Breaking Karma

by Charity Ferrell

  I nodded, setting my phone down in my seat. Gabby grinned before grabbing my hand, and the three of us headed towards the door.

  I heard the pulsating sounds of the music before we even walked into the chaos. The place was overflowing with sweaty, costumed people. All of the furniture was covered with large blankets and pushed back against the walls. A giant staircase in the middle of the entry way was roped off with a “DO NOT ENTER” sign taped to it.

  “Let’s find Lane and get some drinks,” Cora yelled over the deafening noise, grabbing my arm. She dragged me through the large crowd, and I kept my eyes on the pigtails bobbing in front of me while Gabby held onto my back.

  We stopped in the kitchen, and I scanned the large crowd surrounding us. Granite counter tops were covered with food, drinks, or someone’s ass. Two kegs were set up on the floor with people circled around it. The house had an open concept design, and you could see the action from any room.

  My eyes landed on Piper and her goon squad dancing in the living room. Her “costume” was a tiny, sparkly, pink tutu, a crop top that showed off her dream catcher belly button ring, and a pair of heels that were taller than mine. She finished off her ensemble with a sparkly tiara perched on top of her head.

  “What's she even suppose to be?” Cora asked, coming to my side.

  “Toddlers and Tiaras All Grown Up: The Street Corner Edition,” Gabby joked. "Looks like she decided to bedazzle her horns tonight to look like a tiara. Our costumes totally kill hers.”

  "Ladies, you look ravishing!" Lane called out. He came into the room with a red cup in his hand, wearing a football jersey and jeans. I guess he didn’t go with the whole Bam Bam idea. He grinned. “Mmm pigtails.” Grabbing Cora around the waist, he hoisted her up onto a small, open space on the counter. Kissing her neck, he played with her pigtail.

  "Get a room," Piper spat out, strutting into the kitchen, looking pissed off.

  “Alright, ladies, pick your poison,” Lane told us, signaling to the alcohol bottles. How the hell did he manage to get all of this?

  “Vodka, por favor,” Gabby answered, grabbing three cups and a bottle. “Where’s the cranberry juice?”

  “There isn't any,” Piper said.

  “There is cranberry juice,” Lane corrected, opening up the stainless steel fridge. “Just not for you.” Not bothering to turn around and acknowledge Piper, he grabbed a bottle of cranberry juice from the bottom compartment and handed it over to Gabby.

  “Why are you always such an asshole?” Piper shot back.

  Without giving Lane a chance to argue back, Cora jumped off the counter quickly and got in Piper's face. "Why are you even talking, Piper? You know no one wants you here." She let out a disgusted snort, and my mouth fell open. Damn, I'd never seen Cora be mean to anyone.

  Piper let out a sarcastic laugh. "Please Cora, I don't even understand what he sees in you," she sneered, pinching her face together. Her voice had always been irritating, but adding alcohol to her system made it excruciating to listen to. She moved her vision from Cora over to Lane and gave him a sly smile. “I’ll repeat what I’ve always told you. You definitely downgraded.”

  Downgraded? Did Lane used to date Piper?

  Cora's fists balled up, and I was positive she was gearing to drop kick Piper.

  Lane must've been thinking the same thing because he raced forward and pulled Cora back behind his broad chest. "Shut the fuck up, Piper," he warned the angry blonde, his voice ice cold. "Or get the hell out of my house. You're lucky I even let you step foot in here. But if you ever talk to Cora like that again, you'll be banned from every single goddamn party that happens here, or anywhere else."

  Damn, go Lane.

  For the first time since I'd known Piper, she was speechless. Her mouth pressed into a tight line, and I could see the hurt in her eyes. She glanced around suddenly, realizing no one was coming to her defense. I spotted her groupies in the corner, refusing to look her way. They might want to be like her, but they weren't willing to get banned from parties for their ringleader.

  She pointed her perfectly contoured chin in the air, tossed her shiny hair over her shoulder, and strutted out of the room, shoving through the crowd with her elbows.

  "I can't stand that fucking chick," Lane bit out, his voice cracking with anger. "Shows fucking over!” He waved the crowd around us out of the kitchen.

