Page 83 of Unwritten Rules

It was Brent’s hand I was holding. I didn’t want to be holding his hand.

“Some of it. Not like I’m in the biggest of the circles.” Kelly’s voice was far away.

His skin was warm and soft, though.

“You’ve been using drugs, then?”

There was a callus on the palm of his hand.

“Fallon?” His voice also sounded far away.

He was looking down at me from pretty high up.

Was I on the ground?

“Hey.” He bent down and pulled my hand back into his, but I yanked it away.

I shook my head and things came back into focus.Focus. “Kelly’s doing drugs?”

“Chill. Most people try something at some point.” He looked back at Kelly standing behind him. “For right now, you know nothing. My best bet is this gets tied up with a nice bow as an accidental death and no one will be the wiser. I’ve seen it happen more than once.”

I’ve seen it happen...

So itwasa normal occurrence. Lovely. I just had my first wave of shock and disassociation and I wasn’t sure I was quite back yet. The next party awaited us and I was on the ground trying not to die. Throwing up was a better option than feeling disconnected from reality. My head was spinning and I tried to reconnect with my body, with anything. I felt the concrete under my hands; it was cool to the touch. The night air was getting an edge to it. Grounding. I was coming back down.

Freak outs could come later. It was time to stand up and finish the night.

Beta Kappa Phi–BKP as everyone referred to it–had a line up at the door. The exclusive party was ready early, per Brent’s request. Someone was at the front with a tablet, checking names. The party was for the people on the list only.

We lined up at the end of the line like it was a nightclub. A hand brushed the small of my back–Brent and his antics.

Only it wasn’t him.

“Hey beautiful.” Alexander. He towered over me, stooping down to kiss the top of my head like we were more cozy than it seemed. Even though we just met each other.

“Oh, hi.” I leaned out of his grasp and liked arms with Kelly.

He tried to place his hands on me again, reaching forotherparts of me while I leaned farther away from him. No dice. He pulled me closer to him, holding me like we were a couple or something. “Don’t be so shy, baby girl. We’ll get to know each other just fine tonight.”

Ew. There was vomit coming for me at some point of the night. I felt it.

As we moved through the line rather quickly, he held onto me with a firm grip. The struggle in front of everyone wasn’t worth it. From what everyone was telling me, it was a game of staying in line and playing chess instead of checkers.

I suck at chess.

Kelly eyed us with confusion but said nothing. She also knew not to stir the pot. Brent, on the other hand, was attempting to avoid looking at us. There would be daggers in his eyes despite tonguing Sloane in front of me.

If I wasn’t so uncomfortable, I’d say it was worth it.

The guy with the tablet put a purple wristband on me. Alexander told me it was to mark my prestige among the peasants of the party. The importance of prestige and money was becoming more clear to me as the days kept coming. Money and power ruled it all, but you weren’t allowed to say it out loud.

The rules weren’t meant to be spoken.

I spotted a few girls spinning from the ceiling on aerial silks. They looked like hired professionals from the well practiced and elegant moves–like ballet in the sky. Other girls walked around with hors d'oeuvres in bunny costumes, their bodies almost bare and faces covered. Guys in top of the line tuxedos carried trays filled with drinks andotheritems. I didn’t have to wager to guess what those were.

On top of security guards posted everywhere.

Mine was hidden for the night. A large man following me around instead of hiding out in the shadows might make me stick out more than I wanted to. He promised I’d be safe, but our definitions might have differed.

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