In the Air (The City Book 1) - By Crystal Serowka Page 0,11

tongue, and it had gotten the three of us in a ton of trouble throughout high school.

"Really, Jay? Stop worrying about Wren's sex life. You should be more concerned with getting yourself checked out for STDs. These random girls you fuck are bound to have something," I retorted.

"Remember that one time," Wren began but stopped mid-sentence, laughing hysterically, "Jay's mom had to call him out of school because he found out he had gotten chlamydia? That shit was disgusting."

"You're both douchebags. I knew I shouldn't have told either one of you." Jay grabbed the whiskey glass from my hands and drained the last of it before handing it back to me.

"If it weren't for us, the entire school would have found out about your little excursion with that stripper." I remembered how hard it was for Wren and me to keep Jay's condition under wraps. Every time someone would ask where he was, we laughed and tried to convince them Jay had caught some kind of bug. What we didn't say was that it was the love bug that nipped Jay.

"You're a dickhead." Jay pushed against Wren's chest, causing him to fall back against the table. "So are you," he slurred while trying to shove me. I dodged him just in time. "Dude, didn't you mention something about leaving by midnight?" Jay studied his watch. "You're gonna be a fucking wreck in the morning."

I looked down at my watch and saw that it was almost one. "Fuck! Why did you have to pull out the Patron? This is all your fault." I shoved the empty glass back into Jay's unsuspecting hands and heard it shatter on the ground as I walked to the front door. "See you later, assholes," I called out.

"Don't worry, Twinkletoes," Jay shouted after me, "your fancy ass knows how to nurse a hangover." I hated the nicknames he felt he had to give me. Ever since he found out I wasn't playing baseball anymore and started taking ballet lessons instead, he'd come up with an assortment of nicknames, his favorite being Twinkletoes. Wren, being Wren, never followed along with the nicknames.

As I stumbled onto the elevator, my pocket began to vibrate. The only person who would call me this late was Aubrey.

"Here we go again. I shouldn't even answer your fucking calls," I said while looking at the display on my phone. Why am I talking to myself in an elevator? I had way too much to drink tonight. I pushed the button to answer and put it to my ear.

"Hi, Baby," I mumbled, "I was just getting ready to call you."

"Don't lie to me, Sam. Where have you been all night? I was expecting your call hours ago." Does she ever stop with her incessant whining?

"Aubrey? What did you say? I can't understand you. My phone's breaking up ... hello?" I pressed the end button, turned it off, and shoved it back into my pocket. I didn't want to deal with her shit yet; I had a great buzz going and she was bound to ruin my high.

The cab dropped me off in front of the dorms and I saw Natalia standing near the building with the same friend from earlier. When I saw her this morning, I needed a reason to meet her. The only one I could come up with was pretending to think she was a part of Big Brothers, Big Sisters. When she told me she went to Juilliard, I was excited. Without thinking, I'd replied with harsh words. It wasn't as if I doubted she could go here. I was more elated to know I'd be attending the same school as the beautiful girl whose face was filled with so much passion. I'd forgotten what that looked like until I saw it on her face.

Having been drinking for most of the night, I knew that if Natalia said the wrong thing, I would probably go off on her. As I tried to get up to my room without a confrontation, I heard the familiar name being called my way.

"You've got to be kidding me. My name is not Toby!" I swung myself in the direction of the girls so that they could see that I wasn't in the mood for their antics.

"Chill out, dude. It was a joke." The girl that was talking had some serious fashion issues. It looked like she had walked into the closet of a prostitute, closed her eyes, and grabbed the first thing her hand