Robin Wasserman - Lust

And then, like Prince Charming, appearing as if by magic out of the mist: Kane.

He strode purposefully toward them, with Kaia nowhere in sight.

“You ladies look bored,” he said. “How about a dance?”

For a moment Miranda, who figured any drugs harder than pot weren’t worth the dead brain cells, finally understood what people were always talking about, that rush of ecstasy, a shot of pure joy exploding out of you, so powerful that it shut out the world for a moment, threatened to sweep you away.

But it was just for a moment.

Because when she came down to earth, Kane’s words still ringing in her ears (familiar words, as he’d uttered them so often in the G-rated portion of her fantasies), she realized that his arm was outstretched to Harper. Of course.

Harper took his hand and headed toward the dance floor, shooting Miranda an apologetic look over her shoulder. There was nothing to apologize for, of course. This was just the way it worked.

Couples danced, the band played, Lester Lawrence talked to the pet grasshopper in his pocket, and Miranda stood on the fringes of it all.

Alone.

That’s life, right? C’est la vie .

Kane swung her around the dance floor, moving effortlessly in time with the music, now a slow R &B groove. He danced with ease, skill, and grace-the same way he did everything else. (If Kane couldn’t do it well, he didn’t do it at all.)

“Having a good time, Grace?” he asked.

“Not particularly.” There was no point in putting on a brave face, since she was sure he couldn’t care less. “How about you? Enjoying your date with our very own Lolita?” She spotted Kaia on the sidelines, fending off a crowd of curiosity seekers-Mini-Me, she was pleased to see, among them. Harper supposed she should be a bit dismayed that her own personal fan club seemed to be redevoting itself to Kaiaworship, as it was just another sign of the rich bitch encroaching on her territory. But somehow, she just couldn’t work up the energy-besides, having the sophomore squad chase after her was, in the end, far more punishment than reward.

“I’m enjoying myself very much, thanks,” Kane replied. “Of course, not as much as him .’ He swung her around, bringing her face-to-face with Adam and Beth, arms draped loosely around each other, swaying in the middle of the dance floor, clearly in a world of their own. Their eyes were closed, and Beth’s head rested on Adam’s broad shoulder. He ran his hands slowly up and down her back.

Harper felt sick. She looked away-right into Kane’s disgustingly knowing grin.

“Jealous?”

Harper said nothing.

“Just letting you know, my offer still stands. You and me, the anti-Cupids. Just say the word.”

Harper stole another glance at the happy couple. Adam was now running his fingers through her long, blond hair.

God, it was tempting.

“Mind if I cut in?”

Harper breathed a sigh of relief-Kaia’s icy voice had never been more welcome. “He is my date, after all,” Kaia pointed out snottily.

Harper let her hands drop and stepped away.

“My pleasure-he’s all yours.” She walked away-but not quickly enough that she didn’t overhear Kaia’s parting shot.

“It’s so sweet of you to keep Harper company, Kane,” she oozed. “You know, since she couldn’t find a date of her own.”

Harper resisted the temptation to turn back and slap her-and the marginally more powerful temptation to take another look (or extended, longing stare) at Adam. Instead she kept her eyes focused on Miranda, lingering next to a large bowl of pretzels and looking forlorn; she focused on Miranda and, about ten feet behind her, the exit.

It was time to get the hell out.

When the going gets tough, the tough get stoned. Which is exactly what Harper and Miranda proceeded to do.

They stopped off at the after party (Harper: “After all, we planned the damn thing”) but after ascertaining that all the details were in place-beer, music, lanterns, illicit acts featuring Haven High’s elite-they ditched out. (Harper: “Just a bunch of losers getting laid”) Kane had roped scuzzy Reed Sawyer into supervising things so that the rest of them could focus on their night of debauchery-all it took was a dime bag of weed and a six-pack; apparently Reed didn’t have anything better to do anyway. A burnout like him certainly wouldn’t be caught dead at a school dance-and there was no way he would have made it onto the invite list under any other circumstances, but Harper supposed that climbing his way up the Haven High social ladder wasn’t too high on his list of priorities. Getting high? Yes. Scoring some kind of record deal for his posse of talentless losers? Probably. But that was about it. Trust Kane to find a guy like that.

He lay sprawled on one of the motel’s musty sofas and lazily watched the chaos swirl around him. Harper wasn’t sure exactly what “supervising” was supposed to entail-yes, he’d turned on the music and made sure that the kegs were tapped and flowing, but if someone tried to make off with the stereo or burn the place down, would this guy be willing or able to do anything about it? Harper highly doubted it-but at the moment, she didn’t really care.

Besides, back at Miranda’s place, the parents were out, the pot was ample, the beer didn’t come from a keg, and there were no unidentifiable fluids or condom packages littering the floor. Nor was there anyone they didn’t want to talk to-which, at the moment, included pretty much everyone except for each other.

It took an hour for the one taxi company in town to dispatch a driver-but it was well worth the wait. (It was also worth it not to have to ride away from the party in the hot pink monstrosity that had carried them to the dance.)

“Did you see Lauren’s dress?” Miranda asked once they were safely ensconced in her bedroom. She exhaled a puff of smoke and flopped back onto her bed.

“How could I miss it? It was practically fluorescent!” Harper cackled, taking the joint from Miranda and inhaling deeply. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed and rubbing her bare feet against the soft plush of Miranda’s rug. The best part of going to a formal was always the hour before getting ready and the hour afterward rehashing the night-so who cared if they’d pretty much skipped the middle? “And how about the way Peter King kept drooling every time I walked by?”

“Peter the Perv? Didn’t he get thrown out of school last year for trying to install that camera in the girls’ locker room?” Miranda asked with a laugh, almost choking on a kernel of popcorn.

“He’s b-a-a-a-a-ack,” Harper sang out.

“Hey, at least you didn’t have Lawrence Lester and the bug thugs chasing after you all night,” Miranda complained.

“Lester Lawrence,” Harper corrected her sternly. “Lester and Miranda Lawrence-has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

“Shut up!” Miranda slammed a pillow into Harper’s face and they both dissolved into giggles. There were a lot of kids in their high school, and most of them sucked-if they tried hard enough, this could keep them going all night long.

“Dude, great party!” Adam said, stumbling through the doorway of the motel. Beth caught him just before he fell.

“Yeah, great,” she echoed weakly, taking in the cloud of smoke, stench of beer, pumping music, and scattered couples making out in the darkened corners.

Adam high-fived Kane. “Your brother manage to score us the kegs?”

“You know it,” Kane assured him.

“Awesome-point me to it, liquor-man.”