“This is where you all were last year?” I ask, and he nods, grabbing my hand in one of his furry paws and dragging me into the fray. I’m nervous—I won’t lie about that—but I keep telling myself it’s impossible for these Fellowship freaks to get me in such a big crowd.
Although … that doesn’t mean they’re not watching.
The first thing I notice is that Mark is here with Selena, chugging beer from a keg as she cheers him on. I’m not exactly sure who they’re supposed to be. I think Mark is meant to be some famous rapper while Selena’s a popstar of some kind.
The music is made up of modern hits, the same sort of stuff I’d be listening to if I were partying at Monica’s house with all our old friends. But there’s definitely an edge of money and privilege here that I recognize from that party in the New York penthouse that the boys took me to. As much as I like my new life with the guys in Connecticut, this is one thing that I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to.
There’s food—obviously catered—plenty of drinks, drugs, and a sound system worth more than my dad’s car. As soon as the crowd recognizes that it’s Spencer in the wig and glasses, they cheer, and he grins, unloading the bag he brought with him onto one of the tables. There’s enough weed there to get him thrown in federal prison.
“You want to dance?” Micah asks, giving me this lascivious look from under the hood of his costume that makes me grin.
“With a furry?” I retort, looking him up and down. “I don’t know, man. You’re pressing your luck.”
“How about I promise not to proposition you for sex while I’m wearing this thing, and we’ll settle on some grinding instead?”
“Deal.” I take Micah’s hand and let him pull me into the sweaty, gyrating group of dancers on the old, bowed, and grayed wood floors of the church. There are a few pews, pushed to either side of the space and filled with people talking, laughing, and snapping selfies. The majority of the rubble—including a broken stained-glass window—is gathered in the corners of the crumbling structure.
After a few songs, Tobias cuts in and takes Micah’s place, smiling at me from above that scraggly goatee. I give it a little tug, laughing as he spins me around, our only source of light the full moon above the trees, and the colored spotlights sweeping across the crowd. It’s interesting, to look up into eyes that are the same shape and color as Micah’s, but at the same time, so different. The thought makes me smile, knowing that there’s so much more to a person than what you see on the outside.
“College applications are due in November,” Tobias whispers, leaning in close so that his mouth is near enough to my ear that I can hear him over the music. “I filled mine out for Bornstead U, and guess what?”
“What?” I whisper back, shivering as he nibbles my earlobe playfully.
“Spencer filled his out, too. Even though he said he wasn’t interested in college. I think you’re having a positive influence on us, Chuck.” I smile, curving my arms around his neck as the music shifts into a slower, softer song. Half the crowd groans, sweating and booing, while the rest of us relax into the melody, swaying together. “We should hear back in December. Then we can decide.”
“Decide what?” I ask, looking up, my heart pounding like crazy. College seems so far away, but in reality, I’ll know whether I was accepted within a month, I’ll be turning eighteen around the same time. And we’re already almost two months into the schoolyear. It’s a little scary, thinking about the future and all of its unknowns.
“If we’re all going. You know we’ve always sort of planned to stick together, right?”
“I didn’t, actually,” I say, looking up into Tobias’ eyes. There’s a calmness there in his gaze that I grab hold of and cling to. I like the way he looks down at me, like he’s more than happy to take care of me and Micah both. He’s got a giving sort of heart.
“We never really decided if we wanted to travel or go to school first, but I like the idea of us all going to Colorado together, don’t you?”
“I’m pretty sure that’d be a dream come true.” I wrinkle my brows and then move my left hand between us, so I can stare at the pink Asscher cut diamond that Church gave me. “But how would it all work? I’m … just assuming that at some point, you’re going to want me to choose?”
“Choose, what?” Tobias asks, but before I get the chance to answer, I see Spencer waving us over. Tobias and I exchange a look and then weave our way off the dance floor, over to where Spencer’s frilly little red miniskirt is swishing away through the trees.
