Part 3 (1/2)
Good idea, though with the way the rest of the house has been trashed, they're probably going to have to hire a cleaning service, anyway. It wouldn't be fair for the usual cleaning staff to deal with this mess.
There is a small exclusive group of people up here. I pick out the familiar faces-loud and obnoxious Ryan Connelly, and his equally annoying twin, Jason; prankster Ben and his snooty girlfriend Arianna-she stares hard at me, then quickly looks away. Oh, there's Nick, sitting at the table! And, ugh, Red. Great.
”Hey, there you are, Juliet!” Nick greets me, quickly pulling out a chair for me. ”I looked for you inside, but it was such a zoo!”
Mack reaches over and smacks him in the back of the head. ”Dumba.s.s! Johnny's gonna kill you for leaving her. Some d.i.c.khead poured his drink down her s.h.i.+rt.”
”Oh, s.h.i.+t,” Nick breathes, rubbing the back of his head. ”Sorry! Are you okay, Juliet?”
I notice him quickly scanning my chest-which reminds me of my wet s.h.i.+rt. ”No harm done,” I a.s.sure him, pulling my sticky s.h.i.+rt away from my body.
”Well, here.” He stands up and peels his t-s.h.i.+rt off, revealing his tanned and toned physique. ”Put this on for now.”
”Thanks,” I say, surprised. I quickly pull the s.h.i.+rt over my head, and shove my arms through the sleeves. I catch the scent of something that reminds me of the beach and Nick's cologne as the material glides over my nose. The s.h.i.+rt goes down almost to my knees. s.e.xy.
”Sit down, sit down,” Mack urges, pus.h.i.+ng me into the seat next to Nick. ”Juliet, you know most of these jokers. Ben, Arianna, Jase, Ryan-Nick, of course. And that's Kara and Sloane.”
He points to Red, who glares at me. Of course she's the Kara. Why am I even surprised. She crosses her long tanned legs and looks me up and down with contempt. I notice she's not surprised at my ident.i.ty. She must've known who I was at the door. b.i.t.c.h.
The girl sitting next to Kara-Sloane-makes her look like a cheap wannabe. She's an exotic beauty, with thick black hair falling in silky waves across her shoulders, and framing her exquisite features. Her dark almond shaped eyes regard me coolly. There's no raw animosity on her face like there is on Kara's. She looks sort of puzzled, like she not sure why I'm standing there, sharing the same s.p.a.ce with all these fabulous people.
Figures all of Johnny's female friends are hot, and on the b.i.t.c.hy side. No wonder he never wanted me to meet any of them.
”I can't believe you're Johnny's girlfriend,” Kara says suddenly, smirking. ”What are you-twelve? Do you have to use a stepstool to kiss him?”
”Shut up, Kara,” Mack says mildly. He shakes his head at her like she's a naughty child.
”Yeah, don't be jealous,” Ben adds, running a hand over his light blonde hair. He winks at me. ”Short girls are incredibly hot.” Arianna smacks him hard in the chest. She's at least 5'8”.
Kara definitely doesn't like the fact that the guys are defending me. I don't really care. She seems like the type of person that gets even more p.i.s.sed if you don't rise to the bait. I decide my best course of action is to ignore her. However, I can't resist batting my eyes a couple of times in her direction. She rears back, looking horrified. Geez.
”Hey you want something to drink?” Nick offers me, half-standing. ”There's soda and fruit punch...?”
”No, thanks, I'm good. But have you seen Johnny?” I ask for the fifteenth time.
Nick hesitates, leaning toward me like he didn't hear me. When I repeat my question, he shrugs. ”I haven't seen him yet. Did you try texting him?”
”Good idea.” I slip my phone out of my jeans pocket.
”I saw him earlier,” Jason volunteers, after a long loud belch. ”He was already drunk off his a.s.s.”
I frown, pausing in the middle of composing my text. I catch Arianna and Kara exchanging little smirks out of the corner of my eye. What's that about?
Where r u??
I sit back, cradling my phone in my hands, waiting for that telltale vibrating to indicate a received text message. It doesn't come. The others chat around me, oblivious to my tension.
