Adored (20 page)

“Give me that!” Jenny screamed, grabbing for Heath’s iPhone. He snatched it back, out of her reach, but it didn’t matter. Kaitlin and Claire and Izzy had clearly rushed from the party after Jenny’s outburst and quickly edited together the most embarrassing moments of Jenny-film. It wouldn’t have been too hard to find them. Now the whole party was watching the same video, over and over, the room suddenly full of smiling faces and loud cackling.

Jenny bolted out of line, heading for the kitchen, or the back den—anywhere to be out of the glare of those staring eyes. Callie and Tinsley would never let themselves be filmed with food in their teeth, or with drool on their chin. The sickening thought that she would never be able to escape her loserdom made her gasp for air in the crowded kitchen. She didn’t see any friendly faces, only averted glances and half-smiles as everyone cleared the way.

Like her lameness was somehow contagious.

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B
ack at the Inferno, Callie miserably held two empty plastic cups while some random freshman she’d never seen before filled them with red punch, chattering on about his car, or his friend’s car—she couldn’t be sure. She muttered her thanks and sauntered into the living room, drinking from both cups and not caring if anything spilled down the satin bodice of her expensive dress. She elbowed her way over to the iPod stereo on one of the white built-in bookcases and fought the urge to scroll through the playlist for some Alanis or Avril or some other angry chick rocker. She couldn’t believe her rebound boyfriend had
cheated
on her—and with
Brett
no less. Didn’t Sebastian know his job was to make her feel
better
about herself, not
worse?

She ran her fingers through her limp strawberry blond curls and pretended to read the book titles on the shelves. A cheap paperback copy of
Wuthering Heights
reminded her of the first time she’d hooked up with Easy, in the rare books room at the library. She’d seen him running his fingers across a rare first edition of the book and then minutes later, he was running those same fingers lovingly across her collarbone. It gave her a chill just thinking about it.

She had virtually no more guy options at Waverly. Maybe she would have to start dating townies. Or the wannabes from St. Lucius who weren’t cool enough to attend parties on their own campus. Brett—and Tinsley—had already tried teachers, and
that
hadn’t worked out. She furiously drank a full cup of Hell Fire and set it down on the mantel, next to a framed photograph of a gravestone. Weird. She squinted at it, and saw that it was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s grave. Still weird.

“In it to win it, eh?” Tinsley appeared suddenly at Callie’s side, blowing smoke up over their heads. A Virginia Slim hung lazily from one hand. She looked annoyingly stunning in a slim-fitting yellow dress that would have made anyone but her look like a lemon.

“Something like that.” Callie scrunched her hands in her hair to bring the curls back to life, but to no avail. She noticed that Tinsley kept twisting the silver Celtic band she wore on her right ring finger nervously. “Still avoiding Julian?”

Tinsley’s blue-violet eyes narrowed slightly as she continued to casually assess the party—and not answer. She blew a puff of smoke into the air. “It’ll take an army of underpaid cleaning ladies to put this place back together. Someone punched a hole in the bathroom upstairs. And the toilet seat is missing.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.” Callie plucked a copy of
Alice in Wonderland
from the shelf and flipped through the pages, wondering why a childless middle-aged writer would have it on his shelves. Maybe he had a weird obsession with young blond girls. Maybe Callie could date
him
.

“So.” Tinsley grabbed the book from Callie’s hands, scattering ashes from her cigarette across the leather, and popped it back into place on the shelf. “Did you like my gifts?”

“What?” Callie asked, leaning in to hear as the music shook the room.
Gifts?

“You know. My Secret Satan presents.” Tinsley had a self-satisfied grin on her red lips. “Did you like them?” Tinsley squinted as she took a long drag from her cigarette, burning it down close to the filter. She exhaled a torrent of smoke, making Callie’s eyes water.

Callie’s pale pink mouth dropped open in astonishment. “I can’t believe that was you!” Tinsley—her supposed best friend—had been laughing at her this whole time. Brett, meanwhile, her other supposed best friend, was busy stealing away Sebastian. “Old Maid cards? A knitting kit? You’re a fucking bitch!”

