Page 1 of Corrupt Me

one

Iswayed in time with the music, my arms over my head and a red solo cup gripped in one hand. Sweat, beer, and hormones permeated the family room turned into a dance floor. House parties weren’t my scene, but tonight I was someone else, anyone else but Everly Scott.

The clothes, the makeup, the music, the half-gone drink in my hand, none of it was me, but I wanted to prove to Preston—to myself—that I wasn’t boring and predictable. I could be fun and spontaneous. I could let my hair down, hike up my skirt, and not give a fuck about what anyone else thought about me.

Or so I told myself.

Actually, not caring was harder than it sounded in my head despite the fact every girl here was dressed like me…worse to be honest. Even my best friend was scantily clothed in tight cranberry-colored shorts that had part of her butt cheeks hanging out, bouncing in time with her perky, perfect boobs barely contained in a black bra. The lace tank she wore was sheer and added to her sex-crazed kitten look she loved to portray.

“I fucking love this song!” Sam yelled over the bass. The ends of her dark hair dyed aqua spun in the air as she twisted her headfrom side to side. Sam was bold and bright like her choice of hair and wardrobe. She did and said whatever was on her mind, her mouth born without a filter. We often joked she came out of her mother’s womb flipping the bird to the world.

Opposites attract. A truer statement couldn’t be said to describe my friendship with Sam, and until she’d transferred to Seaside Prep during my sophomore year, I hadn’t known how much I needed someone like her in my life.

“Who doesn’t?” I countered with a smile and shook out my long blonde hair. The two glasses of spiked punch were already working their way into my system, loosening my muscles. I felt great without a care in the world.

Sam was short for Samantha, but calling her by her given name would earn you a black eye. My best friend had a thing for boy names; she had a thing for boys was more accurate—all boys...and girls—but never the same one in the same week. And her tight athletic little body got her the attention she craved from both sexes. It didn’t matter which, they all loved her.

Sam was the life of the party everywhere she went, and I was the best friend living in her shadow, content to let her take the spotlight.

“Keg stand!” some jock screamed over the music, bumping his plastic cup against the dude next to him and spilling both of their drinks down their arms. Idiots. But the crowd got rowdy in response.

What was so fun about these parties again? Why had I let Sam talk me into coming out?

Right, because Preston was being an ass.

At the thought of my boyfriend, I lifted the cup to my lips and drained the remaining punch. “I need another,” I yelled to Sam, who nodded and weaved her fingers with mine, leading us through the crowd toward the kitchen at the back of the beach house, all while swaying her hips.

I was drunk. Like the room was one drink away from spinning. I shouldn’t have gotten so out of control tonight, but Preston and I had a fight, and I let Sam convince me a party was what I needed to take my mind off him. Surprisingly, I was having fun…too much fun, thanks to the booze.

Tomorrow I would regret every second of this night, but for now, I would suck every last drop of the concoction in my cup.

The kitchen was a disaster littered with red cups over the counter, empty bottles of liquor, and half-eaten boxes of pizza. Someone had spilled a bag of chips on the sticky tile floor, and the broken pieces crunched under my wedges.Gross.

After filling up my glass, I took another long swig of the bright-green drink that looked like it could have been toxic and refused to let myself think aboutperfectPreston.

Half the girls in this room thought me a fool. They dreamed about being in my shoes, in a relationship with the younger Malone boy. Preston was 30A’s most sought-after boyfriend. 30A was a small stretch of paradise nestled in the Panhandle of Northwest Florida, and Preston was the it guy. He was too damn perfect, and apparently, that was a problem for me. I didn’t want perfect. It was hard enough living up to my dad’s expectations, but Preston’s too...

In reality, he was a great guy. Too great.

In the three years we’d dated, longer if you counted the fact our families had been friends forever, Preston had only ever been supportive, sweet, caring, loyal, and dependable. Everything a girl could ever ask for in a partner. Preston had always been a part of my life, and even when he pissed me off, I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I loved him.

And I would forgive him. Come tomorrow morning, he would apologize, and things would go back to how they were.

I sighed.

“I thought the point of tonight was to forget about Captain Douche?” Sam said. Unlike everyone here, Sam didn’t come from old money or any money, for that matter, but she’d climbed, scraped, and clawed her way through life. She thought Preston a pompous, rich jerk who spent too much time playing lacrosse with his equally wealthy dickhead friends. They never really got along but tolerated each other for me. It was stressful having my best friend and boyfriend at odds.

I forced my mouth to curve upward and looped my arm through hers. “It is. No more thoughts of Preston. I swear. Now, let’s have fun.”

She didn’t look like she believed me, but then a sultry smile curved her lips, and we were back on the dance floor, swaying and laughing. “This is our last party as high-school girls. In two weeks, we’ll be college hotties.”

“And roommates,” I added. Sam and I had both been accepted to Florida State University. It would be the first time Preston and I weren’t in the same school. He’d gotten into the medical program at the University of Florida where his father had attended, about three hours away from FSU.

“We’re going to own that school,” Sam said, twirling me.

I rolled my eyes. Sam was bright, but I was pretty sure she planned on majoring in parties with a minor in how much sex she could have in four years.

I lost myself in the music, the chatter throughout the house, and the alcohol.

---