Lots of girls in her class held wine coolers, sipping from them; other girls held different cups, and Scarlet spotted them pouring from a small flask into cups of orange juice or lemonade. She could not believe how hard everyone was partying on a weeknight. Then again, the big dance was tomorrow, and under the watchful eyes of all the teachers, it wouldn’t be as easy to get away with things. This, the pre-game, was the real party.
“Come on!” Maria shouted over the music as she dragged her through room after room, and back into the kitchen area. “The wine coolers are back here.”
The kitchen was far less crowded, with room to walk, and the music was more muted here, too. Scarlet followed Maria to a large metal bucket filled with ice, wine coolers floating inside. Maria reached down and grabbed two of them, not even asking Scarlet as she twisted opened hers and handed her one.
“Cheers,” she said.
Scarlet hesitated; she rarely drank, and really didn’t want to drink now. If her parents caught her sneaking back home, that would be bad enough; if they smelled alcohol on her, that would be the end of it.
But then again, Scarlet didn’t want to seem like a pilgrim; so she figured she’d accept it, take a sip, then when no one was looking, set it down somewhere.
“Cheers,” she said, clinking glasses and taking a sip; it went right to her head.
“I don’t see him anywhere,” Maria said.
“Who?” Scarlet asked.
“Sage. I heard it on good rumor that he’s gonna be here. Have you seen him?”
Scarlet’s stomach fluttered as she thought of him. She wanted more than anything to push thoughts of him out of her mind, to let him be completely Maria’s. After all, Maria was her best friend, and she wanted her to be happy. But try as she did to suppress it, she couldn’t help realizing she also felt something for Sage.
“No,” she said back, nervously. “I haven’t really been looking.”
“So like what did he say to you after class?” Maria asked, turning to her. “Did he say anything about me? Does he like me?”
Scarlet could see how obsessed Maria was over him, could see that she wasn’t letting it go. She had never seen her this bad before. Scarlet couldn’t help wondering if Maria wanted to see her tonight to truly reconcile their friendship, or only because she wanted to get more information out of her about Sage.
Scarlet felt bad for her. She knew that what Sage had said—that he didn’t like Maria—would devastate her. She didn’t have the heart to tell her that. Besides, she could see that Maria was lost in her own fantasy, and that she wouldn’t even believe it if she said it.
“He really didn’t say anything. The bell rang, and I walked out.”
“Do you think he was into our scene, when we were partnering up? I thought I saw him looking at you, and I got confused.”
Scarlet didn’t know how to reply. She really didn’t want to let her friend down; but she couldn’t lead her on, either.
“I really don’t know. I don’t know anything about him.”
“But you were there. Tell me. What do you think? Was he into me?”
Scarlet had no idea what to say, so she just took another sip.
“OMG, I can’t stop thinking about him,” Maria continued, not waiting for a response. “I have to have him. I heard he still doesn’t have a date for tomorrow night. I’m asking tonight. I decided. I really am this time. I’m going to force him to say yes.”
“Hey guys,” came the voice. They turned, and there stood Becca, arm in arm with her boyfriend, Jake. “Having fun?”
“Hey guys,” Jake said.
“Hi Jake,” they said. “Thanks for having us.”
“You and the rest of the school,” he laughed. “It’s getting crazy.”
“Are your parents gonna be pissed?” Maria asked.
He raised a finger to his mouth, as if to indicate silence.
“If my cleaning lady does her job, they’ll never know. Let’s just hope no one calls the cops.”
They were suddenly grabbed by other people, and turned and headed off into the crowd.
Scarlet’s pocket vibrated, and she pulled out her cell. As she saw the number, her heart stopped.
It was her dad.
It took her breath away. She didn’t know what to do. There was no way he’d be calling her, unless he knew. Somehow, he must have got into her room and saw she wasn’t there.
Oh no, she thought. He must be freaking out.
“What’s wrong?” Maria asked; she must’ve seen her expression.
“My parents,” she said.
Maria shrugged. “Whatever,” she said. “It’s not even that late.”
But Scarlet was not so nonchalant; she wondered how she’d cover up the smell of alcohol on her breath, or cigarette on her clothes. She wondered if she should answer the phone or ignore it. Neither was a good option. She decided to ignore it. Better to try to explain later, in person.
“OMG, there’s Blake!” Maria yelled, grabbing Scarlet by the shoulder and pointing to the far corner of another room.
Scarlet’s heart started to pound as she spotted him, standing with his buddies by the keg, getting a refill. Luckily, he hadn’t seen her yet. Now that she saw him, here in the flesh, she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to. She was having second thoughts. After what happened, she wasn’t even sure how she felt about him. She had apologized and he had ignored it. That was rude. He hadn’t answered her texts and he’d been acting like she didn’t existed. For her, that was too much. It made her really think twice about whether she liked him at all.
And ever since meeting Sage, it became a lot easier to forget about Blake.
“What are you waiting for?” Maria prodded. “Go up to him. Vivian’s not here. This is your chance.”
“I don’t really feel like it,” Scarlet replied.
“What are you talking about? Tomorrow’s the big dance. He’d standing right there. What are you waiting for?”
Scarlet was starting to resent all the pressure.
“You’re hardly one to talk,” she finally snapped. “It’s not like you asked Sage out.”
Maria frowned.
“I’m done chasing him,” Scarlet said. “If he wants to approach me, he will. If he doesn’t, that’s fine.”