement?" Her tone was only lightly condescending, and her blue eyes sparkled cheerfully.

"Oh, Emma, I'm sorry. You startled me. I didn't know you were going to be here." I whispered out my apology, ducking my head meekly.

"This is my roommate's favorite place to stop for coffee." She explained with a shrug. "And I barely recognized you with curly hair. I don't think I even knew your hair was curly." She narrowed her eyes, I felt like I was being scrutinized.

"Aww…she's so precious." Someone cooed from behind Emma. Emma rolled her eyes, stepping to the side. The girl behind her was as tall as her, but she was…in a way, classically beautiful, like a vintage pin-up girl. That is, until you noticed the silver, delicate piercings on her nose and lip.
"Eva, this is Ivy, my roommate. Ivy, this is Eva, my sister's friend." She introduced cordially. I tried to smile, my fingers tightening on the cup of coffee in my hands.

"Oooh, Abby's friend. Right." Ivy grinned. "Have you seen Abby's fiancé? Danny? Hot stuff."

"Ivy." Emma reprimanded, although there was a small smile playing around her lips. It seemed out of place almost to me. I'd seen Emma smile, but only when she was talking to Abby or Isaac, not when she was talking to someone not in her family. She didn't seem to have friends in the pack the way the rest of us did. She'd always been included…but always on the outskirts.

"You can't blame me." Ivy shrugged. "I'm celibate these days. I let myself get carried away." The dark haired girl smiled apologetically. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable Eva."

"She's always awkward." Emma dismissed. I recoiled slightly. Ivy's smile fell and I saw her glance sideways at Emma.

"Emma's always in a bad mood the first day of classes." Ivy explained. "But Summer will love you."

"Summer?" I asked tentatively.

"My first roommate." Emma answered.

"Her wifey." Ivy smirked. "Are you coming tonight?"

"Huh?" I asked. That's when the entire shop seemed to get just a bit quieter. I looked toward the door instinctively as it swung wide open and Echo stepped inside. Her jeans were dark, fit snug around her frame. Her black hair swung around her face, obscuring it, and the beat up old leather jacket she loved made her look every inch like an off duty model. She pushed her hair back from her face, her stunning eyes scanning the crowd for me.

It was like having a goddess for your best friend. A goddess in ripped blue jeans dancing to the beat of her own drum.

Shut up, Evie. Echo said quickly in her mind, ducking behind her dark hair immediately and making a beeline for me.

"Echo's here." I murmured. Ivy and Emma both turned, looking through the crowd. It seemed to part for Echo, who was by my side before I could say another word. Emma didn't say anything, so I bit my lip and looked up at Ivy.

"This is my best friend and cousin, Echo. Echo, this is Emma's friend, Ivy." I introduced.

"I live with her too." Ivy clarified, scrutinizing Echo. "Is everybody from that part of Washington gorgeous?" She turned to Emma, placing a hand on her hip. Emma laughed softly.

"Anyway, my roommate, Summer. She's kind of…" Emma trailed off, lost for words.

"Crazy." Ivy supplied. "And she wants to meet you two. She enjoys corrupting fresh meat, I think. We're having a party at our place tonight, wanna come?"

"Summer is insisting we invite you. She'd be heartbroken if you didn't come." Emma rolled her eyes, as if she thought Summer really was being insane.

"Oh, we're not really…we've never been to a party." I stuttered out. Ivy's face lit up.

"Aww, we'll be your first? How sweet. So, you'll be there?" Ivy asked.

"Umm…" I started.

"I feel like we don't have a choice." Echo said quickly, raising an eyebrow. Emma was digging into her purse, she pulled out a notebook and began scribbling furiously.

"Oh, you don't have to show up." Emma said just as quickly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Emmy. You should come, it'll be fun. Promise. These are directions to our apartment. It starts at nine. See you there!" Ivy winked, handing the paper to Echo. Then they were gone, laughing and talking as they left the café.

