Lucky Me (20 page)

“So, you ready?” Milo asked me, and I turned my attention away from the boys. “To get ‘turnt' up?”

I gave a nervous laugh and nodded. Those thirty seconds of flirting had been great while they lasted, but I waved goodbye to the chance of it occurring it again. Truth be told, I was freaking out. Big time. If Elmo and Zeus were any indication of the crowd, the party was going to be wild inside, and I wasn't sure I was fully up for it yet. It wasn't just the fact that Milo and I were finally alone together without the police or my parents or Jack, which was giving me enough anxiety to begin with. It was also the possibility of Ao Jie Kai being right on the other side of the wide frat house doors, holding all the answers I needed in the palm of his hand.

I did some quick, mental pep talking as Milo and I made our way up to the fraternity house's front doors, where a young guy around Milo's age was sitting at a table with a metal box and a stack of plastic cups. He didn't have any costume on, but we knew he was part of the fraternity because he had the Greek symbols for their house on a small nametag, attached to his flannel shirt.

“Five bucks entry per person,” he told us in a bored voice, pointing to the metal box. “You get a free plastic cup. Ten bucks if you want the bigger plastic cups.”

Milo and I looked at each other. It seemed the fraternity had conveniently forgotten to mention an entry fee on their flyer.

“Okay, we'll get two small cups,” Milo said with a light shrug.

“Sorry,” the guy said, not looking apologetic in the slightest. He didn't even bat an eyelash. “We're out of five dollar cups. You gotta take a ten dollar one.”

Milo looked at me again with raised eyebrows. I didn't have any loose cash on me, but it didn't matter. Milo was already being a gentleman and pulling his out, handing the guy a twenty-dollar bill.

Flannel shirt guy paused, eyed me up and down, and handed Milo two five dollar bills back. “Here's ten bucks change. You get a discount ‘cause your girl is hot.”

Well, we couldn't argue with a policy like that. I did some internal flailing and fist pumping when Milo didn't correct him about assuming I was his girlfriend.

“Well,” Milo said, pocketing his wallet and change. We moved toward the door so more people could pay for their entry. “I guess your cat ears have superpowers after all.”

That was great and all, but he needed to tone down his perfection. Those damn dimples were all I could see, and they were constantly threatening to turn me into a babbling lunatic. By the end of the night, Milo was going to be inquiring about whether or not free therapy was given to police officers, and it would be all my fault.

I was starting to look like the Ronald McDonald I had seen moments before, with my forced smile and fake enthusiasm. It looked like I was scoping out the place for potential victims, when actually I was desperately trying to grab the reigns on my out of control emotions. We walked inside, pushing our way past a group of guys that were dressed in silky robes, boxing gloves hanging around their necks. The inside of the fraternity house was a cemetery for class and dignity. People were everywhere, on the dance floor, on top of each other on the couches, canoodling with others against walls. It was like all the rich high school parties I'd ever been to, only three times more sexual and with cheaper alcohol. There was a DJ dressed as a giant taco in the back of the room playing a remix of a Kanye West song, violently head banging with one headphone pressed to his ear. He stood directly underneath a black, felt sign that read,
Feel A'ite on Frite Nite.
I stood there gaping at the red block letters for a few seconds, amazed that even basic grammar had taken a beating that night. Well, you have to give them points for creativity.

One thing was certain; I was
majorly
overdressed. And not just because my outfit was expensive. It was because my dress actually covered more than an inch of my body. I've had my fair share of dressing like a stripper, don't get me wrong. But this was something else. It seemed that clothes were just optional, and no one opted for them. I was trying my best not to judge every girl that walked past, but they were giving me so much to raise my eyebrows about.

A pair of girls dressed as vampires walked past holding plastic cups filled with what smelled like straight vodka, which no doubt they would be regretting within the hour. They smiled at Milo when they walked passed and my heart almost stopped. If I saw any fang marks on Batman that night, I was going to lose my shit. Fortunately for me, Milo wasn't even paying attention to the barely dressed vampires. He leaned down close, pulling me away from the entrance.

