All I've Never Wanted (4 page)

BOOK: All I've Never Wanted
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"Good." Newly energized, Adriana closed the yearbook and placed it in her bedside drawer. "Then we're going to that party."

 

"By we you mean…"

 

"Me, you, Parker, and Carlo, if he wants to come. I don't want Roman to know what I'm up to. Better surprise him with who the girl is so he doesn't have time to put his defenses up."

 

"I think it's just gonna be us and Parker. Carlo doesn't really care much for Stan's parties. Besides, we need someone to distract Roman."

 

"True," Adriana allowed. "You actually said something smart for once."

 

"Thanks," Zack said sarcastically.

 

"No prob," Adriana chirped, already looking forward to Saturday.

 

This was going to be fun.

 

 

CHAPTER 3

 

 

I heard it before I saw it: the deep, thumping bass of loud party music, which I could feel vibrating my seat even though we were halfway down the road.

 

"Oh, come on, move!" Venice grumbled, pressing down on her car horn. Hard. She narrowed her eyes at the line of cars snaking up the street, all waiting for their chance to park and party.

 

"I think this is a sign," I announced, running a hand nervously through my hair. It usually had a hint of wave to it, but Venice had flat-ironed it to sleek perfection earlier. "Maybe we're not supposed to be here tonight."

 

"No…Stan's parties are always like this," she answered distractedly, trying to maneuver around the Mercedes in front of us, to no avail. "It's the first party of the year! Of course there's going to be a lot of people."

 

"Great." I slumped down in my seat.

 

"Remember what you promised me earlier?" Venice asked pointedly. "You said you were going to keep an open mind and not be such a Debbie Downer."

 

"I know, I know." I sat up straighter. "You're right. Even though I despise the person throwing this party, don't know anyone else here, and completely disagree with the way things work in this town, that does 
not 
mean I can't have a good time!" I paused. "That came out a lot more sarcastic than I intended."

 

Venice laughed. "You're ridiculous." She eased off the brake as the line inched forward a little. "You've been in such a cranky mood lately I think tonight's the night."

 

A chill ran down my spine. "Uh…the night for what?" I asked slowly, knowing what she was going to say but dreading it nonetheless.

 

"The night to find you a guy!" she exclaimed, in a 
duh 
voice. "You are 17 years old and you've never even had a real boyfriend, which is…well, it's not normal, especially since you're 
gorgeous,
 girlie."

 

I blushed, muttering something about how I wasn't, really. Compliments on my looks always make me feel awkward. I don't even think of myself as pretty. I mean, yeah, I know I'm not ugly or anything, but when I look in the mirror I just see a regular teenage girl.

 

Venice groaned. "You kill me. Do you even realize how all the guys stop to stare at you whenever you walk into a room?"

 

"They don't."

 

"They do!" She gazed at me calculatingly. "But don't try to change the subject. There'll be plenty of hot guys here tonight and even if you won't date any of them you can still hook up, can't you?"

 

"You're the one who brought it up in the first place," I huffed. "And I'm not really a hook up type of person, V."

 

She ignored me, distracted by a parking space on the edge of the road. Granted, it didn't look large enough to even fit one of those tiny cars they drove over there in France, but it was a space nonetheless. Luckily, Venice's car was pretty tiny too, and by some miracle (or lack thereof, in my opinion), she managed to ease into the spot.

 

"Yes!" Venice beamed triumphantly. "Bow down to my driving skills, ye mere mortals."

 

"I'm bowing, I'm bowing." I stared nervously at the giant black Hummer in front of us. "Ok, let's go."

 

"
Now 
you want to go in faster."

 

"I'm just getting claustrophobic." I stepped out of the car and was instantly bombarded with the smell of alcohol.

 

I blinked, staring at the chaotic scene in front of me. Take all the noise and people and alcohol from every party I've ever been to, multiply it by ten, and that's what it looked like right now. It's like a teenage movie party scene on steroids. All the lights were on in Stan's huge house, and I could see the shadows of drunk, horny teenagers in every one of them. In fact, there were so many people they spilled onto the vast lawn.

 

As I watched, a barely-clad girl in teeny-tiny shorts and an even teenier top raced past me, shrieking with laughter, with a shirtless guy in hot pursuit. A bunch of people were doing body shots on the hood of a car, of all places, while couples made out furiously 
everywhere
.

 

I gulped. If this was what the party's like outside, I can't even begin to imagine what's happening 
inside. 
Or rather, I didn't even 
want 
to imagine what's happening in there. I was in way over my head.

 

Venice, apparently, didn't think so.

 

"Oh, thank god we managed to beat the worst of the crowds," she breathed, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the house.

 

"We did?" I asked skeptically. It sure didn't look like it, but hey, what did I know? I was a Stan Hoffman party virgin.

 

We managed to make our way through the crush in the living room and outside again to the pool area, which was slightly less congested. Probably because someone had already thrown up in the pool.

 

I stood in the corner for a moment, surveying the scene. Not a single person looked sober, or even semi-sober. I discreetly checked my watch. It was barely eleven. Great. That meant we wouldn't be leaving for a good two hours, if I was lucky. I don't usually drink that much, but I had a feeling there's no way I could get through this night completely sober without tearing my hair out.

 

"Hey, V, why don't we go get some drinks?" I suggested.

