Chapter 8

Georgiana

The scent of her skin was intoxicating, driving him almost to the brink of madness. His fingertips tingled as he explored each and every inch of her body with his hands, feeling the soft and supple texture of her creamy white skin. She arched her back as his hands explored her, his lips following the invisible trail they left behind until she could feel his breath hitting her core. He flicked his tongue out and she cried out, the pleasure shooting through her like a—

“What are you doing?” Rebecca asked, and I snapped my laptop shut.

“Nothing,” I lied, looking at her innocently. She narrowed her eyes at me, and I grinned, hoping she would drop the subject. She shrugged and walked back to her closet, rifling through her clothes.

“You should start getting ready. The party’s already started,” she said. I bit my lip nervously.

“Yeah, listen, Rebecca. I don’t think I’m going to go,” I said softly, and she turned her head to look at me.

“What do you mean? I thought you wanted to experience every college milestone,” she asked, and I sighed.

“I know, I know. But like I said earlier, I’ve never been to a party before. I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to fit into that kind of scene. What if I mess up?” I asked. Rebecca rolled her eyes and walked over to me, placing her hands on my shoulders and squeezing.

“First of all, George, relax. Second, this is a party. There’s no proper way to act, so just be you. No one is going to care,” Rebecca said. “And if anything bad happens, which I assure you there won’t,” she said quickly as my eyes widened in fear. “I’ll be right beside you. I’ll make sure nothing like that ever happens, okay?”

I nodded, feeling a little better. Rebecca smiled as I got up and showed her all of my clothes. After a long moment of her mixing and matching my stuff, she finally decided on a powder blue crop top, and my black pair of jeans, all the while muttering we needed to overhaul my entire wardrobe. I just rolled my eyes and wore what I was told.

She sat me down afterwards, and curled my hair a bit before dabbing a light pink shade on my lips, and then brushing my cheeks with makeup.

“How can a girl never learn how to use any eyeliner?” Rebecca asked incredulously, and my cheeks blushed in embarrassment. “It’s practically a necessity of living!”

“Maybe to you. I’ve never had to wear it before,” I pouted. She shook her head as she finished putting all the makeup she deemed ‘necessary’ to complete my look, and then we were off to the party. We saw Cassie headed in the same direction, so the three of us chatted as we made our way to the Avery House.

I immediately felt really out of place the moment I stepped inside the house. The place was packed. There was a big pool table at one end of the floor with a few guys standing around it clutching beers and laughing loudly, while there was a bigger crowd gathering around a big rectangular dining table with beer filled solo cups lined up, and a couple of ping pong balls on top of them. Cassie waved goodbye at us and disappeared through the people dancing around, while Rebecca followed my line of sight.

“They’re playing Beer Pong,” she stated, and I tilted my head curiously. “See that guy holding the ball?” she said, pointing to the brown-haired guy standing on the edge of the table. “If he lands the shot in an empty cup, he wins. If he doesn’t, he takes a drink,” she explained.

“What happens when he wins?” I asked, watching as the guy throws the ball. “Depends. Usually they just take a drink, too,” she answered. I wrinkled my brows at her.

“Then what’s the point of the game?” I asked, flummoxed. She shrugged.

“To get drunk,” she said simply. “But hey, sometimes there’s more involved. I just told you the basics. This one’s probably got some bets riding on it,” she added. I looked back towards the game and see another guy approach the player, and hand him a couple of bucks. I nodded in understanding.

Rebecca pushed me forwards lightly, and I squeezed through the people, muttering apologies just in case I stepped on their toes accidentally. I looked around for someplace to sit, and perked up when I spotted an empty loveseat. I signaled Rebecca over, and pointed towards the seat, but I suddenly a couple at down and started groping each other and making out.

Rebecca saw the look of horror on my face and laughed.

“Shouldn’t they be doing this in private?” I asked, unable to take my eyes away from the live sex show happening in front of me.

“All the rooms were probably occupied,” Rebecca said, shrugging again like it was no big deal. My eyes went wide as saucers as I turned my head and stared at her.

“You mean everyone’s having sex upstairs right now?” I asked, and she snickered.

