Victoria couldn't help but let her body move to the strong beat of the music. She smiled as she looked around at the Spenser students partying it up. She pulled a little bit at the strap of her blue tank top underneath her white shirt as she stood awkwardly waiting for her roommate to come back from wherever she ran off with.
She and Kate seemed to really hit it off well; it was like they'd been friends for a little while before now. It was easy talking to Kate, Victoria thought as she crossed her bare arms over her chest, and that was a good thing when you transferred to a different school. After she arrived, Kate helped her unpack her things, and promised they'd go out and get her some different bedding other than the stiff, cotton stuff that the school provided. She'd taken Victoria out and shown her around campus quickly before it was time to head to the party. Victoria's old car had been sent up ahead of time, so they drove that down to the Dells.
"Hey, having fun?" Kate asked when she returned, a red plastic cup in her hand.
"Loads," Victoria replied, smiling at her. "Okay, who's here? I feel a little awkward not knowing who everyone is."
"Okay," Kate put her hand on her shoulder to turn her and show her where the people are standing. "That guy, Aaron Abbot, is a total prick. The girl with him is Kira Snider, pretty much the school slut. Both of them are people you don't want to mix with, okay?" Victoria nodded.
"Ooh, look over there," Kate said, pointing to a guy with spiky brown hair and a seductive smile.
"Who's that?" Victoria asked, eyebrow raised a little.
"I don't know, new guy. Oh, he's looking over here!" The two girls giggle quietly as Kate turned them a little more to look at someone else. "Alright and that's—they're here!" She breathed out in the middle of introducing someone.
Victoria turned around to where Kate was looking. She saw a group of four guys; all of them dressed a bit darkly, walking towards them. One of them had long hair, which she recognized with a smile as Pogue Parry. Another had short, bright blonde hair, and he had a mischievous tone about him. There was a shy looking boy with shaggy, dark brown hair, and then there was the last one. Jet black hair, dark brown eyes, strong muscles, the boy radiated with a strong, dark, mysterious style. "Who're they?"
"The Sons of Ipswich," she said with a smile before walking forward towards Pogue and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Hey, you're late," she said, giving him a kiss before backing off so she could see everyone. "Guys, this is Victoria May. Vic, this is Pogue Parry…" she started.
"I had a thing with the family," Pogue rolled his eyes. "And yeah, we've met," he continued with a smile and nod in Victoria's direction. "How's it goin'?"
"Good," Victoria replied with a nod of her own.
"This is Tyler Simms," Kate went on, pointing to the shy-looking one. Tyler gave her a shy smile, and she returned it with a cute one. "And Reid-"
"Garwin," the blonde one cut in, moving forward to shake her hand. "Reid Garwin."
Victoria shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Reid. Victoria."
"Caleb Danvers," the dark, mysterious one said, coming forward to shake her hand, sort of brushing Reid back. "Nice to meet you, Victoria."
"The pleasure's mine," Victoria said slowly with a small smile. Her eyes were attracted to his; his seemed to pull hers towards them. She shook his hand, eyes holding the gaze before she caught herself and let both her eyes and her hand drop. Caleb pulled his hand back and awkwardly put it in his coat pocket.
"So, how long have you girls been here?" Pogue asked.
"We got here about an hour ago," Kate said, leaning up against Pogue's chest.
Victoria opened her mouth to say something, but a girl with frizzy hair walked up and started talking. "Hey Caleb, how was your summer?"
"Uh, hey Kyra," Caleb started, eyes raised in a bit of surprised.
The girl turned around to face Victoria. "Kyra Sanders," she stated.
"Victoria May," Victoria responded quietly.
"So, how did you manage to get into Spenser from a Maine public school?" Kyra asked in a forward manner. Victoria's face flushed red in embarrassment and anger as she opened her mouth to snap back at her before Caleb cut her off.
"Why don't you give it a rest, Kyra," he said in a tired and annoyed tone of voice. Kyra turned around to glare at him when Aaron Abbot walked up.
"Why don't you give it a rest?" Aaron spat out at Caleb. Caleb's jaw twitched as he held back from saying anything.
"C'mon Aaron, I don't want any trouble," Caleb said, rolling his eyes a bit. Victoria held back a little laugh.
"I'm sure you don't," Aaron sneered.
"Ugh, you posers make me want to puke," Aaron's friend said in a disgusted voice.
