Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert

Author:Stephanie Kuehnert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MTV Books
Published: 2009-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

Harlan had definitely sold a lot of ecstasy. There was way more dancing going on at Shelly’s than usual. Normally, people filled the couches along the wall or stood around talking in the space that Shelly cleared in the center of the room. That night the basement had morphed into a minirave. Colored lights spilled across the shiny black floor and the flashing strobe made it look like everyone moved in slow motion. Costumed kids danced like charmed snakes to the throbbing techno that Harlan spun. He had quite the setup on the card table in front of the big-screen TV. The simple stereo system had evolved into a DJ booth complete with turntables. He’d financed it by selling acid, X, and other pharmaceuticals-real stuff to his friends and fake versions to the jocks who’d become Deadheads over the summer.

Liam and Christian, who’d been too cool to dress up in costumes and hated electronic music, led Maya and me to our usual spot, the corner booth on the side of the basement opposite the dance floor. This was fine with me for about twenty minutes. Then the X kicked in and I had an overwhelming need to dance.

My most likely partner, Maya, had disappeared with Liam to search for Cass, so I jumped up and extended my hand to Christian. “Dance with me!”

He grinned, but stubbornly slouched against the booth. “I don’t dance to techno.”

“Me neither, but tonight we should.”

I led the way to the dance floor, Christian trailing me. I was shocked at how liquidy my limbs felt, how naturally I moved to the kind of music I usually hated.

Christian only swayed slightly, holding my hand and spinning me so that the tulle skirt of my costume ballooned outward. Entranced, he murmured, “I think I’m starting to like this music because it makes you even more beautiful.”

“I like it, too.” I let go of his hand and danced in front of him. People whirled around nearby, occasionally colliding with us and setting off a tingly ecstasy wave that made me giggle.

Christian laughed, too. His fingertips fluttered against my hipbones, guiding me closer to say, “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world, you know that? Not just outside, but inside. I can see your kindness pouring out of you.” He cupped my face in his palms. “I’m falling so hard for you.”

“Yeah?” I couldn’t say anything more. His hands sent a charge through my skin like a defibrillator, leaving me pleasantly warm and woozy.

“Yeah.”

And then we were kissing. We kissed all the way upstairs to Shelly’s room, where we collapsed onto her bed. The comforter felt fluffy as a cloud. The room glowed pale purple. It was like heaven. Kissing Christian was heaven.

I remembered my dress being slightly too big in the chest, so I pulled away, giggling, “Can you see my boobs?”

Christian raised his eyebrows and asked, “I don’t know, can I?” His hand poised at the zipper on the side.

I would have slept with him. Then and there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.