I couldn't shake my awful mood for the rest of the day. At least it made dinner bearable; I was so focused on what Dominic had said I barely noticed my shaking hands.
"So, do you have anything planned for your birthday?" Sky asked after dinner. For a moment I was afraid someone in the house had read my mind, but they would've reacted very differently if that was the case. They would've tried to convince me meeting my soulfinder would be a good thing, because that's what it was for them. But they weren't me, and I knew that all that could lead to was hurt.
"Uh, no. I'll probably just go out to eat with Cerise and Georgia," I said.
"Oh," Sky frowned. I made my shields just a bit thicker, and her frown deepened. Still, her obvious pity grated. I didn't want people to pity me. I wanted them to leave me alone.
I sighed. "Also, Johnny said he's going to throw me a party," I said, wishing I could take back the words the moment they left my mouth. Everyone around the table perked up.
"Really?" Sky said brightly. She knew Johnny, of course; everyone did. He'd been my only friend for my whole life. I dreaded the fact every day. That wasn't what she was so happy about, though: Johnny, like our family, was a Savant, and his gift acted similar to getting drunk. It made for some very good parties. Speaking of parties, I'd take him to Blake's with me. It'd been a while since we'd last hung out and he was on my ass about it. He lived on the other side of Denver and went to a different school, so we didn't get to see each other nearly enough for his comfort.
"Yeah, well, you know him. He'll take any excuse to throw a killer Halloween party." Mentioning Halloween made me think of Dominic again. His birthday was the same day, and I didn't even dare to hope he was born a year before or after me. I'd never been that lucky. There was an actual chance that he was my soulfinder, and it terrified the absolute shit out of me. I was halfheartedly planning to ditch the next few days of school. Surely he wouldn't go to Blake's party? He didn't even know him, and the guys all despised him. They'd asked me, on multiple occasions, why the fuck I was willingly spending time with. Julian had expressed concern he was blackmailing me with something and offered to beat him up for me.
Zed's voice dragged me out of my thoughts and back to Wrickenridge. "Remember when she turned thirteen, and he convinced her to have a Friday the 13th themed party?" He snickered, poking Sky in the side. "You were so scared, I thought you were going to run back to New York."
She rolled her eyes. "Rowan was the one who took it too far! He hired clowns. Clowns! I think every kid there ended up leaving early because they were scared!"
I snorted. "Actually, the clowns were my idea."
"I am officially never attending a party you plan," Sky stated, pointing at me. She was still muttering under her breath about scary clowns and nightmares when Aliya, Victor and Atoosa's oldest, came running up to the table.
"Mommy! Zaira ruined my dress!" She was crying, jumping up and down to get her mom's attention. Her tutu, which had been pink but a minute before, was now a drab, colourless grey. Clearly, Zaira had gotten her hands on it. The little two-year-old appeared to have a gift for leeching colour from the objects around her, and she loved nothing more than pink. As Aliya did, too, she was often her sister's unfortunate victim.
Before Atoosa could say anything, Aliya's beloved bear plushie was in my hand. All it took was the barest touch before it jumped down and waggled to Aliya.
"I want a hug!" It spoke in a surprisingly deep voice, and that was all it said, but like always, it worked like a charm. Aliya turned, and immediately forgot her despair.
"Mr. Bear!" She shrieked, and tackled him in a hug.
"I want a hug!" Mr. Bear repeated happily, arms around his favourite girl. I'd been waking him up for Aliya since she was born. Thanks to my gift, I could bring inanimate objects to life. My entire extended family considered it a blessing, and this was a prime example.
Curious about her big sister's shrieking, Zaira ran up to the table too, followed by a stern-looking Victor. Clearly, he'd already had words with his second child. Atoosa shot him a grateful look. About halfway through dinner, both Aliya and Zaira had decided the big table was not for them, and they'd demanded to roam freely in the den. In compromise, Victor had accompanied them. Atoosa had stayed at the table, their four-month-old, Liza, on her lap.
Now, Zaira came straight to me. I was the only one who she didn't have to be careful around, as my clothing never contained any colour for her to drain away. Black and grey just didn't hold the same appeal as the bright pink Aliya favoured. My hair was another story; it was currently dyed blue and Zaira was happily playing with the strands. Luckily, her gift only seemed to work on objects. It would've been a pain to have to dye it anew every night.
Crisis averted, the rest of the night flew by. She texted Johnny to give him the green light for her party, and also to invite him to the one on Friday. It wasn't until it was too late did she realise that throwing a birthday party would make it very obvious to Dominic that she'd lied.
