And if that was the expectation, then we needed gear.
I led the guys down Alleyway Cove, one of the main streets in our fair city where every single offshoot for three blocks was nothing but alleyways. Dark streets with no lamps that twisted and turned with one-way signs and yield signs for days. It was the perfect place to split up. To find our way back to our own home bases so we could recuperate and lay low.
So, with a flick of my wrist, I dismissed what was left of my crew.
Then I set my sights on that college campus to make sure Benji had gotten back all right.
15
Dani
The dimmed lights of the dorm building made it hard to navigate. But Hannah kept me close. With a cocktail of sweetness and rum in my hand, I followed her through the crowd, trying my best to put on a smile and not get grossed out at every person that shoved by me.
“Hey.”
“Get out of the way.”
“That’s my man you’re touching!”
Hannah whipped around. “She doesn’t want your scra
wny man. She’s into men with muscles and substance.”
I paused. “I am?”
“Yep. Now, come on. I want to introduce you to someone.”
The more tense I grew, the more I watched people around me. All of them seemed to be relaxed. Centered. Sure of themselves. And all of these people had one thing in common. They all had these red cups in their hands, filled with drinks they sucked down to keep them from sloshing over the edge.
Like the red cup I was holding.
“What’s this drink, anyway?” I asked.
Hannah tugged me off to the side. “Dani, this is Rachel. She’s in choir with me.”
The girl waved. “Hi.”
I paused. “I didn’t know you sang.”
Hannah snickered. “I don’t. I just needed the elective.”
Rachel sipped her drink. “What’s your name again?”
Hannah laughed. “How many of those have you had?”
Rachel grinned. “Probably enough.”
I watched her chug down the drink before I gazed into my own cup. The yellow liquid stared back at me with notes of coconut overwhelming my nostrils. It didn’t smell terrible. And it didn’t look unappetizing. I’d never had a drink like this before, though. A beer here and there with Hannah, sure. I hated beer, though. It wasn’t hard to refuse a second one.
This drink made my mouth water.
“What’s your major?” Rachel asked.
I took a sip of my drink and choked it down.
“Uh, human resources. You?”
The girl smiled. “English. I want to teach and write on the side.”