I Dare You

I knew my decision to spend another year rooming with Bethany Price would come back to bite me in the ass. Never mind the best friend status and that she was, without a doubt, the greatest human I’d ever been forced into the company of; the girl’s antics drove me mad. By the tail end of our sophomore year at Blaine University, I’d been dragged to more frat parties and basement bashes than I cared to remember. And this night was no exception.

“How long do I have to stay before claiming attendance?”

I grumbled, brushing the corn chip crumbs from a plaid swatch of couch cushion.

“Come on, Addi. You’ve been at the library all day, and summer break starts tomorrow. You’ve earnt this.”

Beth beamed, handing me a red solo cup of God only knew what.

“No, I’ve earnt a night of Netflix and Chinese food,” I sighed, shuffling closer to Beth while another Pi Kappa something-or-rather took a seat at my side. “I have to pack, and I really don’t want to be here.”

She turned soft, if not vivid green eyes on me, and I groaned. Here it comes.

“Addison, please join the outside world. It’s passing you by. Your college years are passing you by. Let go and enjoy it.”

Let go.

I couldn’t. I was predisposed to failure. My future depended on keeping my head down and priorities in order. But Beth was the light to my dark; she didn’t need a downer on the eve of summer break. I raised my cup and gave her the smile I produced on demand.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

My stale beer barely made it onto the overturned crate posing as a table before Beth hauled me into the crowd. A shaggy red rug rolled into a corner exposed scuffed hardwood, more akin to an adhesive surface than a dance floor. I moved on it hesitantly, never too comfortable in my own skin, while Beth came alive. Her long blonde hair shifted like liquid gold, perfectly contrasted against her tanned skin. Every eye in the room drew to Beth. She’d be stunning in a brown paper bag, but her crisscross open-back floral dress was playful and confident, just like her. My high-neck tank and jeans definitely didn’t say playful. Just like my mousey brown hair and freckled face.

The music ramped up, and a smooth-moving frat boy in a snapback snaked his way between us. Hot and completely zeroed in on my bestie, I gave her a quick thumbs up and made a beeline for the safety of the plaid couch, paying little attention to its occupants in my haste. Until a deep throat cleared, and my head snapped up.

Oh, sweet baby Jesus.

I’d delivered myself straight to the lion’s den. The Elites. University Royalty.

“Are you lost, pleb?”

Carter Lynch, captain of the football team and all-around asshat, laughed from the far end of the couch. His long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles to take up as much room as humanly possible. Entitled dick.

“Taking the next step on the social ladder isn’t a good look for you, Parker.”

That was Meredith Thorne, at Carter’s left. A limpet on the ass of the Elite socialites and as stupid as they came, though she made up for it with ample exposed flesh. This occasion was no exception, with more cut-out to her dress than fabric.

“Only one step up to the Elites? Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

I laughed while Meredith’s face took on a red tinge beneath her heavy makeup.

“Remember our talk. Thought before speech, Mere?”

Sarcasm stained Sebastian Ellis’s voice, reclining in a worn club chair that may as well have been a throne.

I could never quite tell if it was genuine friendship or social convenience that kept Sebastian in the Elites company, but he was on the fast track to becoming Carter’s future scandal-smothering PR manager, so I assumed that defaulted the group to friends. Sebastian was the mildest of The Elites. My only beef with the guy revolved around class rank, where he seemed determined to railroad my own PR career before it even began. Otherwise, he ignored me. That suited me just fine.

“Better yet, don’t talk at all. Just get your tits out like you did at Sanderson’s party.”

Carter gave the girl a perverted wink, and my face contorted. I was out if Meredith Thorne progressed any further into nakedness. I craned my neck to the dance floor, searching for a blonde head likely surrounded by a hoard of fanboys. But the floor had cleared, and Beth was gone. I quietly hoped the Snap-back had gotten lucky. It’s hard to live vicariously through your friend if they don’t get some. And that was my cue to leave, until a voice that could summon demons from an ice box screeched,

“Addison Parker, what the shit do you think you’re doing?”