Blasphemous (20 page)

“
Trista set-up this fundraiser for tonight… and we sort of added your name there. Well, you and Lindsey’s.”

I froze.

“What the fuck did you guys do this time?” Lindsey and I barked out together.

Amber held her hands up. “Holy shit! Calm down! It’s not that big of a deal. You guys only need to spend the rest of the party with the winner. That’s all.”

“What if the winner is a skeezeball? Can I just dump him on you then?” Lindsey arched her brow at Amber.

“Don’t be mean—it’s for sick kids, you guys!!!” Amber pleaded when we stared her down. “It’s your cause, too. You love those children,” she directed at me.

Major, total guilt-trip.

Of course those kids meant a great deal to me. I spent an hour almost on a daily basis at the hospital. I also knew about
Trista’s fundraiser, but when we spoke about it, she was talking about winning game consoles and ipods—not a win ‘a date for the rest of the party’ idea.

“Yeah, why don’t you add those sweet angels in before I can throttle you, huh?” Lindsey slid off the stool and stretched her limbs, yawning as she did so. “Come on, Miss Barbie. Get that pretty ass of yours ready in fifteen minutes. You have a date tonight!”

Amber squealed with delight. “So excited!!! Emma’s going to make us a lot of money at the auction.”

“Dude—are you implying that I’m a fug?”  Lindsey perked up.

Amber simply rolled her eyes and kept on smiling. “Oh, shut up! We don’t need to inflate your ego, please. I was just thinking that Carter would rather drain that trust fund of his before letting another win his Emma.”

He wouldn’t. I doubt Carter was going to bid since I’ve been avoiding him like a plague after my birthday ‘celebration’.

“Good luck on that mission. That shithead has four trust funds.”

“Why four?” Amber wondered out loud.

“One from my grandmother’s, one from my mother’s, one from my father’s and one from our aunt and uncle,” Lindsey nonchalantly said. “I have four, too, but his is so much more since he’s a guy and all.”

I had known the three Montecito grown girls had trust funds. It’s odd, but when they start talking about ‘rich kid subjects’ like this one, I stayed mum.

Amber snorted. “No wonder Cece’s so in love with him.”

Lindsey stiffened at the mention of
Cece’s name. I remembered Trista telling me about what Lindsey had learned about Cece and Brody back in Aspasia. “I would kill that bitch first before she got near my grandmother’s ring!”

That made me stiffen. Oh, fudge cakes!

“Don’t be too harsh on her, Linds. She was your best friend once,” Amber reasoned at the spitfire before us.

Lindsey’s eyes were feral when Amber said the bad juju word,
best friend
. “That bitch slept with my brother behind my back!”

Amber seemed oblivious to the furor she unleashed out of our dark-haired friend.
“The entire school wanted to sleep with Carter. Heck, I knew a few teachers who tried to seduce him. So, you can’t really blame her for that.” 

“I could get over that. But what I can’t forgive is her conniving pussy fucking Brody, too! Right after I told her I was in love with him! That skank declared war when I saw her fuck Cooper in Tahoe.”

Amber looked like she didn’t know what to say while Lindsey looked like she was out for blood. Thank goodness Trista cheerily strode in with a smile. “So true! Carter’s crazy hot! Ms. Vasquez was too eager to show him just how much!”

“
My high school Spanish teacher?!
” Lindsey screeched.

“Yes, doll.”

“She gave me an A…” Lindsey whispered, as if recalling all of her grades in her head. I’m sure she was already evaluating how many of her teachers were giving her awesome marks because they fancied her brother.

Lindsey was scary smart. She never got any letter other than an A. She shouldn’t even question it.

Lindsey glared expectantly at us. “FUCK! I hate this shit! Once and for all, tell me if any of you guys slept with Carter, too?
Anything
sexual, regarding my brother, spit them out now!”

That shut
Trista and Amber up.

Interesting…

“I have…” I murmured, smiling.