”Hey, put that out,” Mac says sharply.
I glance up and notice Ryan lighting up a joint. At Mack's glare, he puts it down.
”It's only weed,” he protests.
”Yeah, and Dean will kill you. No drugs at his house, remember?” Nick says, his face serious for a change.
Grumbling, Ryan puts it away. I'm relieved. Just the smell of pot makes me nauseous, and I don't want to get high from the secondhand smoke. Where is Johnny? I look down at my phone again.
”So, does anybody know if there's going to be school on Monday?” Arianna's whiny voice catches my attention. She tosses back her bleached blonde hair. ”I heard the smoke damage from the fire in the library was pretty bad.”
”Not bad enough to shut the whole school down,” Sloane snaps, with a 'duh' tone in her voice. ”And it was only one little section in the back.”
”First the science lab and the art supply closet, and now the library,” Ben says, his expression weirdly avid. ”I hope whoever it is torches Jenkins' cla.s.sroom next. I got a big test on Monday that I'm not gonna study for.”
”Little trash can fires,” Ryan snorts. ”They're not that serious.”
At my curious expression, Nick tells me, ”Leclare's got itself an arsonist. Someone's been setting small fires in the school over the summer, and at night. Somehow, they're still getting away with it, despite the security cams they put up.”
”Yeah, exterior ones aimed at the bushes,” Ben scoffs. ”Anyone who knows where they are can avoid them. You just break a window, and you're in.”
”Yeah, and how many have you broken, player?” Mack points out, laughing and running a hand over his shaved head. ”Don't think we don't know about your...nocturnal activities in the school pool.”
”Whoa, Mack.” Ben feigns surprise. ”You know what 'nocturnal' means?” He snorts when Mack waves a finger at him.
Jason laughs his obnoxious laugh. ”Hey, Ben, you sure you haven't seen some dude sneaking around with a can of gasoline and some matches? Or were you too busy banging Arianna to notice?”
I glance over at Arianna, who's grinning smugly. She actually plops herself down on Ben's lap and giggles into his ear. Wow. I would be mortified if my friends knew I liked getting it on in school. But look at her-proud as can be. Silly rabbit.
Come on, Johnny. I will my phone to ring, but it doesn't. Kara catches my anxious expression, and actually smiles at me. ”If you're looking for Johnny, I think he said something about going to his room.”
”Oh...really? Thanks.” I force myself to look grateful, though I'm sure she just wants rid of me. I'm fine with that. I turn to Nick. ”I'm going to see if Johnny's in his room. If you see him, can you tell him where I am?”
Nick's hazel eyes seem to darken with concern. ”Yeah, sure. Are you okay? You want me to go with you?”
”No, I'm fine. I have a little headache. I'm just going to rest on his bed if he's not there.” I smile rea.s.suringly as I get to my feet.
”Wait a sec.” He stands up too. ”Go in through those doors, so you don't have to deal with the animals down there again.” He points at the French doors that lead inside the house.
”Thanks, Nick.” I turn to the others. ”See you guys later.”
I don't say that it was nice to meet anyone, because-well, it wasn't. The guys give me c.r.a.p for abandoning them, which I laughingly fend off. The girls just look at me speculatively, like they're waiting for me to leave so they can talk about me. It doesn't bother me as much as it probably should, and I know the guys won't let them get too nasty. Oh, well. It's important to me that I get along with Johnny's friends, and that they like me-but I'm not going to suck up to them just so they can talk s.h.i.+t behind my back.
I wish Heather were here. She'd have my back, and she'd know how to talk to these silly girls without resorting to violence.
Nick walks me over to the French doors, and opens them for me like the gentleman he is. I look up at him with his messy brown hair and bare muscled chest, and think what a great guy he is. One day he's going to find a girl worthy of him.
The doors open up to a short hallway. I wish I had thought to ask Nick which way Johnny's room is. This house is so d.a.m.n huge. I've only been in it a handful of times, and I've always felt uncomfortable being here. Way too fancy.