“What's all that about?” I ask as Spencer takes me to the edge of the glass railing, and my stomach flip-flops dangerously. Oh god. We're on the top floor, aren't we? After a brief moment of nausea, I step forward and curl my hands around the metal railing that tops the glass panels. All around us, the city lives and breathes and glitters. I've only been to NYC once, and I definitely didn't get to see it at night from the roof of a penthouse suite.
“North York Prep is douche-canoe central,” Tobias supplies, stepping up on my other side. “Just ignore them. They just want to banish us back to Bridgeport.” He shudders as I sip my drink, and then notices my perplexed expression. “It's like, uh, Huntington Park is to Los Angeles.”
“Right.” I stand there for a moment, and then turn back to the city. “We're in Manhattan, aren't we?”
“Of course,” Church supplies, leaning in the corner, his long body pressed against the glass in just such a way that I think if someone wanted to, they could push him right over the edge. He doesn't seem concerned. “Where else would we go?”
I roll my eyes, and then take another sip of my drink, staring down at the cocktail with its fancy little mint sprig and big, round ice cube. No way in hell the twins made this.
“Bartender,” Micah whispers, appearing on my other side. He pushes between me and Spencer, and I see Spencer frown hard. He's not happy about it.
“Bartender who doesn't care about serving underage kids, huh?” I ask, and then I down the whole drink and grin. “Fun.”
“Let's get a round and toast Eugene. He died for a good cause.”
“Did he?” Spencer asks Micah, and they exchange a look.
“He died, so you didn't have to,” Micah says with a shrug, and then he takes off with Tobias, returning with a fresh round of drinks. We all lift them up in salute. “To Eugene,” Micah says.
“To Eugene,” we all repeat, and then pour just a bit over the edge before knocking them back. Spencer breaks out his stash of weed, and lights up a small glass pipe.
“Aren't you supposed to smoke first and then drink?” I ask, remembering the Valentine's Day party, where Spencer and I danced and he didn't know it was me, like some fucked-up Cinderella moment.
“Only if you don't want the alcohol to boost the THC in—” Spencer stops to look at me, really look at me. His turquoise eyes widen, and some of that hurt I saw in the hallway that day comes out. “You. You're … you're your cousin.”
“What the crap are you going on about?” Ranger asks, looking between the two of us, the flashing lights from inside catching on the blue streaks in his hair. He has this alternative sort of look, with the black plugs in his ears, and the eyeliner, the tattoo that I can see on his chest now that his shirt's been partially unbuttoned. But to be honest, he looks the least happy to be here.
“The cousin I danced with at the Everly party. You … Charlotte, duh, fuck.” Spencer rakes his fingers through his hair, and then passes the pipe over to Tobias, like he's seriously reconsidering smoking it. “You were right in front of my fucking face, and I missed it.”
“That's why I was asking if you really wanted to smoke that after drinking so much,” I hedge, and Spencer glances over at me like he's both pissed and ashamed. “My grandfather's name really is Charlie, by the way. Some of my aunts call me Charlie …”
“This is insane,” Spencer whispers, running his palms down his face and then pausing. He drops his hands to his sides and then exhales sharply. “I feel like I never got to be properly mad at you guys because you were all so upset. But I am still, angry I mean. And I've been over that bit of conversation we had again and again.” He purses that hot mouth of his and narrows his eyes. “Explain the fake packer penis to me.”
The twins snicker, and Micah flashes a huge grin.
“We gifted Charlotte a packer penis, like the kind gay dudes put in their pants to seem bigger.”
“Or that transgender dudes use sometimes.”
“Right,” Spencer says, grabbing another drink off a passing tray. Did I mention there are waiters with trays of food and drinks walking around? Like this is some legit shit, not like any party I've ever been to before. Guess the upper crust in New York do things a little different. I'm used to coolers full of soda and beer, the best weed in the country for dirt cheap, and sandy beaches lit by moonlight and bonfires. “So that's what I grabbed onto, huh?”
“You grabbed it?” the twins ask together, exchanging a look, and then turning back to us. Micah speaks next while Tobias purses his lips. “And it passed then? You believed it was real? See, I told you that one had good reviews.”
