Free From a Dream: Darkly Dreaming Part I by C. J. Valles, Alessa James

surprisingly—surrounded by devotees. Sean would die when he saw her, I thought glumly.
    It was slow going as I made my way toward the kitchen, and I could finally see why. Set up on the floor was a keg, while a giant tub held chilled bottles and cans of various beverages. I strained to see if there was any soda. I had almost made it to the edge of the kitchen when I felt a large hand come down on my shoulder. Yelping in surprise, I froze. Then I turned and saw Jason Everett behind me. His spiky dark hair, broad shoulders, and square facial features really should have been attractive, but his egotistical I’m-hot-shit attitude just didn’t do it for me.
    “So he did bring you,” he said, leaning in close to be heard over the music.
    I leaned away from him, feeling uncomfortable with his sudden interest in me.
    “I didn’t know you and Sean knew each other.”
    Really, I wanted to say: I didn’t think you knew I existed . But I didn’t.
    Jason shrugged.
    “Little League.”
    “Oh. Nice house,” I offered without enthusiasm.
    It was the truth, but I didn’t know how nice it was going to look in the morning with the way things were going. Jason didn’t look concerned.
    “You want a drink?”
    “Soda?” I asked carefully.
    We began moving again toward the kitchen with Jason in the lead, pushing through the crowd with an air of authority I had obviously lacked. I followed behind him and then watched as he poured some soda into a plastic cup before turning away from me and adding something from a bright green bottle on the counter. Jason raised his cup in toast, and I sniffed the radioactive green beverage. It could have been antifreeze for all I knew. Pretending to take a sip, I decided to dump it the first chance I got. Jason’s eyes scanned the room for something or someone. It looked like he was losing interest in playing host.
    “Bathroom?” I mouthed.
    He pointed toward the hall, before imparting that there were four additional bathrooms upstairs. Four ? I wondered how many people lived here as I moved away from him. Within a few steps, Jason had disappeared, swallowed by a heaving sea of people, only a few of whom I recognized from classes.
    To the left of the foyer, I saw a line of people waiting for the bathroom. I scanned the downstairs. The house was expensively furnished and contained pricey looking paintings on many of the walls. The blue- and white-striped upholstered couches in the formal living room were straight-backed and uncomfortable looking. I couldn’t imagine any family sitting on them after dinner to talk about the day’s events. Above me, a chandelier with hundreds of sparkling crystals swayed in time with the music.
    I hadn’t seen Sean, Matt, or Jeff since reemerging from the kitchen, so I continued my path toward the upstairs to find one of bathrooms on the second floor, feeling a monster headache coming on. I noticed looks from some guys I vaguely recognized as friends of Jason’s, but I was preoccupied with thoughts of how I was going to find Sean again. Then again, he was probably looking for Allison Monroe, not me.
    By the time I reached the second floor, I had begun to feel like Alice during her trip to Wonderland—infinitely tiny and in a land of strangers. The house itself resembled a model home. Nicely appointed, but cold. If there hadn’t been a crowd of people here, it would have been easy to believe that no one really lived in this house. Several doors down, I found an open door that led into a powder room. Inside, I locked the door and poured my drink down the sink before filling the cup with water. I sank down on a little bench and stared at an ostentatious vase of fresh flowers that looked like it had been professionally arranged.
    Finally I reached for my phone and tried calling Sean, but it went to voicemail. I sighed. He probably couldn’t even hear his phone over the pounding music downstairs. Am I supposed to be having fun here ? I wondered. It sounded like