Wolven

3. shards of glass

She saw Coal motion eagerly to us and followed his gaze. The way she jerked made me hesitate. I'd been a little aggressive with her that night under the moon. There was even the yellowish hint of a lingering bruise where I'd grabbed her arm.

"Hey, you!" she said, lurching forward. But it wasn't me she grabbed for; it was Rowan. He caught her with surprise, leering at me in panic from the corner of his eyes. "I am so sorry about Elsie, man. I was just telling Coal how fucking relentless she is when she's drunk. I... we brought a lot of booze to the party. I should apologize for that too."

And then, finally, she turned and noticed me. I waited for the recognition to cross her face, the breath tense in my chest as she blinked. Her lips parted, painted a dark purple that made her smile a shade of toxic, and said,

"Hello... you."

When she straightened up off of Rowan with a teetering smile, I realized: she didn't recognize me at all.

"We brought booze to your party," she said to me with burning cheeks. She swallowed hard, trying not to betray herself with a giggle. "I know it's irresponsible. It was Tristan's idea, and weird shit was being said about you guys, so it just seemed easier... to do this drunk."

"Most of the people here are drunk," I told her, "and not because of you."

"No offense taken, anyhow," Rowan said at my side. "Hey Coal, you wanna..."

Coal got the message without having to hear the end of it, trailing off after my cousin with a sheepish but encouraging smile. Jade stood in front of me, looking me over with pursed lips before finally pulling herself back together.

"Do you want a drink?" she offered.

The way her head tilted in a wry smile set my face on fire. She suddenly tipped, leaning so far over herself I had to catch her by the arm. The look in her forest green eyes set off inside me an irrational fear of losing her among the crowd. She was hard to keep up with—by alcohol and by socializing, which seemed to be the same thing for most of the people here.

Now she stood before me again, fully naked and with the morning light of the high windows seeping through. She glowed as if a goddess brought to life. The only thing that reminded me she was the same girl from the woods was the uncomfortable knot of her eyebrow. It seemed to be fighting hard against the half-smirk on her lips.

"What is your name, again?" she asked.

The sound of her voice swirled around in my head, making me feel dizzy. The back of my head screamed to reach out to her, to touch her again, just to hold her—it took all my self-control to shut myself down. I answered her, unable to help the smile on my own lips. She was so beautiful, even with the faint traces of makeup smeared haphazardly about her face.

"Clay," she nodded, looking down at herself. She was embarrassed, though her attempt to cover herself with her hands was half-hearted. "Nice to meet you, Clay. I'm Jade. I'm going to get dressed again, because this is uncomfortable."

A good idea. My own pj bottoms were lying at the end of the bed. The sound of the door opening nearly made me trip in surprise. I flinched at the sudden change in atmosphere; Jade herself let out a gasp as she turned to the door.

"Clay."

Oh, shit.

"Hey, Ma," I greeted my mother as the image of her face swam into focus. Her eyes glanced over Jade, and I felt the instinct to put Jade behind me so my mother couldn't gawk at her like that. But the look my mother tossed to me made me simmer down; nothing shut me up quite like that look.

"Holy sh—I am so sorry, ma'am," Jade stammered. Ma turned her gaze back on Jade, furrowing her brow as if confused. "I didn't mean to be here. I was actually just about to leave. I am really, truly sorry."