And that was on me. I should’ve seen through it. I hadn’t. I got suckered in, let my hurt feelings control me, my wounded ego and all that crap.

“Hey!”

I turned.

A blue, glow-in-the-dark girl pushed through the crowd. Bren frowned at her, but I recognized her. She was one of the girls who texted me earlier. I gave her a nod. “What’s up?” “Hi.” She was out of breath, and I checked her out. She was wearing some weird toga sheet thing with the blue neon lights wrapped around her and looped around her neck.

Bren was eyeing the lights around her neck, and I knew what she was thinking. Dumbass chick move. In a fight, she’d get choked out, but that was Bren for you.

Cross moved in close to his girl, and I went back to eyeing this one. “Trina?”

“Yeah.” She was almost preening, blinking. Her cheeks were rosy, I saw when she got closer to me. “Did you guys just get here?” She didn’t wait for my answer. Turning, she pointed to one of the houses. “My friends and I have a little table over there. We pulled out a picnic table, and there’s a bunch of us from our psych class.” She saw Cross and paused, blinking again, startled. “You’re in that class, too.”

Cross didn’t reply, he had a hand on Bren’s hip.

The girl was studying Bren now. “Are you in our class?”

Bren started to smile, but I cleared my throat, speaking first, “You guys got booze over there?”

Bren’s smile was one of her feral ones. I didn’t know why it was coming out, but this side of B was best dealt with extreme caution. I shot Cross a look and he nodded. He got it, too.

“Oh.” Trina’s smile dimmed a little. “We don’t. I mean, we do, but not for others. My friend—”

“Bitches!”

Another girl came from the crowd, a whole group in tow. When Aspen came from the back, heading right for Bren, I remembered these girls. One was Aspen’s roommate, and the others were her floormates.

“Hey, Bren!”

Aspen went right up to Bren, the feral smile completely ignored, and she threw her tiny arms around her. Blaise’s girl was wearing the same toga-like costume, but a bikini top under it. Knowing how nuts Blaise was about his girl, I was sure she had shorts underneath as well. Not the Trina girl. It was clear she had no bra, and if I had to guess, maybe a thong? Maybe. Maybe not. And she was giving me a look saying that I’d be welcome to find out for myself.

I shot her a grin, and her cheeks pinked.

Then my phone buzzed, and I glanced to it.

It was another girl from my communications class.

Sonya: Red house! I see you. Come 2 me.