Wrecked Book 4 (10 page)

I was grateful for the skinny jeans and the long sleeved shirt I worse tonight. That and the jacket were enough to keep me tolerably warm, though the cold was still definitely biting at me. My cheeks and nose felt it especially and I knew that if I looked in a mirror, I
’
d see that they were a bright, raw, rosy red color.

I walked quickly both to get there as soon as I could, but also because I wanted to stay warm amidst the cool night air. Since I hadn
’
t planned on going to the party, my hair was down and not straightened. It was wild and swirled about my face. At least it kept my neck warm.

I wasn
’
t sure which house it was until I got closer. Then I could easily spot it even without the address on my phone right in front of me. It was lit up brighter than its neighboring houses and there was music coming from it that was so loud, I was surprised the cops weren
’
t already there.

“
Yep, definitely the right place,
”
I muttered to myself.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself to go in there. I stomped up the steps and tried knocking on the door. No one answered, likely because no one could hear me over the booming of the music coming from inside.

I knocked once more and waited for a moment, but when still no one answered, I just opened the door. It was unlocked and I pushed it open easily. The house was filled with partying college students and I knew I was in the right place.

And I couldn
’
t help but think of how eerily similar this all was to my
first
college party
…

We were just high schoolers but I
’
d been hanging around with this girl who was a few years older than us and she got us an invite. Well, not an invite per se, but she said we could come with her. And by we, I mean she said I could come.

But I wasn
’
t going without Beck. She was my best friend and as long as I could talk her into going, we were going to go together.

Which was why we were currently piled into Mandy
’
s
—
that older college girl friend I
’
d met
—
car blasting music so loud that we couldn
’
t hear each other talk over it. Me and Beck were singing along to some dumb song that was playing while Mandy danced ridiculously as she drove. Mostly it was just head bobbing and banging with a few random arm movements thrown in.

We had the windows rolled down, the faster we went the more the air rushed in through the windows, blowing our hair all over the place. The air was crisp, but not cold. It smelled like the ocean and home. We laughed as we sped along.

Neither Beck nor I had ever gone to a college before, much less to a college party. We
’
d been to several high school parties, but they were mostly lame. The few times kids risked alcohol, the police usually got involved. When I told Mandy this, she
’
d rolled her eyes at me and said,
“
Please. No one cares in college. Everyone knows you
’
re doing it, so as long as you don
’
t throw it back in the cops
’
faces, they don
’
t give a shit.
”

I hadn
’
t questioned at the time why Mandy was friends with us, but looking back it seemed strange. Why would a college girl be interested in hanging out with a couple of sixteen year old girls?

But we didn
’
t sweat it then. All we cared about was living.

We arrived at the party and it was packed. Mandy had to park her car along the road, because there was nowhere else. The garage, the driveway and pretty much everywhere else conceivable was taken up by all kinds of cars. Some were junkers held together with little more than duct tape, while others looked like they probably cost more than my house.

Mandy led the way to the house, smiling and waving to a few people as she made her way to the door. I followed behind her, and Beck followed behind me. I could sense her nervous energy and knew that she was a little unsettled about the whole thing without even looking at her.

Beck
’
s thing was books and school, not the parties. I
’
d asked her one time why she went to them, or why she was even friends with me then, and she
’
d replied that I evened her out. Too much of anything wasn
’
t good for anyone. I was the best way to keep her balanced and that was why we were such good friends.

I reached my hand out behind me, offering it to Beck. I felt her hand slip into mine and when I glanced back over my shoulder at her, she smiled at me gratefully.

I grinned back.
“
This is going to be awesome!
”

The party was insane. People were everywhere, all holding red Solo cups, doing shots and dancing to the music which was blaring throughout the downstairs. Outside, people were hanging out on the porch and some were even sitting in the hot tub or jumping into the pool.

It was madness, and it was awesome. I couldn
’
t stop grinning.

Mandy disappeared inside somewhere, getting lost amongst the faces as she headed towards a group of friends.

I headed straight for the kitchen, dragging Beck along with me. She looked less excited than I did at all of the people, but she did her best to put on a bright smile and go with the flow. I appreciated the effort she was putting in.

When we reached the kitchen, I immediately went for a red Solo cup. There were a bunch of college guys in the kitchen, I can
’
t remember if they were cute or not, but they all seemed to look the same to me. They were laughing about something that was apparently hysterical to them at least.

They were standing by the keg, so I went in their direction with my cup. Beck lingered by the counter, looking around uncertainly. She wasn
’
t above drinking or anything. Usually, she didn
’
t drink anywhere near as much as I did, but she wasn
’
t against having a good time either and when she was around people she knew, it was totally fine for her to get her drink on.

