Valley of the Moon (11 page)

“Candy is the best dress designer! How do those Spanx fit?” Piper asked. She had tossed me a pair while we were getting dressed. She had packed at least six pairs in various styles. “You totally don’t need them, but trust me.” When I examined the high-tech stretchy fabric, I thought it looked like a chastity belt.
A chastity belt wouldn’t be a bad idea, actually.

“They fit great.” I examined my hindquarters in the mirror. “With all my unsightly butt hair, I needed something to press it down.”

There was a knock on the door, and Piper trotted over to it, stepping gingerly around piles of girl stuff in her heels. I followed her, but hung back and leaned against the back of one of the sofas. I willed my heart to stop pounding so I wouldn’t pass out, but I was more nervous than I’d been on our first date. I hadn’t seen him in person since our airport fight.

Since I threw a live grenade into our relationship.

She peeked out the peephole. “It’s them! Lana, BREATHE.”

Wyatt burst in first, carrying a small duffel bag.

“Anybody here order a couple male escorts?” He was grinning like a fool. He eyeballed the two of us and yelled, “Dude, check out these babes!”

Caleb silently emerged from behind Wyatt’s hulking form.

I held my breath when I saw him. His dark blond hair was parted on the side and slicked down. He was freshly shaved and his eyes looked bright blue against his black tuxedo. I held onto the back of the sofa for balance. My feet wobbled in my new gold strappy sandals.

A slow grin spread across his face. “Hello,” he said. “Look. At. You.” He walked over to me and ran his hands from my shoulders to my hands. Chills galloped down my arms in their wake. “Wow, great dress.”

“Hi,” I said. “Great tux.” We stood smiling at each other for a few seconds and then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me hard. He whispered in my ear, “Why don’t we just stay here and forget prom?” The butterflies that had been multiplying in my stomach all week went into a full riot.

A sudden loud POP made me jump.

“What was that?” Caleb jerked his head towards Wyatt.

“We brought you girls a present,” he said, holding up a bottle of champagne. “Prom juice. Ladies, care to join us in a toast?” He started pouring fizzy liquid into the glass tumblers on top of the minibar.

“Last year, two seniors got kicked out for drinking at the formal. Remember, Piper?” She just shrugged.

“Boys, don’t mind her,” she said. “It’s her first prom. Dude, one glass won’t kill us. Most of the other girls are probably halfway hammered by now.”

Caleb handed me a glass. “It’s prom, Lana. It’s the law.”

***

We walked into the ballroom under an elaborate canopy of lush flowers and green vines. The
Midsummer Night’s Dream
theme was in full effect—although I was pretty sure Shakespeare’s play didn’t include ear-splitting EDM. Girls in a rainbow array of dresses were squealing and hugging friends. Clumps of guys stood around in baggy tuxedoes.

As we weaved through the crowd, I squeezed his hand and he looked back at me and winked. A tremendous flutter ran through me. The hormones in the air were causing a chemical chain reaction in my body.

At the “bar,” Caleb handed me a plastic cup of punch. “Don’t worry, it’s nonalcoholic. But looks like some of your classmates found a way around that.” He gestured to a cluster of girls dancing wildly. One slipped and fell, knocking a second girl flat on her back.

“Oh boy, look who’s here,” Piper said, jabbing me with her elbow. “Turn around.”

Trevor Blazick and his friend Brett White were squeezing into the ballroom through an emergency exit door, followed by a cloud of pungent smoke. I averted my eyes and tried to control a wave of nausea.

I hadn’t seen Trevor in years. Not since his New Year’s Eve party. Since the truth-or-dare game that went bad.

“Are they here with Cressida? I thought you said she turned over a new leaf. Those guys are dirtbags.”
If she only knew.

“Okay, enough standing around. It’s go time, chicks.” Wyatt said. I tried to resist as Caleb tugged me towards the mosh pit. I hadn’t danced in public since quitting ballet when I was seven.

“I don’t feel like dancing yet.” Trevor stood at the edge of the dance floor, his arm draped around Cressida. But he had spotted me.

“Come on, it’s your prom!” Caleb yelled over the music. I relented, but when I took a step backwards, I heard a piercing scream. I whirled around and found Ginger holding her foot in the air.

“Jesus, watch out!” Her date, a beefy guy with a goatee, guffawed wildly. She gritted her teeth and glared at me. Apparently she hadn’t gotten the memo about Cressida and me being new best friends.

Valentina wiggled over to us. “Lana, hey! We WILL we see you at the after-party, right? It’s going to be insane!
”
Her eyes ping-ponged from me to Caleb. “It’s at Cressida’s. You both know where that is, right?”

