“If you miss the bus, you're walking!” yelled Savannah from the bottom of the stairs. It'd been a rough transition with Chad moving in, but they'd made it work somehow. And tonight, she was taking him to a party, as a reward for good behaviour.
“Keep your panties on, Princess.” He called down, emerging from his room with his hair still wet and smelling like fresh pine. She inhaled deeply as he passed, loving the scent of the body wash he used. Calling out a greeting to Kat as they left, they ran to the bus stop, catching the bus with seconds to spare. Breathless, they climbed on the bus, laughing.
“So tell me about this party.”
“Well,” began Savannah. “Drake is throwing it because his parents have gone off for the weekend. It's a huge place and it's not far from Carly's house. About three blocks. So we can go to Carly's, get ready and walk up together, and then usually, Carly's dad drives me home, or I catch a cab.”
Chad looked dubious. “So why are you dragging me out to it?”
“Because you've been cooped up inside the house and I figured you could use the break from being under house arrest.” She smiled when he rolled his eyes.
He'd been so different for the past few days that Savannah was really starting to have hope that he was overcoming his self doubt. He spoke to her about his childhood, and his bond with his brother and growing up on the streets. Things he said he'd never told anyone before – not even her mom or the therapists. He was opening up to her, and Savannah felt empowered.
The only shadow was that at school, he was hanging around with Mitch and Chris, and the rest of the bad apples. He acted as though she didn't exist except for in Chemistry together. Biology was seated according to surname, and so she didn't really get to speak to him. But in Chemistry, sitting next to her, he was all about her, and occasionally about Chemistry. When she'd tried to ask him about it, he shrugged it off, saying it was easier to communicate to them than anyone else. There was stuff he had in common with them, he'd said. She could understand that, to a large extent, but it still made her uneasy when she saw them hanging out.
“Hey. Earth the the Ivory Tower.” Chad called, waving his hand in front of her face.
“Sorry I was miles away. What did you say?”
“I said, Who is Drake and what's the party gonna be like? If it's some Sorority house crap then you can count me out. For real.”
“Relax. Nothing like that. Drake's family is pretty well off and they often shoot off for weekends. Drake always throws a party when they're gone. Everyone brings their own drinks and snack s, and we have a blast.”
“Drink? You? Pfft.” He snorted his disbelief.
“I do know how to drink. Firstly, I'm older than you. Secondly, I'm allowed to drink responsibly. And third, well, it's as you said: Good girls are bad girls who just haven't been caught yet.” She gave him a sly wink in response to his disbelieving look.
“I'll believe this when I see it, Princess.” He said smugly. “Bet you have one glass of your fancy wine and you're already buzzed for the evening.”
“How about we have a little wager?” She folded her arms across her chest.
“twenty bucks says you're under the table by the third drink.”
She laughed in response. “Deal.”
Chad went on ahead to the party, not particularly interested in waiting for the girls to do themselves up for it. He hung around Carly's house long enough to nab a slice of cold left over pizza from the fridge, and then made excuses that he had calls to make anyway, so he'd take a slow walk.
“So is Dale coming?” Savannah asked, as she tried on one of Carly's many cute skirts.
“No clue. I told him to back off a bit and he's been good to his word.” She adjusted her push-up bra one more time, and pulled her already tight top down a bit more.
“They're already pushed to the limit. Don't tempt fate.” Savannah giggled, shaking her head. Carly really did have a killer body and she knew just how to use it to get attention.
“No,” Carly said, glancing at the pink skirt Savannah was trying on. “Too girly. Go for a darker colour.” Her eyes lit up. “Better yet, grab my Lori Gables dress.”
“Isn't that a bit too formal?” Savannah asked, removing and hanging up the pink skirt. “It's a cocktail dress isn't it?” She took the designer dress out of the wardrobe and gave it a thorough examination. The navy blue dress was sleeveless, form fitting and gorgeous. It was shorter than she would usually wear, but was still modest in comparison to how Carly was dressed.
“We can dress it down.” Carly said, retrieving a short black tie-up top from off her shelf and passing it to her. “Add that, and wear your flat pumps. No heels.” Savannah did as instructed, noting that the tie-up top was short enough to give her breasts a fuller look, and emphasize her small waist. She nodded her approval.
“This is why you're going into fashion design and I'm not.” Savannah grinned. “You've got an eye for what looks good.” She turned to examine herself in the mirror. “Hair up or down?”
Carly tapped her foot, thinking. “Down, but out of your face.” She pulled a black butterfly clip out of her drawer and pulled the hair away from Savannah's face skilfully. “Natural make-up, but dark eyes. Throw in a splash of blue to offset your eyes.” Savannah trusted her best friend's judgement and proceeded as instructed, and after Carly had approved the look, they set out to walk the few blocks to Drake's house.
The music was already loud and so were the people when the girls arrived. Dale had arrived however, and Carly melted into his arms within seconds, leaving Savannah to fend for herself. She pulled a drink out of their cooler box, and found herself a spot on one of the pool chairs outside.
