Page 7 of Prayer of the Damned

“Let me get you a drink, Bella, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I thought you weren’t going to make it.” He grips my hand and pulls me towards the kitchen, which is packed full of people no less drunk than he is. The kitchen island is full of red plastic cups and bottles, and the marble counter proudly displays a row of beer kegs.

“What’ll you have?” he smiles at me, and my eyes dance over the tremendous selection.

“Mmm… whatever, you pick, I don’t usually drink,” I reply. I really have no idea. “Anything but bourbon,” I add just before he reaches out towards the island. No way am I drinking that awful piss again. I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.

“No problem!” he declares, picking up a red plastic cup and pouring beer from one of the kegs. “We’ll start with something light, before shifting gears to something more serious.” He hands me the cup, we briefly tap our cups together and I take a long sip. The flavor is… tolerable.

“Well?” he asks, waiting for the verdict.

“It’s alright, thanks.” I force myself to smile.

“Now this!” He grabs two small cups full of red jelly, clinks them together, and I struggle to pry the jelly out of the glass. It helps that it’s made of plastic, because as soon as I crush it the jelly comes loose. It tastes of cherries and there’s a sharp aftertaste – must be mixed with some kind of alcohol.

“Well?” he asks, and I laugh at the sight of him genuinely interested in my opinion.

“It’s tasty,” I giggle again, and he waves his hand in the air, making a victory sign as he spills half the contents of his plastic cup.

I jump back and laugh along with him. My head’s spinning, whoa, looks like the alcohol’s already kicking in.

“Come on, I want you to meet some people.” He takes me by the hand before I can react.

We reach what looks like a game room, it’s got a pool table and a few arcade machines scattered around. It’s quieter here than the God-awful clamor going on in the rest of the house. Every face in the room turns to us as we walk in, and I recognize them all as members of Trent’s inner circle. The popular kids, of course.

“Hey, you know Bella, say hi,” Trent announces, and I shrink under everyone’s scrutiny. The girls glance at me disdainfully,while his friend’s practically drooling over me. I take long sips of beer because I have no idea how to act, and I’m tense. I never thought I’d be hanging out with the popular kids, and here I am, feeling like I’ve walked into some crazy parallel universe.

“You sure you go to the same school as us? Because I know I’d remember you,” Trent’s friend Leo says in a smarmy tone, as he approaches and draws my hand to his lips. Unlike him, I know exactly who he is. And fuck, Leo Cable himself just kissed my hand. Holy hell.

“Y-yeah…” I giggle, withdrawing and pulling my hand away from his lips. I don’t know why, but I feel the need to wipe his saliva off on my skirt.

“It’s that psycho Fermi, you idiot,” Kelly, the former head of the student council and Trent’s girlfriend, hisses and shoots me a look full of loathing.

Leo shrugs as if the information doesn’t bother him in the slightest. “Then you’ve come to the right place, Bella, because tonight we’re all going to get crazy as hell!” he shouts, and Trent cheers after him. The girls, on the other hand, roll their eyes and nod their heads. I’m the only one standing there, awkwardly shifting my weight from one foot to the other, unsure how to react.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is your first high school party, isn’t it?” Kelly asks, flashing a glance at her friend. I think her name’s Tiffany.

“Yes,” I admit, my voice barely audible.

“So you’ve got plenty to catch up on before you head off to college!” She smiles at me and claps her hands excitedly, but something tells me her reaction isn’t at all genuine. “Youaregoing to college, aren’t you?”

“Yes, the University of Bologna,” I reply.

“Which one’s that?” Leo asks with a confused look.

“It’s in Italy, you moron. God, how did you make it into Harvard?” Kelly slaps him upside his head. He really is an idiot.

“My dad used his connections, pulled some strings.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“Your dad must have some impressive muscles, considering how hard he’d have to pull those strings,” Trent laughs at his friend’s expense, while the latter punches his shoulder with a faux-offended look that quickly gives way to laughter. I smile at them since it really is pretty funny.

“Okay, Bella, so I assume we’ll have to start from square one. Shall we play Truth or Dare?” Kelly suggests. She and Tiffany jump up and cheer, and their high-pitched voices cause me actual physical pain.

This time it’s Leo’s turn to roll his eyes, but Trent on the other hand seems intrigued, and I feel my face heat up. Damn it.

I quickly lower my gaze and pray deep down that none of the girls have noticed the blush spreading across my face. I force myself to breathe so the blush will quickly fade away, and when my heart finally stops pounding I raise my head.

They didn’t wait for my answer because the four have already cleared the pool balls off the table, and someone’s placed an empty bottle of alcohol on it.

I approach the table and discover that Trent has moved away from me, and is now actually standing in front of me across the table. Does he want to be on the other side of the bottle when it points at us? No, that’s ridiculous, isn’t it?

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