Broken and Screwed 2 Page 4

  I had no idea why.

  “That’s…odd.”

  Her entire attitude towards me was odd. I glowered back at her. “Can you two please leave? I need to unpack.”

  “No, you don’t.” Cord swept an arm around each of the girls. He squeezed them together and lifted them from the doorway. Chandra squealed, delighted by the attention. The other girl’s eyes widened, startled from the sudden movement. As he deposited them back down, away from my door, he motioned for me. He threw an arm around my shoulder. “Well, little Connors. It’s been riveting. I’ll be seeing you.”

  My mouth dropped. That was it?

  “Where are you going, Cord?” Chandra spoke up.

  He shrugged. “I’ll call you later, Chandra. Family matters first.”

  “Family?” The leader’s tone sent chills down my back. Her eyes narrowed as she pierced through me. “Whose family, Cord?”

  He stiffened next to me, but forced a carefree chuckle out. “Not my secret to tell, Tiffany. See you later.” He tapped my shoulder. “And you’ll have a package arriving…tonight…” He scrunched up his nose, the nodded to himself. “Yeah, sounds right.”

  Before he could leave, Tiffany folded her arms over her chest and stepped forward. “We’ll be seeing you tonight. Did you forget?”

  “Oh yeah. Forgot about Jamie’s thing.”

  “I’m coming over in an hour to start setting up.”

  Her tone sounded casual, but I felt like it was more of a warning. I wasn’t sure if it was to me or Cord, but he lifted a hand before he shot down the back stairway. “Well, see you two in an hour then.”

  Chandra’s smile relaxed and she nodded. “Bye Cord.”

  One gone. I looked back at both of the girls. Two more to go.

  “How do you know Cord? You’re not really his family and what was he talking about, that he had to go and do something for family? He left you here.” The leader spoke for the both of them. “Do you know the rest of the guys?”

  I swallowed. This wasn’t a girl I’d want to meet in a back alley, but then I paused. Who the hell was this girl? She hadn’t been in my shoes. She didn’t know anything about me and she had no right to intimidate me.

  My chin lifted. It hardened and I stepped close to her.

  Her eyelids twitched.

  Oh yes. Trying to intimidate me.

  “What’s your name?”

  She frowned, but grinned. “Tiffany Chatsworth. Look me up.”

  “Who are you related to?”

  The grin slipped a notch. “None of your business.”

  “Who are you screwing?”

  Her lips were flat now. “Like I said, none of your effing business.”

  My eyes narrowed to slits. “Then who are you to ask about my business?”

  She leaned closer, barely an inch away, and gave me a chilly smile. “I’m your nightmare. That’s who I am.”

  “Tiffany!” Kara had come around the corner and skidded to a halt. Her eyes were wide and her mouth fell open. “Stop it. This girl is one of mine. It’s my job to look out for her.”

  “Then you better start looking out for her.” Tiffany stared her friend down. “Because she just pissed me off.”

  As she left, the other stayed behind. She’d been biting her lip the whole time but now looked at the floor.

  “Chandra? What the hell?”

  She jerked a shoulder up. Her gaze never lifted. “The girl talked back to her. You know how Tiffany is.”

  Kara groaned, tipping her head back. She was hugging her clipboard to her chest. “This is great. Just great!”

  The floor meeting was held in Kara’s room. Since there were thirty girls, half of us were in the hallway as she went over the rules. Grant West was still privately funded so there were rules, lots of them. Handouts were made and after the sixth question, I slid down to the floor and rested my head against the wall.

  We’d be there for a while. My only excitement was a text from Jesse, but then it wasn’t. He couldn’t get away from wherever he was. I asked him where he was, but the response was vague.

  Family thing.

  A girl sat beside me, except she tucked her head and rested her forehead to her knees. It wasn’t long before the snoring sounded. I wished I could’ve done that, hadn’t slept a full night in a long time. But right when my eyelids started to droop, Kara called for the last question, which she gave a short answer and then proclaimed, “All right, everyone. We’re a little behind schedule. I wanted to take you to the cafeteria and show you how to get your card registered, but since it’s after seven and the cafeteria is closed, I think a better alternative is pizza! Everyone up for that?”

  A collective cheer went through the group.

  Not me. Pizza was good, but I didn’t want to spend any more time with people.

  “You think we can ditch?” The girl beside me had woken.

  I was tempted to go with her, wherever she wanted.