Tinsley giggled, her elegant shoulders rising and falling with her laughter. A tallish sophomore in a rumpled black suit and loosened candy cane tie bumped into Callie, pushing her forward.

“Do you have any idea what you put me through?” Callie grabbed Tinsley’s bare arm to steady herself, but she really wanted to grab Tinsley by her shoulders and shake her. Tinsley had been the one torturing her all this time? “
Why would you do that?
”

“So that you could see how ridiculous you’re being.” Tinsley rolled her eyes. “You’re sixteen, in case you forgot.”

Callie bit her lip. Okay, just because she was still kind of young didn’t mean anything. “Whatever. Lots of people have met their future spouses by the time they’re sixteen.”

Tinsley sighed heavily and stubbed out her cigarette in a cheap aluminum ashtray. “Yeah? Give me an example. Besides your parents and like, people in Nebraska.” She grabbed Callie’s arm and spun her around so she could see the whole crowded party. “Why would you
want
to meet your husband when you’re sixteen? You’re one of the hottest chicks at this party… and this school. And, like, the world,” Tinsley lectured loudly in her ear.

Callie sniffed. But… Tinsley had a point. “Okaaay.”

“So get over yourself, will you?” Tinsley smiled, her perfect white teeth gleaming. “Or you really will turn into an old maid.”

Callie rubbed a hand against her forehead. She spotted Ryan Reynolds leering at her from the dance floor. When he caught her eye, he made a gesture for her to come over, which she ignored. Then she saw a couple of freshman guys in the corner, who awkwardly turned away when she caught them looking at her. A sly, knowing grin crept over her face.

Maybe the idea of dying an old maid
was
ridiculous. Tinsley was right. Sebastian didn’t know what he was missing. And why would Callie want to be saddled with a guy who drove a Mustang anyway? She tossed her head, letting her wavy strawberry blond hair tumble across her shoulders. “Let’s have fun being single together. Girl power and all that, right?” She nudged Tinsley in the waist. No matter how hot Tinsley was, it did make her feel better that she was single too.

Tinsley blanched at the word
single
. She’d been so thrilled to see Callie laugh again after her neediness these past few weeks… but did she have to rub Tinsley’s nose in the fact that she was single too? As if she could forget.

“Speak of the devil,” Callie said in a low voice, staring at someone over Tinsley’s shoulder. Tinsley felt her whole body tense up. She’d only seen Julian once, in the crowded dining hall, since she’d broken things off with him, although he’d texted her several times. But she didn’t want to give him a chance to explain. She just needed to get over him first, before he had a chance to work his way back in.

Julian appeared next to her, wearing a faded gray American Apparel V-neck and a pair of black jeans. “Hey,” he said, pushing a lock of his light brown hair behind his ear. He glanced around nervously, sidestepping Emily Jenkins. She wore a short red velvet skirt trimmed with white fur, like a dirty Mrs. Claus. “Can we talk?”

Callie shot Tinsley a “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” look before flipping her hair over her shoulder one more time and sashaying away. “I’ll be on the dance floor.”

Tinsley watched her friend shoulder her way through the crowded room, taking in all the cute boys checking her out as she passed. Callie was going to be fine. She finally let her eyes fall on Julian’s face, and she forced herself to picture him losing his virginity to Jenny Humphrey in order to not melt at the sight of his familiar brown eyes. She shrugged with a coolness she didn’t feel. “Talk.”

“Not here.” Julian touched Tinsley’s back. She jumped away from him as if she’d been burned. “Sorry, just… come this way.”

He led her through the kitchen to a tiny laundry room and pulled closed a vinyl accordion door. The room smelled like fabric softener, an improvement from the other room’s alcohol and sweat smell.

Julian exhaled loudly as Tinsley leaned against the washing machine, arms crossed bitchily in front of her, eyebrows raised expectantly. “Listen,” he said, looking nervous. “You need to know something.”

Tinsley felt her stomach drop. If she actually heard him say the words
I slept with Jenny Humphrey
, she’d probably throw up, right there. “If it’s about you and your
lover
, I don’t care.” She turned to leave.

