She laughed and jiggled her braless boobs. “No card needed, baby.”
***
I finished my beer and set the bottle on the floorboard of Vi’s car. Letting her drive was a pretty shitty idea, but as long as I sobered up before we left, we wouldn’t have to schlep on foot back to the car in the morning. Nothing worse than the walk of shame than the walk back to the car of shame. I hated that. If I was walking anywhere with a hangover it was to the Maple Voyage for huevos rancheros and some hot sauce and a side of Bloody Mary. I glanced out the window and up the three stories of the frat house. I was definitely not coming back here in the morning.
I shuddered and got out.
Vi was on the other side, jiggling her boobs back into her shirt. I wasn’t sure why she bothered since they’d be out and on display in less than another drink. She hopped around to my side of the car and linked our arms. “This is going to be so fun!”
I laughed in spite of myself. There wasn’t a chance of it being anything else. Vi was a laugh a minute, sometimes even when she didn’t mean to. Thirty seven boys hit on us between the car and the door, most of them knew Vi personally, and yes, I do mean it that way. She was a pretty well-known girl, and I’d been there to pick her up after every single one of them had gone bad. But she wasn’t one to let that stop her and I seriously admired her tenacity. The girl had guts.
We rolled up into the party and Vi left me to go dance with Striker, a guy she’d been eyeing all year, and who’d just broken off a four-year relationship. If I had to guess, he’d broken it off only for the last week of school so he could do exactly what—and who—he was currently pursuing. I’d warn Vi if I thought it would make a single bit of difference, but I didn’t waste the breath. Plus, then she’d just get cranky.
I made my way through the house into the kitchen. There were a ton of people I knew and liked here. San Francisco had been such an awesome experience. I wasn’t looking forward to leaving and I was still crossing my fingers that one of my professors was going to come through with a job offer. Not that I didn’t love Mom and Dad and Minnesota, but after four years here, it was going to be an adjustment to go back to that small town, air-so-cold-it-makes-your-bones-hurt way of life. This had certainly been a baptism by fire, coming here, but I loved every bit of it, even if I still did have a whole lot of growing up to do.
Pika eased up next to me. “Hey, girl.”
I smiled and tugged on one of his dreadlocks. “Hey yourself.”
“Saw that last piece of yours. Completely stunning.” He held his hand out for affect, and even if he wasn’t stoned out of his mind, I knew that his compliment would look identical.
I smiled and kissed his cheek. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure I was going to get it finished before finals.”
“Well, it’s genius. Pure genius.”
“And your oil series is even beyond that.”
He shrugged and we talked art for the next few minutes while the party raged on around us. I had this canny ability to disappear in a room filled with people. It was like this amazing superpower that no one in their right mind would ever want. But I loved it. I could be seen when I wanted, but only when I wanted. It was really the only thing that kept me coming to these parties with Vi. Well, that and making sure she got home safe.
“Did you hear about my new job?”
I perked up. “No!” I grabbed his arm. “Tell me about it.”
“Art Director at the Leo Museum downtown.”
I clapped my hands and jumped up and down. “Oh, Pika, that’s fantastic.” I hugged him. “Will they let you put some of your pieces out?”
He shrugged. “They said maybe, but I think it’s a big maybe. I’m going to stay on them about it.”
“So happy for you.”
The rest of the night looked about the same. I filtered and flitted around, making small talk with some of my classmates, avoiding the groping hands of others, and keeping an eye on which rooms Vi was going in and out of. By the time two a.m. rolled around, I’d sobered up and was ready to hit the sack and tugged Vi out of the tentacles of a guy we’d seen a handful of times on campus. I wasn’t sure he was even a student, but I was pretty sure that he was a younger brother of one of the frat boys.
Vi whined and moaned until we got to the car, then she flopped into the front seat and rolled her head over toward me, eyes glassy and half-stoned. “Thanks babe.”
She blew me a sloppy kiss and I smacked it to my cheek. “Anytime, sister.”
She sighed and waved at a group headed into the building. “Bye. Have fun!”