  As we stood and the girls emptied from Kara’s room, the resident advisor pulled her door shut and locked it. As she did, surprise came over her again. “Beth, I had no idea you were on my floor.”

  She wasn’t looking at me. I turned my head.

  “Hi, Kara.” Ditching Girl gave her half-hearted waved. As her arm lifted, the leather bracelets around her wrist slid down. They didn’t go far. Her entire arm was covered with them. They had an inch until her elbow stopped them. As her wrist was bared, I saw a small tattoo of interloping circles.

  “That’s wonderful.” Kara’s delight doubled when she saw me next to her. “You two should be friends.”

  “Huh?” Beth glanced at me. “Why?”

  “Um. Just…” She bit her lip. “Just cause. I think it’d be really great. Is Hannah coming over tonight? You could invite her to pizza?”

  Whoa. The turn of events had me dizzy. Who was Hannah and why was she pushing this friendship? Though, I had to admit, this girl was the first in a while that I hadn’t minded sitting beside. That didn’t mean I wanted to be friends with her.

  Still. I was curious. “Who’s Hannah?”

  “No one.” Beth threw me a scowl.

  Kara jumped next to her side, but realized all the girls were still waiting in the hallway. She motioned towards the doors. “Go ahead, girls. The pizza will be here shortly. I reserved the downstairs lobby until ten tonight anyway.”

  A few grumbled as they headed down. I stayed behind. Something was going on and I knew it had to do with me and Hell Bitch from before.

  Kara turned back, biting her lip, and wringing her hands together. The clipboard had been left behind in the room. She seemed to be eyeing me up and down, measuring for something, but she switched to Beth. “Call Hannah. Be friends with this girl.”

  Then she flounced away, hurrying after the rest.

  I shifted back to my heel and reassessed this girl. Dressed in baggy jeans, a black T-shirt with a rock band on the front, and she had a lip ring—make that an eyebrow ring as well, she didn’t seem like any sort of help against Hell Bitch.

  “Who is this Hannah and why does she want our friendship so bad?”

  Beth shrugged as she bent to grab a backpack. Glass clinked together inside, but she put her arm through one of the straps and slung it over, uncaring about whatever was fragile inside. She flipped her straight brown hair over her shoulder. As she did, I caught another small tattoo of a hummingbird behind her ear. “No idea. And Hannah would not come to something like this.”

  “Still.” There had to be a reason. “Who is Hannah to you?”

  “She’s my cousin.” She grew suspicious. “Why?”

  “Because when someone throws a girl at me and commands our friendship, I want to know why,” I snapped.

  “Oh.” The suspicion melted away. “That makes sense. I’d want to know too.”

  “You’re not curious why she said that?”

  Checking her pockets, she started towards the stairs. I fell in step beside her and heard her say, “When
it comes to Kara and her friends, I don’t really give a damn. They’re too loony and pretentious for my liking.”

  “Wait.” My arm caught hers. I hauled her to a stop on top of the stairs. “You said Kara and her friends?”

  She rolled her dark eyes. “Yeah, I know Kara because she’s best friends with my other cousin.”

  My heart began pounding. I already knew where this was going. “Who is that?”

  “You don’t want to know her. Trust me.”

  I think I already do. “No, really. Tell me.”

  “Tiffany, she’s Hannah’s older sister.”

  Bingo.

  I knew there’d been a reason, but wait. That made no sense. “So you’re best friends with Hannah, who is sisters with Tiffany? I’m confused.”

  “Join the club.” She shrugged again and started down the floors. When we would’ve veered to the left and kept going to the basement lobby, she went to the right.

  I paused. For some reason, this seemed important for me to know. And I hated to admit it, but Beth wasn’t hard company.

  She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “If you want to, we’re going to Club T.”

  “What’s Club T?”

  She flashed a grin and it transformed her face. Beth had seemed moody and withdrawn, but with the slight curve of her lips, she was animated. Most guys would consider her plain looking, but in that moment, I thought she was radiant. She laughed at me. “Come and find out. Hannah’s driving.”

  I didn’t need any more incentive. I was out the door in two heartbeats.

  A red Camaro was waiting for us, with another blonde bombshell behind the wheel. She never grinned, nothing. Her aviators hid most of her face and her lips never moved an inch. She only spoke to Beth as I crawled into the backseat and her cousin took the front, “Who is this?”

  “Um.” Beth glanced at me before she settled into her seat. “A friend. Let’s go.”

