"Have fun," Lyn shouted out her car's window as she pulled away from the drop-off lane. The black Jeep quickly disappeared into the city's traffic. I shivered in my dress for the umpteenth time. My eyes weren't used to the nighttime scene, though the light from the city's clock tower helped. It loomed above me. The arrows pointed to the sky. I could've stared at the glistening gold forever, but the dance took place inside the government building, a building I'd spent time in before. It was where nearly every government event was held, though this was the first time students were allowed to use it. Lily was good at getting what she wanted, after all. With perfected ease, she had rented the banquet hall beneath the tower for the dance, and intimidation crawled all over me. Muffled music pounded behind the golden door, matching my heartbeat, and cool air drifted by from the nearby river. It chilled my neck. I continued to freeze.
Kids walked past me, curls bouncing, heels clicking, boys laughing, and I fell into step among a crowd of peers. Broden's warning ricocheted inside of me, but the night felt strangely normal—a bunch of students bouncing about in their angst, and I was one of them.
The arched doorway shut and opened repeatedly as an older teenager directed guests inside. His piercing blue eyes caught me first, but his jagged jaw caught me off guard. He looked young and old at the same time—definitely memorable—but I didn't recognize him as one of our students. "Hello, Ms. Gray." He checked my name off before I gave it to him.
I squinted at him as decorative flares flew across his face. His stunning eyes reflected the light. Cat-eyes. Before I could say anything, the door opened, and a white-headed girl with a bright yellow gown yanked me into the banquet hall. "About time."
"Lily," I breathed as she swung her arms around me, golden bracelets clinging together like wind chimes.
"Isn't it great?" she exclaimed, waving toward the party.
Students danced under an array of neon lights. The large crowd was laughing, relaxing, and twirling to the music so beautifully that the school dance looked choreographed. Everything about it was mesmerizing, but I dwelled on the doorman. His reflective eyes—the ones I had seen too many times. He had taken tomo.
Lily laughed as if I were in awe at her dance instead of worried about drugs. I managed to congratulate her success. "I know, right?" She beamed, wiggling. "Miles is here somewhere." She arched her neck to look around, leaning down to whisper the last part. "Broden, too."
I gulped. "Broden's here?"
"Yeah. Wait—come to think of it"—her brow scrunched—"he isn't allowed to be here, so that must have been someone else."
I wanted to tell her that she wasn't wrong. That Broden wasn't supposed to be, but he was, and he was here for a reason.
"Lily," I attempted to confront her about the circumstances, but she frowned at my worried expression.
"What now?" she whined. She wanted this to be a perfect night, including my attitude.
I sighed. "The doorman—"
"He's cute, isn't he?" Lily blushed. "His name is Pierson. He's one of Miles' friends."
I winced at the information. "That's probably not a good thing—"
She rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said, ignoring me as she weaved us through a group of people. "Anthony is this way." Before I could object, we approached a wall full of relaxing students, and Lily whispered, "You're going to die when you see him. He's gorgeous."
Die—as if that description was going to settle my nerves.
"Sophia," Lily shouted into my ear, the music disappearing for a moment. "This is Anthony."
I glanced up from the craziness of the party, and my eyes focused on the wall. The political student, as Lily originally described, stood in front of me. His shoulders were broad, and the black fabric he wore made his emerald eyes darken. His skin was lighter than anyone else I knew, but his jawline was defined with a hint of facial hair most guys his age couldn't pull off. His arrogant smirk and dizzying height took centerstage, but he offered his hand as his smirk melted into a sincere smile. "It's nice to meet you, Sophia."
I choked at his introduction and nodded as if the loud music made it hard to converse. In reality, I wasn't sure what to say. Anthony was overwhelming. He looked like Noah.
He smiled as if he understood his intimidation but was too much of a gentleman to say so. "Would you like to dance?" he asked, pointing to the dance floor with his gaze.
"Yes! She would." Lily pushed me toward him before I could argue. The dancing crowd was a threatening wave of chaos. In the neon lights, people moved so quickly that I could barely comprehend who was around me, but Anthony guided us through the crowd sufficiently. He placed his hand on my hip as if it belonged there. I held my breath, and we swayed into the chaos that was our homecoming dance. My mind raced with my footsteps. It all seemed so fast: getting ready, Broden's phone call, Lyn's Jeep ride, passing Pierson, Lily's excitement, and now, Anthony.
I couldn't think.
When I glanced around, the moving shadows began to form into glamorous students. Students I knew. Friends I knew. Then, Broden.
The very friend who had tried to stop me from coming to Lily's party stood among a crowd of boys. Despite the loud music, he hunched closer to the others, talking, and disguised. I was lucky to recognize him. Broden wore sunglasses, and a cap covered his sliced brow. The only normal part of his outfit was his suit, but even that didn't fit him right. It hung loose on his muscular frame, and when he handed something to the group of boys, his sleeve dangled over his palm.