“Well, what did you expect? It’s a party. It’s kind of a given that someone was bound to get laid.”

I shook my head in disgust, and Rebecca laughed, patting the top of my head like I was a puppy or something.

“You’re so innocent. It’s so adorable,” she said, tapping my nose lightly with her finger. “Don’t worry, young Padawan. You will learn the ropes soon enough,” she assured me, and I gulped.

I’m not sure those were the lessons I had in mind.

I turned away from the couple, and was looking around for the kitchen, because I felt parched all of a sudden when I saw Spencer coming from another hall. I smiled brightly and started waving my hand in the air, trying to catch his attention. He saw me and grinned before turning his head and addressing someone behind him. Finally he nodded towards me, and a guy wearing glasses followed him, the latter pulling at his collar with a grimace. Spencer stopped in front of me and smiled.

“Hey, fancy seeing you here,” he said. I felt Rebecca sidle up next to me whispering in my ear.

“Who are your friends?” she asked, crossing her arms and looking at Spencer up and down with her eyebrows raised. Spencer tilted his head and checked Rebecca out in the same manner, while his friend just adjusted his glasses and looked at all of us. I coughed and went to introduce everybody.

“Spencer, this is my roommate, Rebecca,” I said. “And Rebecca, this is Spencer. We met on the plane and later found out we were actually enrolled in the same university,” I looked at Spencer’s friend and smiled politely. “And you are?”

“This is Elliot, he’s my roommate,” Spencer said. “So, did you guys just get here?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Yeah, pretty much. What about you guys?” I asked.

“We’ve been here awhile. The party’s kind of a drag,” Spencer replied.

“Actually, we were making our way out of this place when you called us over,” Elliot said, and I caught Spencer elbowing him in the stomach.

Excuse us for a sec, okay?” Spencer asked. He pushed Elliot back into the kitchen and Rebecca excused herself, saying she had to take a call, and the music was drowning out everything else. I looked down at my shoes and sighed, feeling a little abandoned and a lot lost. Now what was I supposed to do?

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around and saw a guy with spiky hair dyed white, and a cocky smirk decorating his face.

“Can I help you?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

“I sure hope you would,” he said, nodding. “Because I have been wondering what a gorgeous girl like you is doing all alone in here,” he said confidently. I blushed and scratched the inside of my elbow in embarrassment.

“I don’t really know anybody in here,” I said, and he stepped up closer to me, almost but not quite invading my personal space.

“Then I hope you will allow me to keep you company,” he said. “I’m Ross,” as he extended his hand and I shook it.

“I’m George,” I replied.

“Short for ‘Georgina’?” he asked, and I shook my head.

“Close,” I said. “It’s Georgiana.”

“Beautiful, just like you,” he breathed, and I bit my lip, looking down on the floor and letting my hair fall over my face. He swept my hair back, tucking it in my ear, and I felt my cheeks flush from his touch.

He handed me a red cup filled with brown liquid, and I grimaced at the smell. “What’s the matter?” he asked, as I gave him a half-grin.

“I have never drank beer before,” I admitted. Actually I’ve never drank any alcohol, period, but that sounded more embarrassing.

He chuckled and raised my arm holding the cup, egging me to bring it to my lips. “There’s a first time for everything,” he said.

I looked at the cup, and then to Ross uncertainly, and then back at the cup again, peering at the dark liquid. I took a deep breath before raising it up to my lips, my toes curling as the liquid burned its way down my throat. I closed my eyes and chugged the whole thing before putting the cup down, making Ross whistle and whoop as he clapped his hands.

“Alright, babe! That was awesome,” he praised, and I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and gave the cup back to him. “You know what, babe? You are exactly…,” he leaned forward and I shivered as his breath tickled the shell of my ear. “My kind of girl,” he whispered.

I smiled and turned my head to look at him only for my vision to start shifting all of a sudden, making the floor and the wall and the people spin on its axis. I lost my footing and clutched at Ross’s arm to maintain my balance, but my mind and body grew groggy, and my legs felt like jelly, unable to support my weight.

My eyes grew heavy as I tried my best to look at Ross, and I thought I saw a dark smirk across his features until I lost my energy. I closed my eyes and everything went black.