by Taylor Wade
Wes would occasionally ask me questions about myself but he never probed me for answers when I was vague or changed the subject, which I appreciated. I knew he was curious but my past wasn’t something I enjoyed talking about.
The little flutter in my chest every time I was with Wes only grew the more he was around. I never acted on my feelings, however, and he never treated me as anything more than a friend. I hated that I would find myself silently begging for him to kiss me.
I managed to keep avoiding Gabe for two more weeks after the scene at Dusty’s but he eventually caught up to me. He apologized for what he said, using his state of intoxication as an excuse. I explained that whatever we had was over at the fraternity party when he got so drunk that he had called me Emmy. I told him that we could be friends although we both knew that I didn’t have any intention of doing so. He looked pissed at first but finally conceded and walked away. Now whenever I see him he gives me a forced but friendly smile and quickly looks away.
Tonight’s Halloween and, upon Elle’s insistence, we were dressing up as the Spice Girls. We invited Jade to join us but we were still short one person so we decided to forego Scary Spice since she was everyone’s least favorite anyways.
After nearly three hours of primping, the four of us were finally ready to meet up with the guys at The Alamo. The Alamo was a new nightclub downtown that was having a special Halloween event and none of us had been there yet so it was exciting to try out some place new.
“OH. My. God.” Jade cackled with laughter when she saw me exit my room. “No one is gonna have to ask who you are, it’s perfect!”
I smiled and shook my head, checking out her portrayal of Posh Spice. She straightened her brown shoulder-length hair and added some sort of serum to it that made it super shiny, as well as applying a smoky eye with a light gold colored lipstick. She was wearing a tight, leather strapless dress that stopped mid thigh and wore a pair of stilettos that wrapped all the way up to her knee cap, a close depiction to the ones that we had seen on Victoria Beckham in most of the group’s pictures.
“Did Posh Spice get renamed Slutty Spice without anyone telling me?” I asked and raised an eyebrow at her.
“Watch you’re language, Baby!” I laughed and walked over to the mirror to inspect myself for the hundredth time. I had piled my long blonde hair into two high pig tails on top of my head, applied my make up light so that it gave me that natural, innocent look and added enough blush to my cheeks so that it resembled Baby Spice’s rosy glow. Luckily I managed to find a cheap, pale pink baby doll nightgown at a thrift store down the street. The material was sheer, but not so that my panties were showing, and the bustier top pushed up my boobs and made them look a little bigger, which was fine by me. The nighty was a size too big so it was a little longer than it was meant to be which I was grateful for. Rather than the material stopping just below my butt, it went to mid thigh, adding a semblance of modesty. I was tempted to grab a coat but I knew that we’d continue drinking and the alcohol would keep me warm. I also didn’t want to have to keep an eye on it all night in the packed club. It was an especially warm night considering the recent drop in weather so I decided to leave it behind.
Savanna hobbled into the room dressed to impress and I laughed at our matching shoes. We found the platform sneakers that the girls had often worn at one of the local Halloween shops. They were basically go-go boots except the material stopped at the ankle.
“I feel like I’m walking with two bricks super glued to my feet!” she wailed, plopping herself down onto the sofa, “you guys look hot, though!”
“Oh, shush, Silverman, you know you’ve got us all beat with that wig. Overachiever.” I said playfully.
Savanna took her costume most seriously, even buying a long red wig to portray Ginger Spice. Her lips were painted a bright red shade that perfectly matched the color of her dress. Her dress was the same style as Jade’s except it was red instead of black, and the fabric was a clingy cloth rather than leather.
“I give you two hours before you toss that thing. It’s gonna be all sweaty and itchy. Ick.” Jade scrunched up her nose imagining the torture Savanna was going to put herself through.
“I couldn’t take it off if I wanted to. There are so many bobby pins keeping it attached to my head that I went through two whole packs.” She flipped her hair from side to side proving just how stable the wig was. “Now I can dance up on my man as crazy as I want without worry!”
“I can’t wait to meet the mystery man, Sav!” I said, and she grinned like a silly schoolgirl with a crush on the quarterback.
“You’re all gonna love Cam! He’s super sweet!”
Before either of us could respond, Elle walked in and wailed, “I just look like a slutty athlete!”
“Well, yeah, Elle…that’s because you’re Sporty Spice.” She gave me a mock glare and I rolled my eyes.
“Why did you all get to be the cute ones? It’s not fair!” she wined, and we all laughed in disbelief.
“You called dibs on Sporty Spice!” I yelled.
“You assigned all of us our roles, you bitch!” Savanna added, and Jade just snickered.