  They scurried away like ants, back to the music in the living room. From the look on Lane's face, my ass would have scurried away, too.

  So far, the party had been exactly what I’d assumed. Pure fucking torture, and we hadn't even started drinking yet.

  Lane wrapped his arms around Cora and kissed her hair. Tilting her head up, she stepped up to give him a peck on the lips. "That made me feel better," she smiled, breaking away from his hold.

  “Are you okay, girl?” Gabby asked, pulling her in for a hug. “I'm so going to plant bugs in that girl’s bed next time I'm forced to go over to her house for a dinner."

  Cora let out a deep sigh and nodded. “I’m just going to run to your bathroom real quick and put my phone in your room,” she told Lane, walking out of the kitchen.

  “I’m coming with you," Lane said, following behind her.

  When I could no longer make out their bodies in the crowd, I turned to Gabby with a raised brow. “Did Piper and Lane used to date?” It wasn’t my business, but it was too … weird.

  Gabby grabbed the vodka bottle and let out a deep sigh. “Lane is seriously going to kill me for this. Cora and him went on a break during junior year.” She held up her cup and poured two shots inside before handing the bottle to me. “During those two weeks, he went to a homecoming dance with Piper. They didn’t do shit, but Piper enjoys giving Cora a hard time about it. She says she’s getting her sloppy seconds when everyone, even Cora, knows that Lane would never touch Piper like that. Break or no break.” She grabbed the cranberry juice and filled up the rest of her cup. “Piper is just jealous because neither Lane or his cousin want anything serious with her. She’s either only a fuck buddy or a homecoming date to piss off the girl they really love.”

  “Sounds like she wants to keep it in the family,” I said, grabbing a cup.

  Gabby took a sip. “Piper just needs attention since she doesn’t get any at home. Her daddy is always gone with his secretary, and her mom bangs the pool boy on a regular basis.”

  “And you know all of this how?”

  “Her dad is my step-dad’s brother.” I immediately felt bad for her. “The first time I met Piper, she called me white trash because my mom drove a Honda and had a full-time job.”

  Nodding as she talked, I gripped the vodka bottle in my hand and started to fill my glass over halfway full. Screw it.

  Hello stomach, meet my new friend, Mr. Vodka.

  “Shit, Daisy. Slow it down,” Gabby said, grabbing the bottle from me.

  “I’m fine,” I insisted, filling up the remainder of my cup with juice. Or I was going to be in about twenty minutes when the alcohol set in and my brain couldn’t process how miserable my life was.

  I wanted to drink away the memories that kept me awake at night. I took a giant gulp, choking as I felt the burn of the potent liquid trail down my throat. Why didn’t they make this stuff taste like candy?

  “Uh no, you’re not fine. My mom will seriously kick my ass if anything happens to you tonight,” she said, worriedly.

  I faked a laugh, waving her off like I drank like this all of the time. “I’m not going to drink all of it,” I lied. “I wasn’t paying attention when I was pouring, and I didn’t want to waste alcohol.”

  Her smile faltered, and I knew she was fully aware I was bullshitting her. “Okay,” she said, slowly. “But stay with me, okay?”

  I nodded, and she grabbed my hand in hers. We walked into the living room that was packed with dancing bodies. My eyes zoned in on the disco ball hanging from the expensive chandelier. The array of hues bounced around the room, reflecting off the bodies gri
nding against each other to the beat of the music.

  Everywhere I turned, there was either a dry-humping couple or someone with their tongue down another’s throat. The room was hot, and the cup in my hand grew slippery.

  The hurt I’d been carrying around like a backpack began to loosen its straps and slowly fade away.

  KEEGAN

  Chapter Nine

  One more call.

  If my phone lit up with her name one more fucking time, I was going to toss it out the window. Piper’s incessant phone calls were irritating the shit out of me. The girl had been up my ass since I quit taking her to school.

  Yeah, she was annoying before, but it’d never been like this. She’d even tried to pull the waterworks with me when I told her I was driving to Lane’s party solo, so she needed to find another ride. It was about that time to cut her ass off.

