I looked around for Carly or Melissa, but I couldn’t spot any of them in the crowd, which seemed to have grown in the few minutes since we’d arrived. And not all of the people were from our building. There was a girl sitting alone on the couch. Grabbing a second drink, I made my way over and sat down.
“Hey, I’m Alexis.”
“I’m Jess,” she said softly. So softly I had to lean inappropriately close just to hear her talk.
“Would you like a drink?” I asked, holding out my second cooler.
She shook her head.
Having a conversation with her turned out to be harder than with Kent. I drilled her with questions, which also weren’t returned, and sipped my drink faster than I’d intended until I gave up and we just sat together awkwardly. I kind of wondered why she was even there. She wasn’t drinking and didn’t seem at all interested in getting to know people.
So far this party wasn’t turning out as expected.
When she excused herself and left, I felt like a real loser. Now I was that girl alone on the couch. I was about to go search the crowd for my friends, when the back of my neck prickled. Without knowing how, I knew I was being watched.
Trying to look casual, I glanced over my shoulder to see Ian standing beside two guys. He looked casual in a long sleeved grey shirt and jeans, leaning against the wall with the sole of his right foot pressed against it while he sipped his beer, staring at me. I swallowed. He was staring right at me with this intense look, almost as if he was studying me or…angry. Just as I was about the turn away, however, he raised his beer to me and gave me a small smile.
I smiled back and he pushed off the wall, started toward me. The guy he’d been talking to shot him a look that clearly said, What the fuck?
Shit. I instantly faced forward again. There was an entire room of hot girls, but no, he was coming to talk to me. What was worse, she was here now—the girl of the blowjob rumors. She was standing at the counter talking to a friend and surreptitiously glancing in Ian’s direction. Double shit. This wasn’t going to be good.
Ian lowered himself onto the couch beside me. “Are you old enough to drink, Miss Watson?”
“Are you?” I shot back.
“I started late. So yeah, I’m 21.” He smirked. “How old are you?”
I sank further into the couch. “Seventeen. Eighteen at the end of October though,” I added quickly.
He whistled under his breath. “Wow—you’re jailbait. I shouldn’t be talking to you, let alone letting you keep that drink.”
I moved my cooler away from him. “Why are you talking to me anyway?” The cooler was making me brave, and the bravery was making me stupid.
He frowned like he didn’t understand the question. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, there are a lot of hot girls here.” I scanned the room, my eyes landing on Blowjob Girl. She was still watching us. I tried to smile at her, but she looked away. “So why are you talking to me?”
He blinked at me. “Are you being serious?”
I took a sip of my drink and ended up downing the rest of it. I immediately reached for the other one at my feet and opened it. Ian raised an eyebrow, perhaps still waiting for me to respond.
“I didn’t think I was your type.”
“And what exactly do you think is my type?”
My eyes flicked back to the girl before returning to my cup. How should I answer that? I’d had too much to drink. All I knew was that I couldn’t trust him. I might be innocent, but I wasn’t naïve; reading had given me insight on a world I hadn’t yet experienced, and Ian was without a doubt someone I shouldn’t be mixing with.
So I listed attributes opposite to my own.
“Tall, blonde, and actually has boobs. Maybe tanned too.” I was pretty pale.
He laughed loudly and a number of heads turned to look at us, the females casting us dirty looks. A blush spread over my cheeks and I focused on drinking. Smirnoff Ice was actually pretty good.
“I get it. You’re trying to turn me down.”
I glanced back at him, surprised. Had I been that obvious?
“But for the record,” he twisted in his seat and leaned in, speaking softly, “I like your look. The busty, plastic woman look just doesn’t do it for me. You’re delicate and I like that. It reminds me of a ballerina.”
I laughed in spite of myself. “Except I suck at ballet.”
He grinned. “I didn’t say you were a ballerina, I said you remind me of one. In fact, I think you should dress as one for Halloween. That would be perfect.” He stood then. “Anyway, I know when I’m being brushed off. Have good night, Lex Watson.”
With that, he disappeared into the crowd.
Before I could leave too, Blowjob Girl was standing above me. God, I really had to learn her actual name. Maybe now was my chance.
“Hey, I’m Alexis. Lex,” I corrected. “What’s your name?’
Her scowl melted away and she sighed, sank down beside me on the couch. She didn’t look at me when she answered but stared straight forward. “Vanessa.”
“Nice to meet you.” What an awkward thing to say. What an awkward situation.
“So, I’m sure you heard about me,” she said softly. She was still staring forward. I could see the tightness of her features, the way her jaw clenched as she waited for me to respond. I couldn’t lie.
“I have.”
She looked at me then, smiling with something like appreciation. “Finally someone who will just tell me the truth.”
“Why is it such a big deal anyway?” I asked. “There must be tons of stories like that. This is college.”
“Because it’s him,” she said miserably. “I did something stupid. We were all drinking and dancing and somehow...somehow it happened. But if it had happened with any other guy, I would have been fine.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, look at him, for one thing. Every chick wants him and is more than willing to spread shit about anyone else that gets with him. Plus, you do know who he is, don’t you?”
I shook my head, feeling dizzy and slow. Probably time to slow down on the coolers.
“Ian Crawford? During his High School years he was a model, traveled to New York and Europe to do covers for Gucci and big names like that. Did some TV shows too, I guess. Now he’s taking Medicine because he doesn’t want to make a living off his looks or something like that. He wants to be a regular person.”
“Wow that’s pretty cool.” I winced inwardly. She didn’t want to hear he was cool.
She sighed. “Yes, you hear that kind of thing and think hey, this is a guy of decent character—until he has you on your knees in front of a toilet.”
/> Well that answered that question. I tilted my cooler back, draining the second bottle.
“Anyway, he doesn’t tell people about his past, but the rumors still circulate. I asked him about them and they’re all true. I guess he’s from an incredibly wealthy family and his mother wants him to act in Hollywood.”
Huh. “Does he like acting?”
“I have no idea. If I had those looks, I would be all over the idea. Who turns down going to Hollywood when their parents can probably buy their way into an audition?”
It was a good point. Someone with a lot of money and little desire to actually work, or someone who didn’t want to be famous and hoped to live under the radar. Somehow I suspected the latter. People didn’t generally take microbiology for the fun of it.
Beside me, Vanessa picked at the hem of her skirt. “I just wish I hadn’t screwed myself over on the first day. Who does that?”
“People will forget about it,” I assured her. “Some other scandal will seem bigger and better and soon everyone will forget all about you.”
She sighed. “I guess that’s my only other option, right? To be forgotten.”
Now I had no idea what to say. All I knew is that I wasn’t in the condition to therapize her, if that was even a word.
I stood and made an excuse about getting another drink.
I had two coolers left out of my 4 pack, which were surprisingly still in the box on the counter. I pulled one out just as Carly approached.
“Did you see Ian was here for a bit?” she sidled up to me and whispered. “It’s so cool that he isn’t writing us all up for drinking.”
“He left?” I asked, using the sleeve of my sweater to open my drink.
“Yeah. Well he can’t really stick around and condone this, can he? He had to leave the building so he could claim he didn’t know it was happening.”
“Won’t he get in trouble anyway?” For some reason, this screw top was proving harder than all the other drinks.