••••
Despite my best intentions, Vick and Atoosa saw right through me, and I was forced to go to school. I considered just driving off, but Mia would definitely rat me out. Not to mention Gurd, who would jump at the chance to give me detention for the rest of the semester.
This was how, on Friday, I was stuck at a lunch table with six people planning the night. At least I wouldn't have to join their carpool, because as it turned out, Emily lived just a few blocks away from Johnny. Or, at least, her mom did. Her dad's house was next to Sabrina's.
"Hey, Cam, what are you going to wear?" Robbie asked. I looked up in surprise, and I wasn't the only one. The rest, too, had abandoned their own conversations to focus on Robbie.
"Clothes?" I tried, not quite understanding why he'd asked.
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, obviously. I meant, what style? Are you dressing up, or just going in the same ripped jeans, docs, and band t-shirt you wear every day?" He eyed her outfit suspiciously, and I self-consciously sat up straighter.
"I probably won't wear this," I said. "But I haven't thought about it."
I was still confused as to why he was even asking me. He'd never expressed any particular interest in my outfits – or me in general – before. The others were baffled as well, but Sabrina's face had lightened up with a grin.
"He's right; you cannot wear just anything. You need to show Blake what he's missing!" she stated, looking absolutely delighted by the prospect. I repressed the urge to groan, settling for rolling my eyes. I sincerely doubted the ass was capable of missing anything. Still, the idea was fun. I did buy that one dress this summer, and I hadn't gotten around to wearing it…
Shaking my head, I grabbed my phone to shoot Johnny a text. I needed to stop by Rowan's house.
I was regretting my entire existence when we finally walked up to Emily's house. The street was lined with cars, and I was glad we didn't have to struggle finding a parking space. That was the only good thing of the night, though. It might only be midway through October, it was absolutely freezing, and my short dress offered little warmth. As Johnny's outfit also lacked a jacket, at least I wasn't the only one complaining about the weather.
He looked great, though. His black short-sleeved blouse had a plunging neckline, showing off his chest. Paired with his black leather pants and boots, he was all set to be the hottest guy there. His hair was dyed the same shade of blue as mine had been, matching his eyes, which were currently locked on me. We'd stopped just outside the front door, giving each other a final once over.
"You're all good," I told him, and he gave me a stunning smile. He twirled his finger in an unspoken command, and I complied, spinning in a circle for him.
"As are you, darling. No soul attracted to women will be able to resist you tonight," he said, and I nodded. That had been what I was going for, but I was no longer convinced it was a good idea.
My dress was a simple strapless and short number, coming to my mid-thigh, but the colour… it was a deep red with tiny golden glitters, sparkling when the light caught on them. And then there was the back: there was none. How it stayed up, I didn't know, but it did and I was thankful for it. The colour went gorgeously with my tan skin, and the shape of the dress went gorgeously with the shape of my curves. My hair, which had been undone of the coloured dye and was now back to its own dark brown, was braided to my right, where it spilled over my shoulder in a mess of waves. My make-up consisted of a neutral smokey eye and red lipstick that matched my dress, and my heels were red, too.
I did not wear colour often, but when I did, I went all out. Even my nails matched: I'd gotten them done after school that afternoon, and now my regular talons were very, very red.
The place was already packed when we walked in. Passing through the kitchen, we both grabbed a drink. Sabrina and the others were standing around the dining table, waiting for a turn at beer pong. Johnny, who was still taller than me even though I was wearing five-inch heels and thus currently 6'2, spotted them first. He slung an arm around my shoulders and steered me to them.
"Hi guys!" He said with a smile when we reached them. "I'm Johnny and I have heard absolutely nothing about you because Cam is the worst. Please inform me about what she's like at school."
Sabrina smiled a smile I did not trust. "I'm Sabrina, and this are Julian, Landon, Calvin, Robbie, and Dominic," she said, pointing as she went. Julian was the only blonde in the group besides Sabrina, though he towered over her. Not so much tonight; Sabrina had legs for miles, and tonight she showed them off by wearing strappy, high-heeled sandals and a very short, black dress. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and her make-up was dark. Clearly, we'd swapped colour schemes tonight; I was bright, she was dark. Julian, Landon, and Calvin were all wearing jeans and a shirt; had it not been for their different hair colours and skin tones, they could've been the same person. Landon's hair was cut so close to his scalp he was practically bald, but I remembered from last year it was brown. His skin was about the same colour as mine. Calvin was black, his hair braided. Then there was Robbie: he was Hispanic, and I knew his mother because she worked with Cerise. There was no way she would've let her precious boy attend a party wearing jeans and a shirt. Instead, he was wearing suit pants, dress shoes, and a white blouse. His hair was slicked back, making him look like a sexy supervillain. Had it not been for Dominic standing right next to him, I would've made a move. But Dominic was standing right next to him, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him any longer. I was half surprised I'd even managed to last this long.
