Read Online Aven's Dream by Alessa James - Free Book Online Page B

they were part of my mandatory uniform. Tonight, I was dressed in black pants, an emerald green top that I thought contrasted well with my hair, and a pair of black ballet slippers I was hoping wouldn’t get soaked. I felt totally ridiculous—and conspicuous. I had decided to change into jeans and a sweatshirt at least half a dozen times, but I had managed to talk myself out of it. Leaving Sean at the front door, I ran up the stairs to kiss my dad on the cheek.
    “If you need me to pick you up, just call,” my dad said as I raced out of his office.
    Sean whistled again as we walked to his car.
    “You clean up pretty nice, Casey.”
    I admired Sean and grinned, noticing his outfit resembled the one worn by Will Kincaid the day before. It made me wonder if there was any chance Will would be at the party. I shook off the thought, not wanting to get my hopes up.
    “You’re not too bad yourself.”
    Sean smiled and shrugged.
    “All right, then. Let’s go.”
    We stopped off at Ford’s for shakes and then wandered around town for a while to avoid showing up too early. Jason Everett’s house was across town, closer to school, in one of Winters’ newer housing tracts, an upscale neighborhood that my dad referred to as nouveau riche . We parked down the block, since the street was already packed with cars. It looked like the entire high school had already shown up to his party. Every light in the house was on, and I could hear the steady beat of music as we approached. I wondered what the neighbors thought when Jason’s parents were out of town.
    “You owe me,” I grumbled at Sean.
    “It’ll be fine,” he laughed, hip checking me.
    When we reached the huge front doors, which stood open, I took another deep breath of fresh air. Stepping inside, I felt like I was watching a movie. There were people everywhere, but no one I recognized. Sean’s expression relaxed when he spotted Matt and Jeff across the room. The entire school had shown up. I wanted to share in Sean’s relief, but I felt even more alone as we joined the others. Sean yelled something over the music to the others, and Matt yelled hi to me. Jeff just smiled. I liked them both, and they were always friendly in school, but Jeff was usually kind of quiet, around me at least. They were Sean’s friends, not mine.
    I tried to focus on what they were saying, but I couldn’t hear anything over the music. Someone bumped me from behind, and I realized that was what my brain felt like right now—like it was getting bumped into. A girl teetered by in platform shoes, grabbing my hand for balance. Feeling a sharp wave of dizziness, I suddenly felt like crying. When I looked up at her, I saw her makeup was smeared, and her eyes were red. Someone else bumped into me, brushing my arm. For no reason, I started laughing. Sean glanced at me, and I looked down. This was why I was better off on my own. … Because around a lot of people, I started feeling crazy.
    I glanced around. There were people packed so tightly throughout the first floor of the house that it was difficult to breathe as the music vibrated through the floorboards. So this is what I’ve been missing . One big anxiety attack.
    I lasted for another few minutes, vacillating between wanting to laugh maniacally or cry hysterically, before I gave Sean what I hoped was the universal sign for getting a drink. His eyes bulged a little until I mouthed water . Really, I just wanted to find a place away from people to breathe and stop feeling insane. Turning to face the crush of people, I took a deep breath and headed toward the back of the house as bodies pressed in around me. I caught a glimpse of Allison Monroe, clad in a bright red mini-dress and—not surprisingly—surrounded by devotees. Sean would die when he saw her, I thought glumly.
    It was slow going as I made my way toward the kitchen, and I could finally see why. Set up on the floor was a keg, while a giant tub held chilled bottles and cans of various