Julian reached out and grabbed Tinsley’s bare arm. “How about you
listen
to me for once?” The force in Julian’s normally calm voice made Tinsley stop in her tracks. She wasn’t used to people talking to her like that. His dark eyes glittered in the dimly lit room. “I don’t know what you think is going on with me… but I lost my virginity to a girl I dated all through junior high. Before I even came to Waverly. It was only once, before we both left for school. It was just one of those things—”

Tinsley shook off Julian’s hand. Hearing about Julian’s past made her feel vaguely sick. But it wasn’t Jenny he’d slept with? Why was she so obsessed with Jenny, anyway? She took a deep breath. “Spare me the details, okay?”

A hurt look crossed Julian’s face. He shuffled his feet and leaned against the wall. “When I told you I wasn’t a virgin, I kind of just wanted to sound cool, you know? You’re older… and sometimes I get intimidated by you, despite how incredibly mature I am.” He shot her a shy smile, and Tinsley bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling back.

“That’s true.” Tinsley tilted her head and fingered her silver and lime green dangling art deco earring. So… he’d had sex with a junior high girlfriend? That was barely a step above masturbation. “I
am
very intimidating.”

“You have no fucking idea.” Julian shook his head, his eyes running up and down Tinsley’s body. She shivered. “But then I talked to Heath. And he told me you hadn’t, well, done it… and I figured that was why you got so upset.”

Tinsley felt her face flushing—had she really made such a big deal out of this? It didn’t matter who Julian had been with before. That was in the past. Right now, he was looking at her in a way that made her forget everything else. She hopped up on the dryer and crossed her legs at the knee, letting the heels of her emerald green Christian Louboutin pumps clink against the metal side of the machine. “Yeah?” she asked coolly. So maybe she could get over this. But it didn’t mean she couldn’t still tease him.

“Really.” Julian stepped toward her, placing a hand on her knee. It tickled, and totally turned her on. “But I just don’t really get why any of that’s important. I want to be with you, and I think you want to be with me… despite that fake-pouty look on your face right now.”

Tinsley swatted his hand off her knee.

Julian grinned and planted his hands on top of the dryer, on either side of her. “And we can wait. Until both of us are ready.”

Tinsley resisted the urge to grab his face and plant a wet kiss on his fine lips. The words
I want to be with you
rang in her ears. Suddenly, here in the Cambridge House laundry room, surrounded by boxes of Tide and shelves of cleaning supplies, Tinsley felt that all was right with the world.

Her almost black hair slid in front of her face like a curtain, and she cracked a devious smile. He’d done it just
once
? Everyone knew the first time was always terrible—a lot of fumbling around and trying to find stuff. It totally didn’t count. Besides, junior high sex? Like
anyone
in junior high knew
anything
. Relief bubbled up in Tinsley’s chest, and she nudged Julian’s leg with the toe of her pump. “I bet I could still teach you a few things.”

The expression on Julian’s face relaxed and he threw his head back and laughed. “I have no doubt about that.”

And neither did she.

B
randon watched in disgust as Sage Francis, looking sleazy in a red dress about as big as a tissue, licked Lon Baruzza’s neck and sprinkled salt on it. Incredibly unsanitary, Brandon thought, since Benny Cunningham had done a tequila shot off the exact same spot five minutes ago. Sage licked the salt off Lon’s neck and swallowed the tequila, holding the back of Lon’s head as she fished the lime from between his lips with her tongue. The crowd in the living room erupted in cheers.

Brandon tilted his head back, draining the last of his Hell Fire. The sweet syrup landed in his empty stomach with a thud and he felt for a moment like he might puke. He pushed his way into the kitchen and grabbed a water-stained glass from a kitchen cupboard. He filled it with water from the tap and took a long swig. Feeling suddenly alone, he longed for Hellie more than ever. Everyone was acting crazy. Jenny was like some kind of stranger, always walking around with a camera crew following her—although Brandon felt bad that those ungrateful frosh had made an embarrassing video of her. Callie was busy chasing after her new boyfriend. All his guy friends had been even bigger meatheads than usual recently, and after he’d orchestrated the whole Secret Satan mess, Heath was even more full of himself than usual.