Page 56 of Ominous: Part 1
I’m not sure what I’m hoping to find when I walk out, but it isn’t Eli, sitting on the bed, and Dominic, making lines on the dresser across from it.
Both of them turn to look at me.
Eli has his feet on the floor, knees spread, hands dangling between his lap. There’s the softest smile on his face, more of a smirk than anything, and Dominic is pushing a black card into his wallet, retrieving a hundred-dollar bill, then opening a dresser drawer and tossing the wallet inside. He doesn’t look away from me as he does it.
“Wanna line?” His back is to Eli, several feet between them.
I glance at Eli, but he says nothing. It seems their tension has been severed.
For the first time, I focus on the cocaine. Nerves jumble inside of me. It’s just a little coke to them, but… aside from Sebastian, I’ve never really been around many drugs. Manda got high more than a few times at a couple of parties, and I smoked here and there, but it always made me feel funny. I had a panic attack once, and Manda spent the entire night rubbing my back.
I glance at the photo on the nightstand, but I’m not saying anything more about that.
“It’s good shit,” Dom adds, excitement in his words.
Eli’s voice cuts through my racing thoughts. “Have you ever done coke, Eden?” His tone is neutral, but there’s the softest curl of a threat threaded through his words. I’m not sure why.
I shake my head. “No.”
“It’s my birthday,” Dominic says, and I raise my brows, surprised. “Get high with me.” His eyes search mine, and I have no idea why no one told me it was his damn birthday. I should’ve brought a card or a gift orsomething.
“Happy birthday?”
Eli smiles, but Dom just laughs and mutters, “Thanks.”
I clear my throat, glancing at the lines. “How long does it last?”
Dom smirks at me. “Not long,” he says, looking at Eli, then back to me. “It’s a short-lived high.”
There’s silence between the three of us. I’m not sure what I’m waiting for. I definitely shouldn’t do this, but it almost feels like an opportunity to show off or something. To act as if I’m not out of my depth, being at Eli’s side.
I don’t look at him.
Dangerous, baby girl.
Aren’t you, too?
Seconds tick by. Then Eli asks, “Are you scared?”
Dominic straightens, and I lock eyes with the boy I came here with.
“A little.” I don’t lie, but I feel myself blushing, like maybe I should have. “But it’s his birthday.” I look up at Dominic, smiling. “I’ll try it.”
Surprising me, Dom turns to Eli, like he’s waiting for a verdict.
And with his eyes still on me, Eli says, “You heard her.Let her try it.”
* * *
“Lust”by SAINt JHN plays loudly from Eli’s phone on the nightstand beside the photo of Winslet, the music rivaling the noise of the party outside of the closed bedroom door.
I glance at Eli sitting on the edge of the bed, hands in his pockets, a water bottle between his thighs. He’s studying me, and I feel a little shaky with his eyes on me as Dom taps out coke on the gleaming surface of the dresser across from the bed. It looks different than in the movies. Not so fine and powdery.
“This is for you,” Dominic tells me, excitement laced through his words.
I tear my gaze from Eli, catching my own reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror beside the dresser. Behind me, Eli hasn’t taken his eyes off of me, and I see his lips part the second before he speaks, and I’m staring at the two, fat white lines as Dominic offers me the rolled-up hundred.
“No.” Eli’s tone is soft, barely audible over the music.
