Body & Soul полностью

I spotted my friends — former friends, actually — sprinkled throughout the yard. Misty and Chris didn't seem to be here yet — no surprise there, as Misty was always late for everything. But Ashleigh Hicks and Jennifer Meyer were dancing together near the deck in a manner probably intended tobe provocative. Unfortunately, it came off more like creepy and awkward, given their matching outfits (as always) of short navy skirts and blue-and-white-striped shirts and their wildly disparate body types. Jennifer was a good five inches taller than Ashleigh. Also, they looked kind of like slutty sailors from the 1970s.

Jeff Parker, the intended audience for said sexy dancing, was paying no attention, his head bent over his guitar, and an adorable underclassman girl standing next to him, asking about the guitar or playing or something. Ha, good for him. I'd always liked Jeff — he was less likely to participate in our bullshit. At least he hadn't openly mocked me after my death. Unlike some people…

Miles Stevens stood off to one side, watching. He was spiffily dressed as usual, in a long-sleeved dress shirt and khakis, despite the lingering August heat. I couldn't be sure from this distance, but I was willing to bet that, thanks to me, his nerdwear was now designer.

And Leanne was next to Miles, staring out at the crowd with him and likely whispering catty comments in his ear. But where was Erin/Lily? I didn't see her near them.

My heart sank. Maybe she wasn't here after all. She'd be near Leanne, the only person she knew, wouldn't she?

I moved closer for a better look, skirting the edge of the crowd and weaving my way through the tiki torches. It wasn't until I was within a few feet of Leanne that I realized she wasn't watching the crowd in general but was focused quite intently on someone or something. Her eyes were bright with spite and amusement… not to mention something that looked an awful lot like loathing.

And she wasn't the only one watching whatever or whoever it was. In fact, a good majority of the people on this side of the party appeared to be enjoying the same spectacle, pointing and giggling and whispering and…

Oh, God. I froze, afraid to turn around. Only one person made Leanne's eyes glow with hatred like that — Ben Rogers. Ben and Leanne had hooked up freshman year, and when he'd dumped her, she'd never quite gotten over it. Any chance she could find to cause chaos for him — and get a laugh from it — would be an opportunity she'd take. But his presence alone wouldn't have been enough to trigger much notice from Leanne or the partygoers. It was, after all, his party. Of course he would be here. Most likely surrounded by whatever drunken or stupid girls he could find…

And suddenly I was terrified that I knew exactly who one of them would be.

Let's be clear: I never expected the Erin/Lily-at-Ben's party scenario to be good. I had heard enough from Erin to know that if she was here, she was looking for debauchery at its finest. Or worst. Whatever. Combine that with people thinking she was Lily and remembering what had gone down at the last party she'd attended, and we were already in uncharted levels of nasty.

But I have to confess, when I finally convinced myself to turn around and see what everyone else was seeing just fifteen feet from me, I never expected it to be this bad. Erin/Lily was wrapped around Ben Rogers like he was a stripper pole. Dark lipstick—not a flattering color or the one I'd picked out for Ally — was smeared across her face; her top bore a huge wet spot from beer she must have spilled down the front of it; and she had grass stains on her jeans from where she'd probably fallen. She was also somehow missing a shoe. But that wasn't the worst part. No. The worst—oh, sweet Lord—was her sticking her tongue so far down Ben's throat I half expected it to be poking through the back of his head.

And all of it while wearing MY face and MY body. Well, a face and a body I still thought of as my own; I'd seen them in the mirror every day for over a month.

I gagged first — oh, so many germs; I couldn't even think about what was living in Ben Rogers's mouth — and then a flash of fury swept over me, burning everything away, including common sense.

The smart thing would have been to turn around before Erin noticed me, go back to the car to talk it over with Will, and come up with some kind of plan to get her out of here… or at least away from everyone else.

Right.

“You stupid bitch.” The words flew out of my mouth in a shriek, like I had no control, and in that moment, I didn't. So much for doing the smart thing.

Erin heard me, even over the music, and looked around, dazed and startled. But she still kept her hold on Ben.

Unacceptable.

My vision blurry with rage, I threw myself past Leanne and collided with Erin/Lily, hard. She needed to learn. You do not mess with me. Any version of me. Past, present, or possible.