Page 81 of Conner's Luna

21 - Tapetum Lucidum

Bailey

Caluna University is beautiful and so much fun. For the first time in months, I feel like I can breathe. I'm a normal college student, red Solo cup in hand, laughing and dancing with her friends behind her sorority house.

I refuse to think about returning to State. Besides, I only have to turn in my Organic Chem project and then the semester is officially over. In fact, I think I can just have Braxton turn it in. That's a fabulous idea. Then I avoid seeing Trey and Lydia in passing and I can just forget all about my disastrous freshman Fall semester.

Except I can still hear the taunts, and why do Trey's eyes burn into me even when he's an hour away? Why can't I just dismiss him as easily as I want to?

I take a sip of my drink and then stare at the dark liquid inside the red cup. It's sweet and tart and so very, very yummily-alcoholic. Oh. I'm drinking - that's why I can't forget about Trey right now. "Alcohol makes your inhibitions lessen dramatically."

"Sí, chica," a male voice croons in my ear.

I turn to see one of those sexy bikers that dot this campus and this party. "Hola," I sing,"cómo estás."

His smile lights up, all the way to his eyes. "You're Grim's female, ey? You speak well,chica."

"My dad is Puerto Rican," I tell him. It's not quite the same accent as these guys, butAbuelamade me speak Spanish every time I visited each summer. "And I'm not Conner's. He's mine, right?" I burp.

The man starts to laugh. "Luis," he holds out his hand to shake.

I juggle my Silo cup carefully so that I can place my palm in his warm one. "Bailey," I say sweetly, "mucho gusto,Luis."

An arm is slung around my shoulders a second later. At first, I think it's Conner, until Braxton speaks, "Luis, stop flirting with my bro's girl."

Luis holds up his hands innocently. "I'm not, Grim. I'm watching her whilesu hermanois missing, no?"

"Where the fuck?" Braxton snarls lowly. He spins in a circle, taking me with him. I urgently sip my drink before it spills everywhere, using both hands to steady the cup. "Where the fuck is Conner?" he spits out at Luis.

"Outside, with a female,sí? Not her," he points at me. Luis is fuzzy, his words swimming around in my head. Why does it hurt my heart a little?

"He's not a cheater," Braxton turns to say to me, almost desperately. I can smell the alcohol on his breath. I bet he can smell it on me, too. "He would never, Bails. You can trust him."

I can trust Luis? I take another swallow. I'm almost done with it and I haven't spilled any. I smile up at Braxton proudly. Velia helped me mix the drink. It's rum and other yummy things. Yummy rum, rummy yum.

"Baileyes una pequeña mujer preciosa," Luis snaps.

I giggle as Braxton growls next to me. "He called me a tiny, precious, woman," I tell him. I bop him on the nose but hit him a little too hard and gasp. His nose is too perfect to injure.

"She's off-limits," Braxton says boldly to Luis. He doesn't seem to mind that I hit him on his utterly amazing nose. His uncle Mattie has a perfect nose, too. They don't look alike even with their perfect noses. I wonder what the genetic similarities are between them?

"I don't see a Mark,güey," Luis says.

"Shut the fuck up, asshole!" Braxton shouts at him. Uh-oh, his nose is too pretty to let the biker punch his face. I cover Braxton's face with both hands, the little red cup falling empty to the ground.

"Don't mess up his symmetry," I tell Luis seriously. The man stares at me, a little open-mouthed. He slams it shut after a moment and makes an odd wheezing sound. His face starts to turn red.

"Are you OK?" I press my hand to Luis's cheek. He doesn't feel warm. Braxton snatches my hand away from Luis. I look down at his hand. Braxton's hand is fuzzy and feels hot. Maybe he's the one with the fever?

A sudden scream grabs my attention. I turn to look and the world goes hazy. I hear shouts and see a glimpse of two girls getting into what looks like a violent catfight before Luis moves in front of me, a giant grin on his face that looks vaguely familiar.

"Hey! You're Jose's little brother!" I jerk my head up, proud of my deductive reasoning skills. I point up into Luis's face. "Jose is such a sweetie." I pat Braxton's chest until I feel his muscles start to relax as he calms down.

"Was that Velia?" I ask him, as my brain catches up with my eyes. I think one of those girls was Braxton and Conner's sister. What's wrong with my eyes? Everything is so blurry.

"Let's go, Bails. Conner's probably looking for you," Braxton tugs me away from Luis.

"He's with another female," Luis says darkly.

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