The after-party—I hadn’t told him about it yet.
What if Trevor’s there? Maybe you shouldn’t go. Maybe the whole thing is a bad idea.

Piper yelled back at her, “Yeah, we’re going. If you guys promise to be nice.”

Valentina rolled her eyes at Piper. She grabbed both my hands and said, “Cressida really wants you to come, Lana. It means a lot to her, you know.” She wrapped me in a tight hug. I could smell alcohol on her breath, and she stumbled a little as she walked away. Ginger ignored me and limped off the dance floor, her date tagging along behind her.

I turned back to my date. Teenage bodies gyrated all around us, but Caleb stood very still. His smile had vanished.

“Cressida’s having an after-party? And she invited you?”

“We sort of made up.” He blinked and shook his head as if to clear it. Then he grabbed my hand and yanked me away from the dance floor. He didn’t stop until we got to a small alcove behind a pillar at the back of the ballroom. A couple was making out a few feet away from us, but they ignored us.

He pushed me up against the pillar. Then he abruptly dropped his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Explain.”

“I should have told you. I didn’t really think she meant it, actually. But I guess she did.”

In the dimly lit alcove, his eyes were huge and dark. “I thought you guys hated each other. Now she’s your BF?”

“She confronted me this week and apologized. For everything. I decided to give her a chance. That’s good, right? Isn’t that what you would have told me to do?” He stared at me.

“So that’s it? It’s all over now?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe not. But I have to find out.”

“And you want to take me as your date—to her house?”

“Why not? What do you think she’ll do?”

He sighed. “I know her too well. Or, at least I did.” The DJ started playing a pop anthem and the dance floor went wild. The couple making out nearby skipped away.

I stroked Caleb’s hand. “I spent a long time wanting her to accept me as her sister. I know this is crazy, but now I have a chance to at least be her friend. Will you please come to her party with me?”

He put his hands on my forearms and leaned in close. “The only after-party I want to have is with you. Upstairs in your hotel room.” My heart stopped beating for a second. His palms moved to my shoulders. The feeling of his hands on my bare skin sent electric shocks through my body. It felt like I was falling through the carpeted floor of the ballroom.

“You’ve been waiting a while, I know. Aren’t I worth waiting a few more hours for?” I ran my fingers down his cheek to the tiny bit of stubble on his chin. His eyes reflected the spinning dance lights flashing across the room. A slow smile spread across his face.

“Really?”

“Yes.” And at that moment, I meant it. I was ready. Heat rose off his chest through his scratchy tuxedo shirt. He tilted my chin back with one finger.

“Fine. But if you’re going make me wait until later,” he whispered, “I’ll take what I can get now.” He kissed me and crushed his body into mine, pressing me into the pillar. His hands slid to my hips, and then down to my rear end. My heart felt like it was trying to leap out of my body and into his.
I’m in love with you, Caleb. Do you know that?
Did he love me? Did it matter? I was sure he liked me. Was it enough?

His mouth found my ear. “I want to be with you tonight, Lana. In every way. In naked ways.”

“Whoa, down, boy.” There was a girl standing right behind us, giggling. Caleb reacted like he’d been stung. He swung his head to look and blinked a few times. It was Cressida.

Or someone who sounded like Cressida.

She was utterly transformed. Her white-blonde curls had been straightened and glossed. Her hair hung straight down to her waist. Black cat-eye makeup made her aquamarine eyes look huge. Her silvery, nearly sheer dress featured a halter-top cut dangerously low, while the body-skimming skirt had a slit cut dangerously high. The delicate fabric did nothing to hide her newly amplified chest, which needed no bra. A girl with gangly long legs and no behind had turned into a supermodel overnight.

Her eyes were bright and shone stark white in the strobe lights. She smirked at us like she’d caught us red-handed. “The fun’s supposed to start
after
the prom, you two.”

I wiped some smeared lip gloss off my cheek with the back of my hand.

“Yeah, we’ll be there.”

“Good.” She shot Caleb a look. “I’m counting on that.” I grabbed his hand and led him away from the pillar. I didn’t really want to chat in the dark with my boyfriend and his ex-whatever she was.

“Let’s go dance, okay?” He nodded, but he looked rattled.

On the other side of the pillar I ran right into Trevor, who reeked of weed.

“You guys seen Cress?” he slurred. She emerged from the shadow of the pillar.

“I’m right here.” Her eyes lit up. “Hey, Trevor, you remember my stepsister, don’t you?”

