Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - The Party

The hallway feels too short and too long at the same time. My feet pad against the hardwood as I walk toward the living room, the pink swimsuit clinging to my skin like a second layer. I can hear them before I see them — low voices, a bottle clinking, someone's laugh that cuts off when I step into the doorway.

Four faces turn toward me. Four pairs of eyes drag up from my legs to my chest to my face. The silence stretches for a heartbeat, maybe two, and then the cheers erupt. Someone whistles. Another guy says something I don't catch because my ears are ringing. My cheeks are on fire.

I find you in the middle of it, your grin wide and drunk, and something in my chest loosens just a little. I walk to the pole, not looking at any of them directly, my fingers finding the cool brass. The song I picked is already playing through the speakers — slow, pulsing, familiar from a hundred practices.