  I drove past the driveway packed with cars and headed straight to the garage. I was already running late because Theo was out of treats, and the little runt gets angry if he doesn’t have his daily dose of Beggin’ Strips. Someone had to take care of the little guy since my mom basically ditched him.

  Typical Layla fucking Hudson.

  I remembered the day she brought him home. She was in one of her moods again and showed up with some dog I knew she’d grow tired of. And I was right. Her mothership with Theo lasted about a week before she was MIA again.

  Rifling through my center console, I found the garage door opener my aunt had given me. I always parked in the garage during these parties because I didn’t want my car to get fucked with. There were too many pissed off girls that would love to take their anger out on it. Plus, if the cops came, they wouldn't see my car. I would just hide out until they left.

  I hit the button, waiting for the door to open all the way before parking in my usual spot. Shoving my phone into my pocket, I turned off the ignition and got ready for the mayhem. Lane's parties were always fucking killer.

  I dodged conversations as I walked through the hall and headed straight to the kitchen. I needed a beer before I did anything. I turned the corner and wasn’t surprised at what I walked into. Piper was dancing on the counter, giving me and everyone else a clear view of her pussy underneath some hideous, pink fluffy shit wrapped around her waist.

  She looked down, spotting me.

  Fuck.

  “Keegan, baby,” she screeched, her voice eagerly drunk. She jumped off the bar in her heels, but instead of landing, she ended up falling down to her knees. Damn, drunk girls were not attractive. “I’ve been trying to call you all night,” she slurred, looking up at me from the floor.

  I nodded my head, moving around her to the keg, and started to fill up a cup while her friends helped her back up to her feet. I was being an asshole, but I needed some alcohol in my system before I could handle her bullshit.

  She stumbled back to me, wrapping her arms around my neck and licking it. “I’ve missed you so much, baby. We never see each other anymore,” she whined.

  Did I mention drunk girls were a major turnoff?

  “I gotta go find Lane,” I said, dragging her hands off me. “Find me later.”

  Did I want to see her later? Probably not, but I never knew how drunk or horny I’d get. Things could change. When I got drunk, I liked to get laid.

  I left the room on the hunt for my dumbass cousin. I shuffled through the swaying bodies and ignored the girls asking me to dance with them. After checking the back deck and walking in on a couple fucking on the dining room floor with no trace of him, I stepped over the rope blocking off the stairs.

  I dug into my pocket for my phone when my foot hit the top step. I needed to call Lane before barging into his bedroom, in case he was fucking Cora. She threw his alarm clock at my head, causing me to get five stitches, last time I did. My finger was about to hit his name when someone ran straight into me, causing my beer to spill over the two of us.

  What the fuck?

  “Shit,” a soft voice mumbled, before tripping over my legs. I caught her before she stumbled down the steps. Damnit, the last thing Lane needed was some drunk broad falling down the stairs and getting hurt.

  I grabbed her around the hips and lifted her back up the steps. “What the fuck? Can you not fucking read? No one is allowed up here,” I growled.

  "Sorry,” she stuttered out. “I really had to pee, and apparently some girl named Monica was banging some guy named Peter in the other bathroom. My bladder doesn’t do too well when I’ve been drinking and ...”

  She continued to ramble about some bullshit, but I zoned out because there was something familiar in her voice. I lightened my hold on her, and she stumbled back a few steps until she was away from me. My mouth gaped when I finally took a good look at her.

  Daisy was staring at me, dressed in a tiny green dress that hugged every sexy curve of her body, and wearing fuck me heels that still didn’t bring her anywhere near my height. My beer dripped from her jet-colored hair onto the carpet. She was also clearly wasted off her ass. No, correction, she was beyond wasted. She was completely fucking inebriated.

  "Fuck, Daisy," I snapped, leveling my gaze on her. "Is this your first time drinking?" I stepped closer as she began to stumble around again.

  "Nooooo," she slurred. She giggled, her face scrunching up. "But it has been awhile."

  I leaned down and grabbed my phone from the floor. She gasped when I wrapped my arms around her waist to level her wavering body and walked her down the hallway until we reached the room I usually stayed in when I slept over. I turned the light on, shut the door behind us, and warily set her down on the bed.

