ADDIE
I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear a loud thump against my window. I tear my gaze from Beck’s to see Tori standing there, her hands braced on the glass, her expression…
Green.
That’s when she opens her mouth and vomits all over the driver’s side window and door.
“Oh shit.” Beck lets go of my hand and jumps out of the car, then ducks back in to wave at me. “Come out this side.”
I do as he says, taking his hand and letting him pull me out. I’m not a delicate flower. Meaning, I’m no dainty girl who weighs nothing. I’m solid, thanks to all the volleyball playing over the years, and I know I could be considered heavy, especially compared to other girls.
Beck just hauled me out of my car with a gentle tug of his hand, as if I weighed nothing, which is pretty impressive.
And I don’t know what was about to happen between us just then, right before Tori threw herself at my car and puked all over it, but I think…
I think he was staring at my lips.
Like he was contemplating kissing me.
Nah.
No way. He wouldn’t do that. He’s with Sasha. They’re in love or whatever. We’re just friends.
So why did he take my hand?
Pushing all confusing thoughts dealing with Beck out of my head, we round the car together to the driver’s side and find Tori hunched over, saliva streaming from her mouth in a long string. The smell hits me and I wrinkle my nose, glancing up at Beck to find him standing there frozen, with a vaguely horrified expression on his face.
“Addie,” Tori groans, blindly reaching out to brace her hand against my car, her palm smacking right into the vomit. “Help me.”
I bolt into action, going to her, not sure what to do first. It’s one of those overwhelming situations where there’s so much going on, I don’t know where to start.
“Beck.” I turn, offering him a faint smile. “I have a couple of bottles of water inside the car. Will you grab them for me?”
“Will do.” He runs off, seemingly glad to be given a task.
He probably is. This is a nightmare. The last thing I expected to do tonight is clean up Tori’s vomit off my freaking car. And where’s Emma anyway?
I carefully step around the vomit, though I feel my shoe landing in some anyway, as I approach Tori. “You okay, Tor?” I ask softly.
She shakes her head, lifting it so I can see into her bloodshot and watery eyes. “I feel disgusting.”
“Even after puking?”
Tori makes a face, closing her eyes. “Please don’t say that word.”
“We need to get you cleaned up.”
Beck chooses that moment to appear with three, mostly full, bottles of water gathered in his arms. He hands one over and I take it, cracking it open and immediately splashing the side of my car to wash off the vomit.
“I’m so sorry,” Tori says, and I swear she sounds like she’s crying. “I didn’t mean to do that to your car.”
“No more cheap vodka for you,” I mutter as I take the next bottle and twist the lid off, washing off the last remnants before I reach for the door handle and open it. I bend down and hit the lever to open my trunk. “Can you grab a couple more waters from the trunk, Beck?”
“Sure.” He goes to grab some and comes back with two unopened bottles. “You have an entire case in there.”
“You never know what could happen.” I shrug as I crack the lid and then hand it to Tori.
She takes it and drinks from the bottle greedily, finishing almost half in a few swallows.
“Slow down,” I tell her. “You don’t want to throw up again.”
“I keep a case in my car too. Learned it from Jake,” Beck continues, sounding impressed.
I smile at him, wishing I didn’t have to take care of my friend. There is so much I don’t know about this boy and I want to learn everything.
“Oh God.” Tori at least whirls away from the car this time, throwing up on the ground. It hits with a loud splatter and my stomach turns.
Dang. And this night held so much promise.
Too bad it’s ruined now.
Once I help Tori get cleaned up and Beck helps me get her into the back seat of my car, where she promptly passes out, we go in search of Emma, who I find sitting with a smaller group of football players near the fire, her gaze locked on Marcus, her ex-boyfriend from the beginning of our junior year.
“Hey,” I call to her. She glances up when she hears me, her eyes widening slightly when she spots who’s standing next to me. “We should probably go.”
Emma’s face falls. “I don’t want to go yet. The night has barely begun. And we always stay the night.”
I go to her, lowering my voice as I kneel beside her. “Tori threw up. She’s passed out in the back seat of my car.”
“Let her sleep it off then,” Emma whispers, her gaze snagging on Marcus as he gets up and walks away. The disappointment on her face is clear. “I was just talking to him until you interrupted me.”
“Sorry. Thought you’d care that our best friend barfed all over the driver’s side of my car,” I say, rising to my feet.
Emma starts laughing. “Oh God, really? Wish I would’ve seen that.”
“No, you really don’t.” I glance around when I realize Beck is nowhere to be found. Where’d he go? “I think I’m going to take her home.”
“Are you sober?”
“I am now.” Cleaning up someone else’s puke will sober you up right quick. “And I really don’t want to stick around.”
Emma snags my hand and yanks me back down, so I’m kneeling beside her once more. “Saw who was by your side earlier. Beck. What’s up with that?”
“We were just talking.” I shrug.
The look she sends me is shrewd, as if she has me all figured out. “Uh huh. You trying to start something with him? Don’t forget he’s still with Sasha.”
I don’t really like the tone of her voice or the look on her face, as if she thinks I’m making a huge mistake. Worse, she’s making me feel like I’m wasting my time—which I so am, meaning I don’t need the reminder. “Are you trying to start something back up with Marcus?”
Her expression shutters, closing right up. “Of course not.”
Marcus is her Achilles heel, the one who got away. The one she regrets losing.
“Don’t forget he’s with Monique.” Sort of. They flirt. I think they even hook up on occasion, but they don’t really commit to each other.
She’s my secret archnemesis, who used to be my sort of friend. The girl who chased after Beck every chance she got when she knew at one point, I was trying to chase after him too. In middle school.
Ah, those were the days.
They were awful.
Emma makes a face, then waves her hand, dismissing my words. “They’re not together. They just hook up on occasion.”
Yikes. “And you’re okay with that?”
“Once he’s back with me, he won’t feel the need to be with Monique anymore.” The smirk on Emma’s face is downright triumphant. “I hope you don’t mind that I’m staying.”