Page 114 of The Dollhouse

Ew, I know.

“I wish you would let one of us go with you,” Roman spoke with a frown as Carter strolled into the kitchen, heading straight to the refrigerator and pulling out something to drink. “I don’t trust this Wyatt boy. I don’t trust any college boy with you.” He practically growled out the words, and if I didn’t have a place to go, I would’ve dropped to my knees right there and worshipped him.

Roman had that way about him.

“Lake is a college boy,” I said, already knowing what he’d say in return.

“Exactly my point” Roman spoke while Carter quipped, “Fuck that nerd.”

I rolled my eyes. “Be nice, please. Lake might try to come up this weekend, and if he does, I want you both to be on your best behavior. Remember: unlike you two, who’ve been with me this whole time, he hasn’t. So if he comes, I’m going to spend most of the day with him. Is that understood?” I glanced between Roman and Carter, knowing I wouldn’t get anything from them right now.

Carter’s lips curled into a frown. “And why are you all dressed up? Don’t tell me you’re still going to that stupid party.” He sounded perpetually annoyed. “Why can’t you just set up a camera in your room, invite this Wyatt guy over, and get him in a compromising position? You can send the video to your sister, and then we can be done. You can even send it to your parents, too.” As much as his idea was intriguing—that would surely piss off Willow to no end and embarrass the shit out of my parents—it wasn’t public enough. I wanted my parents’ humiliation to be city-wide, or at least in the right circles, the ones that would spread the gossip like wildfire for me.

“I’m doing this my way,” I said, though I did file his idea away for later. Maybe. “So I’m going to the party tonight and meeting Wyatt there. I swear to God, if one of you follows me there, I’ll—” I nearly jumped out of my skin when Roman set down whatever piece of his gun he had finished cleaning, glaring at me all the while.

“You will what?” Roman hissed. “You belong to me, Zoey, in case you’ve forgotten. I do not appreciate the idea of you being alone with a hormonal college boy away from me.” His jaw clenched, a vein in his forehead popping out. “You test my patience.”

I moved closer to him, leaning against his arm and planting a kiss on his cheek. “And that’s why you love me. You like it when I’m a brat. Admit it.” When he only continued to glare at me, I giggled, but then I grew serious, bringing my stare to both of them. “I mean it, though. Don’t you dare follow me, either one of you.”

Though I said it, though I put emphasis on it, I also knew I couldn’t tell either one of them what to do. If they wanted to follow me to this party, they would. If they wanted to throw my plan to hell, they’d come into the party and drag me out of it because they got too jealous watching me flirt with Wyatt.

It wasn’t like I was going to fuck the guy. He was cute, but I meant it when I said I had enough boyfriends.

“Just trust me,” I said. “Trust me, okay?” Moving my gaze between Roman and Carter, I could tell neither one of them wanted to say it aloud. Sure, they trusted me, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be jealous and angry with Wyatt.

Men.

Carter grumbled out something I couldn’t hear, while Roman shifted in his seat and returned his full attention to his disassembled gun. I started to walk away from them, saying, “I’ll be back in a few hours. I’d tell you not to wait up, but I know you will.” Of course they would. They were mine as much as I was theirs, and after all this time, I knew them pretty well.

As I left the house and headed to the sidewalk, ready to walk to the party, I had the feeling one of them was going to play the stalker for the night. Whatever. As long as they didn’t make a fool of me, I could work with it.

I knew the frat house that was holding the party. At first, when I’d come back to campus, my sense of direction wasn’t too great. I was rusty, but after being here for two weeks, it had all come back to me. Where the frat houses were, where the sororities were, the art buildings, the guidance offices, all that. Hillcrest University didn’t have a huge campus, but what it did have were tall buildings with fancy new architecture. Only the best for Hillcrest.

The early night air was cool, and it blew against my skin as I walked along the side of the road. The road itself wasn’t too full of cars, although a few did drive past every now and then. Wyatt didn’t text me yet to tell me he’d left to go, but that was fine. I didn’t mind getting their first, surveying the lay of the land, so to speak.

I crossed the main road at an intersection on a red light, walking to campus. I made it to the frat house within another ten minutes, and when I got there, I saw the party had already begun. Hell, I’d bet it had started the moment its inhabitants had finished with their classes for the day.

Technically you weren’t supposed to throw parties on campus, but no one really stopped you, unless you were in the dormitories. If you were in Greek row, in one of the fraternities or sororities, it was kind of expected of you to throw a rager every now and then. It wasn’t like your neighbors would be calling the police for a noise complaint or anything.

The moment I stepped into the house, I was greeted with loud music and laughter. A group of three stood near the door, holding onto red solo cups—because even parties at Hillcrest needed to have those iconic plastic cups. They talked and laughed together, and I walked past them, moving through the house, on a mission to find the kitchen.

I saw some people dancing in the living room area, where big speakers were set up. Another group sat in what must be a study area, playing spin the bottle. Judging from how drunk some of the people here were, I’d say the party had definitely been going on a while, and it would last all night, too. I wouldn’t be staying all night, only a few hours, only enough to make sure I had Wyatt wrapped around my finger like I wanted him.

I felt bad, of course. He wasn’t the kind of guy I wanted to hurt, so it was unfortunate my sister had chosen him to latch onto.

Would Willow show up here tonight? I couldn’t say. It wasn’t like this would be the only party going on tonight, but I kind of hoped she would. I hoped she would see Wyatt and me together, sitting close, laughing, flirting, generally having a good time. I hoped the sight would finally help her get it through her thick skull.

She wasn’t going to have him. While I was here, in fact, she wasn’t going to have anyone. I’d make her life miserable while I could, and I was just petty enough to enjoy the hell out of it. Sue me. The people who said forgiveness was the best medicine to get over your past were fools. No, the best thing was to get even.

I grabbed my own cup and got some beer, though I didn’t plan on having more than a sip or two, and then I went into the living room, where everyone was dancing and grinding on each other like there was no tomorrow. I sat down on a sofa. I pulled out my phone and texted Wyatt, told him I’d gotten too excited and left early, that I was at the party already, so whenever he wanted to show up, I’d be here.

And then I waited. While I sat there, waiting for Wyatt to come, I watched the people around me. The ones dancing, practically making out while rubbing on each other in plain view of everyone else. The ones hanging near the windows, drinking and laughing. The ones who couldn’t really get ahold of the beat and just danced however they wanted—those ones were not the typical partygoers, I could tell. They were awkward, kind of like what I imagined Wyatt would be like, if he tried to dance.

I took a small sip from my cup, making a face at the liquid inside it. Not my favorite at all. The taste was just… ugh. If I had the choice, I’d much rather be drinking something fruity with minimal alcohol. There was an aftertaste I couldn’t get over, no matter how many times I had it.

A pair of two guys approached me, trying to talk to me and sit on the sofa next to me, but I quickly told them the seat was taken. Even if the guy taking it up wasn’t here yet, they didn’t need to know that. They wore sad faces as they went away.

Funny how during the day, no one wanted to talk to me. I was an outsider here, even though I was a Marbella. It was the hair. The hair instantly set me apart from most everyone here. Or maybe it was because I constantly had a death glare on my face, telling anyone who crossed paths with me if they tried talking to me I’d rip their head off. That was resting bitch face for you. I only acted nice when I was with Wyatt or trying to impress one of the professors in class to show up Willow.

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