Page 43 of Severance

“Yep,” Eddie answers, slamming the door shut.

My heart drops to my stomach when I hear the click of the lock behind me. My fists in the pockets of the hoodie tighten and my knees suddenly become weak.

The onslaught of people and music sends my mind into overdrive. I freeze in the middle of the living room and take in my surroundings while Mikah talks to one of the guys. Dim lights moving across the faces and surfaces make my head spin. I narrow my eyes to bring the fuzzy images into focus, but they don’t seem to want to cooperate.

“You sure you’re okay?” Mikah’s breath fans against my ear.

“Huh?” I turn to the sound of his voice and meet his gaze. His eyes sparkle green, and when the light streaks lick his cheeks, it reminds me of the first Midnight Rust show.

“You want a glass of water or a drink?”

“I wouldn’t mind a drink,” I say, trying to calm my heart rate.

“Okay.” His long fingers wrap around mine. “Come on.”

I’ve never held his hand before, and the feel of his calloused skin against mine makes every cell in me burn an enigmatic fire.

I follow behind him with my eyes trained on his inked arm, my heart still doing pirouettes. We walk into the kitchen and he goes straight for the fridge while I brave a couple of smiles at a group gathered around the table.

I glance from one face to the next, evaluating each person. Everyone here is a potential shooter because large crowds attract people with guns, and this house is one huge party.

As I’m examining the room to determine the best way out in case of emergency,sheinvades my line of vision. Her hair is sparkling white, like the first snow, and I recognize her from a photo and also a party that I went to with Dakota where she showed up with Mikah. Girls like her are hard to miss. They don’t blend in like I do. They want to stand out.

“Hey, babe.” She throws her arm around Mikah’s neck while he’s putting together our drinks. Her lips touch his cheek and he leans into the kiss. I can’t help but wonder if they sleep together, because the intimacy between them is obvious. Jealous Alana wants to tell her to stop touching him, but Alana who still has some common sense left decides against it.

When Snow White is done mauling Mikah, her gaze shifts to me. “Hey.” She doesn’t tell me her name.

“Hey.” I don’t give her mine either.

No introduction follows.

Mikah hands me one of the plastic cups and says, “I’ll be back in a second.”

Everything happens so fast that my brain doesn’t have time to process his words. When I finally realize he’s leaving me for the blonde, they’ve already disappeared.

* * *

I’ve never been big on parties, but the ones I went to with Dakota consisted mostly of the music scene crowd. This place is different. It’s a girls-in-bras, guys-with-dreads kingdom of anarchy, a free zone for anyone who wants to get high or drink themselves into a stupor without a care about the quality of their music. Weed is everywhere. Its smell clings to my skin like pond scum. By the time I make it back to the living room to look for Mikah, I’ve already had three different guys offer me a joint and a girl ask me if I have an extra Tampax.

“Hey!” someone calls out as I maneuver around the large group gathered near the pool table. “Cupcake Queen?”

I swivel toward the sound and notice a familiar face. I can’t remember his name, but I’ve seen him backstage with Midnight Rust a couple of times. He has a silly drunk grin and he doesn’t strike me as a guy who’d open gunfire on a band because his girlfriend is a fan.

“Cupcake queen, right? DK’s girl?” He pulls me into a one-arm hug because his other hand is occupied with a bottle of beer. “What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you didn’t do parties. Aren’t you like a Mormon or something?” His words are garbled.

My chest tightens at the mention of Dakota, so the stupid religious commentary doesn’t seem important. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name,” I say honestly.

“I’m Zeke.” He hits himself in the chest. “I went to high school with DK. Is Mikah here?”

“Yes.” I nod, nervously looking around the room.

“Tell him I said hi.”

“I will.”

Zeke nudges me in the direction of the pool table. “You smoke weed?”

“Not really.” I shake my head, watching him set his drink aside and pull a bag out of his pocket.

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