How I wished I could forget. He was taller, lean and pale. Shaggy black hair brushed the top of his shirt collar and fell across his forehead, covering his slitted eyes. His mouth was frozen in a crooked sneer. Acne scars pitted the skin along his jawbone.

I tried my hardest to not spit on his shoes. His eyes widened when he recognized me.

“No way.” He brazenly eyeballed me from head to toe. “I thought that was you before. Lana Goodwin, right?”
You know exactly who I am, you cretin.
My skin crawled in his presence.
“Hey Brett, dude, check out who’s here!” Trevor shoved his friend forward.

I remembered him too. The years had not done him any favors. He was still short and muscular, but his arms had gotten beefier and he had a linebacker’s gut. His dark hair was cut short, with short bangs gelled down so they were plastered to his forehead. His small eyes were a little too close together and his teeth had a yellowish cast to them. A narrow goatee bisected his double chin and his face was bathed in sweat.

His round mouth split into a crescent moon.

“No way! Wow, looking good, Lana.” He bobbed his head up and down as he checked me out. “All grown up now, I see. What’s going on, baby?”

“Not much, guys,” Caleb said, stepping forward. “I’m Lana’s boyfriend.” Trevor and Brett looked at each other.

“Easy bro, we were just saying hi to an old friend, okay?”

Caleb shifted at my side. Someone’s phone rang. Cressida slid her hand into Trevor’s jacket pocket and pulled out a cell phone covered in blue rhinestones.

“Jesus, I have like fifty-eight texts,” she said, scrolling messages. “The shuttle buses will be here in an hour.” She winked at me. “Don’t be late, you love birds!” She shimmered away into the crowd, followed by her two hulking minions.

Caleb glowered at me.

“Shuttle bus? How will we get back?”

“We’ll take one of the shuttles back. We’ll just make a quick appearance.”

He put his hands on my waist and bent his lips to my ear. “Or we skip her stupid party and go upstairs. I need to get you in private.” His words made my stomach twist. But I had promised.

“I know. And you will. I promise.” His blue eyes darkened and stared into mine.

“I am going to hold you to that.” I shivered.

Lana Goodwin. Prom night cliché.

The bus packed with rowdy teenagers
pulled up to the gate at the foot of the winding driveway. The headlights illuminated the carved stone lions on top of the tall brick pillars. The gate rolled back and the sleek black coach crunched up the driveway to the mansion built to look like Versailles. If Versailles had been built by a personal injury attorney.

I had an overwhelming urge to flee the bus and take off running down the hill.

“Hey, are you okay?” Piper was hanging over the seats in front of me and Caleb. “Is this weird for you?”

“Nope, it’s fine. This will be fun. Right, Caleb?” I looked over at him but he just shrugged. Wyatt handed him a flask and he took a swig.

The bus shuddered to a halt and everyone onboard cheered.

I was back.

***

Dance music reverberated through the cool night air as we made our way through a side gate and onto the grounds. White overstuffed couches and heat lamps were strategically placed around the Olympic-sized pool, turning it into an outdoor lounge. Dozens of candles floated in the pool on silver lily pads.

Wyatt let out a long, low whistle. “This place is sick. I can’t believe you used to live here, Lana. I’m so jealous.”

“Don’t be,” I retorted. “Trust me.”

A huge white tent was set up at one end of the lawn. On the other side of it, people crowded around a long bar. There was a huge ice sculpture in the shape of a giant C positioned at one end of the bar. I watched a bartender pour blue liquid at the top of the curve in the C. The liquid swirled down the curve. A boy caught it in a cup at the bottom and tipped it into his mouth.

“She has an ice luge? Dude, I have to try one of those,” Wyatt said. Piper rolled her eyes.

Cressida stood behind the bar talking to one of the caterers. She had changed into a glittering silver mini dress with a deep V neckline that plummeted almost to her waist. Her hair was pinned up. She spotted us and unleashed a huge smile.

“You made it!”

“Hey! The party looks amazing, Cressida.”
Maybe you really are friends.

“It’s my last high school party, so I had to blow it out.”

A bartender came up to me. “Would you like to try a Cressida?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s my signature drink. You’ll love it,” she declared. “You can’t even taste the alcohol.”

“Four Cressidas, please,” Wyatt said to the bartender. “Got to kick this thing into high gear, starting now.”

Cressida’s eyes flitted over to Caleb. “Hey you,” she purred. “Having fun?”

His hand slipped down from my waist to my rear end. He caressed me through the thin fabric.

“Always,” he said to her. “Looks like it’s gonna be epic. But I don’t think we’re staying long.” Cressida’s smile froze. She looked from Caleb to me.