He was easily the tallest among the group, which was a feat in and of itself; all the guys were over six feet, and even in my heels I'd only surpassed Landon. At least Julian and Calvin were about my height tonight. Dominic was wearing jeans, too, but they fit so well I couldn't bring myself to judge him for it. He'd paired them with combat boots, a tight shirt that showed off every muscle on his upper body and a leather jacket I wanted to steal and never give back. His arms were crossed, biceps bulging visibly even underneath the leather. I'd seen a bike outside, and now I wondered if it was his, and if so, if he would let me ride on it. Probably not. I'd not been particularly nice to him. The look in his eyes as they swept over me made me think I could probably convince him if I wanted to, though. The trail of sparks they left made me want to. But Johnny's arm was still around me, and Dominic realised that now, too. His eyes narrowed, and that lovely warm feeling the sparks gave me turned into annoyance. Why did he care whose arm was around me? It's not like he had a say about it.
My perusal of Dom had made me miss most of Johnny and Sabrina's conversation, though I couldn't quite bring myself to care. It was mostly gossip about me, anyway. If I remembered to ask, Johnny would tell me later.
A shrill voice disturbed my thoughts. "Omigod, Brie! You came! And you brought so many hot friends!" A tiny redhead attacked Sabrina, and I winced. Sabrina shot me an apologising look, but I ignored her.
"Hi, Em!" Sabrina's voice was as high and piercing as Emily's, but it lacked the excitement. "It's so good to see you!"
"Samesies!" Emily stepped back, tossing her hair over her shoulder. As she did, she caught sight of me and Johnny. "And Cameron is here, too!" She clapped her hands, actually happy to see me... or at least doing a hell of a job pretending to be.
I couldn't be bothered to correct her on my name. I drained my drink, which had still been nearly full and thus took me a minute, then announced: "I'm going to get another drink."
Sabrina shot me a look, but I ignored it, spinning on my heel and making my way back to the kitchen. I hadn't been in love with Blake - in fact, I'd despised him - but it still hurt that he'd cheated on me. I had no desire to play nice with the girl he'd done that with. I didn't know if she even knew I'd still been with Blake when they hooked up; I'd dumped his ass immediately after, and he'd gone to her.
I poured a shot of vodka and threw it back, then did it again. I heard a whistle behind me when I went to grab a beer. Of course, it was Blake.
"Damn, Cam. Still the queen of swallowing, eh?" he said, leering at my chest.
I rolled my eyes. "Fuck off, dick." I walked away, back to happy Emily, but he trailed behind me.
"Oh, come on. Don't be mean," he replied, catching up to me and throwing an arm around my shoulder. I immediately shrugged it off. "I was just joking. You know how I am."
God, he's an ass. "I don't care about your stupid joke, ass. And don't touch me." I scanned the room, finding Johnny and the others still by the dining table. Instead of joining them, I went straight to one of the guys occupying the table.
"Hey, sexy," I purred, batting my lashes. I'd practically plastered my body to his, and I could tell he liked it. He wasn't more than an inch taller than me now I was wearing my heels, with blond hair and glasses. He was cute, and probably in college. He was also the opposite of my type, but he didn't need to know that. "Are you guys gonna be playing much longer? My friends and I have been dying for a turn."
"Oh, um, I think we can hurry our game along a bit, right?" He looked to his friends for confirmation, none of whom seemed to care one way or the other. "Yeah, we're almost done, baby," he said to me.
"Great!" I jumped, still pressed against him. His pupils dilated, and then even more when I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "So. Are you winning?"
Hi guys! Fair warning: I suck at committing to an updating schedule, so I have no idea how long it's gonna be in between chapters. I'm going to try to make it less than this time around, but I can't make any promises, because I've got two essays due soon as well as Christmas coming up, so...
With that out of the way, I'd like to thank the people who reviewed the first chapter! I love reading what you think about my writing and my story, so don't be shy! Even if it's just to scream, feel welcome :)
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try to be back soon with the next!
Xoxo, Sabine