“Didn't know you had legs, Princess.” Chad's voice was deeper and softer than usual, and when she met his eyes, they seemed darker. More troubled.
“Everything OK?” She asked, concern colouring her voice.
“Nothing I can't handle.” He nodded to her drink, changing the subject. “You're drinking Bacardi mixers?”
“For now.” She stood up from the chair, stumbling slightly as she did on the uneven gravel. He held her forearm tightly until she steadied herself, leaning on him for a brief moment to support herself. “Sorry.” She quickly stepped back from him.
“Don't apologise.” He said quietly, leaning in towards her. “In that dress, I could get used to you putting your body against mine.” His teasing voice had the hair on her neck standing on end.
She blushed deeply and upon seeing his satisfied smile, proceeded to back hand him gently in the stomach. “Cheap flirt. How many have you had?”
“Not nearly enough that I can't appreciate a woman in a dress that shows off the curves.”
“Then wait till you see what Carly's wearing. Your eyes will pop out.”
“Oh I saw. Hard to miss it. She looks like a billboard model.” He snaked his hand around her hip and pulled her against him again. “But you Princess, look sexy as hell.”
She put her hands up to his chest and pushed him away gently. “Alright hot-shot. Whatever you drank must have had one hell of a kick.” He smiled down at her and showed her the beer bottle in his hand.
“Normal beer.”
“Uh huh. And what else?” Savannah could smell something a lot stronger on him. Liquid courage, she mused. He'd never speak to her in such a manner otherwise. They didn't have that kind of relationship. But she had to admit it, it felt damn good to be spoken to like that. Like she was desirable. Even now, looking into his eyes, there was something there. Something that made the dark brown even darker. Liquid courage, she mused again. Perhaps it was time to cut a little loose. She was single now after all.
“Lead me to where the real party is, Bad Boy. I guess I've got some catching up to do.”
Several drinks and many shots later, Chad was forced to admit he'd been out-drank by Savannah. He'd also accepted the fact that he was no longer steady on his feet, and had chosen a pool chair where he could watch her dancing up a storm in that too-short dress. Considering it was the first time he'd seen her in a short anything, he couldn't have stopped looking if he'd tried. A man would have to be blind not to appreciate those legs in that dress. Every curve was outlined to perfection and when she moved with the music, his body screamed in response.
He wondered what the hell he'd drank that was causing him to be affected like he was. Mitch had poured him some shots but he'd not tasted anything out of the ordinary. In fact, he felt pretty sober already. But still, watching Savannah on the dance floor was doing weird things to his body. He'd had his fair share of girls and none of them had made him want to rip their clothes off where they stood.
The damnedest thing was that she was so naïve and clueless she probably didn't even realise how damned sexy she looked. Carly had the looks and body that belonged on underwear models and porn stars. She was hot, there was no denying. But Savannah was sexy in a completely unassuming way.
Some shouts of greeting caught his attention and he tore his eyes off her long enough to see who had arrived. Joshua Monteith and what he assumed were a few of his friends walked in, dishing out high-fives and fist-pumps to everyone. It took him no more than a few seconds to spot Savannah on the dance floor and make his way towards her. He tapped her on the shoulder gently, and she spun around, greeting him with a beaming smile and wrapping her arms around his neck. She's drunk way too much to be clear-headed, he thought ruefully, as he watched her smile up at him and rub her hands over his chest.
He forced himself to look away and focus on a few of the girls who were swimming. But seeing their bodies on display held none of the appeal that Savannah in her dress did. He looked up at her again, his temper rising for no understandable reason. Carly managed to attract his attention with a subtle wave of her cellphone. She pointed at him, and then her phone.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket (which was difficult seeing as they were now way too tight) and read the text message from Carly. 'Get that sweet ass over here,' the message read. 'Before Josh realises he made a mistake and takes her back.'
'She ain't my girl.' He texted back, dropping his phone into his lap and making a concerned effort to look anywhere else except across the pool to where she was all but draped across her ex-boyfriend's arms. He rolled his eyes when his phone chimed again. 'So I just IMAGINED you watching her for the last half hour, drooling.'
He lowered the phone and looked at Carly, who was grinning from ear to ear. Busted, he thought to himself. He raised his hands and mouthed the words 'What do you want me to do about it?' He made a pointed example at looking at Savannah and Joshua, and then back at Carly. She responded by putting her hands on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for him to do something. Anything.
He had to admit, seeing them together burned him. She was drunk, and he seemed not to be bothered by that at all. He had the look of a guy who was expecting to get laid. One last look at Carly told him that her thought train was on the same path, and she didn't want her friend getting hurt again any more than he did.
Inspiration struck. He quickly typed back 'Can you catch?'
Before Carly had read the message, he'd already taken off his shirt and was sliding out of his denims. He waited for her to look up before he carefully threw his phone across the pool and into her hands. Savannah startled at Carly's sudden movement and turned in time to see her catch something, and to see the heavily tanned and tattooed body of Chad jumping into the pool, yelling 'Cannonball!' as he took flight.