“What are you doing in here anyway?” His gaze flitted to the scissors and the lock of hair. “Joining witness protection, Cass?”
I blinked. “What are you doing calling me ‘Cass’? You hardly even know me.” I recognized the voice of the girl with the gaping wound in her chest, the one that didn’t care to be sharing a room with Liam Buckley but instead would prefer to be left alone.
The left corner of his mouth curved up, puckering the skin below his eye to reveal a small scar that had been hidden there. “Easy,” he said, shutting off the faucet and shaking his hands dry. Drops of water speckled the mirror.
I chewed the inside of my cheek.
He turned away from the sink and rested the back of his jeans against the countertop. So, what, he was just going to stay now? He shoved a hand into his pocket. I watched him, reluctantly curious, out of the corner of my eye. He fished out a small, ziplock bag with a dozen or so pale yellow pills inside.
“I don’t normally do this,” he said, popping open the top of the bag. “But you look like you could use it.” He turned his chin over his shoulder and nodded at the abandoned scissors and the lock of my hair. “Before you commit a crime against fashion or whatever.”
“I’m not—” I began to protest.
“Seriously.” His green eyes bore into me. “You need to stop. You have really nice hair.”
My mouth snapped shut. Part of me wanted to laugh at how ridiculous this all was.
“Hold out your hand,” he ordered and, for some reason, I obeyed. He placed a single pill in my palm.
“What is it?” I couldn’t even feel the weight of it in my hand.
He selected another one for himself and closed the ziplock bag. “This,” he said, pinching the round pill between thumb and forefinger, “is Sunshine. I don’t tell just everyone I have this stuff, you know.” His smile was easy, his shoulders relaxed, like he’s showing me a rare quarter from his collection.
“What’s it do?” The minuscule button of a pill looked too tiny to do much of anything.
“It makes you feel like … sunshine. Like it’s the middle of the summer and you’re having the best day ever. Like everything is golden.”
I’d been to my share of parties and I was no stranger to alcohol, but I’d never so much as smoked a joint. I turned the pill over and stared at the identical back. I felt drawn in by the cheery yellow color of it. I thought of myself and of the gaping hole in my chest and wondered what I could possibly have to lose.
Just then, someone pounded the door. “Open up,” a girl yelled. “There are people waiting.”
“One second,” Liam yelled. “That’s our cue.” He held up his pill as if we were clinking glasses. “Cheers.” He set the dose of Sunshine onto his tongue, cocked back his head, and swallowed.
Without another thought, I did the same. My mouth was dry and the pill stuck to my throat on its way down, but I managed and, once it was gone, I stuck out my tongue to show that I’d really taken it.
He squeezed my shoulder. “That’s my girl.” And even though only minutes ago, I’d scolded him for calling me “Cass,” this time, I made no smart remark. “Now, shall we go enjoy our night?” he asked.
I stared at the scissors and the dead hair and nodded, still skeptical that the word enjoy could apply to me. But my solitude had ended the moment Liam had barged in, so what else was there to do? The pounding on the door had picked back up. Liam casually opened it to greet a red-faced girl preparing to knock her fist against the wood again. “It’s all yours.” He winked.
The color drained from her face when she saw that it was Liam. “Sorry,” she mumbled before ducking between us into the bathroom.
Paisley was waiting third in line, next to Ava. She stood up straighter when she noticed me. “Um, hello?” Paisley snagged my elbow as I was following Liam back down the hallway. “I guess somebody’s feeling more like themselves.” She eyed me from head to toe. “You’re hooking up with Buckley?” She shared a look with Ava that I couldn’t read.
I tensed. “No, it’s not like that—”
Paisley smirked, bringing the rim of a wine cooler to her lips. “Right. It never is, Cassidy. Just remember, being easy keeps them breezy, know what I mean?” I did know, but then again, I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. Every boy in Hollow Pines could blow away in the wind for all I cared. “At least get to your fourth drink before you let him under your shirt, ’kay?” She patted me on the head.
Ava rolled her eyes and pushed Paisley gently with her shoulder. “Oh, shut up, Paize. Let her enjoy her night. This is the twenty-first century. Go get yours, girl.” She offered me a thumbs-up.