  "Uhhhh," she mumbled, nervously glancing around the room.

  "Stay here," I demanded, walking into the adjoining bathroom. I dumped the rest of my beer in the sink, rinsed out the cup, and filled it up with water while trying to keep my cool. I was going to rip Cora a new asshole when I found her.

  "You need to drink this," I instructed, walking back into the room and shoving the cup her way. She hurriedly grabbed it and chugged it until she started choking.

  "Whoa, easy there, killer," I chuckled, grabbing it before she ended up with more shit spilled all over her dress.

  She sent me a glare before collapsing back onto the bed. "God," she groaned. "Why does it always fucking hurt? I just want it to all go away. That's why I drank so much, but of course, it didn’t work.” Her arms crashed against the bed while she mumbled shit I couldn’t make out. “Why did I get everything taken away from me? I'm a decent person. I go to church regularly," she paused, smacking her palm against her forehead. "Okay, crap, sorry God. I go to church sometimes. Not as often as I should, but I swear to you, I will work on that.”

  I stifled back my laugher at her drunken rambles and sat down on the bed beside her, but she wasn't done. "Then people like Piper," she hissed her name like it was poison hitting her tongue, "get to be all beautiful and rich and then treat me like freaking shit when I didn't even want to come to this place." Her voice grew louder, and I peeked down at her body sprawled out on top of the comforter. A few tears escaped her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

  She looked pained.

  Fuck.

  I hated dealing with drunken girls and tried to steer clear of them the best I could. Sure, I went to parties and they were around, but I never dealt with them sober. I needed a few more drinks in me before I could handle situations like this, especially crying. Shit, chicks crying weren’t my thing, either. But being around a whimpering Daisy was different. I didn’t want to run for the hills at the sight of her tears, I wanted to stop them. I wanted to erase all of the bad shit that was running through her head.

  "Daisy," I whispered, leaning down to wipe away the tears with my index finger. "Piper's beauty is nothing compared to yours. You hear me?" My hand grabbed her jaw and I stroked the soft skin covering her cheekbones. "You have real fucking beauty that daddy can't put on his credit card."

  I wasn't bullshitting her, either. It was true. E
ven with her red, puffy eyes, and the mascara running down her face, she still looked gorgeous.

  My mind went back to the night I first saw her staring at me from the balcony. I was so intrigued with who those dark eyes belonged to. That's why I stopped and talked to Tommy the next morning. I needed to catch a glimpse of her again.

  She hiccupped. "I try to do what everyone says." She dragged out a deep breath. "You've got to keep living your life, Daisy. He’s not coming back,” she babbled, in a mocking tone. “How can I live my life without him?"

  Without thinking, I laced her hand in mine and ran my thumb over the top. My aunt used to do that for me when I was younger and upset. I remembered how much it would soothe me. Her breathing was still rapid, but I could sense it starting to slow down.

  Using my other hand, I moved her beer soaked strands away from her face and behind her ear. "Do you want some more water?" I asked.

  My phone started to vibrate in my pocket before she could answer. Digging it out, I saw Lane's name flashing across the screen. Thank God, I needed some backup.

  "Dude, where the fuck are you?" His voice yelled over the music. He must’ve been downstairs.

  "Spare bedroom. Meet me up here and bring your girlfriend," I said, trying my best to mask my anger so I didn't upset Daisy.

  We both jumped when the bedroom door flew open. Cora took one look at Daisy's blotchy face and wet clothes before turning her snarling scowl my way. "What the hell?" she asked.

  "Yeah Cora, what the hell?" I yelled. “I found her up here roaming around, drunk off her ass like some damn rat caught in a maze. Oh, and she almost fell down the stairs.” Cora winced at my angry tone. “Why the fuck weren’t you or Gabby with her?” My anger flared at the thought of someone else finding her.

  Cora opened her mouth, ready to spew out whatever bullshit excuse she had, but Daisy beat her to it. “Please, don’t fight. I was only going to the bathroom, but now I want to go home,” she said, trying to gain control of her voice. Her shaky hands bent down on the bed as she tried to push herself to her feet. I gave Cora a sharp look before spinning around to help her get up.