“You guys are NOT allowed to leave early. Check out the tent. Trust me.” She winked at us and skittered off to talk to a clutch of girls at the bar.

The bartender mixed and poured bright blue liquid into tumblers. “Can you make my Cressida a virgin please?” He nodded. But when I realized how it must have sounded, I turned red. Wyatt cracked up.

“Ha! Don’t think you can get one of those anymore, right, Bro?” Wyatt elbowed Caleb. I caught the menace in the glance Caleb shot Wyatt.

What does that mean? Did Caleb…no way. It means nothing! Whatever happened before doesn’t matter. He’s yours now.

“I want to dance with you, Caleb.” He grinned and grabbed my hand.

I was going to have fun.

Even in the lion’s den.

***

A few red-faced boys emerged from the tent as we walked in, ties hanging loose and shirts unbuttoned. Inside, it felt twenty degrees hotter. A DJ played thumping music. Lights and strobes whirled. Fog poured from a smoke machine. Black lights made everything white glow—even people’s teeth. It was like dancing with hundreds of Cheshire cats.

Two tall black pedestals, each with a long silver pole sticking out of the top, were set up in the middle of the tent. Two female dancers performed elaborate acrobatic routines on each pole. They wore neon-pink wigs, fishnet stockings, black hot pants, and silver bras. I watched as one girl grabbed the pole as high as she could reach, straddled it, and then let go so she hung by her legs. The other girl kept teasing her hot pants lower. Every time she did, the guys in the crowd went wild.

Piper looked at me. “She hired strippers for a high school party? She is nuts.”

I don’t remember how long we danced, or how many drinks materialized in my hand. At one point I was making out with Caleb in the middle of the dance floor. By the time I bothered to look around, Piper and Wyatt had vanished.

“Caleb! You want to get out of here?”

“Lead the way,” he said.

Outside, kids were sprawled all over the white couches around the pool. A haze of cigarette smoke hung above the pool like swamp mist. I scanned the area.

“I don’t see Piper or Wyatt.”

“Don’t think they need you right now,” he said, smirking. A boy staggered by us, lurched sideways into some bushes, and clumsily got back to his feet and lurched toward the house. “There’s going to be a lot of blue puke in your stepmom’s toilets,” Caleb said, shaking his head. I led him to the side gate that opened up to the driveway.

“I’m sure she’s used to it. Those drinks you kept giving me were nonalcoholic, right?”

“Most of them.” He winked at me. “Why? You okay?”

“Uh, sorta. I’m a total lightweight.” I didn’t tell him my head was spinning.

“So let’s get back to that big hotel room waiting for us. You have no idea what I want to do to you.” He stopped walking, stood right behind me, and ran his hands up my back.

“Tell me,” I whispered, my throat dry. I fought to focus on his words.

“I am going to do all the things I wanted to do in Hawaii.” He ran his fingers lightly over my shoulders and down my arms to my hands and I shivered. What magical spell had I cast to get him to say these words?

“Are you listening to me, you vixen?” he said. I nodded.

“And what if I say no?” His lips nibbled my ear and his hands snaked around my waist.

“There will be no saying no, Lana.” He laughed. “Or I might have to throw you down and force myself on you like a Viking.”

The horn of the shuttle bus horn echoed through the air. That was our cue.

“Come on! You don’t want to do it here, do you?” I grabbed his hand and we ran.

***

We dashed down the side path and got to the front driveway just as the shuttle pulled in. At least fifty tipsy teenagers were already waiting in an unruly line. The bus creaked to a stop. When the door opened, the shuttle bus driver started yelling at everyone to make a line and put out their cigarettes or he wasn’t letting them on. Kids scrambled like they were trying to get on one of the Titanic’s lifeboats.

We were at the very back of the line.

“I knew I should have driven,” Caleb groaned. I spotted Piper and Wyatt at the front of the line.

“Come on.”

Piper pulled me into the line. “Where have you guys been? I tried to call but there is zero cell service up here. Which is why we’re in line for this and not in an Uber.”

“Hey! No cutting!” A guy with a buzz cut a foot taller than Caleb loomed over us. He wore a blinding white dinner jacket. His date, a girl I recognized as a sophomore or junior, leaned on him and slurred something.

“Oh, come on,” I pleaded.

“It’s an emergency,” Caleb added. Yeah, an emergency virginectomy.

“Get to the end of the line, Red,” the big guy said to me. Piper bristled and whirled around to yell at him.

“This is her house, Shrek! She can cut if she wants to!”

