Page 131 of Swallow Your Sorries

“Nevermind. The trolley’s soon coming and we still need to hide the bottles in the forest first.”

The forest stretches from Beaulieu’s back gates all the way to the fridges of town where the trolley stop is.

“Let’s get some basics. Gin, Vodka, Whiskey, and Brandy.”

“Brandy?” I ask, wrinkling my nose. “Isn’t that what granddad’s drink?”

“Well, it’s supposedly a high-end gentlemen’s club. One of those old stuffy traditional kinds and we don’t know their target audience. Middle age or pensioner level?”

Butterflies erupt in my stomach at that.

Am I really doing this?I wasn’t nervous when I picked out an outfit or thought about the money, but now…

“Damn, you’re right. It’s probably going to be full of rich fathers.”

“Or granddads,” Aria says, pulling out her phone and searching up popular mixed drink recipes. “I wonder if you’ll need to know how to mix absinthe.”

“At least I don’t have to worry about my father showing up,” I mutter. “Anything high-end is not really his scene.”

“That’s one positive,” Aria says kindly as we slip into the store and the little golden bell above the door tinkles.

The cashier gives us a bored look of acknowledgement before doing a double take. I know him. He knows me, but the wig’s throwing him off.

Good.

“Let’s get the cheapest brands we can find,” I say to Aria over the low aisles as I steer us toward the opposite end of the store. “And the smallest bottles, like a pint or two. This is just an experiment, besides we can’t have a bunch of bottles lying around in case of an inspection.”

Even I can hear the sheer terror in my voice at the last word.Seriously, what am I doing?

“Don’t worry. Ms Trix will probably just steal them and pretend it didn’t happen. Though she’s more into Sherry.”

“Cooking sherry, you mean,” I say. “Isn’t that loaded in sodium? Why doesn’t she just buy actual liquor? She munches on liquor-infused chocolates like crazy too.”

“It’s a dry campus,” Aria says, putting three miniature bottles into her basket. “It’s a strict policy, even for the teachers.”

I try not to dry heave at that.

“If we’re caught, will they expel us?”

Well,me.My parents couldn’t buy me a new uniform, much less bribe the school to put up with me until graduation.

“Why would Stassi and I risk you getting expelled?” Aria says, eyeing a bottle of clear liquor before gazing over at me. “We’re your friends.”

Friends.

My heart sings at that. Stupidly, desperately, but a happy tune nonetheless.

Elle

“What are you doing?” Gant asks dumbfounded, as he enters the dance studio.

Just the sound of his deep voice fills me with breath-taking dread. But lately, that small dose of fear is accompanied by excitement.

Maybe a shot would’ve helped to take the edge off.

Damn, I wish I had time to sneak into the forest where Aria and I hid the liquor bottles near the old greenhouse two days ago. Miss Trix, surprisingly, wasn’t drunk enough for us to enact our plan last weekend. ‘The stalker’ has pushed her so close to the edge that she’s not been getting wasted lately. She’s been on high alert, flitting around the garden and windows with binoculars, but no one’s ever there. Of course, they aren’t, because no one can sneak out with all of her lurking.

As Gant shuts the door behind him, my stomach clenches and I don’t know why I’m so damn nervous. Excited. I’m here to work on my technique. Myballettechnique, that is.

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