Page 42 of Collision
“Try it on!” she orders.
“Tiffany. Seriously, it’s not my thing. I’d feel half-naked in that. Where’s the anonymous one? Let’s give it a shot.” I hunt for it among the clothes.
“Stop being a prude and try this dress on.” I huff but obey. When I put it on, I see that I was right. It’s tight, shows off every curve on my body, and cuts off at mid-thigh. Tiffany hands me a cropped black leather jacket and a pair of Doc Martens. Unfortunately for me, we are the same size. But I suppose it could have been worse: she could have insisted on a pair of dizzily high heels.
“Nessy! I swear, you are so hot!” Tiffany chirps as I straighten up.
I’m ready to tell her that she’s wrong, but my reflection won’t allow it: she’s right, it sounds absurd but… I feel hot.
“It’s all you!” I laugh, embarrassed.
“Everyone’s eyes are going to be on you tonight!”
What? No. I don’t want to have everyone’s eyes on me. No. No. No. And just who would be looking at me? I’m going to the party with Travis. In just a few seconds, panic has taken complete control of my body. “On second thought, you know… Maybe all of this is a bit much. The dress…the makeup. Maybe I should just put my clothes back on, I mean, they were comfortable,” I babble.
“Don’t talk nonsense! You look perfect like this, and we don’t have time to change anyway.” She slips on her jacket.
“But Tiff…” I grab her by the arm and give her a pleading look.
She takes my face in her hands, as if to reassure me. “You are a stunner. I mean it, you’re beautiful. There is nothing wrong with how you look, so just take a breath, relax, and let’s go have fun!”
I close my eyes and take her advice. I breathe deeply, desperately praying that this party will end as soon as possible. But then I remember one small detail.
“So, Tiff,” I say, trying to be brave. “About what we were discussing earlier… Do you happen to know if Thomas will be at the party? I’d like to avoid any kind of tension between him and Travis.”
“You can rest easy. Thomas is going to Matt’s party at the frat house,” she reassures me as she gives herself a spritz of perfume. I don’t know how to feel about this. Disappointed? Relieved?
“Ah, one last thing before we leave,” she tells me, planting herself in front of me.
“What?” I’m almost afraid.
“This,” She undoes my ponytail and arranges my hair with her fingers. “That’s definitely better. Let’s go!”
Travis is waiting for us in the living room and, when he sees me coming down the stairs, his mouth falls open. “Wow, you look great.”
Tiffany walks past him and snorts haughtily. “You better treat her the way she deserves to be treated.” He ignores her and wraps his arm around my waist. I let him. We get into Travis’s pickup truck and speed toward Carol’s house, just outside Corvallis proper.
A few minutes later, we park in a driveway full of other cars and walk past the open gate. Inside, we find ourselves in front of a very large pool where some guests are already swimming. The garden is as bright as daylight, the lights reflecting off the crystal-clear water of the pool. All around, people are chatting and laughing, underscored by the echo of music coming from inside the house. “Isn’t it a little cold for swimming?” I ask, shifting my attention to the luxurious three-story mansion that rises before me.
“They’re so drunk, they could probably melt ice with their breath,” Travis replies.
“And is it safe to let drunk guys play in the pool? I mean, couldn’t they drown?”
“Maybe. But no one will miss them,” Tiffany puts in with a careless air. We head inside, leaving the drunk boys behind.
Thirteen
The living room is packed with people, and a group of freshmen huddle around a drink station the size of my bedroom. Tiffany was right: once we get inside, I feel watched and I curse her for dressing me like this.
“Would you like a drink?” Travis asks us. I had promised Alex that I would stay away from alcohol, but a little sip would be okay. It’s just what I need to take the edge off. “Um, yeah. I’ll go with you.”
“I’m gonna go find some people from my class. I’ll be waiting for you there whenever you want, gorgeous,” Tiffany tells me with an enigmatic smile.
As we wait our turn at the bar, I look around, a little disoriented. I know almost none of the people here. We are about to get our drinks when a guy comes over to us. “Hey, captain! You guys killed it today. Let me get you a drink.” He’s a classmate of Travis’s. I think his name is Adam. He takes Travis with him and drags him toward a small group of Econ students, Oregon’s future ruling class. My boyfriend throws me an innocent smile over his shoulder, as if to say, “sorry, can’t get out of this,” and I let him go because, deep down, I don’t really mind being on my own for a while.
I catch up with Tiffany as hip-hop music resounds in my ears. I chat for a while with her and her friends, sitting on a leather sofa. When the conversation turns to gossip about people I don’t know, I take the opportunity to go to the bathroom upstairs.
As I wait my turn, I press my legs together, trying to hold mybladder. When the door finally opens, a girl with messy blond hair emerges. Her lips are swollen, and her cheeks are flushed. She adjusts the hem of her dress, which clings to her slim, toned thighs, and gives a satisfied smile to me and the girl standing in front of me. The latter turns in my direction with a confused air, I shrug my shoulders and shake my head. Immediately afterward, a disheveled boy with eyes as green as the bottle in his hands comes out. My heart catches in my throat when I realize what just happened in that bathroom.
