The teachers must have been going easy on us during our first week back, because now we were in week two and they were piling on the homework. Every night after school, I spent hours slogging through my assignments. I had no idea how my friends managed to get through their homework and their extracurricular activities because I felt totally overwhelmed.
I was drawn back to the library on several occasions. It was so peaceful and beautiful in there it was hard to resist taking my laptop and setting up on one of the desks to study. I didn’t bump into Noah in the stacks again, and I wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or not. I thought about our encounter there far more frequently than I should, so it was probably a good thing I didn’t see him. I didn’t need to be thinking about Noah any more than I already was.
I had to decide if I was going to accept his invite and go to the boathouse that weekend, but I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. Any doubt about whether Noah had personally wanted me to come along had been quashed when he’d asked me in the library. Anna wasn’t there that time, so there was no denying it.
I couldn’t understand why he’d taken an interest in me, and I still wasn’t sure exactly what that interest was. There were so many other girls at this school who would be better suited to him, so I was almost certain his intentions weren’t romantic. It seemed far more likely he was being friendly to me because I was Cress’s roommate. She was one of the few people he cared about, after all. He couldn’t know the way my heart raced whenever he was near.
I probably would have bailed on the party again, but Anna and Cress didn’t give me a choice. They were holding me to my promise that I wouldn’t back out a second time, and so I trailed after the two of them on Saturday night as we attempted to navigate the darkened trail around the lake to the boathouse.
The girls were wearing short skirts and high heels, their hair and makeup crafted to perfection. Cress had coerced me into wearing a nice dress too, and the only reason my hair and makeup were done was because Anna had accosted me in the bathroom with her makeup brushes. When they set their minds to something, those two took no prisoners.
“Tonight’s going to be so much fun,” Cress said as we walked. “Especially since you’re here with us this week.” She nudged me with her arm.
“You didn’t give me much choice.”
“No, but you did promise…”
“So you keep telling me.”
She grinned brightly like guilt-tripping me didn’t bother her one bit.
I still hadn’t told them Noah had invited me to come tonight. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bring it up. They would have pressed me for all the details, and Anna especially would have made it out to be a bigger deal than it was. I dreaded to imagine how she’d react if she found out we were in the library when it happened.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to love it,” Anna said. “Though, as much as I like these parties, I’m already getting a bit sick of the same guys being here every week. We need fresh meat.”
“You worried you’re going to make out with Angus again?” Cress asked her.
“Thankfully, I don’t think he’s coming tonight,” Anna replied. “I heard him complaining about having to leave school for the weekend for his grandmother’s birthday earlier in the week.”
“Sounds like such a great guy,” I joked.
“I know. He’s the worst,” Anna agreed. “That’s why we need fresh meat. I’ve got to find someone better to kiss at parties.”
“Maybe you just need to look a little closer at the options that are already available,” Cress suggested.
“That would be like agreeing to eat at that awful diner just outside town.” Anna screwed up her face. “You already know the menu’s old and the food’s terrible, plus you’d be missing out on Toddy’s burgers, which are just down the road.”
“So, you want the Toddy’s burger of guys?” I did my best not to laugh.
“Exactly.” Anna grinned. “And I’m pretty certain there’s no one that yummy here.” Her expression dimmed slightly as she tapped the pocket of her skirt. “Ah, shoot. I think I left my phone back in my room.”
“I’m sure you can handle one night without it,” Cress said, but Anna was already heading back the way we’d come.
“I’ll only be a few minutes. Go on without me. I’ll meet you guys there.”
Cress shook her head as we kept walking. “I have no idea how she forgot her phone considering it’s always glued to her hand.”
We rounded a corner, and the boathouse appeared in the distance. Soft lights emanated from the timber shack and reflected across the soft ripples of the lake. A few people lingered on the dock outside the building, but I assumed most were inside given the sound of music that drifted through the air toward us from within the boathouse.
“There it is,” Cress said, waving her hand at the boathouse. “It’s a bit of a dive and not nearly as nice as the new center the school built a few years back, but at least no one bothers us out here.”
It had definitely seen better times, but there was an old charm to the place I felt drawn to. The boathouse felt like it had some character, some stories to tell.
“I like it,” I said.
