Read Online Screaming Divas by Suzanne Kamata - Free Book Online

worked up a smile and found her way to the bathroom where the keg was chilling in the tub. “Hi,” she said to a tall guy with a black T-shirt and squiggly hair. He winked and moved on. Esther pretended that she belonged there and that she was comfortable.
    No one spoke to her while she waited in line to get a plastic cup filled with beer. They all seemed to know each other. Across the room, she spotted a thin woman with bleached butch-cut hair. She was leaning against the wall, hip cocked, like a model in
Vogue
. Why couldn’t Esther look like that? Tall and thin and exotically beautiful.
    The woman caught her staring and raised her drink in a toast.
    Esther looked away quickly, embarrassed. She felt odd with her ordinary reddish-brown shoulder-length hair and her plain face. She wished that she had dabbed on some lipstick, at least. And maybe she should have worn something other than jeans and a flannel shirt. These women were like tropical birds, dazzling and rare in their finery. Esther looked like a roadie for the third-rate garage band warming up.
    â€œHey there, dear. You look lost.”
    The British accent jarred Esther out of her gloom. She improvised a smile for the model-thin woman with white hair, now standing before her. Her cotton dress was so tight that Esther could see her nipples. She obviously wasn’t wearing a bra.
    â€œI’m Rebecca,” she said, holding out a hand.
    â€œEsther.” Rebecca’s hand was bony and cool.
    â€œDid you crash the wrong party, darling? You look a little muddled.”
    Esther’s back stiffened. “I’m here with my friend, Harumi. The band, I mean.”
    â€œAhh.” Rebecca’s thin penciled eyebrows rose. “So you’re in high school.”
    â€œWell, yeah. I’m a senior.”
    â€œAhh.”
    Esther had finally reached the bathtub. The most gorgeous guy she had ever seen was now pumping beer into her cup. He was wearing cut-offs, no shirt, and even though it was October, he was amazingly tanned. His belly was taut and segmented.
    â€œThere you go,” he said. For a split second, she had the pleasure of looking into those chocolate eyes, half-hidden by the wavy hair that fell to his chin.
    â€œThanks.” She wanted to talk more, but he had already forgotten her, his attention on the next cup.
    Esther moved out of line, a little shaken by her brush with beauty. Rebecca was still there, watching her with an amused twist of the lips.
    â€œYou can’t have him,” she whispered, pulling Esther out of hearing.
    â€œWhat?”
    Rebecca ushered her onto the balcony where a few people were smoking and talking. “That’s Tony,” she said, nodding her head toward the keg. “You can’t have him. Don’t waste your energy.”
    Esther blushed. She hadn’t been thinking of making a play. Someone like that was obviously beyond her grasp. She’d never presume to want him. He was just nice to look at, like a statue of David or something.
    Rebecca was staring at her, watching her every reaction. “You can’t have him, Esther, because he’s gay.”
    â€œWhat?” Esther had never met an openly gay person before. Sure, there was talk about certain kids at school, such as Lewis Dalton who’d once been spotted purchasing needlepoint supplies. Everyone knew, but he was still in the closet.
    â€œAre all of these guys … gay?” Esther asked. She couldn’t imagine the straight boys at school drinking alongside a self-declared queer.
    â€œNo, but some are,” Rebecca said. “Some of the women, too.”
    Esther turned and looked at her then, a little frightened. “Are you?”
    â€œWhat if I am?”
    Esther didn’t reply. Her head was suddenly too light, as if it were about to drift from her shoulders into the starry sky. She could smell Rebecca’s perfume. She could feel the heat of her body.
    Rebecca lowered her