Beneath Our Faults (8 page)

"Fine," I moaned. "Friends with benefits, fuck buddies or whatever you guys call yourselves," I lifted my hand up and waved in a "who cares" gesture.

We pulled into the parking lot. "Sorry babe, but Piper is no friend of mine. Her and I, let's just say we have an agreement."

"An agreement," I repeated. "So what? You give her a ride to school then she rides you later type of agreement?" I asked, turning to unbuckle my seatbelt.

His shoulders shrugged. "Not necessarily in that order, but it works. Would you like to try it?"

I scoffed. The nerve of this jackass. "Heck no. I'll pass on that and I think you forgot to pick up your little sex arrangement this morning."

"I told her to drive herself. If I take you to school, I won’t take Piper. She was being a bitch to you for no reason yesterday and I didn't like it." I looked away from his gaze, opened the door and got out without looking behind at him still in the car. Curiosity itched at my brain. Why would he even care if Princess Piper was a bitch to me or not?

S
O FAR,
I had survived Atlanta for two full weeks. I could already feel the light change shifting in me. Sure, I still noticed the eyes watching me as I walked down the hall but it was for a different reason now. In Indiana, I was the new girl whose boyfriend got murdered. In Atlanta, I was just the new girl. Nothing more, nothing less.

Keegan had become my daily ride back and forth to school. Every morning, he greeted me with my new favorite drinks sans Piper. Our conversations were normally limited to school or upcoming plans for the weekend. Well, his upcoming plans since I never did anything. Ever. I had steered clear from participating in any social events since I'd gotten here, opting to spend my time hanging out in my bedroom. I did bring up the idea of getting a job to my aunt and uncle, but they shook their heads, telling me it wasn't needed. After insisting I wanted to do something to reciprocate for all they were doing, we decided I would watch Sophia a few days a week for them. So that had become my life. School, my room and Sophia.

“Daisy,” Cora said, peering at me from across the lunch table. "Lane is having his legendary Halloween party this weekend and your attendance is mandatory." She clasped her tiny hands together and I unwrapped my sandwich. "I will not take no or any other excuse I know you're trying to conjure up in that pretty little head of yours for an answer."

I bit into my sandwich, taking an extra large bite to bide me some extra time before mumbling some bullcrap excuse. I hadn't been to a party since the weekend before Tanner died. The memory of that day would forever burn into my brain. Tessa and he were having their annual pool party at their house while their parents were away visiting their aunt in Texas. Tessa and I had "borrowed" her parent’s rum, mixing it with pineapple juice. We had declared that our favorite drink during freshman year and drank it at every party since then. I remembered how Tanner's eyes never left me, watching me dance around the pool to old school Britney in my bikini. See, I used to be fun.

After finishing off the bottle, I made it my mission to give him an awesome lap dance, but drunkenly failed. He was appreciative of my efforts, though, because he flipped me over his shoulder, smacked my ass and yelled that he was going to marry me to the entire party. He carried my drunken butt away from the party, to his room, where we spent the rest of the night together.

Gulping, I lifted my bottle of water to my lips to wash down my sandwich. "Yeah um," I struggled for the right words. "I'm just not into parties." I played with the plastic bottle in my hands, moving it back and forth.

“Daisy, girl, you’re coming,” Lane chimed in. “You’ve been here for two weeks and have opted out of everything we've invited you too. I'm beginning to think you really don't like us." He folded his hand across his heart, feigning a frown. He was right. The three had been constantly inviting me to Cora’s tennis matches, Lane’s football games and different parties, but I always declined. “Plus,” he added, turning the frown upside down; “it will make Cora happy if you go. When Cora is happy, I’m happy.”

“Why do you two have to be so sickening sweet,” Gabby teased, beside me, wrinkling her nose. “Be nice to us people who don’t have a boyfriend who worships the ground we walk on.”

Guilt swept over me. I was grateful for the three people sitting by me. They had made my move easier than I could have ever imagined. The guilt was soon replaced with fear. I was scared of losing them and their friendship. I had already started to bond with everyone, especially Gabby.

"You need to have some fun," Gabby whispered, pulling me into her for a side hug. "You deserve to get out a little." My mom's voice filled my thoughts.
You've got to move on.

I groaned, they both were right. "I'll go," I worked out slowly, before adding. "But I am not dressing up."

“Oh yes you are,” Gabby squealed, displaying a wide grin. “I have the best idea EVER! Us three,” she pointed to herself, then me before over to Cora, "are going to go as the Power Puff Girls. It's going to be perfect,” she told us, singing out the last word. Crap. Where was the remote of retraction so I could rewind my agreement to go?

Lane snapped his fingers and pointed to Gabby. “That is a great idea.” He looked over at his girlfriend with a sly smile. “You would look sexy as shit as a little power girl, baby.”

Cora, clearly not amused, glared over at him with irritation. "It’s Power Puff Girl, genius. How can you say I would look sexy as one when you don’t even know who the hell the Power Puff Girls are? You just think it’s a great idea because you don’t want to match me this year.”

He let out a loud sigh. “Man,” he groaned out. “I really don’t want to go as Bam Bam.” Bam Bam? I could only have guessed Cora wanted to be Pebbles. “You know I will do it if you really want me to, but I think you would enjoy dressing up with your girls more.”

I watched their exchange as nausea swirled around in my stomach. I hated myself for being jealous of them. I was a selfish person to be resentful of my friends' happiness. I just wanted it back. I wanted a connection like that with someone, like I had with Tanner. I wished I could dress up as a witch for Halloween and create some resurrection spell to bring him back from the dead. Unfortunately, my life was not some paranormal romance.