 

"That's the spirit!" She beamed. Then, gazing over my shoulder, a mischievous smile crept over her face. "Actually, why don't I go get the drinks? It'll be easier that way. You just stay right here."

 

With that, she hightailed it back inside.

 

I stared after her, puzzled. "Don't get drunk and pregnant!" I yelled, rather belatedly.

 

"A valid concern at Stan's parties," an amused voice noted from behind me.

 

Whipping around, I found myself facing a very cute, sandy-haired guy I didn't recognize. Ah. No wonder Venice was so quick to leave.

 

 

I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. God, I must have sounded like someone's mom just now. "Oh…hi," I said awkwardly.

 

"Hi." His smile widened. "I'm James."

 

"Maya."

 

"I know."

 

When I shot him a quizzical look, he shrugged. "I asked a couple of my friends if they knew you," he explained.

 

"Who are your friends?" I asked curiously.

 

He gestured to a group of guys working on a keg on the other side of the pool. I have absolutely no freaking idea who any of them were.

 

"Apparently, everyone knows who you are," James explained.

 

My face fell. "They do?" I asked nervously. Either James was lying or I've been completely delusional for the past year.

 

Sadly, I suspected it might be the latter.

 

James laughed. "Cheer up, it's not the end of the world. I've never seen anyone look so sad about other people knowing her."

 

Ha! He knew nothing, I tell you, nothing. Besides, "sad" is not exactly the word I would use to describe what I'm feeling right now, which is…well, I'm not even really sure.

 

Suddenly, I just realized something. "Do you go to Valesca?" I asked.

 

"Nope, and damn proud of it. No offense," he added quickly.

 

"Believe me, none taken," I said dryly. "So where do you go?"

 

"La Terra," he answered, naming a high school in the next town. "My family used to live here but they moved when I was little, which is just as well. Valesca isn't really my type of scene."

 

"A guy after my own heart," I joked.

 

He smiled. "I certainly hope so."

 

While I blushed and racked my suddenly-frozen brain for a witty response, a commotion inside the house thankfully interrupted me, and both James and I turned to see what all the fuss was about.

 

I was surprised to see the procession of Scions, plus Adriana, making their way through the crowd. The former rarely ever attended open parties like this one and preferred to go clubbing at the latest New York hotspots. At least, that was what I heard.

 

I was even more surprised to see Roman and Carlo were conspicuously absent.

 

"Ah, the famous Scions," James commented.

 

"You know who they are?" I asked as I stepped to the side, partially shielding myself with a giant potted plant.

 

"I think everyone in the tri-state area knows who they are," he remarked wryly. A brief shadow passed over his face, but it disappeared so quickly I wondered if it had ever been there in the first place.

 

"Wonderful." My week just keeps getting better and better.

 

At that moment, Venice ran up, beer sloshing over the sides of the two red plastic cups she held in her hands. She didn't seem to notice. "Maya! Guess who's here?" she cried, her desire to gossip apparently outweighing her desire to give me and a total stranger (to her) some alone time.

 

"Big Foot?"

 

She shot me a you're-so-weird-sometimes look. "No. The Scions! Well, half of them anyway." She handed me one cup and gave

 

James the other one. "I'm Venice, by the way," she said, beaming.

 

"Hey, I'm James," he said easily. "Why don't you have this drink?" He held out his cup.

 

"Oh, no thanks. I'm not really a beer person," she explained. She gave me a sly smile. "I see you've met Maya."

 

He shot me an amused look. "Yes, I have."

 

"Don't you just 
love 
her? She's my best friend. She's amazing! She's so smart, and she's really pretty too, don't you think?"

 

Venice may not be a beer girl, but she had definitely imbibed some alcohol before she came back. "Venice! What are you doing?" I hissed under my breath, mortified.

 

"Yeah, she's beautiful," James replied, giving me another smile.

 

I coughed nervously, unsure what to say. "Haha…um, well…actually, I just remembered I have to go somewhere…well, it was nice meeting you!"

 

Before he could say another word, I'd already grabbed Venice and hightailed it inside the house, losing myself in the fortunately large crowd. Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry I didn't notice I had also hightailed into some
one. 
The unexpected force caused my cup to tilt over, and I watched in slow-motion horror as the sticky brown liquid splashed all over a very expensive-looking shirt.

 

I slowly lifted my eyes from the stain, up, up, and straight into the face of none other than Parker Remington.

 

Oh 
shit
.

*              *              *

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!"

 

Adriana watched impassively as a slightly heavyweight guy in a too-small Abercrombie polo finished off the last of the giant keg in the Hoffmans' backyard, cheered on by his equally drunk and rowdy friends.

 

"You know, that's actually pretty impressive," Zack remarked, finishing off his own drink, which a simpering sycophant had brought over just a few minutes earlier.

 

"Yeah, if this were the Frat Olympics 2010," Adriana said, rolling her eyes. On any other night, this party would be pretty fun—great music, free-flowing liquor, and tons of people, which meant tons of cute guys. The only problem was, she wasn't here to find a guy for herself, she was here to find a girl for Roman.

 

"Where did Parker disappear off to?" she wondered aloud, scanning the yard. They had been mobbed by a frightening pack of drunk, horny girls the moment they arrived, and Parker had somehow gotten 'lost' in the midst.

BOOK: All I've Never Wanted
9.16Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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