Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (2 page)

A girl looked up from putting books on
the shelf above her desk. “Hi.” She brushed her blonde hair off her
shoulder.

“
Hey, it’s nice to meet
you.” I smiled.

She smiled back shyly, and I took a
seat on Anne’s bed.

“
So where are you from,
Tiffany?” I’d been really shy as a little kid and knew how tough it
could be.

“
St. Louis.” She sat down
on her desk chair, turning it to look at us.

“
Oh cool. I’ve never
actually been there, but I’ve heard good things.”

Tiffany put a hand on the arm rest of
her chair. “Where are you guys from?”

“
I’m from New York, and
Hailey’s a local.”

“
A local? You’re actually
from New Orleans?”

Hailey laughed. “Yes. I know there
aren’t too many of us here.”

“
That must have been cool.
But then again, growing up in New York City would be cool
too.”

“
Oh, I’m actually from the
suburbs. I probably should have been more specific.” I crossed my
legs.

Tiffany smiled. “I do the same thing.
I’m from the suburbs too.”

“
Am I the only
non-suburbanite here?” Hailey took a seat next to me on Anne’s
bed.

“
I’m really from Jackson,
but it’s not exactly a bustling metropolis.” Anne zipped up a
suitcase and jammed it into her closet.

Hailey laughed. “Hey, there’s nothing
wrong with Jackson.”

Anne smiled. “Says the girl from New
Orleans.”

“
So do you guys want to go
to a frat party tonight?” Hailey asked.

“
Yes!” Anne answered
excitedly.

Tiffany twisted the fabric of her
t-shirt with her hands. “Thanks, but no thanks. I think I’ll just
stay back.”

“
No way, you have to come!”
Anne said excitedly. I had to give her points for
enthusiasm.

“
How about you just think
about it?” I suggested. “I kind of want to go explore for a bit.
You want to come, Hailey?”

“
Sure, I’ll show you
around.”

“
I’m going to finish
unpacking.” Anne kneeled down to pull out some towels from a box on
the floor.

“
Same here.” Tiffany smiled
shyly again.

“
All right, we’ll stop by
later.”

As soon as we were at the stairs, I
told Hailey what was on my mind. “We have to get Tiffany to go with
us.”

“
Definitely. I think she
wants to, but she’s nervous. We’ll convince her.” Hailey pushed
open the door, and we headed out into the humid heat of August in
New Orleans. “But I just have to say it one more time; I can’t
believe we’re in college.”

I laughed. “I know. It’s going to be an
awesome semester.”

Chapter Two

Anne took a step into the hallway just
as we came out of our room. I locked the door behind us.

Anne bent down to fix the strap of her
sandal. “You guys ready?”

“
Yeah. Where’s Tiffany?” I
asked.

Anne gestured inside and smiled. “I
think she’s coming.”

“
Awesome.” I peered into
the room. Tiffany was staring at her reflection in the floor length
mirror affixed to the wall next to her bed.

She turned from the mirror. “Are you
guys sure I look okay in this?”

Tiffany was dressed like the rest of us
in a short jean skirt and a tank top. “You look great.”

We took the stairs, all giddy about the
night. Even though I’d been to plenty of parties in my life, it
felt different going to one as an actual college
student.

We headed outside towards the noise of
Broadway, the street that was home to all of the fraternity and
sorority houses. I’d opted for my usual choice of flip flops,
relieved when Hailey assured me party attire was casual at
Tulane.

Floods of students moved all around us.
The night was filled with laughter and shouting as groups of
friends reunited and new students got ready for their first night
out. I was unable to prevent a smile from plastering itself on my
face—there was just this incredible feeling in the air.

“
So where’s this party
again?” Tiffany asked.

“
Don’t worry, we won’t be
able to miss it,” Hailey assured her.

She was right. Disorientation was at a
frat house about four blocks down from where we exited campus. An
old fire truck was parked on the front lawn, but Hailey led our
group right up to the front steps. I wasn’t sure what the truck was
doing there, but since Hailey didn’t bat an eye, I figured it was
normal.

“
Welcome, ladies.” An
attractive guy greeted us when we reached the front
door.

“
Hey.” Anne
grinned.

“
Welcome to Alpha
Omega.”

“
Thanks.” I pushed past him
inside.

The house was packed. I couldn’t see
anything through the sea of bodies. Loud music pulsated. I glanced
behind me to make sure my friends were with me. Tiffany looked like
she was ready to pass out, Anne was grinning, and Hailey just
looked like Hailey.

We maneuvered our way through the crowd
to the back bar area. “Hello, girls,” a guy said as we finally
pushed up to the bar. “Need a drink?”

“
Definitely.” Anne reached
out her hand to take a plastic cup. Hailey intercepted
it.

“
No, we want the other
stuff.”

“
This is the good stuff,”
the guy said quickly.

“
Nope. Hold on a sec.”
Hailey turned around and grabbed a random guy by the arm and looked
in his cup.

“
We want the blue punch,
not the red.”

The guy smiled. “Someone taught you
well.”

“
Yeah, myself. Can we have
four cups of the blue, please?”

“
Sure.”

We accepted the cups and walked
away.

“
What was that about?” I
was impressed Anne had stayed quiet while Hailey negotiated. “Is
there something in the red stuff?”

“
Whenever they have two
different vats of a drink you need to be careful. If nothing else,
it’s double the alcohol.”

“
And that is bad because…?”
Anne put a hand on her hip.

“
You can get drunk at these
parties, but not trashed. Trust me, okay?”

