Page 125 of Losers, Part I

That was why Manson laced his fingers through mine as we walked up the driveway toward the house. My stomach was in knots, my palms clammy with nerves. I usually dressed to the nines for a party, but I couldn’t be slowed down by heels and restrictive clothes today.

“I can’t believe I wore flats to a party,” I whispered as we approached the front door. Vehicles were parked around the yard, but my eyes zeroed in on Alex’s Hellcat parked in front of the garage. Nate’s truck was next to it, and Danielle’s pretty little Lexus was there too.

Manson squeezed my hand. “Feeling nervous?”

“A little,” I admitted. Any number of things could go wrong tonight, but I’d already decided it was worth the risk. We looked for any cameras around the exterior of the house, and finding none, Manson texted the group to let them know.

“Ready?” he said. He was about to walk into a party where half the people used to bully him relentlessly, yet he didn’t seem worried in the least. Considering I was a bundle of nerves, I was amazed he was so calm.

The two of us were going to walk in there and shatter the entire vibe. Despite how nervous I was, I sincerely couldn’t wait to see the look on Danielle’s face when we did.

“Ready,” I said, and I reached over to ring the doorbell.

The music grew even louder as Candace opened the door. Thesmile on her face instantly froze when she saw us.

“Oh, Jessica, wow, hi!” she said, her enthusiasm poorly faked. She had a red plastic cup in one hand, and she sounded tipsy despite the early hour. It was only 4 pm, the party was just getting started. But she’d never been able to handle her alcohol very well. “I had no idea you were coming. I, uh…” She looked at Manson, her eyes combing up and down his body in a slow appraisal. “You brought a plus one…cool…”

Manson had exaggerated his outfit on purpose. It was closer to what he used to wear in high school, back when he had the mohawk and everything he put on looked like it had survived a cataclysmic event. His tight acid-wash jeans were covered in patches and ragged holes, his Black Flag t-shirt similarly thrashed. But my favorite part of the ensemble was, obviously, the boots.

They were large, and laced up to his knees, with a thick sole that made his already tall height closer to Vincent’s. It made me look particularly small beside him, dressed in my pink crop top and jeans.

“Yeah, it was a spontaneous decision,” I said, smiling as I pulled Manson along behind me into the house. Candace was looking at us like I’d allowed an extremely dirty dog to walk in. “I really needed a night out. Work iskillingme. You know how it is.”

I turned away from her with a little wave. Top 40 songs were blasting from the sound system, and people were gathered in every room, yelling to each other over the music. The kitchen was crowded, bottles of liquor and open pizza boxes littered across the countertop.

People looked twice as we passed, and when we stepped into the kitchen to get ourselves drinks, a group of guys who already looked wasted spotted us.

“Holy shit, Manson? What’s up, man?” One of the guys graspedManson’s hand, pulling him into a bear hug as he did. The others clapped his back, asking how he’d been, quickly striking up a conversation.

When they eventually moved on, distracted by someone’s shouted invitation to open a keg, I looked at Manson in surprise. “That was Rob Davis, wasn’t it? I thought he…”

“Shoved my head in a toilet freshman year?” Manson finished for me, pouring a shot of vodka into a plastic cup. “Yeah, that was him. A few of those guys were there for the toilet incident actually.” He opened a can of Sprite, emptying it into his cup. “Good times.”

“God, they’re sofake,” I hissed, ladling sangria into my own cup. I sipped it as I said, “I don’t know how you can stand it.”

“I rarely ever see those guys, so I can manage to be polite,” he said. “Besides, people change. So long as they aren’t giving me or my family a problem, then I don’t have a problem with them. We’ve all done fucked up things when we were young and dumb. You did. I definitely have.”

“What didyoudo that was fucked up?” I said, genuinely curious. I could remember him getting into trouble for smoking, tardiness, skateboarding on campus, and obviously, the knife incident. But otherwise, he seemed to always keep his head down.

“Murder and mayhem,” he said, putting his arm around my waist as we left the kitchen. We had a mission to accomplish, but we also needed to blend in for at least a little while so no one got suspicious. “You know, stereotypical punk rat shit.”

“Murder?” My eyes widened. “No way…”

“I’m joking. Come on, Jess.” He gave me that crooked smile that made my heart flutter. “Do I really look like I’d murder someone?”

“Well…” I let it hang, then leaned toward him and said quietly, “You look like you could murder this pussy, so yeah, you do looklike a killer.”

His smile was barely restrained as he shook his head. “Damn, you’ve barely even had a drink yet. Flirting with me already?”

“I don’t need alcohol to flirt with you.” We’d entered the living room, where the large sliding glass door was open, leading to the back patio. Crowds were gathered around the beer pong table outside, and I spotted Danielle and Nate among them, subtly pointing them out to Manson. He pulled out his phone again to let the others know we had eyes on them.

Now we had to find Alex. We needed to know where they all were before the boys made their move.

“Funny, isn’t it?” Manson said as we watched the excited crowds. “The last time we were at a party together, I had to dare you to get close to me.” He laughed softly. “Now, this time…”

“I’m here because I want to be,” I finished for him, smiling gently as I leaned over and kissed him. He stiffened for a moment in surprise before he leaned into the kiss, cupping my face in his hand and smiling against my mouth. I could feel eyes on us and even hear a few murmurs. But I didn’t care.

For those people who bothered to care, I hoped it pissed them off. They could all die mad about it if they thought they could dictate who I kissed or who was at my side.

---