White Tie, Black Leather

4: Sleep 'Til Brooklyn

"Blythe! Blythe!" Comes from behind me as I make my way to the town car parked on the curb. I slightly turn to see Soledad running after me. Pausing for a moment, I allow her to catch up.

"Hey," She says, following me into the back seat of the car. "The manor, please," I tell Gracin before rolling up the privacy screen.

"So," She speaks in a sing-song voice, "tell me everything."

"There's not much to tell. I just went to a party at Cam and Jesse's house, got drunk, then came to school," I shrug, pulling out my nail file to distract myself with something.

She scoffs, "There's literally so much information in that one sentence, that I'm going to need you to elaborate."

I roll my eyes, "What do you want to know, specifically?" "Well," She smiles, scooting closer, "how'd you know about the party?"

"Cam told me about it at the charity gala. He and Jesse were serving." "And where was this party?" "At their apartment in Brooklyn. You know this, since your driver drove me to the building."

"Just making sure you were being truthful," She rubs her chin. "Did you get really drunk?" I shrug, "Not really, but enough to pass out." "Bravo," She grins, clapping her hands. "Finally my Blythey did something fun."

"Yeah it was the highlight of my life," I remark sardonically, filing down my pointer fingernail. "So... Tell me about this 'Jesse' person... He hot?" She questions bluntly.

"Yes," I instantly answer, the image of his icy blue eyes and black tousled hair flashing in my mind. "Ooh, has he made any moves on you?" She pursues the topic and I sigh.

"I'm not sure if they were 'moves', exactly. He's gotten real close and personal a few times, but he wasn't being flirty. It was more of him being a jerk. And one out of the three times, he was high," I add at the end, the images of his closeness replaying from memory.

"Oh, so you've got a bad boy on your hands," She bites her lip. "Not on my hands. I won't be seeing him anymore," I say sharply.

"But-But why?" Soledad sports a disappointed expression. "This morning, he told me not to come back to his apartment. When I told him I didn't want to see him again, he said 'that's the goal'."

"But that doesn't mean anything, Blythe. His head says 'no' but his heart is saying 'yes'. Otherwise, he wouldn'tve gotten so up close and personal," She winks at me.

"Or, he's just a sex-driven prick who thinks he can gain what he wants by seduction and manipulation. Two things that don't phase me," I remark confidently, stowing my nail file away in my book bag.

Liar, My subconscious bites. You almost fell for it once or twice.

But that won't be happening again.

Soledad scoffs, "C'mon, Blythe. Those things work on every girl. It's just how we're made." I roll my eyes, "Sorry, but I'm not made to bow down to the will of a man just because he encourages sexual innuendos."

"Yes, yes, but Blythe, the more innuendos, the closer you get to the real thing—" "No," I cut her off as the car rolls up to the front of the mansion. "But—" "No," I say again, getting out of the car before Gracin can open the door.

"You're missing out on so much!" She exclaims, following closely behind me. "I assure you, I'm missing out on something I don't want to be doing in the first place," I rush through the front door, hoping she'll stifle this conversation once my parents are in earshot.