Page 29 of Remember Us This Way

I laugh and step closer to Mom. “Seeing as though you orchestrated this whole thing, I only think it’s fair that you drop me off.”

“Deal,” she says. “But there’s going to be rules. I know you’re a smart girl and know better, but remember to never accept drinks from a stranger, and absolutely no alcohol. I want you home by midnight, and if you’re in trouble or you don’t feel safe, always call us.”

“I know,” I say with a groan.

“Good, then let’s go. I’ve been dying to get you out of the house, and I swear, if you don’t come home with some exciting stories for me to live vicariously through you, then you’re not partying right.”

Oh God. Maybe having Mom drop me off isn’t such a good idea after all. If she even gets a hint of a good time, she’ll be the one taking up space on the dance floor, and before I know it, she’ll have Aunt Maya and all her college friends crashing Liam’s party and turning it into an over forty rager.

With that, we make our way out to the car, and as Mom starts the engine, I pull my phone out of my bra and send off one final text.

Zoey: Hazel twisted my arm. I’m coming, and I’m ready for a good night!

Tarni: HELL YEAH!!!!!!!

Fifteen minutes later, I stand in the doorway of Liam’s home, looking in at the array of crammed bodies. This was such a bad idea, but I can’t find it in me to turn around and walk back out. Besides, Mom hit the gas the second the door closed behind me, making it impossible to change my mind.

People stare at me, their eyes dragging up and down my body as if not even realizing I’m the girl they’ve been calling trash all week. I try to ignore them and push past the insecurities their taunts have created in me.

The music is so loud that I can’t hear myself think, and without Noah or Shannan in sight, that’s exactly what I need to relax and actually enjoy my night. Making my way through the door, my gaze shifts over the eager partiers, and I barely get five feet into the fray when I find Tarni, Abby, and Cora dancing like nobody’s watching, drinks in hand.

I make my way toward them, a genuine smile spreading across my face for the first time all week. I’m just about there when Tarni glances over Cora’s shoulder, her big blue eyes coming right to mine.

“Hooooooooly shit,” she beams, her jaw dropping as she takes me in. “Who are you, and what the hell happened to my best friend?”

I laugh as I crash into my friends, their arms slinging over my shoulders as they drag me into their little circle. Indicating down my body, I meet Tarni’s stare. “It’s too much, isn’t it?”

“Hell no, girl,” she says, taking one last sip of her drink before shoving the almost full cup into my hand. “It’s perfect. You look like you’ve come to make a fucking statement, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Now, let’s get you fucked up.”

I grin back at her, and with that, I lift the cup to my lips while sending a silent apology to my mom, knowing damn well that I’ll be breaking a few of her rules tonight.

12

Noah

It’s just after ten when I finally show up at the East View High party just outside of town. I wasn’t planning to come tonight, but Liam hasn’t quit bugging me about it. The second he told the world his parents were out for the weekend, he started planning the first party of the semester, and naturally, every last person in East View showed up.

I’ve spent most of the night chilling with a few of the guys from St. Michael’s, but since moving schools, they haven’t been able to hold my attention, not since coming back here to this place. I’ve been here a week, and to say it’s been a dumpster fire is an understatement.

Tuesday with the rumors about Linc and Shannan’s mob attack on Zoey were a tipping point. It threw me right over the edge, and the guilt for not protecting Zoey like I always promised I would has eaten at me all week. The school has turned her into an outcast, and while she’s held her head high and suffered through it all week, I haven’t been man enough to step up and put a stop to it. If I did, I’d have to admit that I actually care.

Fuck. The school counselor has been earning her paycheck this week.

Shannan has gone out of her way to make life hell for Zoey, but despite how Zoey just sits there and takes it, I know that she’ll eventually bite back, and when she does, Shannan better run. Zoey has always had a backbone, but she keeps it hidden like a secret weapon.

I don’t get what Shannan’s angle is though. Is she trying to impress me or get my approval? Because it’s not working. If anything, it’s just showing me how fucking awful she is. Sure, I might have thought about fucking her when I first got to East View, but now that she’s messing with Zoey, there is no way in hell I’ll touch her. Liam can have her.

I don’t even know why I care so much. Maybe it’s out of habit or a way to protect Linc’s wishes. He would hate the way things are between us now, and that’s on me. He’d hate it all. My relationship with Mom, my relationship with Zoey, the way I’ve let down Hazel.

Fuck, he’d hate that most of all. I need to make it up to Hazel.

Zoey was right, Linc would be so ashamed of me, and that thought kills me. Zoey’s been right about a lot of things. How I’m too scared of my own feelings, how I’m a fucking coward. I hate how easily she can read me. When I first got here, I thought the ball was in my court, that I was the one who could see right through her, read her so perfectly, but it’s been the opposite. She’s becoming a mystery to me, while after three long years, she still knows me better than I know myself, no matter how hard I try to push her away and hide it. She makes me vulnerable.

Trying to push the thoughts of Zoey aside, I walk up the pathway toward Liam’s home. It’s pretty big for East View standards. His family clearly has money, but not the type of money they can just easily throw around and show off. Most families are like that around here. Middle to upper class. It’s why the majority of the kids around here drive expensive cars. If it weren’t for the over-the-top fees of the local private schools, I can guarantee most of these assholes would have been enrolled there instead.

My family is no different. Well, it used to be before Linc died. My father left us after that, and the guilt eats at him, so he overcompensates by throwing money at me to avoid having to deal with the fact that he’s a piece of shit. I’m not complaining though, that money bought my Camaro and paid for the killer matte black paint job. It also kept me out of jail, so there’s that.

People have spilled out on the front lawn of Liam’s property as the music blares from inside. There are kids sitting on the roof just outside the bedroom windows and spilled drinks from one end of the front porch to the other.

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