“I told you, you would.” Cress sounded pleased, but just because I thought the boathouse was cute didn’t mean I was going to enjoy the party she was dragging me to.
We entered the boathouse through the vast entrance that faced the lake. I was surprised by what I found inside. The wide area looked like a large den rather than a storage space for rowboats. The empty metal racks that lined the wooden walls of the room were the only hint of the building’s former purpose. Now, the space was filled with soft lights, comfy sofas, and people—though not nearly as many students as there had been at Luther’s party on the first night of the semester. It seemed to be a more exclusive group, and I recognized a lot of faces from the celebration at Toddy’s after the soccer game last week.
As we made our way inside, my gaze naturally seemed to gravitate toward Noah. He was standing in the far corner of the room, his arms crossed over his wide chest as he stared down at Veronica. She had one hand pressed against his chest while she slowly twirled a piece of hair around one finger with the other. Her face was filled with animation as she spoke, but Noah couldn’t have looked more disinterested.
Cress was watching Noah too and started to laugh. “Noah looks like he’s eaten something sour. I’ve barely talked to him all week. I wonder if he’s managed to get out of taking Veronica to the ball yet.”
I gave a light laugh in response, but my heart wasn’t in it. For some reason, seeing them together and knowing Noah was only putting up with Veronica because his family expected him to made me feel sorry for him. He had all the privilege in the world and the kind of money that could make anything he dreamed a possibility. And yet, it sounded as though his family’s rigid demands made him powerless to direct his own future. The more I thought about it, the more similar we seemed. We both had obstacles blocking our roads to the future. Mine had always been a lack of money, and his was his grandfather.
“Let’s get some drinks.” Cress grabbed my hand and led me through the room to a fridge by the back wall. It was fully stocked with alcohol, and Cress reached for the bottom shelf and pulled out a four-pack of premixed drinks.
“These are my secret obsession,” she whispered as she handed me one.
“Why are they a secret?” I whispered back.
“Because the sugar content in these bad boys would give my dance teacher a heart attack. She can never know.”
I laughed. “I’ll take your secret to the grave.”
I unscrewed the lid of my drink and took a sip. It was painfully sweet. I wasn’t sure why Cress liked them so much. I found the second sip wasn’t as bad, and it went down a lot easier after the initial sugar hit.
“Oh, I hope one of those is for me!” Anna had arrived and was puffing slightly as she leaned against the wall for support.
“Did you run here?” Cress asked as she handed her a drink.
Anna twisted off the top and took three long gulps before she replied. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well, you’re pretty much gasping for air,” I said. “And you only arrived a minute or two after us. The real question is, how did you do it in those heels?” Anna’s shoes were far taller than anything I ever would have attempted to wear, and the pathway around the lake was hardly flat.
Anna laughed at my shocked expression. “What? Like it’s hard?”
“More like impossible,” I murmured.
“Ladies.” Sawyer stood behind us, the ever-present cheeky grin plastered across his face. “Is it just me, or are you three looking extra spectacular tonight.”
Anna folded her arms across her chest. “What do you want, Sawyer?”
“What? Can’t I compliment my three gorgeous friends?”
“Oh, you can,” Anna replied. “But your three gorgeous friends happen to know all your tricks, and you only tend to pull out the compliments when you want something.”
“I mean, you’re not wrong,” he said with an easy laugh.
“So, what is it?” Cress asked.
“Beer pong. I’m in need of a partner. Kaden and Luther have been dominating the table all night, and since Wes is in New York visiting his girlfriend for the weekend, he isn’t here to buddy up with me. Clearly, he needs to get his priorities straight.”
Sawyer glanced in my direction as he spoke, but I took a step back. “Don’t look at me if you want to win. I’ve never played before.”
They all turned to me in shock.
“Never?” Cress was staring at me like I’d just said something personally offensive.
I shook my head. I didn’t really want to explain that I had no time for parties back home. I was too busy working at the café. On the rare occasion when I did go to them, I spent the whole night looking after my ex. If the party followed a big win and there was alcohol there, he usually took the celebrations a little too far.
Sawyer reached out and grabbed my hand. “In that case, you definitely have to be my partner.”
I sent Cress and Anna a desperate look as he dragged me away. Neither of them came to my rescue. Maybe I was going to have to find new friends.
