Page 52 of The Wrong Side of Kai
Isaiah drives us to Maddie’s house, music blaring into our ears at full volume, and the familiarity of their mindless chatter instantly puts me at ease. Isaiah is heading to a party too, one that is probably way more cool than our high school one, but because he doesn’t drink, he’ll remain our designated driver for the evening. Soon I realize that I’m not worrying about Harrison or Kai, because I’m too caught up in the laughter inside the car. We stop by the convenience store en route so that Isaiah can score us some cheap booze, and soon we’re skidding to a halt in the snow outside Maddie’s house, armed with a positive attitude and hands full of hard cider.
“Remember, don’t get inanyone’scar even if they claim they’re sober. I’ll pick you guys up on my way home,” Isaiah reminds us, shooting us a stern look as Chyna and I clamber out of the car. We both blow him a kiss, but he doesn’t know that he’s supposed to catch it and keep it safe.
There’s a cool breeze tonight that makes the temperature feel so much lower than it has been the past few days, and the snow crunches beneath my sneakers as Chyna and I trudge toward the house. I can hear Isaiah driving off behind us and I can hear the music pumping from inside the house. There are two guys from school smoking cigarettes on the porch, watching us closely as we approach, and I’m convinced they exchange a smirk with one another when they realize it’s me. That video is still on everyone’s minds.
I take a deep breath, clearing my lungs, then walk slowly but with purpose to the front door with Chyna by my side. She must sense my fear despite how hard I’m trying to hide it, because she slips her hand into mine, and she stares the two boys down with a threatening look as we pass them. I imagine their looks and snickers will only be the first of many tonight.
We enter the house together and immediately, the music rings in my ears, mixed with the clinking of bottles and the cracking of beer tabs. The party is definitely a notch up from what it was last weekend. There are more people, that’s for sure, and maybe Maddie is right. Maybe after last week’s brawl and the scandal of that awful video being filmed at this same party, people don’t want to miss out on any more potential drama. It’s mostly seniors from Westerville North that are here, with a few of the more popular juniors here too. It’s everyone that I know. Everyone that has laughed at my misfortune this week. Everyone that has flashed me dirty looks in the hallways. Everyone that has taunted me online.
Even now, I catch the looks people shoot me out of the corner of their eye as they pretend not to notice me, but really, I know they all do. I imagine people have been wondering whether or not I would have the courage to turn up tonight, and now they realize that yes, I do. Because Vanessa Murphy won’t let her mistakes – or Harrison’s actions – ruin her life. She’ll hold her head up high and keep moving forward.
“You okay?” Chyna asks, squeezing my hand more tightly. I just give her a tight smile and nod. “A drink?”
I nod again. Tonight, Chyna is the strong one. She’s the one checking thatI’mokay, the one protectingme. I’m not used to being out of my comfort zone like this.
We move across the living room toward the kitchen, still hand-in-hand, with the cider under Chyna’s arm. A group of guys are playing beer pong in the kitchen as everyone carefully navigates around the game to get themselves drinks from the selection of alcohol that’s spread across the counters.
“You’re brave,” someone murmurs as I pass them, and I can’t decide if they’re antagonizing me or complimenting me. Iambrave for coming here.
Chyna and I set our cider down, grab ourselves a bottle each, then pop them open. I take a long sip, gulping down the alcohol in desperation to loosen up and relax.
“I’m going to go find Malik Dorsey,” Chyna says, her voice slightly wary. “Are you coming?”
“Actually, you go ahead. I’m going to hang out in here,” I say, taking another swig and giving her a reassuring smile. I want to prove to myself that Icansurvive on my own without Chyna quite literally holding my hand. Last week, floating around on my own never scared me, because I knew there’d always be someone who would strike up a conversation with me. It’s different now. They’re happy to talk about me, but no one wants to talktome anymore.
Once Chyna reluctantly heads off to find her new love interest, I hover in the kitchen for a while, pretending to be invested in the game of beer pong, but really I’m just standing over in the corner hoping that no one will notice me. So many people come and go, but none of them are Harrison, and none of them are Kai.
