Very Bad Things (Briarcrest Academy #1)(80)

It was up to me to decide if I wanted to live a bleak existence, constantly thinking about what had happened to me, or I could make a conscious decision to be happy now, to be grateful for what I had. To live. To love.

I was responsible for my own happiness.

If there was something out there that made me happy, it was up to me to go get it.

I knew exactly what I wanted.





Chapter 31


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Nora

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“I’m breaking out of this cage. It begins today.” –Nora Blakely

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Three days later, Halloween and the big grand opening party at Club Vita finally arrived.

It was cool at night now, so Leo rented several standing gas heaters for the patio. The party rental place had set up a huge white tent next to the back parking lot and adjacent to the pool. Inside the tent, Tiffani set up the main bar, the buffet tables, and seating. She’d also set up two bar areas that were close to the pool. With over three hundred people coming, it was going to be huge.

Earlier that morning, the band had sat down and talked about the performance. We hadn’t even chosen a name yet so that became imperative. After a lot of laughs, we went with Teddy’s suggestion, the Vital Rejects. Leo suggested he only play the second set since he would be busy making sure the party got off to a great start. Sebastian could play guitar although he wasn’t as skilled as Leo, so we decided to focus on predominately piano centered songs.

Leo seemed nervous, and I wanted to assure him it would be awesome, but Tiffani was flitting in and out of the party area. As he conferred with Tiffani about last minutes details, we set up our instruments and spotlights.

After a quick run through with the band, I was back in my attic room with Mila getting dressed. She grunted and squirmed as she lay on the bed, tugging on her tight leather pants. I chuckled, watching her red face. I still couldn’t believe she’d chosen such a racy costume. “Everything okay?”

She snorted and yanked harder, finally getting them zipped. “Gah, dressing as Lady Gaga sucks!”

I tsked at her pants. “And there’re gonna make your butt sweat.”

She heaved herself up, her black-clad legs looking stiff and uncomfortable. “That’s a good point, but they’re on, so I’m never taking them off. There.”

I picked my Wonder Woman costume up, not missing the irony of dressing as an Amazon. As I dressed, Mila looked at my tat with big eyes. “Go ahead,” I teased her, “I know you wanna touch it.”

“You got your own set of wings!” she squealed, happier than I thought she would be. She ran her fingers across them.

“And I didn’t die of ink poisoning.”

She arched her brow. “Could have.”

I pulled on the red thigh-high boots and picked up my Lasso of Truth. Mila helped me tease my hot-rolled hair into a 60s style bouffant, and I adjusted her platinum wig and black corset. I put my gold cuffs and crown on. She slid on her bedazzled sunglasses.

“We look like hookers,” I mused at our reflection. “And not the expensive kind.”

“Yep,” she said.

I laughed and gave her a little hug, feeling excited about what I’d planned.

“Now don’t mess up my hair,” she said. She looked at her ass in the mirror and shook it. I snickered. My bunny was turning bad.

***

Vital Rejects opened the party with some cover songs from Cold Play and Kings of Leon. Sebastian, who’d dressed as the floppy haired Justin Beiber belted out lyrics and played the easier guitar parts. He told me I was eye candy and had worked too hard to not be on stage, so he forced me up with the band, where I pretended to sing backup into the microphone. It wasn’t plugged in.

This was Teddy’s first time to play in front of a large crowd, and he’d had started off anxiously, pacing around the piano, flapping his arms more than usual. His sister assured us he would be fine once he began playing, and sure enough, once his fingers hit the keys, he calmed. He rocked the crowd with his piano skills, wearing a white Elvis costume. Vixen played the drums dressed in a cheetah costume.

We were missing Leo.

I’d glimpsed him briefly as soon as I’d arrived, dressed as a tall, strapping gladiator. I’d smiled at him, and he’d just stood there staring at me until Tiffani had walked up and grabbed his arm. He’d pulled away from her, and their conversation seemed intense. Later as we’d performed, I’d seen him standing alone with a pensive look on his face, and I wondered what he was thinking about.

We took our first break and milled around the party eventually ending up by the buffet table. Mila came over to join us.

“Tell me about Drew,” Sebastian said as he checked out the appetizers.

“We talked for a long time, and I told him that Leo was it for me.”

“And?” he asked, popping a shrimp in his mouth.

“He said he understood, but I know it hurt him. It hurt me, too,” I admitted, remembering our long talk the night before. He’d walked away from me, but not before telling me that I was making a mistake. “But Leo is it for me.”

“Do you think he’ll take you back if things don’t work out with Leo?” Mila asked.