Kelly Manjari
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I noticed James’s jaw slack a little when he looked at me, his gaze fiercer than ever.
The cute blonde sitting beside him kept on talking, but he was no longer smiling or seeming to pay attention like before.
Goosebumps crawled all over my b*dy as his dark eyes scanned me head to toe, making me feel
n*ked and insecure.
It was like he did it on purpose to torture me.
“Keily, c’mon. Let’s get drunk.” Sadhvi appeared in front of me, blocking my vision of James. She grabbed my hand and started dragging me through the crowd of drunk teenagers.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea for me. My parents will go crazy.”
“Don’t let this opportunity go to waste,” Addison said, sulking, as she trailed behind us. I kind of
my license. felt bad for her. I would’ve offered to be their driver if I’d had
“I’ll inform your parents that you’ll be spending the night at my place. Just enjoy.”
I nodded, giving in to peer pressure. I didn’t want to be a party pooper. And a little alcohol wouldn’t cause my parents to disown me anyway.
As Sadhvi guided us to the kitchen, I stole another glance in James’s direction. Bud idea.
His narrowed eyes were already following me.
He was now leaning against the backrest of the couch, legs apart, one arm casually thrown back at his side while the other still held his drink. He looked regal.
That blonde no longer clung to him–her interest had moved on to another guy at her other side. But James didn’t look bothered by it.
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He was more interested in me, looking like a predator studying his prey. I looked away and quickened my steps, feeling like that prey.
“Wow.”
My cycbrows raised when I saw so many labeled bottles on the granite kitchen counter. “I feel so bad for breaking my dad’s trust.”
“Chill. I’m pretty sure your father had his own wild days.” Sadhvi mixed liquids from a couple of bottles in two cups and handed me one.
“Thanks.” My face scrunched a little when I took a sip. It was bitter.
While I was no heavyweight in drinking, I had sometimes stolen a sip or two of whiskey from my mother’s cabinet, and Sadhvi’s drink outdid it in bitterness and strong smell.
“Keily!” A familiar voice exclaimed.
I turned back to find Lucas entering the kitchen with a bright grin on his face.
He was in a black–and–red checkered shirt and dark–brown cotton pants. Our quarterback looked handsome as ever, but also a little drunk. I smiled back at him.
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” he said, pouring a drink for himself. “I hope we are better at throwing parties than your people in Remington.”
“Lots better,” I lied, taking another sip from my drink. He didn’t need to know I hadn’t attended many parties back in my old town.
“What about us, Lucas?” Addison asked him, fake pouting.
She had a cup in her hand, and I guessed it contained Pepsi–a large bottle of which was also on the counter among the rows of different alcohols.
“You only seem to care about my cousin. Weren’t you waiting for us?” She brought the cup to her lips and threw a quick glance at me to wiggle her brows teasingly.
A small glare was returned from my side.
“I know where there’s alcohol, there you two are.” He looked at her and then Sadhvi, who was preparing herself another cup. She’s quick.
“Truer words were never spoken.” Addison nodded before downing her drink.
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“Thuer wonds were never spoken” Addison nodded bene dwing her drink
“And you, Kelly, heller not drink like them.” Lucas turned back to me
“These two are regulars, but you don’t look like one. We can’t enjoy the party if we have to fend off guys from a beautiful drunk girl.” He looked more serious than my father.
“O–okay,” I nodded obediently, my mind hung up on the word beautiful.
“Smooth,” I heard Addison whisper, imagining a smirk on her lips behind the red cup.
“God, you’re so easy.” A teasing grin broke out on Lucas’s face, letting me know he was just playing with me.
“Don’t worry. Have fun as much as you like. I’m sure of one person who won’t let any guy take advantage of you.”
“Yeah, Addison’s not drinking, but I think looking out for two drunks will be too much for her.”
I took a big gulp of my drink as a rebellion against Lucas, and looked at Addison, who was rolling her eyes at me.
Lucas barked out a laugh, alcohol showing its effect on him.
