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Jenna was on the floor in her living room, waiting for the comedown to end. She was sweaty, physically exhausted, and no matter how much water she consumed she still felt thirsty. But more than that, she felt hollow.

Shane hadn’t even looked back at her in the club. She may as well have been a stranger, completely invisible, someone who had never even existed. He’d gone at that guy with the single-minded ferocity of a lion on PCP, and then steered that girl out of the crowd so hard she was shocked he hadn’t just tossed her over his shoulder and run.

Suspicions confirmed, she thought. Shane Mathers definitely had a girl.

And a girl she was. Jenna grimaced, thinking about how young she looked. She’d been dolled up in a dress so tight it could have been body paint and was wearing heavy makeup, but if Jenna closed her eyes and pictured her face, she couldn’t have even been sixteen. No wonder Shane had been steering clear; jailbate, even if Shane was only a few years older.

Laura had been uncharacteristically quiet since the rave. She was laying on the couch with a bean bag from the freezer on her head that had hit room temperature hours ago.

“I can smell your brain burning,” Laura said, eyes still covered.

“I keep thinking he’s going to call…” Jenna pouted.

“It’s one o’clock in the afternoon. It’s a bit late now to check and make sure you’re alive.”

“I know but…”

Laura sighed, dropped the bean bag on the floor and rolled over to look at her.

“Jenna, I love you. I really do. But that guy is bad fucking news. He gave me really bad vibes, last night. Totally ruined my trip.”

Someone banged on the door and they both jumped.

Jenna’s heart started to pound. It’s Shane. He’s come to check on me. He’s going to apologize for leaving me last night… Laura eyed her, judgement heavy on her face, but Jenna didn’t care – she’d take him back. She already knew she’d take him back.

“Coming!” Jenna shouted, hauling her ass up and scurrying to the door. She threw it open, and her face fell. “Oh. Hi,” she said, deflated.

“Hi,” Cody said, stepping inside. “Sorry to disappoint. Geez.”

“She was hoping you were Shane,” Laura called from the couch, laying the bean bag back over her eyes.

“He’s not here?” Cody asked. “He told me he was doing the rave thing with you lovely ladies. I brought you all sustenance.” He tossed a bag of McDonald’s on the kitchen table and Laura slid the bean bag off one eye.

“There was a bit of a kerfuffle,” Jenna said, plonking down at the table and reaching for a Big Mac.

Cody’s brows knitted together. “Kerfuffle?”

Laura joined them at the table.

“He punched some guy in the face.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “That sounds like a Tuesday, for Shane. Not a kerfuffle.”

“And he took off with his date,” Jenna said.

Cody leaned back in the chair, the front legs lifting off the ground, a strange expression on his face. “Are you sure? Because, that really doesn’t sound like Shane.”

“Oh, she’s sure,” Laura said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I think he’d have set the guy on fire if he weren’t so concerned with getting that girl out of there.”

Cody’s face darkened, and he bit his lip. “Was she blonde?” he asked quietly.

Laura’s eyes narrowed, and Jenna sat up a little straighter. Cody put the chair legs down and rubbed his eyes with his fists. “Fuck,” he muttered.

He didn’t elaborate, just pulled out a baggy of coke, sprinkled it on the table, and snorted it unceremoniously with a McDonald’s straw. He offered Jenna a hit.

“No, thanks, not my jam,” she said.

He shrugged, sniffing a few times. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, Jenna, but you probably won’t hear from him for a while.”

She slumped in her seat, and Laura patted her knee kindly, her other hand full of a quarter pounder.

“Who is she?” Jenna asked.

“Honestly? I have no idea,” Cody said. “He doesn’t talk about any other girls, doesn’t talk about her. But I saw him with this tiny blonde chick once, at new year. And I gotta tell ya, Jenna, I’ve never seen him like that. I’ve known Shane since elementary school and there’s not much that gets under his skin. He likes to fight, that’s for sure, but I’ve never seen him be bothered by… well, anything, really. But that girl… He looked wrecked.”

“Isn’t that when you met him?” Laura asked Jenna. “New year?”

“I’m really sorry, Jenna,” Cody said.

Jenna felt like a fucking chump.