My right arm was useless, trapped between my body and the seat. My first thought was Don’t call me that, but that objection was quickly dismissed in favor of terror as I felt a hand pushing my already short skirt higher. “The little devil costume suits you, Jackie.” The voice was slurred, but familiar. I struggled to rise but couldn’t, because the weight on top of me was too heavy. One moment I was pulling the truck door open, and the next I was lying flat on my face across the seat, breathless and immobile. In the initial seconds that followed, I was too disoriented to comprehend what was happening. “Figures,” I muttered, unlocking the truck door. Once the keys were in my hand I sucked on the finger the slight metallic taste told me I’d punctured the skin. Swearing when a mechanical pencil jabbed a fingertip, I stomped one stiletto-clad foot, almost certain I’d drawn blood. The moon was too cloud-obscured and the fully lit windows of the house were too far away to provide any light at the far end of the lot.

I hit send as I dug in my bag for my keys. I chuckled over the thought of the short walk of shame she’d endure from the front porch to my truck, if so. The way she and her boyfriend, Chaz, had been tequila-soaked dirty dancing before they linked hands and tripped up the stairs to his room, she might not be calling me until tomorrow. My message told her to call or text when she was ready to go. From the wide-open windows of the house, music blared across the pavement, punctuated with occasional bursts of laughter, drunken challenges and calls for more shots.Īs tonight’s designated driver, it was my responsibility to get Erin back to our dorm across campus in one non-mangled piece, whether or not I could stand another minute of the party. The night was beautiful and warm-a typical Southern-style Indian summer. Weaving between the cars crammed into the parking lot behind my ex’s frat house, I tapped out a text to my roommate. I’d just bailed on the Halloween party still in full swing behind me. It was as though he didn’t exist, and then suddenly, he was everywhere. I had never noticed Lucas before that night.

Easy by tammara webber