“Okay then it’s settled,” Gabby confirmed, not giving Cora time to argue. "We shall go shopping after school for our costumes! This is going to be awesome!"

W
E SEARCHED
high and low for our costumes but couldn't find anything. "Let's just make them ourselves," Gabby said, while we were waiting for our smoothies. We were deciding whether or not to find something else. “I mean, it can’t be that hard. We just need to find some cute matching dresses in pink, green and blue. Plus, a bow for me.” She pointed to her auburn hair before giving the guy at the register our order.

“God,” Cora moaned, grabbing three straws from the bin beside her. “Why can’t I be the one with the bow?”

“Nope,” Gabby answered, swiping a few napkins. "You are blonde, therefore you are Bubbles. Bubbles doesn't have a bow, she has-"

Cora's hand went up, cutting Gabby off. "I know," she groaned. "Bubbles has freaking pigtails. I am going to have to wear blow job handles in my hair." The acne-ridden kid making our smoothies stopped the blender and gave us a creepy smile.

"Creeper alert," Gabby muttered at him and his attention suddenly turned back to the blender to finish our drinks before handing them to us. Gabby looped our arms together and we made our way through the crowded mall. "Alright my fave chicas, let's go find us some costumes to kick ass in!"

"I
JUST
want to say this real quick," Cora squealed, pausing the music that had been playing in her bedroom for the past two hours. "We are some sexy crime fighters." I forced out a smile and finished buckling the belt that wrapped around my torso.

We finally found some short, matching dresses at a small boutique I had never heard of. I pulled down the hem of my green dress in an attempt to calm down my nerves. I was certain I would be having a major freak out before the night ended.

My heart thudded against my chest as I stared into the mirror in front of me. I had sat down and let the two have their way with me. Leaving my hair down, they straightened it, making it appear longer. I was just happy I didn't have to sport a pigtail or bow. Cora did my makeup, giving me dark, smoky eyes.

"Screw you, Blossom and your ridiculous pigtails," Cora whined, glaring at them in the mirror. "I am going to get so much shit for these stupid things." She pulled on one, making a disgusted face. "He's seriously going to be begging me for a blowjob all damn night."

"I thought you weren't a fan of that?" Gabby asked, walking by her and flicking a ponytail.

"I'm not. Hence the part where he is going to annoy the living shit out of me because he loves it." She smeared some gloss on her lips and smacked her lips together. "We should probably get going, though. We are already late."

"Better to arrive late than ugly," Gabby laughed, spraying an entire bottle of hairspray into her hair before fluffing it out with her hands. "Let's go."

I gulped, following them out of Cora's room and down the stairs, stumbling a bit in Cora's heels that she insisted I wear. We loaded into Cora's white Mercedes and Gabby cranked the radio up. While they sang along up front, I took that time to mentally brace myself. Wiping my sweaty hands down my dress, I pressed my forehead against the cold window, inwardly trying to wipe away my thoughts of all of the worst-case scenarios that could happen.

Gasping, my eyes bulged out when we pulled into a giant, circular driveway packed with cars. Dang, Cora didn't lie when she said this party was going to be huge, but that's not really what shocked me. Lane's house was huge. I mean, like gigantic. I swear, the longer I was here, the bigger the houses got. The mansion perched in front of me was twice the size of my aunt's house. It screamed money from every angle. Columns surrounded the entire front in a circle and the rest of the house was made entirely of windows. Of course, there was also a large fountain in the middle of the driveway that could be used as a pool it was so big.

“Holy house,” I muttered. Cora pushed a button on her visor and one of the six garage doors opened. Pulling in, she parked next to a black Escalade, like it was her own personal spot, and turned off the ignition.

"Lane’s dad is like super loaded. He owns one of the top music labels in Atlanta,” Gabby explained, turning around to look at me from the passenger seat. "And Cora's lucky ass gets to meet famous people all the time." Her elbow nudged Cora but she was too caught up in her phone to pay any attention.

Speaking of phone. “Hey Cora, is it alright if I leave my phone in here?” I asked, unbuckling my seatbelt. I ran my hands through my hair and pulled down my pocketless dress again.

“Yeah,” she mumbled, her fingers stopped tapping and she looked back at me. "No one else is allowed in here so it will be fine." Pulling down her visor, she checked her reflection one last time before opening up her door. "Alright, let's do this."

I internally counted to ten before opening up my door, ignoring the building tension in the pit of my stomach. I already had a bad feeling about tonight. It was too soon. What if I freaked out in front of everyone? People would start calling me a freak again. Gabby stopped at my door and squatted down to look at me.

"Hey babe, everything is going to be fine. I'll be with you the entire time and if you want to leave early, we can. I got your back." I nodded, setting my phone down in the seat and she grinned. Gabby grabbed my hand and the three of us walked towards the door.

I heard the pulsating sounds of the music before we even walked into the chaos. The place was overflowing with sweaty, costumed teenagers. Every piece of furniture was covered with large blankets and pushed back against the walls. A giant staircase in the middle of the entry way was roped off with a "DO NOT ENTER" sign taped to it.

"Let's find Lane and get our drinks," Cora yelled over the deafening noise, grabbing my arm. She dragged me through the large crowd and I kept my eyes on the pigtails in front of me while Gabby held onto my back. She stopped at the kitchen and I scanned the giant crowd surrounding us. Granite counter tops were covered with food, drinks or someone's ass. Two kegs were set up on the floor with drunken kids circled around it. The entire house had an open concept design (I had been reading my aunt's interior design magazines), so you could see everything that was happening from the kitchen.