But right now, that was hard. She didn
’
t really know the area we were in and she didn
’
t know any of the people there other than me. We were in new territory and she was probably a little scared to say the least. But me? I was all about enjoying this experience to the fullest.

When I offered my cup to one of the guys to get filled up with the beer from the keg, he grinned at his friends before turning back to me. He eagerly took my cup and filled it up. I yelled a thank you at him, trying to be heard over the music, and then I headed back over to Beck. Grabbing her hand, we headed back to the living room.

I wasn
’
t really concerned about keeping track of Mandy
—
she knew her way around this place, obviously, I mean, it was her invite that got us here
—
but Beck was the smart one and she wanted to keep track of everyone who had come to this party together. Namely, us.

“
Where
’
s Mandy?
”
she yelled in my ear, the booming music still almost covering up her words.

I shook my head, then took a deep drink of my beer. It tasted gross
—
I
’
d never enjoyed the taste of beer or much of any alcohol really, but I liked the buzz I copped off of it, so I
’
d endure the taste
—
but I swallowed it down easily enough.
“
I don
’
t know,
”
I yelled back in answer to Beck.
“
She
’
s got to be around here somewhere.
”

And she did. I doubted she had bailed on the party already, much less without us. But that didn
’
t mean she wasn
’
t outside or upstairs or just plain old lost in the massive crowd that was moving and grooving together as one unit, dancing to the music in a fluid way I
’
d never really seen before.

It was like everyone knew the steps that went to a specific song whenever it came on. Like it was all practiced or something. It was really strange.

I couldn
’
t help the good time I was having. I downed the rest of drink and put my cup down on a table that was already littered with empty ones, half empty ones, and ones that were still nearly full. Reaching out, I grabbed ahold of Beck
’
s hand and yanked her towards the dance floor.

“
C
’
mon!
”
I yelled out to her.

We spent what seemed like forever dancing. I had a few more drinks and we danced some more. Beck made me eat some crackers that she found in the kitchen, and I drank some more. I don
’
t think Beck had more than a single beer.

After a while, the party seemed to slow. Either that, or it was all the alcohol in my system. I was lying on the couch, grinning from ear to ear like an idiot. Beck was beside me, kneeling down.

“
I think it
’
s about time to go!
”
she said, close to my ear so I could actually hear her.

I laughed at her.
“
What? But the party
’
s just starting?
”

She frowned and shook her head.
“
I
’
m going to go find Mandy.
”
Then she got up.

I laughed at that, too, though it wasn
’
t really funny. Mandy was our ride home and if she forgot about us or we just lost track of her after the party was over, then neither of us knew how we
’
d manage to get home that night.

But none of that matter much to me. In fact, I didn
’
t even think about it. I was too busy lounging around in my drunkenness, enjoying my first college party.

Then there was the guy sitting beside me. He told me I was very pretty. I was pretty sure I laughed at him. I couldn
’
t be sure, but I thought he was the guy from the kitchen. One of them, they all looked the same.

I remember his hand on my leg and then
—
Beck was there, screaming at him. She got me up off the couch and together we stumbled out of the house.

“
I couldn
’
t find Mandy,
”
she told me and we had to call a cab.

But I remembered that night as the best night of my life for a long time afterwards.

Now that I was in college, I
’
d realized the truth. It wasn
’
t all that great of an experience, these college parties. I should have learned my lesson that night with Beck and Mandy, but I was hardheaded and rebellious to say the least. Even though some part of me had to acknowledge that what happened that night was bad, the rest of me was pigheaded enough to keep charging forward.

It was Beck
’
s death that really finally brought me around. I wished I could say it didn
’
t take something so awful happening for me to finally shape up, but that was the truth. There was nothing else that was going to change me.

The memory of the party reminded me staunchly of why I was here in the first place. I needed to find Miranda.

I looked around, but didn
’
t see her. She had likely been swallowed up by the crowd, or she was getting more to drink, which was not something that made me feel better in the least. I decided the best place to start really looking for her was the kitchen. If there were drinks, which I was sure there obviously was, then they would be in the kitchen and if Miranda was looking for another drink, then that was where she was probably headed.

I wasn
’
t sure where it was, so I had to explore a bit. I came across a staircase, so clearly there was at least a second story, maybe a third. I didn
’
t pay much attention to the house as I
’
d come up and it had been dark. Although the house had been lit up, the upper levels hadn
’
t been. Most parties took place almost exclusively on the ground floor
—
or out on the porch
—
so the upper floors weren
’
t lit and I couldn
’
t really tell how many stories there were from the outside anyway.