"Is that so?" Reid yelled, moving towards him in anger before Tyler grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Hey, let it go," Caleb said calmly before turning back to Aaron.
"I think you owe Kyra an apology," Aaron said, calmly and coldly.
"No…" Caleb said slowly. "I think Kyra owes Victoria the apology." Victoria looked over at the displeased Kyra and smirked, biting her tongue to keep from saying anything.
Aaron bared his teeth in a sort of grin before shoving Caleb hard. Caleb started to gather his strength to shove him back when the new boy got in between them, putting his hands on Aaron's shoulders to hold him back. "Sorry," he said cautiously with a small smile. He turned to Kyra. "You were being kind of bitchy."
All of a sudden, Aaron's friend started gagging, and before anyone knew it, he threw up all over the back of Aaron's letterman jacket.
"You idiot!" Kyra screeched as she jumped back out of the way. She and Aaron, along with the rest of their little posse, started screaming at the poor boy as he tried to wipe away the vomit from his lip. In the background, the music stopped and everyone froze as they were and looked up to the DJ's booth for an explanation.
"Hey everyone!" The DJ yelled into the microphone. "We just heard there are three cop cars comin' down here. Time to moooooove out!"
There was a rush slightly calmer than pandemonium as everyone hurried to get to the cars and get the hell out of there before the cops showed up. There was laughing and drunken yells through the crowd as they moved.
"C'mon, let's go!" Pogue yelled over the chaos, taking Kate underneath his arm and holding her to his side as he led the way towards where they parked. Caleb looked at Victoria and smiled, jerking his head towards the stand of trees where the crowd surged. She back and hurried to catch up with him, staying close at his heels while Tyler and Reid followed close behind them.
"You guys need a ride?" Tyler asked once they reached the woods and the students had spread out more, making it easier to hear each other.
"No, Victoria drove us out here," Kate said over her shoulder. Victoria nodded in confirmation.
"Well, I'll see you back at the dorm," Pogue said, giving Kate a kiss on the cheek.
"It's getting late, I think I'm gonna go crash," she replied, kissing him back.
"Hey, I could use a lift," a voice said from behind them.
Victoria turned around to see the new guy jogging to catch up with them. "Sure, you can catch one with us if you want." The boy smiled and nodded his thanks.
"How's it going back there?" Caleb said over his shoulder. Seeing the new guy, he reached back his hand. "Caleb Danvers."
"Chase Collins," Chase shook his hand and returned it to his coat pocket. "Wow, I thought I was gonna get whammed. That guys' puking really came at an opportune time."
"Didn't it though?" Reid said snidely before he and Tyler started laughing.
They reached their cars, and as Caleb walked by, he and Victoria's eyes met for a long moment before she shyly smiled. "Nice to meet you," she said quietly.
"Yeah, g'night," Caleb replied with a mysterious smile of his own. She sighed happily before walking around to the driver's side and getting in. Kate got in the passengers side and Chase slid into the back seat. "Okay, let's go," Victoria chirped as she stuck her key into the ignition and tried to start the car. All that happened was a whirring sound from under the hood. 'Oh, not now!' She groaned before opening the door again. "My car won't start!" She shouted out the window to where the boys were sitting in a black Hummer.
"Hop in with us!" Tyler called out his open window. Being very proud of his truck, he was always willing to give someone a ride.
"I can't just leave it here!" Victoria yelled back.
"I can fix it!" Reid offered. Victoria smiled and nodded. The boys in the Hummer started to murmur to each other for a bit before Reid got out of the car and walked over. He popped the hood open and did something to it quickly before slamming the hood shut and tapping it. "Try it again," he called out.
Victoria felt her stomach jerk as she raised her eyebrow in surprise at his speed before sticking the key in and listening to the engine rev up. "Oh, you did it! Thank you!" she called out the open window. Reid smiled mischievously before turning around and walking back to the car. He opened up the driver's door. "Move over."
"But it's my car," moaned Tyler.
"Move over, baby boy," Reid said as Tyler reluctantly moved over to the passenger's seat. Victoria couldn't help but smile as she maneuvered her way around the trees out to the road, waving as she drove by.
"Wow, that was really quick," Kate remarked as they started to drive quickly away from the Dells.
"Yeah, yeah it was," Victoria said thoughtfully. She was a little shocked still from the jerk she'd felt in her stomach, but she ignored it as they drove back on to the dorms.