Page 24 of I Blame the Rival

I push my way onto the dance floor, scoping out the faces in search of the one I want. The longer I search, the stronger my anxiety grows.

I can’t let her slip through my fingers.

Not when we were this close.

“Have you seen a girl in a purple top?” I grab the closest person to me, a familiar face from a couple of my art classes.

The guy blinks, shock written all over his face, “Since when do you talk to me?”

“That’s not important. Have you seen her?”

“Don’t think so.”

I turn away, already moving on to the next person of inquiry. My question is met by blank stare after blank stare, but I keep going, pushing past the silence that has kept me safe all these years to find the one person who means everything.

The flower that brings colour to my darkness.

“Have you seen the dark-haired Taber girl? Tall, wearing a purple top?”

“No, I heard she was hot though. Let me know if you find her.”

A headache starts to form as I work my way around the bar. Socializing with strangers is at the bottom of my shit list, and with every disappointing answer, my nonexistent social battery drops a little lower.

I’m almost completely burnt out when green hair catches my eye. I pivot and almost crash into the perpetrator herself.

“Watch where you’re going.” Cecelia bares her teeth and I take a cautionary step back.

“I’m looking for Lacey. Have you seen her?”

She narrows her eyes, “What do you want with her?”

I open my mouth to respond, but she cuts me off, “Actually, I don’t care. Just don’t drop her back home crying. God knows she does enough of that already.”

“Don’t talk about her that way.” My teeth snap together as a thread of anger weaves through me, “She’s your roommate and my friend. Show some respect.”

Cecelia’s eyes widen and she takes a step back. Shame quickly replaces the anger when I see the fear in her eyes.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you. Please, can you tell me where she is?”

She sighs, “I have no idea where she is, but if I had to guess, she probably escaped to go read somewhere. That girl always has a book in her hand.”

“Thank you.”

I watch her disappear into the crowd, my mind racing to think of a quiet spot Lacey could have found. One immediately springs to mind and I go running for the side door.

A brisk breeze slaps my face, the refreshing break from the bar’s humidity ruined by the cigarette smoke filling the air. Holding back a cough, I start walking around the small smoke pit, the flickering overhead lights making it look like a scene from a horror movie. I blink through the haze, peering at every face I pass by.

The adrenalin starts to fade when I reach the end of the section and look at the couple making out in the corner.

“Have you seen a girl in a purple top? Long dark hair? Might have been holding a book?”

The guy breaks away from his partner and gives me a smile.

“Sounds like a special one.”

I blow out a breath, “Can you answer the question?”

“Nah, we haven’t seen her, have we babe?”

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