My fingers tightened on Anthony's jacket. Anthony spoke to me, but I stepped away. "I'll be right back," I yelled over the music, hoping he had heard me, and then I ran.
I pushed through the crowd, shoving as discreetly as I could as a new song began. People started to jump to the music, and the floor shook. An elbow struck my arm and then my shoulder. I tripped over my heels and cursed, wishing I had worn my tennis shoes instead.
"Move it." I cursed again, but no one seemed to notice my panic, and I lost sight of Broden. Even the boys he was with had disappeared, dispersing into the crowd.
I looked everywhere, just as the the lights dimmed. Shadows engulfed me. As students cheered, a hand landed on my shoulder. Before I could fight it, the boy spun me around and pulled me into his chest. A strobe light turned on. I stared at my flickering palm, trying to comprehend where it had landed. I was clutching his shirt pocket, my cheek pressed against his chest. He felt warm.
"You," the boy's lips moved across my ear, "are not supposed to be here."
The jacket he wore wasn't meant for a dance but for comfort and durability. The cloth was heavy, too hot for the large crowd, and the survival style was all too familiar.
I leaned back and looked straight into his eyes, expecting to see colored-contacts. Instead, I met his mossy gaze. "Noah."
The fake brunet tilted his face to the side. "Nice to see you too, Sophie."
"You're not allowed in here," I snapped.
"Nate Harper is," he said, continuing to sway us. He had tricked me into a dance.
"Too bad you're not Nate Harper," I managed, pushing away before he could stop me.
I stumbled through the crowd as I searched for Broden. If both of them were here, nothing good was going to happen, but I was too late.
In a matter of moments, everything went wild. I had been to the annual Homecoming before, but I had never seen it this crazy. People jumped as if in a club from an old TV show; others filled up their drinks just to toss them on the ground. Dancers were slipping, laughing, shouting. Acting crazy. It was too much. I pushed myself to the nearest wall in order to breathe, but I didn't catch my breath until I grasped the wall. My fingertips shook. Standing on my tiptoes, I searched the room for adults, and saw none. Lily was missing, and no one attempted to manage the wildness. The dance was dangerously insane.
"You really shouldn't be here."
My hand shot to my heart at the unexpected voice. Noah laughed, enjoying my reaction.
"Why'd you sneak up on me like that?" I asked.
"I didn't," he said, surveying the party nonchalantly. "If you had been paying attention—"
"Does this party seem"—I hesitated—"crazy to you?"
"No." Noah was unfazed. "But Broden is fine. He's a big boy. You can go home now."
I glared. "I never said I was looking for Broden."
Noah's lips pulled up. He seemed to be dancing despite his stillness.
"You are extremely irritating," I said.
Noah beamed as if I had complimented him. "Irritating enough to make you go home?"
"Nice try," I said. "I'm not going home."
A shadow crawled over his tamed expression. "Broden was supposed to tell you to stay home."
"I don't have to listen to him.".
"You never listen to him," Noah corrected.
"And?"
"And that's a problem," Noah clarified, pushing himself off of the wall. "For both of us."
Before I could speak, a group of kids began to push one another, and one boy fell on top of me. He knocked me against the decorated wall, and Noah grabbed him. He spun the clumsy boy around before shoving him back into the crowd. Noah's eyes scanned my body before he leaned in to whisper, "Why don't I escort you outside?" His suggestion sounded like an order.
"How about you escort yourself away from me?" I suggested, then walked away when he didn't move.
Even if he did follow me, I didn't know. I couldn't hear his footsteps over the crowd if I tried. I could only get away by putting distance between us, and I had to embrace the crowd in order to do it.
I swung around a dancing couple and dipped between a group of chattering girls. When someone dropped their drink, liquid splashed across my leg, and I stepped to the side to avoid getting caught up in the mess. I pushed through all of the sweating dancers and music vibrations to get past the suffocating hormones. When I reached the wall, I followed the decorated walls to the only moonlight I could see. It took me back to my childhood.
When I was seven, my father had been hired by Phelps, and his coronation ceremony had been in the same building. Even then, I couldn't stay in the crowd—it reminded me of the crowded Albany—so a worker took me to the outside deck. Phelps himself had brought me a water and sat with me. He was kind. Almost like an uncle I'd never met. Thankfully, the deck hadn't been removed during last year's renovations, even though Topeka had asked Phelps to consider it. A part of me wondered if he kept it for me; a bigger part of me knew my thoughts were ridiculous. Either way, I was grateful. When I finally saw it, it was the only place I wanted to be.
I slinked against the wall, my back getting pushed more than once, and I grabbed the doorknobs with the same desperation I had as a child. Before I could no longer move, I shoved the doors open, and wind slammed against me.
