Hottie by Jonathan Bernstein

Author:Jonathan Bernstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2010-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-THREE

The Plus One Party turned ugly fast. Dorinda ran out of the living room, chasing after Kellyn. S-Quid took up guard in front of the door. No one else was getting in or out.

The slower Plus One Party guests who hadn’t yet worked out that something was amiss got the point when another of Nick’s friends started dancing with Ginger Becker. Except he wasn’t really dancing. He grabbed her and pinned her arms to her sides. The more she tried to squirm away, the rougher he was with her. Panicking, she cried out, “Warren!”

Warren’s heart sank. He did not want to get involved. But it was too late. Nick Stygian’s buddies had followed Ginger’s beseeching gaze. Nick, S-Quid, and the other thugs all started calling out, “Warren!” in shrill mocking voices. Maybe there’s another Warren here, he hoped.

But no, Ginger was staring straight at him. They hadn’t officially broken up, and it would probably look bad if he took this particular moment to say, “You know, Ginger, things haven’t really been working out between us, but you’re great and I hope we can still be friends.” So he walked over to the guy who had his elbow around her neck and he managed to get out the words, “Hey, man . . .” before the guy punched Warren in the face and he dropped to the ground.

Everyone screamed and grabbed for their phones. Nick Stygian, trained since he was a tot to calm manic crowds, stepped into the center of the room and raised his palms. “Guys, it’s cool. We’re just gonna have to ask you to hand over your phones. And your credit cards and any other valuables you might have on you. . . .”

“Wait a minute,” said Marvelette, starting to grin. “Is Punk’d coming back? Are you in the new cast?”

Wow, thought Nick, who hadn’t considered that he could rob people and still be popular.

He beamed and shrugged as if tipping off the guests that they had discovered his big secret. But then S-Quid jeered, “Nah, he’s a punk.”

S-Quid laughed coldly. So did his two friends. Nick tried to laugh along with them. They stopped laughing.

“Go get the goodies, Nicky,” instructed S-Quid, as if he was talking to someone who worked for him.

Nick swallowed his remaining pride and began relieving the party guests of their phones and credit cards. He gave Marvelette an apologetic look as he approached her.

“My father represented you when no one else would touch you,” she said, disgusted. “He said everyone deserves a chance.”

“That right?” retorted Nick. “Think he’d give me a chance with you?” He leered at S-Quid and the rest of his boys. They laughed at that.

Then there was a knock on the door. Not a loud, insistent knock. Not a concerned-neighbor knock. Not a rowdy partycrasher knock. Just a brisk little knock. And then another one.

Ginger Becker started to scream, “Help!” but the guy with his elbow around her throat tightened his grip, causing her to faint. . . .

“Anyone

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