Yes. No. Oh god, I don’t know. I’m so confused I want to scream.
He’s carrying a water bottle full of something that is definitely not water. I reach for it. “Can I?”
“Knock yourself out.”
I down half of it.
“Whoa. Careful, babe. There’s grain in that.”
I hand the bottle back to him, coughing to clear the fire out of my throat. “Let’s go downstairs for a bit.”
Zander shrugs and leads the way.
Among the clammy, pulsing crowd, I find Liv dancing with Jenna and some of the other girls. “Where’s Braden?” I ask her.
She tosses her hair. “How should I know? I’m not his babysitter.”
Uh oh. An hour ago, they were making out on the couch. Liv may not be Braden’s babysitter, but I’m appointing myself hers. I’m glad to have something to focus on that has nothing to do with me. I join in on the dancing and wait for Zander’s water-bottle cocktail to knock me off my feet.
Somehow, through the stench of sweat and mold, I catch the scent of lilies. Maybe I’m clair…nasalent? Scent-ient? I giggle to myself. But when the lily smell grows stronger, it occurs to me who’s approaching.
I scramble to get a hold of Liv, hoping we can hide deeper in the crowd, but I’m too late. Peyton steps right up to us and flashes us her supermodel smile.
“Oh, hello,” she says, as if she hasn’t been stalking us.
“Hey.” I squeeze Liv’s arm and she squeaks out a “Hi.”
Peyton asks, “How are you?”
“Good,” I mumble. “How are you?”
“Great. Did you have a good Christmas?”
“Yeah. You?” I don’t know what Liv is doing, but she’s not talking.
“Oh, very nice, very nice. Are you two ready for Rush next week?”
I nod as I watch Peyton’s eyes slant to Zander. Her smile broadens. No doubt he just winked at her. He’s putting in his plug for me, and considering his status among KPT, it’ll work like a charm. But probably not for Liv.
“Well, good luck.” Peyton pats Liv’s arm. “To youboth.” And before I can strangle or kick her, she disappears into the crowd.
I whip around to Liv, prepared to vent our shared fury, but she’s smiling and bouncing on her toes.
“Did you hear that?” she gushes. “She wished me good luck! See, I told you she’s not mad anymore.”
I gape in disbelief. “But…but…” How could she not see through Peyton’s pasted-on smile?
“Ooo. This is going to be so great!”
I grab her shoulders. “Liv?—”
Her beautiful brown eyes shine with happiness, and her smile, a thousand times prettier than Peyton’s, lights up the whole dark basement.
Am I being paranoid? Oversensitive. Maybe this whole psychic thing has gone to my head and I’m seeing undertones where there aren’t any. Liv could know something I don’t, something Braden told her.
I let go of my reservations. For now. But I’ll be going into Rush next week with both eyes wide open, one for me and one for my best friend.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
