Venom (The Reawakening Series Book 1) (5 page)

I can’t help but blush. One of the few moments I wish I were still a vampire. It was definitely easier to hide any embarrassment back then.

“
Hey, Cassie. Freshie is blushing! Isn’t that sweet?” says Jenna.

“
Leave her alone,” says Cassie. “Cody is cute. You would have blushed too.”

The thing is… I don’t even feel that way about Cody. It’s just that I have never heard about a guy liking me before and it just made me feel… embarrassed.

“
I would rather just go with you and Jenna,” I say.

“
Oh, come on. Jenna is technically with Adam, and I have my own date. Cody is a perfect gentleman. You will see.”

“
We’ll be hanging out as a group anyway. You will be fine,” says Jenna.

Shortly after we are all ready, Cody rings the doorbell. Cassie says we’re all going to ride together, which makes me feel better about the group thing. Cody walks in and he seems a lot more relaxed than usual…. and talking a lot more than usual.

“
Ready to go?” he asks Cassie.

Then he sees me and grins.

“
Cassandra, Cassandra… nice job!”

Jenna rolls her eyes.

Cassie shrugs. “She already had the potential. I just helped a bit.”

Jenna laughs. “You do know that Noelle is standing right here and can hear you, right?”

They all laugh, which makes me feel even more uncomfortable than before.

“
Do you have what I asked you to bring me?” Cassie asks Cody.

“
Of course,” he smiles.

Cassie pulls him into the hallway, but I can see him handing her an envelope.

They are whispering to the point where no human would be able to hear them, but I’m not entirely human, and as much as I promised Harvey that I would not use my abilities, I can’t help it.

“
All the money is in there. Does she know yet?” asks Cody.

“
She knows she is going to the party with you. That is all she needs to know for now. It’s too early. You know the drill. We need something that we can use as leverage and you will get it tonight. It’s the perfect plan… it never fails.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket and clench my fingers around it. I think about texting Harvey, but I quickly change my mind. The last thing I need is for him to question the decision to send me to school. Harvey and Nicholas are overprotective and I would never be able to go anywhere ever again. I decide that whatever they were up to, I can handle.

Cody nods and walks back in the living room.

“
Where is Jenna?” he pauses and looks around. “JENNA! You better be ready. We are walking out the door right now!”

CHAPTER NINE

I sit in the backseat with Cody and he doesn’t act like we are ‘going together’, so I start to relax.

He’s pretty smooth too. We get to Adam’s house and before we get out of the car, he tells me we’ll walk in as if we are together, but that is just for show. Like Cassie, Cody and Jenna are also juniors. I don’t understand why they are so concerned about my reputation, but what do I know? I’ve never been exposed to this type of thing before, so I go along with it.

Once we approach the door, Cody puts his arm around my shoulder, which makes me blush again, and we walk into Adam’s house. We are the first ones there, but soon I come to realize that what Cassie described as a small get-together, is far from it.

More and more people crowd the house to the point where it feels like most of the school is here, and of course, there is alcohol that some of the seniors were somehow able to bring.

Eventually, I get Cody to back off a little. I don’t understand the pretending. But then, a group of guys walk in and Cody makes sure to put his arms around me again. Some of the guys nod at him and grin.

“
I have to go outside and get some fresh air,” I say. Before he can say anything back, I move away.

On my way out of the door, I walk past Megan and Ian, who are on their way in.

Megan looks me up and down and shakes her head. Ian just… I can’t explain his expression.

I look down, avoiding his gaze, and rush outside, where I stay until Cassie comes to get me. She shoves a cup in my hand. The strong smell almost makes me sick.

“
Drink it,” she says. “You need to relax.”

I hold the cup to my lips and pretend to take a sip.

Cassie grins. “Come on,” she drags me back inside, where Cody is hanging out with some guys.

“
You should go over there and kiss him.”

I turn to face her.

“
I’m not going to do that!” I say embarrassed.

“
Come on, don’t you think he is cute?”

He is, but nothing like that. “He is but—”

“
No buts,” she says. “Come on, he has been nothing but a gentleman so far.”

When she realizes that I’m not going to bend, she resorts to something else.

“
Come on, you like the clothes we got you, right? Do it as a return favor. You don’t even have to full on kiss him, just go over there and put your arms around him or something… anything!”

This brings back memories of being ordered around by my caretaker when I was a vampire. I fight back the tears. I need to find a way out of here.

To get her to shut up, I walk over to where Cody is and just stand near him.

He gives Cassie an unhappy look and then something else catches my attention.

I see Ian and Megan heading upstairs. Cody notices me looking at them and rolls his eyes. “Typical”, he mumbles to himself.

Cody instantly puts his arm around me again. I try to move away from him, but he pulls me back. From the stairs, Ian meets my gaze and he seems concerned, but Megan keeps dragging him forward until they disappear into the hallway.

When one of Cody’s friends starts to get friendly and pull me away from Cody and toward him, I know I’ve had enough. I feel overwhelmed and wish I was anywhere but here. Cody just stands there so I yank my arm free from his friend’s grip. Both of their expressions are a mix between surprise and enjoyment. I’m about to tell them off and leave when we all hear Megan shouting as she comes downstairs after Ian.

