Page 110 of Vile Boys

Brooke: Don’t want him to worry, huh?

Lana: Yeah. Did he notice something?

Brooke: No, they were still in that exclusive area for a good while. I don’t even wanna know what they were doing in there. TMI.

Lana: Pls just don’t tell him I was gone.

Me: We won’t tell him, don’t worry. As long as you’re safe.

Lana: Thank you.

Me: DM us if you need us, and we’ll be there in a min, OK?

Lana: GO dance. Don’t worry about me.

Me: OK, get better soon!

Brooke: K, feel better!

I tuck my phone away again and smile at Brooke, who’s no longer incessantly chewing her nails. “Thank God. I would’ve died if I had to go talk to her fucking brother.”

I laugh. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Have you ever talked to him?” she asks. “He’s a scary guy.”

“True,” I reply. “Anyway, wanna dance?” I wink.

She grabs my hands and tugs me along. “Thought you’d never ask!”

When the night is over,Brooke’s lost to a guy at the club, and I don’t want to tear her away from him and ruin the rest of her evening, so I decide to head out by myself. She’s not ready to leave yet, but she’s sober enough to make her own decisions, and I’ve told Penelope to keep an eye on her while also making sure she didn’t say anything about Lana to Felix so she wouldn’t get in trouble. Because that’s what good friends do.

I hold my shoes in one hand while I have my phone in the other as I try to get a cab, but apparently, things are quite busy around thistime in Crescent Vale City. I’m not having any luck securing a ride back to Spine Ridge U.

“Damn,” I mutter to myself, strolling through the streets.

I can still hear the music blaring in the background, along with several groups of girls and guys having fun outside. People are laughing, screaming, shouting, and doing all sorts of stunts to grab attention. But a particular group of guys follows me, making me feel on edge.

“Hey, beautiful. Where are you going?”

I ignore them and head straight across the street. It’ll be a few more blocks before I get to the road that leads up the hill. If I can’t find a cab soon enough, I’ll have to walk all the way back to Spine Ridge U.

“Hey,” the dude behind me says. “Care to answer, or are you always this obnoxious?”

There are five of them in total following me, and not the kind of guys I’d ever want to associate with. Definitely from the wrong side of the tracks and most definitely drunk as hell.

“Please leave me alone,” I tell them before I saunter off.

“Hey, that’s not fucking nice,” another one yells.

I increase my pace, but within minutes, they’ve caught up with me, and now fear really is coiling its way around my heart.

“Hey. We’re talking to you, bitch!” one of them yells before gripping my jacket.

“Let go of me!” I yell, jerking free of his grip.

They laugh and surround me, preventing me from moving another step.

Shit.

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