Page 106 of Life of the Party

He looked confused. “Oh, are you out? I’ve got some here…somewhere.”

“No, I’ve got some—but I want to buy some. Grey, I can buy them now!” I nearly squealed with excitement.

Grey shook his head at me, laughing incredibly. “It doesn’t take much to make you happy, does it?”

“Not when I’m with you.”

“Oh yeah?” His blue eyes gleamed.

“Yeah.”

Grey pulled me towards him and kissed me, gently. “Do you think you could wait for your cigarettes…just a bit longer?” He wondered, his breathing uneven as his lips moved slowly down my neck.

“Uh, yeah.” I bit my lip and arched into him, shutting my eyes as the heat rushed through me. “I think I can manage that.”

“A pack of Export A Gold, regular, please,” I asked politely. The store clerk just looked at me, completely uninterested, like he didn’t realize this was a pivotal moment.

“Can I see some ID?”

“Sure!” I exclaimed proudly. Grey chuckled behind me. I pulled my wallet out of my purse and flipped it open excitedly.

And then my heart stopped.

My license was missing. Frowning, I quickly thumbed through the rest of the cards in my wallet, but it wasn’t there. Hastily, I patted my pockets and then rummaged frantically through my purse, but to no avail. I looked up at Grey, panicked, stricken.

“I don’t have it,” I admitted, my cheeks flushing red with heat. The clerk raised a doubtful eyebrow at me, as if to say, “Nice try, minor.”

“You don’t have it? Check again. You probably just missed it.” Grey assured me. He stepped forward and flashed his ID at the clerk.

I stepped back, calmed myself from full-fledged panic, took a breath, and slowly looked through the slots of my wallet and then again through my purse, my hands shaking with near desperation. It wasn’t there.

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Without my license, there was no way I’d get into any clubs. No way I’d celebrate my eighteenth birthday. The whole weekend’s plans came crashing down around me, all of them weighing on that one stupid plastic card with my birth date plastered officially across the front.

“Any luck?” Grey asked casually, handing me the pack of cigarettes.

“No.” I shook my head in a humiliated stupor as we left the store. I just didn’t understand how I could’ve lost my ID. The only place I’d left my wallet behind was in Charlie’s car, when I’d stopped to use the bathroom on the way to the airport…

I gasped out loud, covering my mouth with my hand. A sudden thought occurred to me, but it was so horrible I didn’t even want to entertain it.

“What?” Grey wondered. “Did you leave it somewhere?”

“No, Grey.” I turned my dark, wide eyes up to him. “I think Charlie took it.”

“Charlie?” He looked skeptical. “Why would she do that?”

“Because. Because she’s been…choked at me lately because you and I are…and she and Zack…aren’t.”

“You think she’d ruin your whole weekend because of that?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “I can’t think of any other explanation. Grey, I made sure it was in there. I know had it with me.” I blinked back exasperated tears. This was so unfair, so brutally stupid.

“Hey, it’s okay, Mackenzie.” Grey took my hand and smiled at me hopefully. “Maybe it’s back at the hotel. We’ll go and check.”

I nodded glumly and let him lead me down the city streets, totally miserable. The day was cloudy and cold, threatening with icy rain. People bustled around us and the traffic sped by noisily. I wrapped my arms around myself and frowned.

My license wasn’t at the hotel either, but deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be. I just knew Charlie had taken it. I hated to think she was capable of such spite, that she’d sabotage all my plans just because she was jealous of my relationship. I didn’t deserve her anger; it wasn’t my fault her boyfriend was a total dick.

“What’s going on with Zack, anyway?” I asked Grey as we searched, perturbed Zack’s idiocy was ruining my weekend.

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