Page 22 of The Oath We Give

Nothing bad can touch me here.

Neon lights pulse beneath the translucent dance floor under my feet to the beat of the music. The DJ mixes one song into the other, weaving them together seamlessly. A new song blasts from the speakers, and the redhead on my right squeals above the surrounding noise.

Her slim, warm hands grab my shoulders, shaking me back and forth. The glow of sweat and light across her skin makes me smile before she even speaks.

“I love this fucking song!”

My head tilts back with laughter. I’m only a small piece of an enormous world in this crowd. Bodies everywhere, roaming hands, swaying hips. My heart thrums in my chest, head swimming.

I scan the small circle of girls around me as Sage releases my body. Lyra’s and Briar’s hands are interlinked, gripping onto one another as they dance in sync. Their backs are pressed together, hair a swirl of blonde and black strains.

The small talk we’d shared earlier had been shortened further to drink orders and screams about favorite songs. Maybe we’d talked? Maybe we hadn’t? I only knew I’d never been happier to just exist around a group of people who weren’t out for information about what happened to me. No bloodsucking leeches searching for an exclusive, getting close to me just to gain their thirty minutes of fame.

We’re all here to have fun.

Them because apparently they’d just been reunited, according to Sage and me, to escape. We’d come together in the perfect silent collision.

The EDM-style harmony seems to physically animate. Swirls of light pouring from the speakers slither toward me with purpose, the crackling tentacles of music curling around my waist, urging my body to dance.

What would the Ponderosa Springs elite think if they could see me right now?

My arms lift above my head, bending slightly, and my eyes shut as I sway, the infectious rhythm captivating me. It starts gradually, ambient sounds that build tension in the room. The beat ascends, climbing slowly, making you feel every tick to the top of the roller coaster.

As we reach the peak, everything goes silent, and when my eyes open just as the sudden surge of music returns, the club moves in slow motion. The girls around me start lightly jumping to the beat, joining the rest of the bodies as we bounce.

Blinding smiles, wild hair, the lingering smell of weed.

It’s euphoria.

Pure human indulgence.

But nothing good can ever last, not really.

There aren’t enough drugs and alcohol in the world to deny that fact.

In my peripheral vision, I see it.

Sage has stopped jumping, right arm lifted straight above her head as she slowly moves her hips back and forth. The drink in her hand sloshes around the glass, spilling over the lip and onto the floor.

This wouldn’t have caught my eye if it hadn’t been for the guy slipping behind her undetected. I’m slow to react when he lifts his arm, dropping something into the contents of her drink and trying to glide past as if nothing happened.

Suddenly, I’m not at Vervain, drowning in bliss.

I’m eighteen, walking home from a college party, not remembering drinking nearly enough to be stumbling. My body doesn’t feel like my own, the way it reacts out of untapped rage I wasn’t aware lived inside of me.

“Hey, asshole!” I scream, my dark nails digging into the fabric of his shirt viciously, jerking him back by the shoulder. “You just go around spiking girls’ drinks, you piece of shit?”

The vibe of the club shifts at the drop of a hat, hostile energy and tension so thick I can barely breathe.

“What?”

Maybe it’s Briar who said it or Lyra. I can’t hear that well over the continuing music thumping around.

The guy turns, greasy blond hair swaying in front of his face, anger furrowing his brows as he yanks his shoulder from my grip.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He seethes.

My teeth bite into the flesh of my tongue enough to bring blood as I lean over to grab Sage’s drink from her hand.