𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖆𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝖒𝖔𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖋𝖆𝖍

I had come with a bottle of whiskey.

Expensive and the first one I saw in the liquor store that was three figures but now as I stared at the people who stumbled past me in and out of the house, some in the arms of others as they attempted to rip each other's clothes off and the rest barely standing on both feet I realized that Curtis's parties had changed from the last time I'd been at one.

And it might as well have been a change comparable to going from owning a kitten to buying a lion.

When I finally entered the house the bottle in my hand was scooped up by an athlete whose name I'd forgotten but who sat three rows down from me in History. He didn't seem to make the connection however and frowned at me in confusion before thanking me for bringing the second round.

The girl on his arm giggled up at him and he took her and my very pricey juice away, his fingers dipping lower than her hips as he led her off. "Versailles!" I was taken off my feet and swung in the air. My eyes were wide like a frightened child when Angelo finally set me back on the ground but he didn't seem to care, "For a second there I wondered if you were actually gonna leave me hanging."

I tried to smile back at him as widely as he was at me but even as he led me up the stairs of the extravagant house, protecting me from the drunk teenagers who were almost tripping on their own feet on the way down my mouth couldn't help but thin into a grimace. There was a large couch upstairs where he and his friends were sitting, they made no move to welcome me as Angelo led me to a seat on the farthest side of the couch.

Most of them were in discussion, one shuffling through a deck of cards whilst a couple of the others shared a lighted blunt. When I arrived they spared me a glance only, some even giving me a double take as they were likely surprised I was here. "Here pretty girl," A cup was placed in my hands by the Italian, I barely spared its contents a glance before handing it back to him, "What, you don't drink?"

I gave him a thin-lipped smile, "Only things that were closed when I got them," A disappointed look washed over his face but I shrugged, "Sorry."

"No no of course," He waved me off, putting the cup down on the large glass coffee table in the center of the room, "I'll go get you something else, what do you take? beer?"

"Anything with gin," I smiled and he nodded his head and practically skipped down the stairs. I wondered why he was trying so hard, if he was actually interested, or if this was an ego thing to make himself feel better about our principal telling him to his face that I'd rather die than fuck him.

Regardless I would continue to play his little game, maybe see how much I could get out of his attention.

"He has a crush on you, you know?" A figure sat down beside me, right on the edge of the handset when there was plenty of space on the couch. I looked up to meet her gaze and nearly flinched away from its intensity. Her skin was dark like mine, her long black locs shiny from a fresh retwist and her two-toned lips lined black and glossed red.

"I would hope not," I leaned back onto the couch and stretched out my legs so I could meet her eye-to-eye comfortably. "He wouldn't get very far with that."

She feigned surprise before smiling to reveal her braces that caught the light, "That's a first, you mind me asking why not?"

I didn't pretend I bought her bullshit for a second, "I think we both know why not."

"He told everyone he was bringing someone new but we all didn't believe him," Whether knowingly or not she began to lean in closer to me. "I'm Imani by the way, you probably don't know this but I was in your art class last year."

She's right I didn't know that but there wasn't much I was attentive about when in school. Classes to me were a means to an end and if I said I paid attention to every face in my fifty student lessons I would be lying. "Why did you leave?"

"Wasn't getting the hang of it unfortunately, couldn't wait to drop the whole class," She licked her bottom lip, "Are you not going to introduce yourself?"

My attention was taken away by Angelo coming back up the stairs, "You know who I am," I muttered before mouthing a thank you to Angelo as he put the drink in my hand and barely gave me another look before rushing to the side of Curtis who was currently engrossed in a game of cards, that he was losing. Confused at his sudden disinterest in me I watched him as his lips moved to whisper something in Curtis's ear. 'She's here'.

"No way," Curtis laughed, but he got to his feet immediately and almost fell getting to the indoor railing that overlooked the entrance of the house and the party below. I tilted my head trying to see what the fuss was about when Imani put her hand on my shoulder.

"It's probably one of the guys bringing in more girls," She assured me, practically twisting my shoulder to get me to face her again. "I never took you as the party type, Castle," Her voice had lowered and she began to play with the beads in my braids.

Castle, that name again and it was the second time I'd heard it since this morning when Angelo called me that again. Is that what people were calling me now? Funny.

I put the glass bottle between my teeth and flicked it against my mouth to open it, when I was about to press it to my lips however one of the girls sitting on the couch rushed passed me and knocked some of the drink all over my chest. I cursed and sat up and Imani was quick to stop her, "Hey what's all the fuss? What happened?" She asked as I set my drink down and shifted to the edge of the couch, annoyed at my top that was almost ruined.

"Apparently Cherry's here," She practically squealed, rushing to the terrace too.