“Keep close!” Milo shouted over the music, and I nodded obediently. “This place is crazy!”

Milo slipped his hand into the hand that wasn't wrapped around my bag, and I went dead still. He gave me a look as if asking if it was okay, but I didn't move. Milo Fells was freaking holding my hand! He was
actually
making physical contact with me! In what universe was that
not
okay! The feeling was almost indescribable. It was like someone handing you a bag of M&Ms and a plate full of brownies during your time of month, when the cramps have just kicked in and you're dying of pain. Tears of joy just appear out of thin air before you can even rip the bag of chocolate open.

Apparently, Milo took my lack of movement as a go sign, because he tugged on my hand and pulled me further into the crowd. We watched silently as the music got louder and the dance moves made a turn for the worse. There was some weird trance beat playing that was assaulting my eardrums, but everyone else in the room seemed to love it. It seemed that these people thought costumes were a free pass to do whatever with whomever. I had seen young people get crazily drunk before, but I was impressed that most of these people were even standing. The plus side was that even with the mask covering half his face, Milo was easily the hottest guy there, and he was holding
my
hand! It practically took every fiber of strength that I had not to burst out into tears and sing the hallelujah chorus to the heavens. Not that the heavens really needed a reminder of their creation, he was going on the hall of fame list for sure.

“YO BROSEPH!” A guy dressed as fireman called out to Milo.

“Are those your friends?” I asked, and Milo shook his head in confusion.

“YO! BROSEPH! GET OVER HERE MAN.” Another pretend fireman yelled.

The college firemen were all attractive with well-toned abs that they were proudly showing off through their lack of shirts. In ordinary circumstances I'd be all over that, but they were nothing compared to Milo, who was hands-down the hottest cop ever after Mark Wahlberg. But really, he doesn't count because he was just acting, and he'd look just as sexy in a KFC uniform.

The group of four firemen walked over to Milo and gave him a manly hug. One of them was trying to jump on his back, affectionately I presume, and I was scared I would have to let go of Milo's hand. But I clung on for dear life, even though I was certain I had pulled a few muscles. No way was I voluntarily going to pass up the chance to touch Milo Fells. That sucker was going to have to get in line.

“Dude! This is our song, man! Where you been?” The blonde fireman asked, beaming at Milo, who looked completely perplexed.

I suddenly recognized him as the guy who had given me the flyer in the first place, and frantically looked around the room, hoping to hide my face so that he wouldn't recognize me. The stupid cat ears were doing nothing for the outfit or a possible disguise, and kept sliding off my head.

“Oh, I've just been . . .”Milo began uncertainly. “Around.”

He glanced at me and I shrugged. Neither of us knew who this “Broseph” was, but according to the firemen, he was now Milo. The boys' gazes followed Milo's and settled on me. I looked at them with an awkward smile, avoiding eye contact with the blonde one.

“PETE!” One of them shrieked, and I was about ninety percent sure I had lost hearing in one ear. “TURN THE MUSIC DOWN.”

Almost immediately the volume of the music was reduced, but no one seemed to notice. People were still packed on the dance floor like sardines.

“Sup.” I said. I needed to stop doing that. It was not helping my cause.

“Well, hello,” a brunette fireman said, slipping his arm across my shoulders and pulling me into him.

“So who's this beautiful creature, Broseph?” another one asked Milo.

I gave Milo a desperate look. Behind his batman mask I could see he was just as lost as I was.

“Um—” Milo began, but was immediately cut off.

“Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?” The blonde fireman asked me, narrowing his eyes.

“Nope!” I exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. “That's impossible! I just moved here today from . . . Greenland.”

From the corner of my eye I could see Milo trying to suppress a laugh. Greenland? What the hell was wrong with my brain?

“Okay . . .” The blonde guy said, dragging the word out as he gave me a judgy look.

Milo pulled me closer to him, forcing the brunette fireman to release his hold on me. If I weren't insanely uncomfortable with the whole situation, I would have had some time to concentrate on returning my heart beat to a normal speed.

