Summer Delinquent

Chapter 4

|| Chapter 4 ||

"Wow, Tessa, you look great!" Kill me now.

I smile with tight lips as I walk arm in arm with Drew into his Senior Prom. Drew is grinning, slapping hands with a few guys as we walk through the venue. The hotel lobby was decorated with royal blue and silver balloons with random pieces of cloth draped over thresholds. The actual room that the prom is being held in is massive. It seems as though the prom committee bought every single blue and silver balloon in Party City and just threw them all over the room calling it décor. The round tables are covered in confetti, which is just annoying and impractical. I put my clutch purse at my assigned seat, placing my green converse sneakers under my chair for later.

"Damn, Tessa, you look hot," Jesse, Drew's best guy friend, whistles as we stop next him and his date.

"Screw you," I roll my eyes. Jesse winks, wrapping his arm around the back of Allie's chair. Allie Sherman is a girl from Brianna's friend circle and Jesse's longtime fuck buddy. Allie scowls at Drew, ignoring his friendly hello. I grit my teeth and glare at her as soon as her gaze stops on me. Try me, bitch.

"Dude, you guys going to the after party?" Jess nudges Drew's shoulder with a sly smirk on his face. Drew nods his head, looking over at me. He tilts his head asking me if it's okay and I nod my head, shrugging.

Jesse spots the guys taking a bunch of pictures in front of the tacky romantic backdrop where the photographer is. He grabs Drew's arm and pulls him over to the rowdy group. The photographer rolls his eyes as the boys shout over each other.

I stand awkwardly next to Allie's chair where the guys left me. She keeps her face neutral, taking a timid step out of my way. We were never friends when Brianna and her group hung around us, so I feel no need to stay with her. I rock back and forth on my heels before nodding my head and leaving her to fend for herself. "Well, this was fun." I give her a sarcastic salute and walk over to Alyssa and Kendall who are trying to cover up their giggles.

"Look at Lloyd," Kendall cackles loudly, turning her head into Alyssa's shoulder.

I look over at Lloyd, one of our acquaintances and see him pulling his shirt up, pretending to flash the camera.

All the guys try to lift up Jesse but Mateo buckles making the rest of them drop him on the floor. Drew is at the bottom of the pile, laughing loudly. "Okay, okay, wait. Let's do typical girl poses." The guys laugh. "Everyone put their heads too close together and put your hands on your knees, like girls do for no fucking reason."

Click!

"Okay, now stand sideways, and put a hand on your hip, smiling at the camera!" Benji shouts as everyone gets into position. I laugh loudly, knowing that every pose they're doing is completely accurate.

Click!

"Hey Tess." I whirl my head around in the direction of Brianna's voice. Aw, Crap.

"Brianna." I glance at her indifferently, looking back over to the guys. Alyssa and Kendall stand quietly next to us, soaking up the tension.

"So, I was at the Diner the other night and I could have sworn that I saw you there with everyone else..." she trails off and I try to look disinterested but I already know where this is going. "And then I found a Sharpie line on my car. Know anything about that?" She asks with a little smile.

"Nope, no idea." Alyssa's eyes are wide. Kendall is looking at her nails.

"That's so weird, because your friend kept looking at you," she informs me with a teasing grin. "The really good looking guy, the one that was standing by my car? And you three were hiding behind another car."