Free CRASH (A Logan Brothers Novel) by L. A. Shorter

It was a ballroom of some kind,
a stage at the end and a number of tables set up in the middle. Right
in the center was a champagne fountain, the golden liquid trickling
down into waiting glasses. Waiters shot this way and that, some with
trays of champagne, others with a range of canapes.
    I ran my eyes over the other
people there. Most were young, attractive women and men standing in
groups and couples. The women wore all sorts of stunning dresses,
many sparkling in silver and gold jewelry. The men stood in their
well fitted tuxedos, most of them clean cut and looking sharp.
    It was a scene of beautiful
people, one that I knew Alice and Tess would fit right into. I wasn't
so sure about myself. This wasn't the sort of thing I was used to, or
overly comfortable with.
    I could feel the nerves tingling
in my body as I looked out over the scene, and was grateful when a
waiter approached carrying a tray of champagne glasses. I quickly
snatched one off it, with a couple of funny looks from Alice and
Tess, and gulped down a generous portion.
    “ Easy now Elle,” said Tess,
“you've gotta pace yourself here. Come on, lets take a look at
where we're sitting.”
    Tess turned towards the board
positioned near the main doors and eagerly searched for her name. I
glanced back at Alice, who gazed into the crowd. She seemed seriously
preoccupied with something.
    “ Hey, here we are. Elle, you
and me are together. Alice, you're at another table with Kyle.”
    We turned together to see that
she was no longer with us. She'd descended into the crowd, no doubt
searching for her man.
    Tess smiled at me knowingly.
“Guess its just me and you then babe!”
    Yeah, until you latch onto
Zack. Then I'll be all alone.
    ....
    My prophesy came to pass.
    Not long after Alice had
disappeared into the crowd the bell went for us to take our seats for
dinner. It was much more formal than I'd have imagined, kinda like a
wedding reception. I didn't think two guys turning 23 would choose to
celebrate their birthday in such a way.
    But they did, and there I was,
sat there at a table, surrounded by beautiful people I didn't know.
They weren't like the people I'd met at college, or the girls I was
meeting in dance class. No, these people had a different air about
them.
    One of money. One of arrogance.
One of superiority.
    It wasn't directed at me, but it
infected the air, made me choke. They probably thought I was just
another one of them, another rich kid, another one of the gang.
    Luckily I had Tess next to me,
so we spent most of the dinner chatting between ourselves. Call me
antisocial, call me what you want: I didn't want to talk to these
people much. Maybe the other tables were nicer, I don't know.
    All I knew was that this one was
replete with the sort of people I'd avoided all my life.
    But then, dinner didn't last
long, and soon the evening was descending into something more akin to
how I'd expect a 23 year old to bring in their next year.
    The booze began to flow,
makeshift bars on either side of the room well stocked with alcohol.
People stood and mingled among the conceited masses, the noise in the
room beginning to build as the night wore on.
    Tess abandoned me, as expected,
winding her way towards Zack. I knew she liked him, but I kinda hoped
that he'd give her the cold shoulder, tell her to do one. Then,
maybe, she'd come back to keep me company.
    But she didn't.
    A growing sense of awkwardness
began developing inside me as I sat there at my table, unable or
unwilling to mingle. I didn't fit in here, not with these people. I
felt completely out of place.
    I poured myself another glass of
wine from a bottle on the table, filling my glass to the brim with
white. When in doubt, drink. It was my reaction in awkward
social situations like this.
    I caught glimpse of Alice and
Kyle, the two of them sitting to one side. They looked so loved up,
it was kinda sweet. Or was she crying? I couldn't be sure from where
I was. She had her head in his shoulder,