Page 26 of Unexpected Prejudice

Levi moved away from the door and stood beside me. He then grabbed the dress from my hands. “Because the door was locked, meaning we’re trespassing.”

“But I unlocked it.” It was usually the fancy locks that were the easiest to break.

“That proves my point, Kotik.” He chuckled and hung the dress back in the closet. What a shame. I really wanted to try it on.

“Let’s go back outside?”

“But there’re so many rooms left to explore,” I whined but quickly shut up when Levi pulled a joint out of his pocket. “You bastard.” A smile spread on my lips as I took the rolled brown paper from him and brought it to my nose. I licked my lips as the earthy aroma filled my nostrils. “Fuck, that’s some good shit.”

“I know.” Levi took the blunt back from me and tucked it behind his ear. “Let’s get out of here so we can start smoking it.”

I cupped his face in my palms and pressed a big, fat kiss to his lips. “You’re a genius, Babydoll.”

The cutest blush crept to his squishy cheeks, and I wanted to bite him and then let him fuck me. If we hadn’t had mind-blowing sex just a while ago, I would’ve borrowed Ty’s parents’ bed.

“Shouldn’t we lock the room again?” Levi asked as we stepped out of there.

I shrugged and put my arm around his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Those latches lock themselves once the door is closed.” I was right. The moment the door shut, there was a small beep confirming it was locked again. I wasn’t worried about someone seeing us stepping out of the room because the corridors were packed with drunk teenagers. If there was one thing I learned in foster care, it was that the best way to commit a hustle was in a crowd. Not that we’d committed one. I’d only looked at nice dresses and checked out some fancy-ass watches.

When I was younger, I was a lockpicker, a stupid kid with a talent for stealing shit. I didn’t steal because I enjoyed it. It was in my nature, my way to survive in a world that was often too cruel. By giving the older kids, or the assholes who fostered me, money, I ensured I had a place to stay or that they would go easy on the beatings. When they saw how good I was, they started to use me until they decided small pickpocketing wasn’t enough, and we moved on to breaking into people’s houses and stealing bigger things like cars and jewels.

Levi was the first person I met that didn’t ask me for anything. I once gave him a book I picked up from some store. He felt terrible that I spent money on him, and because I thought it would make him feel better, I told him I stole it. That made him feel even worse, so we returned the book, only to buy it again. It had cost less than five dollars, but he didn’t care. He said those five dollars could mean the world to someone else, and we shouldn’t take what wasn’t ours. That was the moment I fell in love with him for the first time. I say the first time because I’d fallen for him countless times since then. With each smile, kiss, look… I couldn’t help but keep falling further and harder.

The only time he broke the no-stealing rule was when I convinced him to break into that store with me. The day I got us both arrested.

We started to make our way outside when I stopped. “Wait, I gotta take a piss.”

I let go of Levi and ran in search of a bathroom, which wasn’t easy. The house had too many rooms and floors, and when I finally found one, it was occupied. I waited patiently outside the bathroom door, but when I heard moans on the other side, I assumed they wouldn’t be done anytime soon and wandered off to find another place to pee. This time, I was lucky and found an empty toilet. I was just drying my hands when the door busted open, and a drunk couple stumbled inside.

At first, they didn’t notice me, so I tried to slide out without getting in their way, but then the guy looked at me, and his drunk eyes checked me out.

“Oops, sorry,” I chuckled. “I was just leaving. Don’t stop on my behalf.”

Before I could move, the guy tore his mouth from the girl and grabbed my arm, pulling me close. Only now, when he wasn’t trying to suck the soul out of the tiny blonde’s mouth, I was able to see his face, instantly recognizing him. The scar on his right cheek, the cold blue eyes, and the evil smile. He was the twin who’d called Levi a midget.

“Or, you can stay and join us,” the jerk offered while checking me out and biting his lips.

He reeked from booze, and his palm, gripping my arm, was sweaty. I didn’t like how close he stood, either. He then used his free hand to cup himself over his jeans. “I’ve got enough for the both of you.”

Eww.

“No, thank you.” Disgusted, I looked away, quickly checking out the girl with him. How did he even know if she wanted another person to join in? It didn’t matter because I had no intention of staying there a moment longer. I snapped my arm from his grip and quickly left before he could say another word. God, he was repulsive.

On my way to find Levi, I saw Diesel. I was about to ask him if he wanted to share a high with us but stopped when I noticed he wasn’t alone. Nope, he was definitely not alone when he walked into a room with two other girls and closed the door behind them—Okay, then.

Back to finding Levi.

Jordan

The party was as loud and busy as I’d expected. At first, I had fun as we celebrated our first win of the season, but when the guys started picking on some kids, I ditched them and wandered around.

What I really wanted was to spend time with Shay-Lee, especially after the amazing game we played. Since he’d given me a ride, I’d assumed we’d be hanging out, but he started drinking from the moment we arrived and hadn’t stopped since. His mood also shifted, turning sour, once Miles stepped into the party holding hands with Andrei. Shay-Lee went from being hyped and pumped over winning to seriously pissed.

Since Andrei showed up with Miles, I guessed our attempt to mess with him hadn’t worked, and I was rather impressed. It took some guts to completely ignore a guy like Shay-Lee and then walk into his party like nothing had happened. And make no mistake; this might be a party held by the football team at Ty’s house, but everyone knew who it really belonged to. And that was the thing about Beverly Bay High. Shay-Lee Rogers owned it. He was the king, and no one was about to challenge his rules: no one but four new strangers who had stumbled into his kingdom.

Distracted by my thoughts, I walked to the drinks table by the pool and grabbed myself a soda since I wasn’t a fan of alcohol and preferred to stay sober. Next to the drinks were some snacks, so I took a handful of peanuts and popped some into my mouth when someone cleared their throat. Still chewing, I looked to my side to find a cute, short girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes looking at me. Her white mini dress complemented her tan skin, and she wore a pair of heels that seemed impossible to walk in. Her makeup was light, and her face looked familiar.

“Hey,” she said, her voice bubbly and vibrant.