The wasted girl, who I recognized as Serena Presser, up-and-coming Friend of Cressida’s, screamed, “S’not her house anymore! She wishesh!” A tremendous hiccup silenced her drunken shrieking. My cheeks burned.

The crowd surged, pushing us forward. Just as I was about to step onto the bus, someone grabbed my shoulder.

“Lana! Thank God we caught you.” It was Ginger. Behind her, Valentina swayed back and forth.

“What is it?” I asked. Ginger grabbed my hand and pulled me off the bus steps.

“It’s Eden. Cressida says she’ll call you a cab later.” She looked at Caleb. “You too.”

“This is bullshit,” Caleb snapped. “Lana, get back up here.”

The driver barked, “Come on girlie, move it up topside!”

“What happened to Eden?” I asked, confused.

Valentina chewed her lip. “Um, some drunk guy busted into her room and she is totally freaked out.”

“Eden’s here?” How could Ramona allow Eden to stay at the house during the party?

Valentina babbled fast. “Yeah, and Cress doesn’t know what to do since she’s not exactly sober, so she needs you to calm Eden down before she’s scarred for life.”

People shoved and yelled behind me.

Caleb hooted. “Any sister of Cressida’s is already scarred for life. Lana, get on the damn bus.”

“Let’s go up there!” someone shouted. I clenched my teeth and stepped off.

“Lana!” Piper yelled. “What are you doing?”

“I’ll get back to the hotel as soon as I can. Caleb, go with them.”

“No!” Valentina and Ginger shrieked in unison. Valentina tittered. “We mean, he has to come too. Cressida said she needs you
both
.” Caleb gritted his teeth and jumped off the steps. The crowd surged onto the bus and the doors creaked shut.

We followed Ginger and Valentina back to the party through the side gate. Valentina had trouble walking in a straight line. I looked up at Caleb. “I promise this won’t take long.” I reached over and tried to grab his hand but he pulled it away.

“Caleb?”

“You really don’t want to be alone with me, do you?” He looked shell-shocked.
But I had to help Eden.

“I do, but this is an emergency. A family emergency.” He stared straight ahead.

“Newsflash: they’re not your family anymore.” My cheeks burned. I gritted my teeth.

“Eden is still my friend, Caleb. She needs me.”

Then I realized with a shock that instead of heading into the main house, the two girls were heading down the path to the pool house.

My palms got damp and I started having trouble breathing.

Please, not the pool house.

***

It had been transformed into a lavish Moroccan-style lounge. There were huge throw pillows scattered on a zebra-skin rug, a fire roaring in the carved stone fireplace, and incense burning everywhere. Throbbing music emanated from the speakers. A group of kids were sitting in a circle on the floor pillows, sharing a hookah. Thick, piney smoke filled the air. A girl I didn’t know was fast asleep on one of the couches. Her yellow dress had ridden all the way up her thighs. She was wearing Spanx, too.

Empty drink cups crowded every surface. On the wall opposite the fireplace was a massive oak bar, with mirrored shelves lined with bottles. Trevor was behind the bar pouring drinks for two guys. Stairs at the back of the main room led up to a loft bedroom. I heard voices and laughter coming from there. A hallway down the center led to the back guest rooms.

No sign of Eden. I thought she’d be standing in the doorway in her pajamas crying.

“Well?” I demanded. “Where’s Eden?”

Valentina and Ginger looked at each other. “Let’s ask Cressida.”

***

We followed the girls down the narrow hallway. I shivered.
Oh, please not there.
They headed to the door at the far end. The door to the maid’s room. But that’s not what Ramona called it. No maid ever lived there. I knew it by another name.

The naughty room.

Valentina knocked. “Cress? We found them!” The deadbolt was still on the door. It was the only room on the estate you could lock from the outside.

The door swung open and the smell hit me first: perfume, incense, cigarettes, and a pungent, skunky smell. Cressida sat on the small daybed. Trevor sat next to her. He saw me, smirked, and pushed past us to leave. I looked down to avoid his stare.

Cressida looked bright-eyed and sober. Not drunk at all. Her face filled with relief when she saw us. She clawed me into a hug. Her talons dug into the bare back above the bodice of my dress.

“Hey! Oh my God, I’m so glad you’re here. Eden ran in here looking for me, totally freaked out. She started asking for you, Lana. You too, Caleb. I didn’t know what to do.” I looked around as she spoke.

The hours I had spent there.

Her voice, screaming. Her hands squeezing your wrists as she drags you in here. The sound of the door slamming. The bolt in the lock. No matter how hard you pound on it, it never opens.