I can barely make sense of what she’s saying because I’m more worried about taking advantage of the distraction to get out of the house or hide somewhere until I can find a way home.

I decide that outside is my best option. I can’t take it anymore. The music… the smell of alcohol… I have to get out of here.

I walk toward the side of the house so no one will see me. Soon after, Ian rushes past me to get to his car. He doesn’t even notice me, but I stop him. I have to know what he meant by me getting away from Cassie’s group.

“
What do you want?” he snaps at me, making me think twice about this. Another perk that I still have from my vampire years is that I can be very persuasive. It isn’t exactly glamour, but it works almost as good.

“
I—I was just wondering what you meant earlier about Cassie not being good company.”

He looks me up and down, “You clearly already know.”

“
I don’t,” I tell him.

“
I’m sorry, I can’t tell you…. If you don’t know already you will figure it out soon enough.”

I’m getting ready to use my so-called persuasive abilities when Cody comes out of the house.

“
Hey, Noelle, I was looking for you.” He turns me around and tries to kiss me, but I pull away. THIS is not going to be my first kiss.

“
You really don’t know, do you?” asks Ian.

I shake my head.

“
Dude, let her go,” says Ian.

Cody turns to face him. “Why don’t you worry about your own problems with Megan instead? It seems to me that is plenty to worry about.”

Sure enough, Megan comes outside. “What the hell are you doing, Ian? First you leave the room because you are all consciously aware of what is happening to the freshman slut, and now this?”

“
Shut up, Megan. You have been drinking. There were other reasons why I left. Just leave it alone.”

By that point, half of the school is outside.

“
Let’s go back in,” says Cody as he grabs my wrist. I break my wrist free from his hand and push him away. He stumbles back.

“
Actually, I think I’m going to go home,” I say.

He gives Cassie a look that can’t be good. Cassie shrugs.

“
You are with me tonight. Let’s go.” His arms go around my waist and I’m just trying to get away from him again, when I see Ian’s fist coming his way. He hits Cody on his nose.

There is an awkward silence everywhere.

Cody wipes his nose with the back of his hand and when he sees blood, he clenches his fists and launches forward trying to punch Ian, but Ian moves out of the way and Cody stumbles, hitting the car.

Everyone laughs, which distracts Ian. Cody comes from behind him putting his arm around Ian’s neck. With little struggle, Ian elbows the side of Cody’s stomach. Cody lets go of Ian and gets down on his knees.

Next thing I know, Ian grabs my hand and pulls me past Cody and toward his car.

“
Get in!” he yells, and I do.

Megan shouts after him, and Cassie after me, but we both ignore them. Ian quickly makes his way to his side of the car, gets in, and drives off.

He doesn’t say anything for a while, and then, “Where do you want me to take you?”

“
Well, not home! I will be in trouble for dressing like this and for not being with Cassie.”

He laughs. “You should be in trouble for being with Cassie.” He pauses. “My sister has clothes you can borrow. You can probably spend the night in her room. My dad is out of town and my mom is passed out by now. Does that work?”

I nod. It’s not like I have another option.

CHAPTER TEN

“
I will text my sister and let her know she will have a roommate for the night.”

I nod. “Thank you.”

After a short and silent drive to his house, he parks the truck and we walk toward the back porch where he gets the key from under the mat.

Before he opens the door, he turns to face me.

“
You really have no idea what Cassie is up to, do you?”

I shake my head.

“
You must be the most naïve person at that school then.”

I can feel my heart beating faster. That comment really gets to me and not in a good way. I’ve had enough with Harvey and Nicholas thinking that I’m naïve and now him, who I barely even know.

“
Why don’t you enlighten me?” I say. “All I know is that Cody gave her money and I overheard something about not telling me anything yet.”

“
Sit down,” he says, looking at the chairs on the back porch.

I sit and he sits on the chair next to me.

He sighs. “Cassie runs a… well, some people call it a dating service… others call it an escort service. I will go with the second term based on the circumstances that she works with. She recruits freshman students without them knowing, finds something to use against them, and then she sets you up on dates with certain people and gets paid for it.”

My mouth drops open.

“
Why don’t they just say no?”

“
Like I said, she uses something against them. Some are happy to accept new clothes,” he looks me up and down, “and do what they are told.”

“
I had no idea. You have to believe me.”

“
I believe you.”

“
Why hasn’t anyone told on her?”

“
It’s not worth the trouble. Too many people are involved in her mess one way or another. If she goes down, she will bring everyone down with her.”

I nod once and get up, turning toward the door, but Ian puts his hand on my arm to stop me. Without thinking, I close my eyes for a split second and enjoy how his skin feels against mine. He makes me feel… safe.

“
People tried to stop them before. It didn’t end well. If you can help it, don’t do anything. Just try to distance yourself before it is too late, okay?” he says in a concerned tone.

“
Why are you helping me?” I ask.

“
Before you, my sister was the naïve person who fell into her trap.”

Ian gets up and stands in front of me. He then opens the door and motions for me to go in. “I’m sure she will be more than willing to share her story with you once she finds out what happened tonight.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

NICHOLAS

“
Where are you going?” asks Harvey.