“She got a name?” one of the boys asked, resting his arm on his friend's shoulder.

“Uh . . .” Milo said, struggling to improvise with the whole situation.

Up until then I had been positive that every police officer should have the ability to make up facts on the spot, but Milo was evidently caught off guard. Any name would have done the job. I doubted any of those fraternity boys would have remembered if my name were Candice, or something like Ethel. Hell, if I had said Roger, they still probably wouldn't have cared. I'd be impressed if they even remembered their own names.

“Well do you want to dance, pussycat?” A fireman yelled over the music, thankfully losing interest in the topic.

“Uh, thanks. But my heels are—”

“What!”

“—killing me.”

“Well who says you have to use your feet?” The blonde one asked, grinning.

I gave a small shriek as he suddenly scooped me up and slung me over his shoulder, yanking Milo's hand out of mine. I kicked him slightly, trying to let him know that this was not my idea of fun, but he barely felt it. His fellow fireman friends all cheered around us as if I was a human sacrifice and the ritual was taking place on the dance floor. Milo came into view amongst the sea of partygoers and I shot him an alarmed look, trying desperately to save my dignity and adjust my dress from the back. Milo gave me a lost look behind his mask, clearly trying to figure out what he could do without the use of his police badge. How the hell was I meant to get a hold of information on Ao Jie Kai when I couldn't even get a hold of my date!

My new friend placed me effortlessly down next to him on the dance floor, calling for Pete to turn the music up again. Beside me there were two people who were passionately making out, alcohol spilling out of their cups. The frisky fireman snaked his arm around my waist as I reached up to adjust my cat ears, and my eyes immediately scanned the room for Milo. Where the hell was he? Oh right, he was being mauled alive by a group of girls dressed in sexy Minnie Mouse outfits. Jeez, it had been all of four seconds and all the females in the room had flocked. All I could do was stand and watch helplessly while being violated by some sexed up college boy who was aggressively thrusting his pelvis against me like his life depended on it.

“IT'S COOL. BROSEPH'S FINE!” The blonde guy assured me, and I forced a smile.

I was holding onto my clutch with such intensity, my knuckles were going white. Thankfully, the frat boys didn't seem too interested in making conversation with “Broseph's” new girlfriend, but they didn't seem to mind getting a little sexual with her. I had always been kind of excited about the idea of a bachelorette party, but my first college party experience was less Magic Mike and more Molestation Mike.

Pete the DJ taco changed the song to a Pitbull remix, and the whole crowd threw their hands in the air. I took the opportunity to move a little away from the firemen, but the dance floor was so packed there was really no point. I needed to get off the dance floor and find Milo, ASAP. Screw Ao Jie Kai, getting out of the party alive and fully dressed was the biggest problem on my mind. I pulled the blonde fireman closer toward me, cringing at his excited look. Clearly Broseph, whoever he was, shared an open relationship policy with his friends. I yelled into his ear, asking where the bathroom was. He pulled away, raising an eyebrow with a smile.

“Not for
that!”
I yelled over the music, and his smile dropped a little. “I need to pee!”

Blondie pointed toward a door near the stairs on the left side of the room. My eyes scanned the crowd for Milo, but I still couldn't find him. There was no use calling him, he'd never be able to hear his phone over the music. I danced my way through the crowd to the bathroom and pushed the door open. Three Powerpuff Girls looked at me questioningly as they coated their lips with gloss. Sitting on the toilet with the lid down was a boy dressed as a pirate, passionately making out with Wonder Woman, who was straddling him.

Well clearly Milo wasn't hiding in there. I headed for the stairway and passed two other girls with similar cat ears, a guy dressed as a giant cockroach, and a smurf before finally reaching the staircase, using the light from my phone to guide me. Dr. D hadn't tried to contact me and I could have passed Ao Jie Kai a billion times already and not known, seeing as I had no clue what he looked like. Was I supposed to find every Asian guy here and ask if he was stalking me? Not a chance. We'd been at the party for about three minutes and I was beyond ready to go home and withdraw all of my college applications.