Page 2 of Devil on Skates
“You in?” some guy asks, pointing at an open seat.
“Nah,” I say. “Just getting myself a drink.”
I give up on alcohol and try mixing some weird juice, but it tastes like shit. I drift into a quieter room with fewer people. One couple’s basically attached on the couch, and there’s a group playing cards. It’s all low-key, so I find a seat and let myself relax again.
This is what normal college kids do. Party, hook up, and drink until their problems don’t matter. There are no cameras and no pressure. Just dumb fun.
My phone buzzes again.
I check it this time. A bunch of missed calls and texts, all from my dad. The last one catches my eye.
Call me immediately.
I turn off the phone and shove it back into my pocket. It feels good, like flipping him off without having to say a word.
“You look like you’d rather be anywhere else,” someone says.
I look up at a cute blonde. She’s tipsy and sits down on the arm of my chair before I can even react.
“Just enjoying the break,” I say, giving her the kind of smile that saysdon’t get too comfortable.
“I’m Gwen,” she says, like we’re about to become best friends.
“Xavier.”
“So what brings you here?”
“I needed a change of scenery,” I say.
“Running away or running toward something?”
I shrug. “Either way, I’m not staying.”
She laughs. “We all have our reasons for escaping.”
She puts her hand on my arm. And yeah, normally, I’d go with it. Hook up and forget for a while. But tonight? I’m not in the mood to be someone’s idea of a good time. That’s not why I came here. Besides, she’s drunk, and I’m not. Not yet, anyway.
“I think my friend’s looking for me,” I lie, standing up. “Nice meeting you.”
I head back to the main room, which has gotten even louder and hotter. The music’s shaking the floor now, and the crowd’s just a blur of movement and sweat.
Perfect.
I grab another random cup and take a sip. It’s some kind of soda, but it’s not totally terrible.
Time passes by as I talk to people without saying anything real or important. As I drift from room to room, I smile, nod, and fade into the background. And I’m perfectly fine with it.
I run into Ronan at some point. He’s got a girl under his arm and a drink in the other.
“Gallagher! You’re still upright!”
“Barely,” I say, laughing a little while pretending I’m drunk.
Sure, getting drunk would make me forget all my worries, but it would also make me forget myself, and I can’t take that risk. No matter how much I want to ignore Coach’s and my dad’s rules, I don’t want to risk my career and my future for nothing.
Ronan leans in. “Coach would lose his mind if he knew we were here.”
“Him, my dad, and the entire department,” I say. “Lucky for us, we’re nobodies tonight.”