“Ah, newbie, you’ve come to challenge the beer pong masters?” Luther called as we approached the table.
Sawyer slung an arm over my shoulder. “She sure has. From what I’ve heard, she’s somewhat of a beer pong prodigy.”
I shrugged Sawyer’s arm away and shot him a glare. He was so full of it, but his smile only widened as he caught the look on my face. “Hey, there’s no need to get angry with me. Word was bound to get out sooner or later.”
I pulled him aside before he could keep bragging. “What are you doing?” I hissed. “As soon as we start playing, they’ll know you’re lying. I’m going to be terrible.”
Sawyer shrugged. “Maybe you’re a natural.”
“Not likely,” I muttered. I barely knew the rules of the game. “How do we play again?”
“Ah, Isobel, always the jokester.” He ruffled my hair playfully, but I swatted his hand away.
“I’m not kidding.”
“Okay, okay,” he conceded, a smile still on his lips. “Just stand at our end of the table and try to throw the ping-pong ball into one of their cups. If you get one, they have to drink it. It’s easy.”
“We’ll see about that,” I muttered before following him back to the table.
My total lack of skill became blatantly obvious once the game started. My hand-eye coordination was bad to begin with, but after losing several cups and being forced to gulp down the lukewarm beer inside, it became even worse.
The grin on Luther’s face only seemed to grow bigger with each shot I missed. The ping-pong ball was too small, and I kept forgetting just how light it was. Every time I threw it toward the cups of beer, it sailed past them and over the end of the table
To make matters worse, Kaden and Luther landed every shot. It barely made a difference when Sawyer did manage to sink one for our team, forcing the boys to drink. Their aim was consistently good, like the beer didn’t affect them at all. Before tonight, I’d begun to think Kaden was the nice one out of their little friendship trio, but he didn’t go easy on me at all. The game proved he was just as headstrong as Luther and Noah.
“You can’t honestly be enjoying this,” I groaned to Sawyer after he drank our second-to-last cup and threw it to the side. There was only one left on our end of the table now, so there was no doubt we were going to lose.
His eyes sparkled with humor as he looked at me. “Of course, I’m enjoying this. I arrived late to the party. Playing beer pong against Kaden and Luther is the quickest way to catch up on all the drinking I’ve missed.”
I let out another groan. “You’re doing this to get us drunk?”
“Well, yeah. Why else would I be stupid enough to challenge them?”
I gave him my darkest glare in response. “If I forget this tomorrow, and I probably will because of all these beers, remind me you’re officially on my shit list.”
Sawyer laughed and draped his arm over my shoulder once again. “Nah, you can’t put me on your shit list. I’m far too lovable.”
I rolled my eyes at him but smiled. Sawyer was sly and cheeky, and I kind of wanted to kill him right now. But I got the feeling he would be impossible to stay mad at.
He aimed the ball at the cups on Luther and Kaden’s end of the table, but his shot sailed wide, and the two boys celebrated. My eyes fell to our lone remaining cup, and I sighed, knowing I was going to have to drink it in a matter of moments.
I didn’t have a chance to look up before the ball happily plopped into the beer I was staring at. I let out a moan and scowled up at Kaden who gave me an apologetic smile.
“Sorry,” he mouthed.
“Traitor,” I mouthed back. He was going on my shit list too. I slouched my shoulders and looked down at the beer once more.
Sawyer laughed when he caught my expression. “No need to look so sad,” he said as he picked up the cup. “I believe this is what we call taking one for the team.” He winked before quickly downing the drink. I was already feeling light-headed and slightly woozy, so I was all too relieved watching him drink it for me. I didn’t often drink alcohol, so this game had put me right over the edge.
“Bad luck, newbie,” Luther said, walking over to our side of the table and leaning against it. He looked far too composed for a guy who’d been playing beer pong all night. “Care to challenge us again?”
“Ha, no way.” I shook my head. “I think I’m going to retire from beer pong. Forever.”
“Are you sure?”
“Certain.” I went to push past him. “Now, I’m going outside to get some fresh air.”
Luther laughed as he watched me walk away. “Remember, I’m here if you want a rematch.”
I waved him off. There was no way that was happening. As far as I was concerned, I was never playing a drinking game again.