Did I miss something?
“That’s not who I meant,” he said between his bouts of laughter, making my brow knit in confusion.
“That’s my favorite song.” Sadhvi squealed before I could ask Lucas who he meant. Maroon 5 had started playing in the background.
“Addy, we have to dance to that.” Apparently, she was on her third fill and not paying much
attention to our conversation.
Before Addison was yanked away by her, she managed to whisper quickly in my ear. “He was talking about himself, idiot.”
Okay. Don’t lose it. He probably meant it as a friend.
I brought the cup to my lips and finished the remaining drink in one swig to recover from her words. Lucas watched me in amusement as I put my empty cup down on the counter.
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I brought the cup to my lips and finished the remaining drink in one swig to recover from her words. Lucas watched me in amusement as I put my empty cup down on the counter.
“You want to dance?” he asked, making me freak out internally. He filled both of our cups with some branded bottle.
“Sure.” I tried to look nonchalant.
We grabbed our alcohols and headed to where Addison and Sadhvi were.
The girls were dancing, swaying rhythmically, holding each other’s waists and laughing at their inside jokes, completely ignoring the boys who were ogling them.
“You should thank me for rescuing you. Sooner or later, they would’ve ditched you.” Lucas grabbed my hand, and before I could register what he had said, my world spun around.
He twirled me and didn’t stop until we completed two full rounds, spilling a few drops of my drink on the wooden floor.
I giggled, my hand resting on his shoulder to steady myself. “Are you trash–talking my friends?“”
“Yeah,” he grinned. “But they’re my friends too, so I’m allowed to trash them.”
I chuckled for no reason, and he followed suit.
I supposed alcohol had kicked in. My nerves went down with each passing minute, and dancing with Lucas didn’t feel as intimidating. He was a fun kind of drunk.
We swayed to the beat of the music, spinning each other, arguing about nonsense like what kind of animal Lucas looked like and which was better, cats or dogs–definitely dogs–and laughing like maniacs after seeing Lola and Matt making out in the corner.
Each time our cups went empty, we raced to the kitchen for a refill, giggling like children. Seeing me like this, my parents would really disown mc.
After my sixth and Lucas’s umpteenth cup, we decided to take a breather and stood near the stairways.
I could feel my hair sticking to my face and neck, and beads of sweat all over my b*dy, but I couldn’t have cared less.
Lucas’s armpits were dampened too, his face had a pinkish hue, and his hair was a wild, wet mess. Leaning against the wall, we looked like perfect drunks.
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He was on the other side of the big hall, surrounded by his friends from the football team.
All the while I had been dancing with Lucas, I had felt his laser–like glare on me, and I’d located him once or twice.
But with my intoxicated mind and Lucas always keeping me on my toes with his ridiculous dance. moves, I had successfully ignored him.
“Hey,” Lucas said, making me turn to him, “do you want to get back at him?”
“What?”
Lucas rolled his eyes, making me pout. “Do you want to get back at James?” We both snuck a look at the said scary man who was glaring at us before facing each other.
Of course I wanted to get back at him. He was evil.
I nodded, my head bobbing more than necessary. God, I am so drunk.
“Then k*ss me.”
“Huh?”
“Kiss me and look how the motherfucker burns.” Lucas’s eyes gleamed with mischief.
Lucas did make sense. Since the first day, James had always been against the idea of us being anything more than friends. Hell, he even disliked our friendship.
He wanted to shield his friend from a larger girl to uphold some ridiculous social hierarchy in his mind. My k*ssing Lucas would definitely push some of his buttons.
Lucas was a genius. A genius who was also handsome and the heartthrob of our school. I also wouldn’t have minded k*ssing such a gorgeous person; opportunities like this rarely came by.
1 grinned. “Okay, but no tongue.
Lucas gasped, putting a hand over his heart. I blamed this overacting on alcohol. “No tongue.”
“I want to use my tongue when I’m sober and not smelling like a gazillion types of alcohol.”