“Okay, whatever, but I’m putting on a name tag so people don’t have to ask me who I am!”
Elle ran over to the kitchen counter and pulled out a marker and tape, grabbing a piece of plain white paper from the printer and tearing off a large square. After a moment, she walked back over to us, a pleased smile on her face. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that landed at the middle of her back. Her super tight white tank top now had the words ‘Sporty Spice” taped onto her chest in black marker, and her green athletic shorts could easily pass for underwear. The shorts left part of her flat midriff showing, and revealed the bottom outline of her butt cheeks. She added white knee socks with two green stripes and paired them with her everyday running shoes.
“Let’s get drinking’, my spice sista’s!” Elle yelled happily as she strolled into the kitchen singing “Wannabe.”
We took a couple of shots and then each made a mixed drink to sip on while we waited for a cab. It was nice to have all three of my friends together without the stress of boyfriends. Colin was almost always attached to Elle’s side, as was Luke to Jade’s, and Savanna often disappeared for days at a time with Cam.
I caught a reflection on the glass of the window of all four of us dressed up and I smiled to myself. I could feel that tonight was going to be a good night and so I let down my guard a little bit and sat back, enjoying the moment. I pushed away my troubles and relaxed, laughing with my girls.
~~~~
We waited in line for twenty minutes before we got to the bouncers. There were people everywhere trying to push through the line and I was pleased that my shoes came in handy by stepping on people feet to keep them back. We each passed the bouncers our fake ID’s and were given a black ex on the back of our hands and instructed into another room where we paid the entrance fee and had our IDs scanned—thank god for technology these days, even the fakest of IDs can be scanned and black lighted— through a machine before getting a neon yellow wristband that said ‘age verified’ in capital letters.
Once we made it into the club, we weaved our way through groups of scantily clad woman and shirtless men. Elle had texted Colin to let him know that we had arrived and so we all craned our necks looking for him. Of course Elle was the one to spot him and flung herself into his arms. He caught her but stumbled back, surprised by her attack. She gave him a sloppy kiss on the lips and giggled before turning back to us and motioning her to follow them.
It took us a few minutes to push through all of the people before we got over to the table where the guys were all seated, beers in hand. My eyes narrowed instinctively when I saw the same busty blonde from Dusty’s sitting to Wes’s right, pressed up against him. He wasn’t paying attention to her but I was annoyed that he allowed her to press so close against him and place her hand on his upper thigh. She was dressed
as a slutty schoolgirl, of course, because she was trying to be original, and her large breasts were spilling out of her shirt.
I nearly tripped into my seat, my equilibrium slightly off balance from all of the drinks we had while we waited for our cab. Jade giggled at me before making her way over to Luke and sitting in his lap. Luke was wearing a toga like half of the other guys here, except he added a leafy crown to his ensemble. Colin was dressed up as a member of the mafia and it didn’t appear as though Wes had dressed up at all which made me roll my eyes. How rebellious of him.
“Baby Spice, come help me find my boyfriend!” Savanna yelled, grabbing my arm and dragging me away before I had fully settled into my seat. “Don’t worry about Jackie, she’s been after Wes since the first week of freshman year. He always blows her off.”
I looked up at Savanna, surprised that she had noticed my reaction. She hadn’t been around enough to catch onto any feelings I had for Wes but I guess I was more obvious than I realized. The thought crushed me a little. If Savanna knew that I had a thing for Wes than shouldn’t that be obvious to him, too? The only explanation was that he knew but didn’t feel the same, which is why he kept treating me as a friend.
Before I had time to wallow in self-pity I reminded myself that I didn’t want a boyfriend. I was giving myself a mental pep talk when Savanna squealed and clutched my arm tighter, throwing her free hand up and waving it around.
“Cam!” she shouted as we continued walking. I looked around unsure of who she was waving to. At that same moment, a tall skinny guy walked up to us with a wide grin, bending down to scoop Savanna into his arms. Cam had ink-black chin length hair that he tucked behind his ear, a silver hoop in both his eyebrow and lip. He had large gages in each earlobe and a colorful snake tattooed down his left arm. The tail wrapped around his skinny bicep, the snake’s mouth traveling down to his hand, it’s mouth opened and baring teeth between his thumb and index finger.
He put Savanna down and she made introductions. I smiled up at him as I took his extended hand and shook it, trying my best to hide my surprise at the dark eyeliner heavily rimmed around each of his eyes.
“What’s he dressed up as?” I asked Savanna as we walked back to the table with Cam following behind us.
“Oh, he came straight from work so he didn’t have time to put on a costume.” She replied.
