Page 34 of Freshmeet
“You have to see this.”
I knew Mona and Kat had caught sight of the screens when they both said, “What the fuck?”
“Right?” I pointed at Emma’s picture and said, “And when did Duncan and Emma hook up?”
Kat leaned forward, pulling her smelly rubber mask up and onto the top of her head. “I can’t believe they did that.” Her fingers curled around the edge of the desk, and she let out a shaky breath. “Fucking douche canoe.” Pulling out her phone, she snapped a few pictures and then yanked her mask back down. “Let’s go.”
With much less enthusiasm, we climbed out of the window and rushed to the van with our loot.
One by one, we loaded the van as Kat calmly walked up the street. She took off her bloody mask and threw it in.
“Thanks for joining us,” Mona said as she shut the back door.
“You’re on drugs if you think my fat ass is going to run for some cheap fireworks. No, thank you.” Kat laughed, but it was forced. The smirk on her face did nothing to hide the pain in her voice.
“Fair enough.” Mona walked around to the driver’s side and asked Rae, “You sure you can’t stay for one drink?”
“Nah. I have a 7 a.m. flight home, followed by another flight to New York. I need my beauty sleep.”
Mona patted Rae’s shoulder, and Rae put the van into gear. “See you later, suckers,” she said, then unnecessarily peeled out of the alley.
The three of us laughed and went back to the party. Kat was busy on her phone while Mona and I watched her.
“How long do we have to stay?” I asked. The mood had shifted since seeing Duncan’s fucked-up screen saver, and I was no longer in the mood for Jello shots and keg stands.
“One game of beer pong,” Kat said, slipping her phone back in her pocket.
Only it was never just one more game of beer pong, was it?
SEVEN
FUCK ME, I WAS A GONER
CONNOR
Jamie and I rushed across the parking lot of the visitor center through the pouring rain to my car. The rest of the crew was long gone, but Jamie had struck up a conversation with the woman who ran the summer camp.
As I calculated just how much I needed to make this week to make up for the rain delay, Jamie yammered on.
“That woman loves birds.” Jamie shook out his hair, grinning at me when I scowled. “I didn’t even know some of them.”
“Ornithology has never been your strong suit.”
He chuckled and looked out the window as I turned out of Thousand Hills State Park and drove toward Poppy’s diner. “True, true.”
I pulled into the mostly empty lot, and Jamie gasped.
“What?” I glanced around, trying to figure out what Jamie was so excited about, and then I saw her. Standing under the awning was the one and only Sarah Tilney. It didn’t matter that I had seen her from across the parking lot just that morning, because my body hummed with excitement at being in her general vicinity.
She stood huddled under an umbrella watching the parking lot, her long blonde waves plastered to her cheeks. When sheclosed the umbrella, she pushed the hair away, revealing that perfect face I’d memorized while stealing glances across the bar. Over the few shifts we’d had together, she had been practically silent, flitting in and out of rooms, avoiding any opportunity for us to be alone.
Then I caught her on the street in that ridiculous get-up that she somehow pulled off, but Meg just had to show up and interrupt our awkward, but positive, conversation.
I was beyond frustrated.
Jamie jumped out of the car, bellowing, “Sarah Beara!”
I stayed stuck in my seat.
