All I’ve Never Wanted(12)

Ha! He knew nothing, I tell you, nothing. Besides, "sad" is not exactly the word I would use to describe what I'm feeling right now, which is…well, I'm not even really sure.



Suddenly, I just realized something. "Do you go to Valesca?" I asked.



"Nope, and damn proud of it. No offense," he added quickly.



"Believe me, none taken," I said dryly. "So where do you go?"



"La Terra," he answered, naming a high school in the next town. "My family used to live here but they moved when I was little, which is just as well. Valesca isn't really my type of scene."



"A guy after my own heart," I joked.



He smiled. "I certainly hope so."



While I blushed and racked my suddenly-frozen brain for a witty response, a commotion inside the house thankfully interrupted me, and both James and I turned to see what all the fuss was about.



I was surprised to see the procession of Scions, plus Adriana, making their way through the crowd. The former rarely ever attended open parties like this one and preferred to go clubbing at the latest New York hotspots. At least, that was what I heard.



I was even more surprised to see Roman and Carlo were conspicuously absent.



"Ah, the famous Scions," James commented.



"You know who they are?" I asked as I stepped to the side, partially shielding myself with a giant potted plant.



"I think everyone in the tri-state area knows who they are," he remarked wryly. A brief shadow passed over his face, but it disappeared so quickly I wondered if it had ever been there in the first place.



"Wonderful." My week just keeps getting better and better.



At that moment, Venice ran up, beer sloshing over the sides of the two red plastic cups she held in her hands. She didn't seem to notice. "Maya! Guess who's here?" she cried, her desire to gossip apparently outweighing her desire to give me and a total stranger (to her) some alone time.



"Big Foot?"



She shot me a you're-so-weird-sometimes look. "No. The Scions! Well, half of them anyway." She handed me one cup and gave



James the other one. "I'm Venice, by the way," she said, beaming.



"Hey, I'm James," he said easily. "Why don't you have this drink?" He held out his cup.



"Oh, no thanks. I'm not really a beer person," she explained. She gave me a sly smile. "I see you've met Maya."



He shot me an amused look. "Yes, I have."



"Don't you just love her? She's my best friend. She's amazing! She's so smart, and she's really pretty too, don't you think?"



Venice may not be a beer girl, but she had definitely imbibed some alcohol before she came back. "Venice! What are you doing?" I hissed under my breath, mortified.



"Yeah, she's beautiful," James replied, giving me another smile.



I coughed nervously, unsure what to say. "Haha…um, well…actually, I just remembered I have to go somewhere…well, it was nice meeting you!"



Before he could say another word, I'd already grabbed Venice and hightailed it inside the house, losing myself in the fortunately large crowd. Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry I didn't notice I had also hightailed into someone. The unexpected force caused my cup to tilt over, and I watched in slow-motion horror as the sticky brown liquid splashed all over a very expensive-looking shirt.



I slowly lifted my eyes from the stain, up, up, and straight into the face of none other than Parker Remington.



Oh shit.

* * *

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!"



Adriana watched impassively as a slightly heavyweight guy in a too-small Abercrombie polo finished off the last of the giant keg in the Hoffmans' backyard, cheered on by his equally drunk and rowdy friends.



"You know, that's actually pretty impressive," Zack remarked, finishing off his own drink, which a simpering sycophant had brought over just a few minutes earlier.



"Yeah, if this were the Frat Olympics 2010," Adriana said, rolling her eyes. On any other night, this party would be pretty fun—great music, free-flowing liquor, and tons of people, which meant tons of cute guys. The only problem was, she wasn't here to find a guy for herself, she was here to find a girl for Roman.



"Where did Parker disappear off to?" she wondered aloud, scanning the yard. They had been mobbed by a frightening pack of drunk, horny girls the moment they arrived, and Parker had somehow gotten 'lost' in the midst.



Zack shrugged. "He's probably—"



"Ohmygod! Someone just spilled beer all over Parker Remington!" someone screamed. Everyone froze for one second, before they abandoned what they were doing to cram themselves into the living room, eager to witness the drama that was about to go down, and curious as to who was unlucky enough to offend a Scion so early in the year.