Read Online Every Little Piece by Kate Ashton - Free Book Online

be. The Carly I saw tonight.”
    “Please,” she whispered, “don’t drive. You’re drunk.”
    “I’m okay. I’m barely feeling it anymore. The fresh air and the raw truth works wonders.”
    She tried for the keys again. I stepped out of the way and laughed. “But thanks anyway.” With one last shove, I pushed her toward the party. She stumbled and skidded across the gravel. I felt bad for a second, then sprinted toward my car. I was fine to drive. I’d had a few drinks, but the truth sobered me up pretty quick. I needed to be alone. I’d come back in a little bit and they’d see. I wasn’t drunk.
     

The loud music grated on my nerves when I re-entered the party with Kama. A group huddled around the radio, singing at the top of their voices, all off-key. Couples slobbered all over each other on the couches, chairs, and in the corners. A game of quarters seemed popular at the kitchen table. Coins were rolling all over the floor, but I didn’t see Seth. He never came back.
    “Hey!” Brin pulled me to the side. “What happened?”
    “What do you mean?”
    She twisted her hands, and her eyes were shifty. A sure sign she was holding something back.
    “What?”
    She shrugged. “What what?”
    I grabbed her arm. “What’re you holding back? Come on. We tell each other everything.”
    “Well, you see, Seth left.” She smiled but it still wasn’t real. More like she was hoping I’d buy her expanded version.
    I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. I wasn’t that stupid.
    She mumbled and played with the sleeves of her shirt.
    “Say it again. Without mumbling,” I demanded. The room raged around me, but the noise faded, and I focused on Brin. “Please.”
    “Fine. Seth left with Carly.”
    Shock reeled my system and stunned me into silence. Carly had been gunning for Seth since forever. Even though I glared at her whenever possible and made it obvious Seth was mine. Even though Brin and Kama had told her more than once that he was taken. Even though the entire school knew we’d been together for years. She’d probably been waiting the whole year, watching for a weakness in our relationship. She’d found one. Tonight. And swooped in for the kill.
    I forgot about being angry with Seth, and rage burned up inside that she’d leave with him.
    “I don’t think it’s like that,” Brin said. “Jamie tried to stop him or leave with him but he refused.”
    “Oh, I know exactly what it’s like.” My words left a bitter sting in the air. “She waited until my boyfriend was drunk and then took advantage of the situation. She’ll probably have him drive out to Raker’s point and seduce him.” I didn’t share the fact that our current fight was about sex, or the lack of sex. But then I realized that part didn’t matter all.
    Brin and I came to the same conclusion. “He’s drunk,” we said together.
    “Did Carly drive?” I asked. I scanned the party hoping that Brin was mistaken and they were really making out in a dark corner. But I didn’t see them.
    “I don’t know.”
    But I knew. Seth loved to drive. When he was mad or drunk it was impossible to wrangle the wheel from him. If he was both mad and drunk it could be lethal. I raced upstairs weaving in between the drunk couples. One girl was crying at the top, black mascara streaming down her cheeks. They all shot me dirty looks, but I didn’t care. What mattered was finding Seth. I prayed to God he was in a bedroom. I wanted him alive. I opened every door and peered inside. I called his name. I got a bunch of angry shouts to shut the door. Someone was puking in the bathroom. I whipped open the door, but it wasn’t Seth or Carly. I stumbled back down the stairs.
    “Where’s Kama?” I asked Brin. Panic rushed through me, and my adrenaline spiked. My hands were shaking.
    “Downstairs shooting pool with Justine, I think.”
    I pressed my lips together more determined than ever. This wasn’t my fault. We’d had a fight, and it wasn’t even