“Persephone.”
I heard my name shouted and glanced around the crowded room. I couldn’t see much of anything. All I saw were bodies packed together like sardines.
“Hey. Over here.” The voice sounded closer, and I looked to my right just as Trevor lifted his hand and waved me over.
Even if I wanted to move closer to him, there were too many people crammed close to me.
“Hey, move out of the fucking way,” Trevor shouted but was laughing as he lifted the bottle of vodka he held. The surrounding people yelled, clapping him on the back.
I couldn’t even hear myself think over how loud the music was. The heat was oppressive, and I couldn’t breathe. I wanted out of here. I wanted to leave and curl on my bed and bask in the stillness, the silence.
How crazy was it that I now craved the quiet?
Trevor was right beside me a second after, his bigger body up in my space as he pressed his shoulder to mine.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” He shouted to be heard over the music. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and his eyes were red-rimmed and glossy.
I smiled and shrugged, not sure what to say in response.
He brought the vodka bottle to his mouth and took a long drink. When he pulled it away, there was only about a fourth left. Trevor tipped it in my direction, and I shook my head, declining.
Trevor finished it, and I lifted my eyebrows. It felt like they were all the way to my hairline.
He showed me the empty bottle and grinned, his cheeks red, the stench of all the booze he’d consumed wafting around him. I was pretty sure at this point he was sweating vodka.
A few guys came up and started talking to him, and I looked for Sophia, but she’d moved more toward the center of the room with Jacqueline and Ariel.
Before I knew what was happening, Trevor grabbed my wrist and was pulling me away from the wall.
“W-what? Hey. Wait,” I shouted, hoping he heard me, but he either didn’t or didn’t care.
Trevor glanced over his shoulder and grinned, his eyes taking on this heavy-lidded look as he eyed me up and down. My skin tightened and prickled. I didn’t care for the way he kept hold of my hand, and I tried to pull away.
“Just trying to get away from the crowd so it’s quieter. I can’t even fucking think in here.” He kept walking, his fingers gripping my wrist so tightly it was bordering on painful.
“Trevor, let go.”
He rounded a corner, then another before we made it to a more secluded back hall where he finally let me go. I stepped back several feet and rubbed my skin, glaring at him.
“What the hell? I asked you to let me go.”
He ran a hand over his face. His gaze swept over my breasts, my belly, and lower still before he dragged them back up to my face.
“I’m sorry,” he slurred. “I drank way too much of my father’s vodka.” He started laughing and came closer. “I’m so glad you’re here. We don’t really have time to talk at school.”
I kept rubbing my wrist and watching him, but he just stood there staring at me with this almost goofy smile on his face.
“I should probably get home. This isn’t really my scene, if I’m being honest.”
“Nah, stay. Please?” He gave me this faux pathetic look as he came closer.
“No, I think I should probably go. I’ll call a Ride Share cause Sophia brought me, but she’s getting trashed.” Before I could even get that last word out, Trevor was in front of me, boxing me in.
With my back to the wall and him in front of me, I suddenly felt trapped and suffocated.
“You’re drunk,” I said and tried to push him away.
He leaned in closer, pressing his body hard against mine so I was wedged between him and the wall. “You smell so good. Sweet. Like candy.” He moaned, and panic seized me.