“I call it the Bod Squad,” Noah said, eager to join in the conversation from the backseat.
“Understandable,” Jack replied, his tone gratingly solemn.
“The next one of you to call it anything,” I said, “is going to end up with a sparkly belt buckle jammed so far up your butt that you’ll be sneezing glitter for two weeks.”
As a threat, it wasn’t my best, but considering the fact that I was in a car with my oversexed younger brother, a guy who took a great deal of sadistic pleasure in rubbing me the wrong way, and a really obnoxiously sparkly belt, it wasn’t half bad.
“Glitter?” Jack stared at me for a moment, his facial expression changing in a way that I couldn’t quite read. Even if I hadn’t been looking back at him, I would have felt his gaze. It was that tangible.
Then Jack treated me to another shrug. As he turned onto April’s street, he shot Noah a conspiratorial look. “Is it me,” he said, “or is she somewhat obsessed with my butt?”
I turned around to face Noah, and for once, he wisely remained silent.
As Jack pulled through the giant, open wrought-iron gate and onto April’s absurdly long private drive, I took in both the incredible size of Château April and the way that Jack’s eyes followed my every move.
Even from inside the car, I could hear the music blaring from April’s house.
The private drive was lined with cars, and A-list teenagers spilled out, moving en masse toward the house. When Bayport High’s Varsity Spirit Squad partied, it turned into a who’s who of the high school world. The three of us got out and I wasn’t actually that surprised when I saw a handful of football players at the door, sorting out the riffraff. The guys didn’t so much as blink when they saw me, former Queen of Riffraff, climb up the front steps. Instead, they eyed my white pants appreciatively and greeted me with whistles.
“Toby,” Chip said. “Good to see you.”
I noticed that he didn’t make a physical move on me. Wise decision, Chip. I wondered how his shin was doing, but didn’t waste much time thinking about it. As Jack and I moved past the doorway, one of the football players leaned forward to stop Noah.
“Nice try, kid,” he said.
Before one of the others could recognize Noah as the guy who was forever chatting up their girlfriends, I stuck my hand back and grabbed him by the popped collar. “He’s with me,” I said.
Noah grinned wildly. “I’m with her,” he said, and when the football players grudgingly allowed him to pass, Noah couldn’t resist. “Keep up the good work,” he told them, reaching out and patting their lapels.
Jack choked back laughter, but I saw it in his eyes.
The smirk I could deal with.
Arrogance I could deal with.
Mr. Gorgeous finding my adorkable younger brother amusing? That one was a little bit harder.
Noah took off then, no doubt in a state of absolute ecstasy, and I was left alone with Jack.
“He seems like a good kid,” Jack said.
“He’s an idiot,” I replied. “If it wasn’t for me, he’d be dead by now.”
Jack leaned back against a wall. “Do I sense a sweet side, Ev?”
It was too much. I was there, and he was there, and he wasn’t being completely horrible, and I didn’t know how to flirt. So I did the next logical thing. I ran. Well, I didn’t actually run, seeing as how the fashion boots made that a physical impossibility, but I did leave Jack to follow Noah with a great deal of speed and very little explanation.
“I’ll be back in a second,” I called over my shoulder.
Jack crossed one foot over the other and continued leaning on the wall, his eyes still on me.
As I did my best to follow Noah through the crowd, the song changed, and I grimaced. Either the DJ had a personal vendetta against everyone there, or everyone at the party other than me had completely horrible taste in music. This shouldn’t have surprised me, granted, but honestly, is a little bit of the Pixies too much to ask for? Mayhaps some Sonic Youth? Anything that’s not sung by an actress/singer or a rapper/pimp? When it comes to music, slashes are never a good thing.
I caught up with Noah, and proving once more that it is completely impossible that we could possibly share any DNA whatsoever, he grinned broadly. “I love this song.” A group of girls strutted by, moving their hips to the music as they walked, and Noah raised his eyes heavenward. “I really love this song.”
As much as I hated to interrupt his prayer of thanksgiving, I felt compelled to reissue my warning. “If you get into a fight, you’re on your own.”
My words had less than no impact on his cathartic experience.
“Toby!!”
I only knew one person who spoke with two exclamation marks in her voice.
“Hi, Lucy.”
“Isn’t April’s house amazing? Doesn’t it look…”
Like something out of Laguna Beach? Or possibly what it would look like if Lindsay Lohan and Usher made a music video together?
“…like totally amazing?”
“Amazing,” Noah repeated.
Lucy smiled at him. “Hi!” She punctuated her greeting with a wave.
Feeling strangely compelled to protect both Noah and Lucy from inevitable disaster, I tried to warn Lucy that waving at my brother while wearing a tube top could have major consequences, but a hand on my shoulder stopped the words in my mouth.
“Your outfit is so cute,” Brittany said, her eyes sparkling.
“You have such incredible taste,” Tiffany chimed in.
I rolled my eyes, but with Noah standing there, I couldn’t stop their self-congratulations.
“Your necklace is off center, though,” Britt said. “Here, let me.” She reached up and fiddled with the charm around my neck, turning it ninety degrees to the right. “There,” she said, and the real meaning behind her words (and the fiddling) didn’t escape me. She’d turned on the video and audio feed in the necklace. I was officially good to go.
If only I knew how to go about seducing someone.
No sooner had thoughts of seduction crossed my mind than I caught Jack’s eye. He was still standing where I’d left him, but had since been surrounded by a mass of girls, all vying for his attention. The smirky smile was back on his face.
“Go talk to him.” Tara’s voice was soft—her words were encouragement, not an order.
“I should probably stick with Noah for a while,” I said.
“You know, just until I’m sure that—”