  She gunned the Camaro and off we went. I was thrown back by the force of it, but I didn’t mind. The girl was thin like her sister, but she was tanner. Her hair held red streaks among the golden blonde of it and a tattoo was on the underside of her forearm. It was in another language, but in simple and tiny letters. While her sister had been dressed like she was attending tennis classes at the White House, this girl wore tattered jean shorts and a black top that stuck to her.

  Both were gorgeous.

  What was in the water around here?

  Beth frowned at me once more before her cousin turned the radio up and the two talked the rest of the way. It was a thirty-minute drive. She pulled into a parking lot outside a warehouse. The tall building, built from tin, was decorated with nothing. A lone black sign hung over the side entrance door, behind a guy in black clothes. He wore a hooded sweatshirt as a line of people waited.

  “Oh, hellll no. This ain’t happening.”

  Hannah parked the car and was out in record time. Beth caught my arm, holding me back, and we watched as she sauntered towards the bouncer. She pressed her chest against his and arched her back. One of her legs lifted in the air, all the while she was smiling and cooing into his ear.

  “What is she doing?”

  Beth shook her head. “She’s getting us in. That guy is new. Hannah’s been coming here for three years. She doesn’t like change.”

  Three years?

  “How old is she?”

  “She’s a sophomore this year, but we came to visit Tiffany when we were in high school and she was a freshman and sophomore at Grant West.”

  “So Tiffany’s a junior?”

  “Yeah.” Beth couldn’t stop grinning as she watched her cousin in action.

  I had to admit. I was impressed. She was stroking his arm, putting her boobs on display, and even puckering her lips. Oh yes. This girl knew how to work guys and every movement promised them so much more.

  Finally, the guy grinned with lust as he ran a hand over her bottom lip. Then he nodded and stepped aside.

  Her eyes lit up in triumph, and she glanced at us.

  “Come on.” Beth grabbed my arm and pulled me after her.

  We hurried through before the guy changed his mind.

  When we got inside, it was one large room with a frenzied mass. People gyrated, grinded, did all sorts of dancing to the band on the stage. Some of them wore clothes that lit up like Christmas trees. As we fought our way to the bar, I was entertained by a girl that extended the lights to her hair and neck. She wore eyelashes that glowed in the dark. When she caught my eye and saw that I was studying her, she pressed a hand against her cheek, and then touched it to mine.

  Beth grinned. She saw the exchange and leaned into my ear, “You have a glowing rose on your cheek now.”

  I nodded, happy for some reason.

  The girl pressed a kiss to my cheek and lifted her hand to the bartender. After she got her drinks, she turned and disappeared again.

  Two glasses were pushed our way. The bartender leaned close over the bar with his elbow braced on it. “That girl paid for your drinks.”

  I was floored by the generosity, but Beth grunted and flashed a wad of cash. The bartender nodded and she was given a tray of drinks instead. She added the free ones to it and lifted it high above the heads as we moved out of the crowd. When we got to the edge, she lowered the tray and hollered in my ear, “The girl seemed fine, but don’t accept any more drinks from anyone. I like this place, don’t get me wrong, but don’t be stupid at the same time.”

  I hollered back in her ear, “Where’s your cousin?”

  She gestured to the dance floor.

  And yep, there she was. She had an arm around some guy who was grinding against her hips. The two looked hot and heavy; then Hannah pressed her chest against the guy’s and he dropped his head to her neck. When she gasped, I turned back to Beth. “You think she’s coming back for these drinks?”

  Beth laughed. “Maybe. They’re for all of us, help yourself.”

  “What?”

  She found a table in the back section and placed the tray on it. Her bag was put on the chair beside mine and she patted the seat. “Have yourself some fun. I’ll be back.” And with that announcement, she vanished into the crowd.

  I was left alone with a tray of drinks.

  Wonderful.

  I didn’t even like to drink.

  I didn’t see either of the girls for a while, but I couldn’t really fault them. I didn’t know them so I settled back against the wall, kept the tray in front of me, and watched the people. When it was nearing midnight, Beth returned. Her hair was sweaty and slicked back from her face. Her face was red. When I saw the hickey on the side of her neck, I didn’t ask what she’d been doing. I hadn’t seen her on the dance floor.

  “Did you have fun?” She hopped onto the stool across from me and yelled over the table.

  I indicated the tray, still full with the drinks. “Loads.”

  “Sorry.”