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“A true Indy. I’ll keep that in mind.” Lucas nodded, trying to look serious and failing. “Now, come
on.”
He leaned forward, and I wet my lips, doing the same. I caught the strong smell of alcohol mixed with his faint musky scent and deodorant, building the anticipation of what came next.
When our noses brushed, I closed my eyes. Our lips met and
I stumbled forward, my face meeting thin air. I opened my eyes and saw James’s incensed face. He was holding Lucas by his shirt’s collar.
From the look of it, James had dragged him away from me before we could k*ss.
Well, that wasn’t very nice of him. I was looking forward to that k*ss.
I was about to tell James that, but the moment my eyes met his furious ones, every word flew out of
head. He looked like a monster right out of my nightmares, or an angel from a beautiful dream.
my
Huh? Perhaps a mixture of both, because, you know, he was really good–looking–especially with those strands of gelled hair falling to his forehead, but also terrifying. Handsomely terrifying.
I should’ve gone lighter with the drinks.
“Hey!” Lucas interrupted the murderous look he was casting my way. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
“You’re drunk. She’s drunk,” James said, clearly holding himself back from pummeling Lucas’s face. Or maybe my face. I was the one he hated. “I don’t want you to regret this in the morning.”
“Who are you? My father?” Lucas huffed, dislodging himself from James’s grip. “And anyway, will I regret k*ssing Keily? She’s cute and beautiful, with a kind heart.”
He should’ve gone lighter with those cocktails too.
why
I blushed when the two boys looked at me, Lucas with a smug smile and James carrying an angry scowl. Lucas’s plan was backfiring on me.
I wanted to get away, but before I could leave, James turned his wrathful stare in my direction.
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“And you,” he spat. “Don’t you dare ever try to get with Lucas. You aren’t good enough for him. Know your place.”
“Don’t talk to her like that!” Lucas slurred, his drunk mind processing things slowly.
“Shut up!” James shoved him away, and he stumbled back with a groan.
Seeing him pushing away the person who had stood up for me finally made me find some courage in a drunken haze.
“My place is wherever I want it to be, James,” I said. “I don’t care what you think.”
I jutted my chin out and realized it was a bad move because our faces almost touched.
My little courage vanished when I saw his nostrils flare in pure rage. I had somehow irked him pretty badly with my words.
“Your place is in the mud, Piggy. You’re lucky we let you into the house all dressed up.” His eyes narrowed. “What, did the little Piggy think k*ssing Lucas would turn her into a princess? This isn’t a fairytale.”
Tears blurred my vision. I bit my lip, trying to focus so they didn’t spill over. If James saw me cry because of him, I would die of shame.
James’s eyes widened as he saw the tears anyway
Great.
I braced myself for the onslaught of insults and jibes, but they never came. Surprisingly, I saw his expression soften. I saw anger flash in his eyes, but for once it wasn’t directed at me..
It looked like he was mad at himself….
“A–are you okay?” I asked.
What am I saying?! Why the heck am I trying to comfort my bully? I was officially insane. Or drunk.
Or both.
“Just… shut your mouth, Piggy. If you don’t want me to completely lose it,” he muttered. But his words lacked the usual bite.
“I’ll deal with you in school,” he continued. He placed his hand on the back of my neck, holding me in place so I had to look at him. My skin tingled wherever he touched. “You are going to find
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me in place so I had to look at him. My skin tingled wherever he touched. You are going to find Addison and you are going to go home. Understand? Get the hell out of here or I’ll throw you out myself.”
He let me go when I nodded.
“Run home, piggy. You’re not wanted here.”
“Dude,” Lucas said. “You’re never going to get anywhere if you keep acting so” Lucas couldn’t finish his babbling as James hauled him away by his collar
I raised my hand to wave goodbye to Lucas, but one look from James made me pause. He was treating both of us like unruly toddlers.
Feeling like a kicked–down puppy, I began my search for Addison and Sadhvi.
