Solace In The Silence ✓✓

chapter 24

I HAD NO idea how I let Vicky talk me into going to that party, but Thursday night, when I really should have been halfway home to Hall Hill, I found myself ascending the stairwell to the party house.

"You ready for this?" Vicky touched my arm, her red-lipsticked mouth stretching into a grin.
It was supposed to get rid of my doubts, but instead, reluctance jammed in my throat, and I almost told her I'd changed my mind.

Honestly, a part of me had wondered if coming to this party was a dumb move. Here I was, crawling out of the woodwork. Joe probably expected that I would come tonight, ready to do battle again.

There was a small voice in my head shouting, Abort! But I'd never had a lot of friends, and I didn't go to parties back home, opting to stay in after Elvis died, to hide away. I wanted college to be different from high school. I didn't want to be socially absent.

"Yeah, I think so." I gave her a barely-there nod. "But if one of us wants to leave, can we have, like, a code word or something? I just-"
"Say no more." She stopped to think. "Okay, I've got it. If either one of us wants to make a mad dash out of there, let's just say the word smorgasbord."

"Um, okay," I drawled, arching an eyebrow. "Dare I ask how you came up with that?"
"We're going to be at a frat house with a smorgasbord of hot guys, duh," she explained with a wink, and I giggled at the mental image.

Approaching the giant glass doors and the loud music that pulsated behind it, I squared my shoulders and mentally gave myself a quick pep-talk.
I could totally do this.

But if I was going to chill out and have a remotely good time tonight, I was going to need to remind myself that the only thing worse than coming across Joe again was letting him prevent me from doing the things I wanted to do. He didn't deserve to have that kind of power, that kind of control, over me. I should be able to go to a frat party with my friend without having to worry about the consequences.

A moment later and we were entering the lion's den, the pungent smell of sweat and booze hitting me immediately. My insides clenched, and I already felt woozy from the party atmosphere.

Drunk college students were everywhere, swarming the hallways and crowding the rooms, making it much like a maze as we tried to maneuver throughout the house.
Vicky led me deeper into the mob of rowdy frat boys, and her hand squeezed mine as we tried not to get separated amongst the chaos.

"Tell me if you see Kelly anywhere," she said, referring to the guy who'd invited us to come tonight-he was a member of this frat-as she stood on her tiptoes.

"You're forgetting that I've never met him before," I replied dryly.
Everywhere I looked, I saw people dancing or kicking it, and there was a group of jocks playing beer pong over by the built-in bar. Like a deer caught in the headlights, I took in the party, the sea of faces surrounding me. I didn't recognize anyone.

Scooting back a little bit, I managed to narrowly avoid being bulldozed over by two girls who were screaming insults and drunken accusations at each other.
Completely normal.

"God, I hope we don't have to stand around for much longer," Vicky murmured, inching closer to me. "This is so awkward."
I nodded in agreement.
We'd drawn several curious stares, but no one was approaching us. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

A nanosecond later, a familiar voice rose over the loud music, calling my name, and I saw a flash of red. My surprised gaze landed on Lynn . She found us in the crowd and gestured for us to follow her. Thank God. The only person I knew here, up until five seconds ago, was Vicky-with the exception of Kelly, who I'd still never laid eyes on before.