"Why do I feel like we just got shanghaied into going to a party?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.

"Why do I feel like Emma would be more than pleased if we didn't show up?" Echo asked, throwing the paper in her pocket.

"It's ridiculous, we can't go to a party." I said, handing Echo the cup of coffee I'd bought. Echo looked pensive.

"Why can't we?" Echo asked as we sat down at an empty table.

"Well…because…it's just, we're not old enough to drink, and we don't know anybody, and you know how socially retarded I am." I said quickly, counting out the reasons on my hand.

"I think we should go." Coco said after taking a sip of her coffee. "What's the harm?"

"What if it gets busted?" I asked. Echo raised an eyebrow.

"We're witches, aren't we?" She asked in a whisper.

"You said yourself you don't think Emma likes us." I pointed out. Echo smiled.

"More reason to go. I don't understand why she doesn't want us there." I put my head down on the table.

"This is such a bad idea Echo." I groaned.

"You only live once, Evie. Try something new, live a little. Or are you too scared?" She taunted. My head popped back up and I glared at my annoying, lovely, best friend.

"You're on." I said. "Since I know I'm not going to talk you out of it." She grinned like the Cheshire cat.

I called Paul to let him know I had other plans that night, that I was hanging out with Emma and her roommates. He was thrilled that I was making new friends, or at least he acted like it. I never knew if he was just telling me what I wanted to hear. I was worried about it as I blow dried my hair pin-straight again.

We walked down the Seattle streets, past clusters of college kids, Echo reading the directions out loud as our shoes clicked on the sidewalks. And we made it to the apartment building shortly after nine. I clutched onto Echo's arm as we stared up at it.

"Alright, I can't do this. I can't go in there with all those people judging me." I said quickly, pulling away.

"Oh no you don't." Echo said, her strong arm pulling me back toward the building. "Eva Rose Luwen, you are not a child anymore. You are a college girl, and you have as much a right to be here as anyone else." She put her other hand on my shoulder. "Evie…please. For me?" She asked, her lower lip jutting out.

"Echo…" I said softly, my stomach churning nervously. "I…"

"If it's bad, we'll leave. I promise." She said, taking my hand. "C'mon. You'll do great, they'll love you."

I took a deep, shaky breath. "Okay, okay." I mumbled. The elevator was broken, so we ended up taking the stairs up to the third floor. I was out of breath when we stumbled up to the apartment door. Echo paused, running her fingers through her hair, before she knocked three times. I felt like I was going to be sick.

The girl who opened the door has messy blonde curls, sticking every which way. She was short, with glasses, wearing a tank top and low slung jeans. "Hey, who're you?" She asked, looking at the both of us.

"I'm Echo, and this is Eva. Emma and Ivy invited us?" Echo said, her voice more of a question. The girl smiled.

"Oh yeah! I'm Olivia. Liv for short. I'm the other roommate. Come on in." A burst of laughter came from behind Liv as she stepped back and we followed her into the apartment. Ivy looked up from where she was sitting, a couch that didn't match any other furniture. She jumped up, throwing the game controller she was holding at the boy next to her. It whacked him on the leg and he swore.

"You made it!" Ivy said, slipping through the small crowd of people holding plastic cups and talking, around the table which was littered with playing cards.

"Hi Ivy." Echo said softly. Ivy looked at me, but all I could do was nod. I could feel people staring at me.

Nobody is staring at you. Echo admonished internally. Look around. I took her advice. In truth, our arrival didn't create a ripple. Three boys on the sofa still stared intently at the TV screen, the people standing didn't even turn to look at us. There was another girl shuffling cards and people taking seats at the beat up table. A girl with flame orange hair was pouring drinks in the kitchen.

"Summer! Sum!" Liv called. The girl with orange hair turned, smiling brightly when she caught sight of us and beckoning us over.

"Come on, she's so excited to meet you." Liv said, her voice was soft, kind. She took my arm, guiding me over. Echo was right behind me.