“Vanessa!” Maddie says as she waltzes into the kitchen and spots me. She comes over, blond hair swishing around her shoulders, a grin plastered so wide on her face that it almost looks like it could hurt. “You made it!”
I have never felt so relieved to see Madison Romy before. “Hey! Did you invite half the school or something?” I motion to the packed kitchen, everyone brushing elbows with one another because the house is so full.
“I didn’t need to,” she says, proudly looking around. If her parents flipped at her for breaking some precious vase last weekend, then I wonder just how angry they’ll be afterthisparty. There’ll definitely be some serious damage to this house by the end of the night. “Everyone was totally buzzing after last weekend! It didn’t take any convincing to get people to come again. Thank you!”
I raise an eyebrow at her, questioning her gratitude. “For hooking up with Harrison Boyd in your little brother’s bedroom?”
“Yes!” She grins, then leans in close and kisses my cheek. I think Maddie is secretly a middle-aged woman trapped in a teenager’s body. She suddenly looks serious as a light bulb goes off in her head. “Wait. Where’s Kai? Is he here yet?”
“Yeah, about that. . .” I mumble. Does she seriously believe that Kai and I wereactuallygoing to stir up drama on purpose, dragging ourselves into an even deeper hole than the one we’re already in? Kai may have agreed to this twisted plan, but I certainly didn’t. Besides, Kai and I aren’t talking anymore. We won’t be pulling off any teamwork tonight, that’s for sure.
“Oh, look what we have here,” a voice booms over the music, and my eyes flicker from Maddie’s over to Harrison’s. His gruff voice is so off-putting. I can’t believe I ever thought his voice – or anything about him – was sexy.
Harrison weaves a path across the kitchen like he is Moses parting the Red Sea. Everyone instantly quits their game of beer pong and moves to the side, out of the way, as Harrison walks toward me, flanked by Noah. Anthony is nowhere to be seen. The music continues to play loudly, but the voices that were laced around it quickly die down.
Everyone’s eyes land on me.
22
Harrison stops a mere two feet away from me and for a moment, I think of last weekend, when we both flirted with one another over in the living room. We were all teasing winks and seductive gazes back then, nothing else, and yet it has come down to this: two enemies standing face-to-face with an audience awaiting the fallout.
I glance over at Maddie, who looks torn between whether or not she wants this drama to unfold. She subtly steps away, removing herself from the situation, and hides behind some of the other guests. I don’t blame her too much. I know she’s intimidated by Harrison, and we weren’t even friends a few days ago, so I can’t expect her to jump in and save me.
“You have some nerve showing up here,” Harrison says, folding his arms across his puffed-out chest as though his threatening stance will scare me. I can see the loathing in his eyes and the tension in his curled-up fists. There’s no doubt he knows I was the one who taped that photo of him to his locker yesterday, and this is the first time we have seen each other since. Harrison looks rigid, like he’s fighting the urge to lay his hands on me.
“It’s brave of you to show up too,” I throw back despite longing to curl up into a ball and cry. Fighting back was easy before, but now I don’t want to play these games anymore. I want to admit that I can’t do this for a second longer, that I don’t want to keep arguing, but I can’t break now. Not when everyone is watching. “How does it feel, Harrison? Being put on display to the world?”
A hush of snickers circles the room. The entire party is now crowding into the kitchen, everyone listening in, most likely thinking how great it is that drama is kicking off so early into the night. I used to love this type of pathetic entertainment, but being the school’s punching bag really isn’t a joke. It’s awful and I feel so alone. The entire room is against me, and no one should ever have to feel like this.
Harrison casts a couple glares at the people huddled around us, then focuses back on me. “So, this was all about getting even with me?” he snorts, his laughter cold. “Great job, Vanessa. You did it. We’re even now.” He sarcastically claps his hands together, loud and slow while shaking his head pitifully at me.