I rolled my eyes at the big revelation, still mourning my shirt. It made my tits look great and the low back exposed my tattoo which I'm sure most people were seeing for the first time. "Sorry let me help you with that," She stood up and disappeared down the hall to what I assume was the nearest bathroom.

Curtis had gone down the stairs to meet Cher I assume and he was now coming back up them with his arm over her shoulders. She was laughing at whatever he'd just said and flicked her hair out of her face. We briefly locked eyes when he was leading her to a seat that people had practically scattered out of the way to allow her to sit in, her eyes then ran down the droplets of gin that were all over my chest before quickly looking away.

I kept staring at her even as Imani came back and started patting me dry with tissue paper, her hands lingering even when it wasn't necessary. "I like your tattoo," She commented, tracing the eyes of the snake with her manicured fingernails, "Is it one complete piece? I noticed another snake on your back before you sat down."

I wasn't really interested before but something rose in me to flirt back, "Would you like to find out?" From the way her eyes widened, I knew she was definitely not expecting me to say that. I suspect she thought it would be harder and was interested in the chase. But that didn't mean she didn't  bounce back immediately.

"My roommates not in dorms right now you know," She offered, "She got in a nasty accident and is spending the night in the infirmary," What she was saying was horrible and definitely not something to be celebrated but with the way she was looking at me you would've thought she was giving me the best news ever, "I might get lonely."

I put my hand on her back, and she moved it to slip beneath her shirt, "Well I wouldn't want that," Dancing my fingers up her spine before playing with her bra strap.

"Angel, I'm thirsty."

You would've thought the Queen of England had just said she had a heart attack. Angelo practically sprung out of his seat, "Sure we have this new jungle juice that-

"I don't drink and I sure as fuck don't want whatever potion you guys created that could probably burn a hole through a table," Cher snapped, not even looking at him instead her eyes seemed to be drilling into my hand that was under Imani's shirt. "Do you have soda?"

Curtis got to his feet, "We have a couple but I don't know which ones off the top of my head what's your favourite?"

"Versailles knows my favourite."

And suddenly all eyes in the room were on me, I slipped my hand out of Imani's shirt and put it back in my lap. "Don't you?" She paused for a couple of minutes, "Castle?"

They all knew what had happened between us. Hell, they'd been comforting her for years and getting angry about it on her behalf, but now they were looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to jump onto my heels, salute, and fly down the stairs to the kitchen. I did not.

"Versailles," A voice softer than he'd ever used before came out of Angelo's mouth, I turned to him to see him looking at me in the same way one would approach a rabid animal. "You mind?"

I took in a deep breath and rose to my seat, dusting off my pants, "Not at all."

Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief and continued what they were previously doing obviously happy that I'd complied, "Imani," I said softly, turning her face away from staring at Cher, "I have a cherry red car, parked across the street. Meet me there?" She nodded eagerly and I took my leave.

I could feel the hazel eyes staring at my back even as I disappeared down the stairs, a lump remained in my throat as I pushed past a couple to get to the large fridge that was open and stacked with ice and drinks. Digging my hand in the freezer I ignored the cans of nonalcoholic juice and grabbed what seemed like the only bottle of water.

Cher's actual favorite drink.

I knew she didn't drink alcohol, she never had but what most people didn't know is she despised juice too as she always considered it too sweet. She came from a house with parents who were strict about food growing up and she'd naturally adapted to the same lifestyle long after they had eventually relaxed

Before I could tempt myself into just bringing her a Fanta I turned on my heel and skipped two steps going up the stairs to get this done and over with only to find that the girl in question was gone. "Oh Versailles," Angelo adjusted the blonde girl on his lap, "Cherry went outside I think."

Over this little game of cat and mouse she was playing, I just left. I almost screamed at another couple that nearly bumped into me when I was coming out of the front door but the relaxing contrast of the cold air outside made me take a deep breath instead and reach into my back pocket to pull out my car keys when something just registered to me and I stopped walking.

Slowly I turned around, taking a second glance at the couple whose tongues were down each other's throats and I almost dropped my car keys. There pinned to Curtis's pillars was Cher whose two hands were cupping Imani's ass, basically lifting her off the ground whilst Imani sucked on her bottom lip.

I felt my lips wobble as I took a shaky step back, watching how Imani curled her fingers around Cher's neck pulling her in closer as she kissed her hungrily. The golden lights from the chandeliers inside lit up the scene perfectly, their faces practically glowing as they devoured each other.

As if it were a show that she'd orchestrated just for this final 'gotcha' moment Cher opened her eyes and stared directly at me and for a second as she took Imani's tongue into her mouth to suck on it I could see the corner of her lips tilt up slightly to smile.