I gasped for air, as if I had prevented the crowd from drowning me, and yanked the doors behind me to make sure the dance couldn't pull me under the surface again. My head pounded to the muffled music.
As soon as I thought I'd found peace, sobs erupted. I lifted my fingertips to my cheeks, but I wasn't the one crying. A girl, standing only a yard away, leaned against the deck's wooden fence as her tears fell into the rushing river below. Her white hairdo was falling apart, and the colorful makeup she had spent hours on was running down her face.
"Lily?" I rushed up to hug her before she realized I was there. "Are you okay?"
The thin girl fell into my arms. "The dance, it's ruined," she cried, flailing her arms about. "Everyone's on drugs. Ecstasy. Cocaine. And someone is giving away tomo!"
I froze, but she didn't. She pulled away just as the door burst open. "Lily." It was Pierson, the boy at the entrance, and he focused on her. "It's Miles. He took it. He took tomo."
In the years I had known Lily, she had never cursed, but tonight, she let one escape her. "I have to go," she said over her shoulder to me, and when I grabbed her, she yanked away. "He's my...b-brother."
I shouted, trying to stop her, but Pierson opened the door, and she ran inside like she practiced running on stilettos. Before I could follow her, Pierson blocked the door, his blue eyes on me. "It's fine," he said sharply, but his words weren't for me.
Noah ducked under Pierson's arm. "Make sure Lily gets out," he whispered to the stranger, but I heard every word.
Pierson was involved with Noah, and the boy nodded before he disappeared into the crowd, shutting the door behind him. Noah stood in front of it to block me. Broden's warning was starting to make sense. Noah needing drugs did, too. The fact that he had memorized the Homecoming flyer made sense. It was all making sense.
"Let me through," I raged.
He raised his hands, palms up, to try to calm me down, but I refused.
"Move it, Noah." I pushed against his chest, tears burning my eyes as I realized what kind of trouble everyone was in. Tomo trouble. Legal trouble. My friends.
"It's too late, Sophie," he spoke calmly, but I tried to push past him.
He held my shoulders as my palm met the door. The glass pounded to the beat of the music, but it didn't swing open. Pierson had locked it. My fist curled, and my nails scraped against the metal.
"You did this, didn't you?" I screeched as I stepped back. When I had seen Broden, he was dealing drugs to the crowd. "You and Broden and your stupid drugs. You're spreading them!"
"Calm down, Sophie." He reached up to touch me, but I swatted him away.
"Report you." My voice shook. "I'm going to report you."
Noah flinched, then his gaze dropped to my heels. "Can you run in those?"
The question stopped me. "Why would I need to run?"
Noah went rigid. His torso tightened, but his face lifted toward the clock tower. From where we stood, we could only see the brick wall, but Noah's eyes squinted as if he could see something happening. He breathed, but he didn't move. "Take those off," he ordered as his eyes flashed brightly.
"Noah." His name escaped me. "You—you're on tomo."
"Nate," he corrected, ignoring my comment. Before I could argue, he leaned down, grabbed my bare leg, and pulled one heel off.
"What—" I squirmed, but his hand shackled my leg.
He moved to my other calf, and I tripped as he pulled the other heel off. I teetered, but his arm caught my torso. His hand landed on my mouth before I screamed, and his other hand landed on my lower back. Through the thin fabric of my dress, his fingers moved across my spine.
"Nate," he repeated his name as he pulled me toward the end of the dock.
He only let me go to toss my expensive heels into the rushing water below us. They disappeared into the waves. The recent storms had turned the once trickling river into tossing rapids. My shoes hadn't stood a chance. "Why did you do that?" I asked, quieter than I had expected.
He didn't answer as his hands dipped under my arms. Without speaking, he picked me up, spun me around, and dropped me on the outer ledge of the deck. My scream echoed through the ravine as my toes danced on the slippery edge. I latched onto his jacket, clinging on for dear life. Below me, the river raged, but Noah remained calm.
"What are you doing?" I yelped, trying to gain his attention, but he was too busy analyzing the rushing water. The river was a fifteen-foot drop. "Stop it. Let me go!"
"Sophie." He met my eyes. He smiled as his hands moved up to my bare shoulders. I shook my head. My curls bounced in the wind. My toes almost slipped again, but this time, he didn't stabilize me. He nodded to himself instead.
"Noah," my voice wavered, and I lifted my knee to try to climb over, but with a little pressure, he kept me on the other side.
He wouldn't do it. He couldn't do it. Pushing me into the river was going too far. He wasn't that insane.
"Please," I said, but he didn't listen.
"You're going to be okay," he promised, his eyes flashing from the clairvoyant drug. "Trust me. I'm saving you."
Sirens split the air, and he shoved me off of the edge into the freezing water below.
...
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