Hope(less) (Judgement of the Six #1)

Clay flashed his teeth showing elongated canines.

I heard Nicole’s whispered, ‘whoa,’ and glared at him. Nothing I could do to take back what he’d shown her. If he kept flashing his teeth, people would start panicking.

“If you keep those in all night,” I said thinking fast, “you’re going to have sore gums tomorrow.”

“Those are so real looking. You have to tell me where you got those.” Nicole looked at him in fascination.

“He won’t say,” I quietly interjected and then changed the subject. “Warm enough? Are you going solo or do you want backup?”

She hesitated looking uncomfortable and nervous. Honestly, I felt nervous too.

A group of guys across the room had started watching us after the drunk walked away. Their gazes pivoted between Nicole and me. Most of them just looked confused. One focused on me, studying me with a frown. Maybe, this was a bad idea after all. Rachel’s suggestion of a butt whooping appeared likely. Since Clay already flashed his teeth once with minor provocation, I didn’t want to think what he’d do if the frowny man approached me.

Nicole’s bright gaze flitted around the room oblivious to the tension I created. Normally an introvert, she seemed to bask in the attention we received. I understood why she wanted me to come with. Without me, she would have been a wallflower. With me, she shared some of the attention I pulled in. I didn’t feel used, but did feel a little sorry for her.

Deciding to speed things up, I reached out to pat Nicole’s shoulder, wishing I could help her get the man she so obviously wanted. She needed confidence.

When my hand touched her shoulder, a shock ran from my hand to her skin the sting of it strong enough that we both yelped. I saw an actual spark.

“I’m so sorry, Nicole. I was just going to tell you that we should say hi now and I go and scare you instead.” That’s what I got for getting all touchy-feely.

“No, I know what that was. It was a jump start.” She smiled at me and I noticed the attention of the group of guys across the room completely shift to her. The face of the man who’d frowned at me, cleared as he watched Nicole. “I’m going to go out there now. If I can’t get his attention, we can go.” She got up and made her way to the door.

The group watching shifted en mass to follow her while others in the room viewed her appreciatively as she passed. Girls who had previously smiled a greeting now frowned or outright glared at Nicole.

Busy observing, I let Nicole’s lead grow. Something was wrong. This is what typically happened to me. Granted, dressed as a man, the attention I normally drew had flagged a bit when we arrived, but if I’d worn something like Nicole wore… they would be eyeing me as they were her. Their behavior was so odd for me to see as a bystander and not a participant.

Automatically, I got up to follow at a distance. A sudden dizzy spell sapped the strength from my legs and I wilted a bit.

Clay had his arm around me instantly. I didn’t look up at him, but instead tried to keep my eyes on Nicole as I waited for the spell to pass. Maybe, I’d gotten up too fast or skipped lunch a few too many days this week. Whatever its cause, it passed and I did my best to follow Nicole despite the crush of bodies.

Clay had to physically shove a few people out of the way since they were too busy staring after Nicole to pay attention to my attempts to squeeze past. When they did see me, they barely spared me a glance. They just moved out of the way while trying to crane their necks to see Nicole. I didn’t like their reactions to Nicole. Not out of jealously, but out of concern. If all these guys didn’t snap out of it soon, Nicole would be in trouble. She was too introverted to deal with all of this attention.

I made it to the porch in time to see Nicole say hi. She shimmered beautifully in the porch light. Randy, the guy from our class that she spoke to, appeared captivated. He’d dressed as the guy from the Old Spice commercial with a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else. I figured it a frat house thing because I’d spotted several others dressed like that inside too. As the only spice-guy willing to brave the temperature outside, I guessed keeping the keg company also kept him warm.

He laughed at something Nicole said and offered her a beer. His own. He didn’t seem willing to look away from her long enough to fill a new cup. I couldn’t believe this was the same Randy. Since school started, he hadn’t noticed Nicole once. What was going on here?

As unobtrusively as possible, I moved so Clay and I stood close to a railing. Better line of sight from there. The crowd continued to shift around us as people moved from group to group to talk.