Three sets of eyes rolled at my lameness before Trista cleared her throat, pressing her lips together before she spoke. “Well… I cupped his ass when he was drunk once during sophomore year.” She gave an awkward smile before adding, “And I also checked how big he was, too.”

I was biting my lip so hard to keep myself from laughing. I could imagine
Trista being a creep because she was just too curious. Pervy Trista, Ha!

Lindsey was now waiting on Amber, who had turned pink in less than thirty seconds. “Amber?”

“I… um, well—I uh… back in freshmen year, I… I used to touch myself thinking about him.” When she saw Lindsey make a disgusted face she continued, “
What?
Carter’s hot—I mean, hell—have you seen that body?!”

We were all laughing until Lindsey’s phone broke us apart when it beeped and said “mail
motha’ fucka.”

“Okay, you go right on ahead with your stalker alert, while I go get ready to see Monster Boss. We’ll see you guys later at the party!”
Trista blew us a kiss before dashing out of the kitchen.

“Stalker alert?” Am I missing something here?

“She gets messages once Dimitris comes up on the Internet. How do you think she found out about Paris?” Amber drained the rest of my now cold coffee before exiting the kitchen as well.

“
Dimitris is dating again,” Lindsey whispered, making me glance at her, like it should be new news to me. “He’s been seeing this Claudine woman for a month straight. She was at that club you went to with all those hot racers. Tell me about her.”

Uh,
why did she care about who Dimitris dated?
WHY?

Obliging her curiosity, I relented to my friend, “Claudine’s very…
ladylike?
I don’t know, I mean I was around her for like a couple of hours, but I think that’s the right word to describe her. She’s very graceful with her movements—from sipping her champagne to the way she sits—it was all done with effortless grace.”

“Is she very pretty? How did
Dimitris act around her? Were they flirty or distant when they talked to each other?” she dished out one question after the other.

Okay…

“Was she pretty? Yes, she’s stunning to look at. How was he around Claudine? Dimitris was very attentive as he usually is with everyone. Were they flirty or distant? Well…” I trailed off, studying Lindsey’s face as I recalled the heartbroken Greek friend of mine, feeling a little protective of him. “Why did you dump him like that, Linds? He was crazy about you. He was a great guy who tolerated your bitchiness without complaint. Yet, you still left him… and now your questions are boggling me since you’re in love with Brody and all.”

“
Dimitris was just a distraction to forget Brody for the time being. Dimitris looked like the ultimate player—he was perfect for a summer fling— but after a week, things were changing so rapidly, I barely had a chance to think. Two weeks in, Em—two fucking weeks—he confessed that he was in love with me. If that had happened here back home, I would’ve ran the other way, but being surrounded by all those romantic islands in Greece… and he was just so sexy and hot… not to mention, that I used to go gaga when he talked to me in Greek. So I lived in the moment and enjoyed what he offered, but that’s all it was; a summer in Greece with a hotter than hot Greek man, nothing more.”

Poor
McHottie… no wonder he was so hurt! I’m glad he had Claudine to shower him with all the attention he needed.

I was lost in my recollection of the Greek islands—one in particular—when Lindsey interrupted it, “You haven’t answered my question yet.”

“What?” I blinked a few times before registering what she meant. Dimitris. Claudine. Right. “We were all in the same lounge/booth area, but those two kept to themselves in the other corner. For the entire time, Claudine’s hand rested on his thigh. I caught her stroking it once in awhile. Dimitris was basically attached to her ear, talking to her, but as the night progressed and heavy amounts of alcohol later, he was practically making out with her neck. Nothing disgusting or anything, more like seducing her, I think.”

“HUH,” was all she said.

“Do you have any more questions to ask before we get ready to leave and pamper ourselves?” I placed my empty plate and cup in the sink before spinning to face her. No response. “Alrighty. I’ll meet you in fifteen?” I double-checked with the distracted Lindsey.

