Let Love Win

Chapter 4 - Hadley

I didn't wait long for the cab to show up at the orphanage, and after the usual odd glance as to why I'm a teenager being asked to be picked up from an orphanage, I told him the address of the party. Shortly afterwards, we were driving down a semi-deserted street and I could already hear the music blaring. When we arrived, I used the $10 I won off Austin earlier to pay the fee and hopped out of the car.

I pulled my phone out of my dress and called Mel. "Are you here?" she asked as soon as she answered.

"I'm outside, Where are you meeting me?" I asked.

"Walk in the front door and turn left. It's the kitchen, I'll wait for you by where they're serving drinks."

I hung up and made my way inside, From outside the door, I could already smell a ton of different kinds of alcohol and could feel the bass of the music thumping under my feet, indicating the party was in full swing: exactly how I liked it. As soon as I stepped foot in the door, hungry eyes landed on me as some guy took the jacket off my arm to hang it up. To me, this was one of the perks of being fashionably late: everyone is drunk, so I looked irresistibly hot, and I got to go off with whoever looked intriguing.

I winked at a group of decent studs as I walked by and met up with Mel in the kitchen. She already had two shots of vodka and a beer lined up for me. I took the shots and picked up the beer in my hand. I clinked my bottle with hers in celebration for the night and we looked around, surveying people. Thankfully, most of them were fourth years and we were on the receiving end of some lustful looks from the guys, as well as dirty glares from the girls.

Mel was getting smoky eyes from some guy who was standing at the edge of everyone dancing, and he started to make his way over to us when she smiled flirtatiously at him.

"Hi," he said with a cool smirk when he reached us.

"Hi," Mel replied breathily.

"Care to dance?"

Mel took his outstretched hand and turned back to me, excitement evident in her eyes. "Saddle up," she whispered to me with a smirk.

I laughed as she walked away with her first conquest of the night. Shortly after she left, a pair of arms came around me from behind and rested on the counter, trapping me in between their body and the counter. I was about to look over my shoulder to see who it was, but they pressed closer into my back, preventing me from moving at all.

"What's somebody like you doing in a place like this?" asked a male voice; a very familiar one at that.

I managed to turn around and found myself chest to chest with the one person I was already sick and tired of seeing. "I should ask you the same thing, transfer," I smirked.

"I'm of age to drink actually. Last I checked, the legal age was 18, minor." He smiled evilly and waved down the guy serving drinks and asked for a beer. When he was given the bottle, he took a long drink, holding eye contact to further prove his point.

Unfazed, I took a drink from my own beer. "And last I checked, this party was invitation only."

"My cousin is best friends with the host."

"Oh, so you cheated for an entrance to the party of the year, huh? What's the matter, nobody fell for the 'help me I'm foreign' crap?"

He laughed deeply. All of a sudden, he looked over my shoulder and smiled at whoever was walking over. "I heard you got in today dude," the guy said bumping fists with Zeek. I recognized him as the guy Mel went off to dance with, not only because of the smirk on his face, but also by Mel hanging off his arm. "You're staying with me while you're here and you can't even pay me a visit?"