Page 24 of Deceit

She rolls her eyes at me and smirks.

“Of course we are.”

Chapter Ten

Skyla

I’ve decided to wear a pair of dark blue jeans and a dark grey wrapped sweater since we are going to be outside. It’s comfortable but practical, and it’s about the most casual outfit I own besides leggings and a tank top, which is obviously not an option.

Maggie said she would meet me at my dorm, and we could walk together. Sure enough, a steady knock comes from my door seconds after I smear my nude colored lip gloss on.

I run a hand through my barrel curls as I open the door. Maggie’s wide smile dies on her lips as soon as she sees me. She’s gone a little edgier, wearing ripped black jeans and a Lynyrd Skynyrd crop top with some combat boots.

Maggie’s eyes roam over me, judgment clear in them as she shakes her head.

“Babe, what the hell are you wearing? It’s a bonfire, not a Lamaze class.”

I frown at her as I look down at my sweater.

“What do you mean? I like this sweater.”

“My grandma likes that sweater,” she deadpans. “You have a banging body. Why are you hiding it?” she asks.

I cross my arms over my chest uncomfortably before shrugging softly. A sympathetic look crosses her face before she nods.

“Sorry, I’m being a bitch. You look beautiful.”

I don’t quite believe her, but I don’t get time to argue before she’s pulling me out of the room by my arm. The door shuts with a resounding thud and my heart sinks.

“Maggie, my phone was inside and my key! How am I supposed to get back in?”

She waves me off as she continues pulling me down the hallway, like I’m a pet on its way to be neutered.

“It’s fine. You can crash with me. Let’s just go already!”

I roll my eyes at her carefree attitude as we step inside the elevator, whooshing down to the bottom floor in no time. Apparently, it’s a back to school tradition to hold a huge bonfire at the edge of campus. I wasn’t able to determine if it was sanctioned by the school or not, my guess is obviously that it’s not.

My suede knee-high boots cover the distance across campus, and soon a flicker of fire can be seen from afar. It gets larger and larger the closer we get, until we come right up to it and see it’s nearly twenty-feet high and ten-feet wide. Several guys wearing Gallows Hill football t-shirts are laughing, fueling the fire more and more with wooden pallets. Dozens of people are gathered around singing, dancing and laughing to the music coming from a huge speaker in the corner.

There are several kegs to the side, and nearly everyone has a drink in their hand. I glance at Maggie uneasily and she rolls her eyes before pulling me over to an empty area near the fire, shaking her hips to the beat. Her hands rest on mine, physically forcing me to move along to the beat as well. I can’t help butlaugh before I finally stop fighting her, moving to the upbeat R&B song.

She grabs a beer out of some guy’s hand, winking at him as his shoulders slump and he walks back over to the keg where he got his drink.

“Who was that?” I ask.

“My neighbor, he’s too nice to say no to me,” she says in my ear over the thumping music.

“Maybe he likes you.”

She snorts and shakes her head.

“I fucked around with his sister last summer. He knows he’s definitely not my type.”

I can’t help but laugh at that. She’s so unapologetically her, it’s amazing. The comfortability she has in her own skin is something I admire deeply. I wish I could be as strong and proud in justonething, as she seems to be in everything.

When the song changes, to something a little slower and more seductive, I watch as Maggie sets her eyes on a girl behind me. She gives her a sultry smirk before moving past me, grabbing her hips as she begins dancing again. The girl looks a little caught off guard, almost like she wants to push her away. The lust is apparent in her eyes though, even from over here and she quickly succumbs to my friend’s charm.

I genuinely think it’s Maggie’s mission to switch every straight woman on campus, at least for a night.

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