“Fifteen.” She gave me a small smile, yet there was something sad in her eyes that she hid the second I gazed back to check if it was really there.

~E~

At exactly ten that night, Lindsey, Amber and I arrived at Carter’s themed party. This year, I chose the lethal
sexbomb Selene from Underworld. Dressed in an ultra-tight, black leather suit, black, killer boots and a raven wig to complete the whole outfit.

We parted as I headed straight to the bar and was greeted with Austin Powers as my barman.

“Malibu pineapple stirred with ice, please.”

A loud admiring whistle startled me before I was handed my drink. “Well, if it isn’t the woman on my locker come to life, dressed to kill every man who looks at her.”

Jeremy from the Lacrosse team greeted me with a flirty smile, dressed as Lucien, the Knights of Cimmerian vampire, but no way in hell did he look as sexy as Bass did. “Hey, Jeremy.”

“I knew you were back, but I haven’t seen you around campus. How have you been? Congratulations on that movie role. I know it’s old news, but I’m saying it anyway.”

“Thanks; I’m doing good. I’m just taking a semester off to unwind for a bit,” I lied effortlessly.

I had a class with him before. We flirted the entire time, but nothing happened. After I met Carter, Jeremy and his flirtatious smiles disappeared.

“Listen, I was actually on my way out to my cousin’s party, but I had to say hi when I saw you. I was hoping you’d like to meet me for coffee Monday afternoon?”

Like a date? “I actually have to meet a friend of mine for lunch in LA. I don’t know what time that’ll finish.”

“I could meet you in LA, if you want. I don’t mind driving that far to see you.” His clear-green eyes waited for me to accept his offer.

I guess
, I really should start dating again. Saddened that I had to force myself to do it, but it was time. “Sure. Just text me when you’re in town, then we can go from there,” I said after we exchanged digits. After a quick goodbye, I strode out of there.

Sipping my drink as I looked for my people. There were tons of fresh faces around that I hadn’t seen before. I stopped in my tracks when I found Carter—dressed as himself—laughing at what Marilyn Monroe had just told him.

Okay, calm the heck down
, I tried to reason with myself when I felt a little jealousy pop out of nowhere. Carter was entitled to do as he pleased, so I shouldn’t be bothered by it…

I dashed out of there before Carter spotted me, declining a few offers from some drunken men along the way as I weaved towards the backyard of the house. It consisted of a massive glass patio with a nice view of the beach. Relief coursed through me when I found
Trista and Taylor chatting with Brody, drinks in hand. “Finally! People I know!” I sighed.

The guys just stared at me, as did
Trista. “What?!”

“I’ve never seen you with dark hair.”
Trista kept staring at me with a weird expression.

“So?”

“With those suffocated knockers and that contoured chunky ass, you look like every guy’s wet dream come to life, right?” she questioned Taylor, then Brody.

Both men shrugged nonchalantly and drank their beer.

“Where’s Lindsey?” Brody wondered out loud as he looked around the area.

“Last I checked, she was dancing with the new guy from the Rowing Team,”
Trista supplied with a mischievous smile.

“Fuck, man!” Brody cursed before going back inside the house just as
Trista’s phone started shrilling.

When we heard
Trista’s phone ring for the second time consecutively, I finally snapped, “Aren’t you going to get that? That could be important!”

“It’s my mother. I know it’s still early to think of Christmas, but she needs time to process things, so I told her this morning that I wasn’t going to spend the holidays with them this year. Of course, she reacted as if I told her that her priest was gay. I know it’s a special time of the year, but we don’t do shit! We don’t talk much even. I just don’t see why she’s making a big deal out of it.”

“Well, how about you invite them to you, then? I’m sure they’d appreciate you offering, even if they end up not going, you know?” I gently suggested the idea.

“That’s actually brilliant, Emma! Let me just call Bass to check if he’s okay with that. I’ll be back in a second.” Taylor pulled out his phone, dialing as he walked towards the beach.