I thought I had known Savanna’s type after her brief fling with Ollie but it turns out she doesn’t have one. Although, judging by Cam’s looks alone I wouldn’t be surprised if he was also a heavy pot smoker. Perhaps she has a thing for stoners, I thought to myself.
When we got back to the table I was pleased to see that Jackie was gone but then saw that Wes was, too, and any brief happiness that I had felt faded. There were girls walking around holding a tray of shot glasses filled with a pink liquid and Luke motioned one over and gave her a fifty-dollar bill for the whole tray. The girl looked unsure at first but when she saw the cash she just shrugged and walked off. We all reached over and grabbed a shot, clinking our glasses together and laughing. Remembering Wes had left with that Jackie chick killed my spirits for the third time tonight. I grabbed another shot and poured it back, barely finishing it before I was reaching for another.
“Uh oh, someone’s getting trashed tonight.” I rolled my eyes at Luke’s comment and reached for one more but it was snatched from my hand before I could bring it to my mouth.
“Save some for everyone else, drunky!” I blinked as Wes slid into the seat beside me and nudged my shoulder with his. I just glared at him, knowing that I might not be able to control what comes out of my mouth at the moment. He titled his head back and swallowed the pink liquid, chasing it down with the last of his Budweiser.
I turned away from him, too pissed off to look at him, and found myself watching Savanna interact with Cam. She looked like her usual, bubbly self but I caught something flash in her eyes that I knew no one else had seen. I couldn’t place the emotion but it seemed misplaced. I watched as Cam leaned down close to her ear and whisper something before he got up and marched off towards the bar. Savanna frowned but immediately shook it off, a wide grin stretching across her face when I raised an eyebrow at her. I shrugged and went back to my drink taking slow sips, not allowing myself another one.
“Baby Spice, huh? I would’ve taken you as more of a Scary Spice kinda girl.” Wes whispered playfully in my ear from the seat beside me. He was leaning in close enough that I could smell his familiar scent and feel the heat of his breath across my skin. I leaned away from him and turned my face towards him so that I could level him with a glare. He narrowed his eyes at me in confusion and tilted his head, his eyes searching me. I kept my face void of emotion.
“What’s your problem tonight?” he asked.
“I don’t know, where’s your slutty schoolgirl?” I shot back at him before I could stop myself. The jealousy clear in my voice, I quickly snapped my mouth shut. His eyes widened for a moment, his gaze never leaving mine. I felt a blush creep onto my skin and twisted away from him, pretending to be captivated by the sea of people on the dance floor.
“I wouldn’t know. I told her to leave.” He said, his words firm.
“Whatever.” I grabbed my drink and left the table needing to give myself distance from him.
I roamed around for a few minutes before stepping outside for some fresh air. My skin was starting to sweat from the heat and I hadn’t even danced yet. I pushed through groups of smokers and leaned back against the brick of the building. The night air felt good on my skin and I took a deep, relaxing breath.
“Gimme two, I’m no rookie, man.” I froze at the voice and spun to my left to see Cam handing two twenty-dollar bills to a guy I had never seen before. The guy placed two blue pills in Cam’s hand and I watched as he brought them up to his mouth and swallowed them dry.
“Thanks, bro.” The guy nodded in acknowledgment and walked back inside of the club. Cam turned and noticed me standing there, frozen. He took in my expression and smirked, but there was no amusement in his eyes. Just a hard, cold stare as he took a couple of steps towards me until I was backed up against the wall and we were toe to toe. He narrowed his eyes down at me and I felt goose bumps cover my skin at the harshness of his glare. This Cam was so different from the one I had been introduced to.
“Our little secret?” I was too stunned to respond and his jaw clenched at my silence. He leaned his face closer to mine. “Right?”
He spoke louder than before, taking me by surprise, and I flinched. He snickered at my reaction and shook his head in disgust looking me from head to toe before heading back inside.
“C’mon, Brookey Baby, you know you want to.” His once endearing nickname filled me with disgust. His words were playful but his tone was forceful. I suppressed the sob that was climbing up my throat.
“Fuckin’ do it, Brookelyn!” He yelled with his face close enough to mine that I could feel droplets of saliva hit me in the face from the forcefulness of his shout.
I shook my head no longer able to contain my tears or the violent sobs that racked through my body. As soon as I felt the tears hit my cheeks a sharp pain went through my head as he grabbed me forcefully by my hair and yanked it downward so that my face was tilted up to his. I closed my eyes to avoid looking at him in the eyes and so the sharp sting that shot through my cheek took me by surprise. I whimpered and reluctantly opened my eyes. He grabbed my jaw roughly between his fingers.