danced with instant interest. Well, hello there. I didn’t want to come off like an ego-driven asshole, but I rarely had to do much to catch interest from girls. The tatts and muscles helped me along the way, not to mention my huge –
“Hey,” said Katie with a smile.
“Hey,” I returned, looking at the two empty beers in my hand. Had I drunk both? “Want to go get some more drinks?”
“Sure,” she said stepping over to me. We weaved our way through the crowds and headed over to the bar area, which of course had a long line.
“So who are you here with?” I asked, just in case a boyfriend was around somewhere.
“I came with friends,” she said with a smile. “I just met up with Ivy to say hi.”
“How do you know Ivy?” I asked, knowing Ivy wasn’t big on friends, other than our group, of course.
“Same class at college,” she replied.
I nodded and took a step closer to the bar as the line moved slowly.
“Do you go to college?” she asked.
“I work at a construction company,” I returned, watching for her reaction. No-one really knew why I did, especially the group, who all knew I was loaded with cash through my family’s name.
“So that’s where the muscles come from,” she said pouting her cherry lips.
She wanted me.
I was in.
Janey
I pulled my leg from the shoulder of the guy I was currently using for a better view and started to slide my way down his back. The crowd cheered as the band finished, moving off quickly for the next band to set up. I scanned the crowd to find Ava but couldn’t see her, my eyes then moving fast to see if Will was still there.
He wasn’t.
I touched the ground and then turned to leave.
“Hey wait,” he said grabbing my arm.
I paused and then turned to face him. He was hot, and the old Janey would have thought he definitely had potential. But the old Janey had disappeared up her own ass and I was suddenly more interested in where Will had gone.
“See another band with me,” he said pulling me closer to him with a knowing smile.
He wanted more from me.
They always did.
Little did he know that I had no more to give.
“Gotta go,” I said with a fake flirty wink before turning and disappearing into the crowd. I spotted Noah’s tall frame moving away from the stage area and headed in his direction. The crowd were moving in different directions as some were coming to see the next band on that stage, while others like me were heading to another stage. I slowly made my way through and felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it out of my pocket as I walked and then stopped suddenly when I saw the message.
Unknown: Enjoying yourself?
Someone pushed me from behind and I stumbled, dropping my phone to the grass. I quickly scrambled to pick it back up and looked at the screen to see the message had disappeared. I got pushed back and forth as the crowd surged for the next band and I moved my way through again, looking at the faces around me. I couldn’t prove that this was happening, that I was being stalked, from the one person that I never wanted to see again in my life. It may not be
Oliver,
my step-brother, hell bent on sending me over the edge, but my gut told me it was. The next band started and the crowd roared to a familiar song. It vibrated again in my hand and I looked at it in dread.
Unknown: You look like a slut. Blue is not your colour.
I gritted my teeth and watched the message disappear, before looking down at my blue tank top. He was here, watching me.
The crowd sang along to the chorus of the song as I pushed my way through, looking around for the familiar face that I despised. My heart beat fast as I looked around in panic, feeling like I was on the edge of going crazy. I scanned the crowd around me again, taking in the faces, noting no one seemed to be directly watching me.
I came to a clearing, away from the main crowd and took a deep breath. If he was still watching right now, I couldn’t let him see that
Jessica Conant-Park, Susan Conant