“
Thanks.” Tiffany smiled
before taking a tiny sip of her drink.

“
No problem. This isn’t my
first frat party.”

I loved being friends with
Hailey.

With cups in hand, we moved outside. As
hot as it was, the temperature dropped once we got out of the
house.

“
Hi there.” I turned as a
blond haired guy called out to me.

“
Hi.”

“
Having fun?” He moved
closer.

“
Sure, but we just got
here.” I took a sip of the drink. It was too sweet, but otherwise
okay.

“
Nice.” A few other guys
joined him, likely noticing he’d struck up a conversation with our
group.

“
So, are you
freshmen?”

“
Yeah. What year are you?”
Anne asked.

“
Sophomores,” his friend
answered.

“
Cool. So are you an Alpha
Omega then?” I asked.

“
Yeah. I’m glad you girls
decided to come by.”

“
We wouldn’t have missed
it.” Anne put a hand in the pocket of her dark, jean
skirt.

“
So what are your names?”
the first guy started to ask.

“
Allie? What are you doing
here?” A brown haired boy wearing a collared shirt
interrupted.

“
Brandon? Wow, I forgot you
went to Tulane.”

“
You two know each other?”
the second guy asked, looking between us.

“
We went to the same high
school,” Brandon explained. He looked completely different from the
last time I’d seen him. He’d always been a little on the nerdy
side—people had been surprised when he decided to go to school in
New Orleans. “I didn’t know anyone from your class was coming
here.”

“
Yeah, this was last
minute.”

“
Cool, cool. We’ll
definitely have to catch up.”

I nodded. It was fun to see a familiar
face. “Sure, that sounds good.”

“
Oh Brandon, this is
Hailey, Anne, and Tiffany.”

“
Hi there.” He didn’t
bother to introduce the guys who had been hitting on us.

I noticed Brandon checking out Anne.
She didn’t seem to mind it.

“
It’s a small world, isn’t
it?” One of the mystery guys asked.

“
Definitely.”

“
I’m David, by the way.” He
held out his hand, and I accepted the handshake. “Do you need more
to drink?” He looked into my nearly empty cup.

“
Yeah, but make sure it’s
the same stuff.”

He laughed. “There’s nothing in the
other punch. I promise.”

Before I could respond, the guy from
out front was whispering in his ear.

David paled. “Uh, sorry. I had no idea
who you were.” He backed away.

“
Who I am?” I looked at
Hailey for an explanation.

Hailey shook her head, and I knew this
all had something to do with Levi.

I turned back to tell David not to
worry but he was gone, as were his friends. Only Brandon
remained.

“
That was weird…” Tiffany
trailed off.

“
Weird isn’t the right
word,” Hailey said bitterly. “Allie, I think we need to have a chat
with my brother and his friends.”

“
I was thinking the same
thing.” Levi had no right to interfere with my life like
that.

“
Can we come?” Anne
asked.

Hailey and I looked at each other. She
shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

We finished our drinks, tossed the
cups, and walked back through the house and out onto the front
lawn.

“
Are you sure they’ll be
there?” I asked as Hailey led us down the street. It’s not that I
really wanted to talk to those guys, but I didn’t need Levi scaring
away every male on campus.

“
Yeah. I guarantee they’ll
be at Bruno’s.”

“
All right.” I tried to
stay calm. Being mad at Levi was nothing new, but it didn’t get
easier. It’s hard to deal with a guy who you both love and
hate.

“
But isn’t Bruno’s nineteen
and up?” Anne asked. “I don’t have a fake.”

“
You don’t need a fake.
It’ll be fine.” Hailey picked up her pace. She was clearly anxious
to confront the guys.

“
Nineteen and up, isn’t
that random?” Tiffany tugged on her skirt. I guessed it was shorter
than what she usually wore.

“
It’s to keep freshman
away.” Hailey pulled her hair clip out, letting her long, red hair
spill down her back.

“
Meaning us...” I trailed
off.

“
Technically.” She
smiled.

“
Geez Hailey, what would we
do without you tonight? First you tell us what drinks are safe at a
frat party, and now you’re showing us how to get into a nineteen
and up bar.” I nudged her arm.

“
Shut up. You know you love
me.”

“
Of course I do.” Hailey
and I had gotten even closer over the few weeks before starting
school. I adamantly refused to go to anything Society related
without her, and I’d turned to her when I didn’t think there was
anyone else to trust. She was definitely the silver lining in all
the craziness that was my life.

“
IDs,” the bouncer asked as
we walked up.

Hailey looked him straight in the eye.
“You don’t really need them.”

He laughed. “I don’t? Come
on.”

I tensed, waiting for Hailey to use
some Pteron power, but she did something even more
surprising.

“
I’ll say it again. You
don’t really need our IDs, do you?” She leaned in closer to
him.

He smiled. “All right, Hailey, I’ll let
you in, but don’t make it a habit of trying to sneak your friends
in.”

“
I won’t.” She smiled
again, flirtatiously. “My brother’s here, right?”

“
Yeah, they’re in there
somewhere.” He unabashedly checked Hailey out.

“
Okay, cool.”

“
See ya.” I turned around
and he was definitely staring at Hailey’s ass.

Anne and Tiffany looked to me for
answers about what just happened, but I could only shrug. We
followed Hailey in through the crowd.

***

“
Hey girls, how was the
party?” Owen laughed. We found all three of them sitting at a table
with two girls, both blondes.

“
It was great until you
ruined it.” Hailey’s voice was cold. I was glad that I wasn’t on
the receiving end of her anger.