"Hey, you're Echo and Eva right?" Summer asked, turning back to the counter and pouring something out of a glass bottle into two plastic cups, grabbing the soda next to her.

"They've never drank before, Sum. Take it easy." Emma's voice cautioned from behind us. Her familiar voice gave me the courage to speak.

"Oh, no, I can't drink. I'm not twenty one yet. And I have class tomorrow morning." Summer turned, grinning, holding out the two cups.

"Listen, listen. You're not gonna be young forever. You can retake a class, sleep some other time, but you can't relive a party. And don't worry about not being legal, none of us are." She winked. "Now come on, kid. Live a little."

"There's not a lot in it." Ivy said, taking the glass from Summer and pressing it into my hand. "And we won't let you miss class, all of us hardly miss class no matter how hard we party." I saw Summer give Echo a similar glass. She looked up at me, hesitating. Summer rolled her eyes, climbing up on the counter and standing.

"Hey! Attention please!" She yelled.

"Summer, if you take off your clothes, we're breaking up." A male voice cautioned from the corner. She shushed him as everyone laughed. She raised her own glass high in the air.

"If you have a drink, raise it up. If you don't have a drink, get one!" She said. Everyone picked up cups, I saw people ducking in through the window. I imagined there must have been a fire escape or a balcony out there.

"We have some new guests tonight. I'd like you to meet our protégés, two new freshmen. Echo and Eva, behind me, are here and we are there first party." I blushed as people cheered, ducking my head. Liv put her arm around my shoulder, holding her own drink in the air.

"I'd like to reiterate some of the rules for our guests. One, don't pass out with your shoes on bad things happen. Two, this is a safe house, and if we catch anybody doing something stupid, that means you Ryan…" She pointed at a boy on the sofa. Everyone burst into laughter. "We kick you out. Emma's the bouncer, and she's stronger than she looks! Third, and most important, we live by one motto. God…if he exists, is nothing but a DJ. Life is a dancefloor, love…" She smiled, looking at the boy in the corner that had yelled out earlier. "Is the rhythm. And we, my lovely dears, are the music. Here's to college!" Everyone cheered again, than began to drink whatever was in their cups. Liv nudged me, and I saw Echo gingerly sip at the soda mixture. I raised it to my lips.

It didn't taste much different than soda…the edge was dull. "See, not that bad, huh? Let me introduce you to everyone else." Someone started a stereo, a steady beat filled the air. I met Summer's boyfriend, a tall gangly boy with messy dark hair. Everyone was dancing, the world was a whirl of color and confusion…and beauty.

Not everyone was classically beautiful, in fact, some of them reminded me of strange exotic birds. But they were all smiles, all hugs and high fives. Even the boys were sweet and nice, not at all what I'd expected. I lost sight of Echo, but Liv stayed by me. Maybe she sensed how nervous I was. The liquid in my cup ran dry, but it was replaced quickly by someone whose name I forgot.

"Hey, let's dance." Liv decided as we ducked in from the fire escape, where she'd dragged me so she could have a cigarette, one she shared with Summer. Ivy was dancing, surprisingly with Echo, whose muscles rippled in the light.

"Alright, alright, but I can't dance!" I declared. Liv laughed.

"Doesn't matter! Come on!" She said, throwing me in the middle of the dancers. Other people's skin rubbed against me, people greeted me like an old friend and I started moving to the beat.

"Eva?" Emma's voice was shocked. I turned on my heel, nearly tripping, although someone caught me.

"Yes?" I asked, my skin felt flushed, the room was spinning.

"You're drunk." Her voice was completely shocked. "And dancing."

"Come dance with us!" I enthused, grabbing her hands. She was so shocked she let me drag her between Liv and I.

"Maybe you're not so bad." Emma admitted quietly, but I barely registered her as I moved my hips and arms to the beat, letting the music run through me, letting myself be the music, feel the music, the same way Echo always had.