The Player novel Chapter 7

Brielle

12:07 AM

"What are you doing here?" A voice behind me asked. I braced myself, expecting to receive a scolding from Christopher, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be Sam.

I threw myself at her, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. I couldn't tell if I was handsy due to the fact that I was happy to see her, or because I was a little tipsy.

"Daniel dragged me here," she said, annoyance in her voice.

Daniel was Sam's stepbrother. They were in the same grade, but completely different. Daniel loved to party and drink, and Sam did anything but. Despite their differences however, they were really close. While Sam hated the idea of her mom remarrying at first, their relationship brought her the brother that she always wanted.

Her eyes looked glazed over, seeming to not be focused on me completely. Judging from the way that she was swaying as well, I could tell that I wasn't the only one who underestimated the punch.

"Let's go dance," I yelled atop the music, motioning for her to follow me. When we finally reached the dance floor, it was absolute chaos. Bodies were everywhere, moving against one another, with a DJ at the center. Making our way through the crowd, we settled in a less crowded spot, swaying our hips to the music.

I was always dancing as a kid, so I was good at it, but I never had the courage to do it in front of people. With ballet, it was easy. There were certain rules to follow, and if you did, you would do good. But when dancing in settings like this, there weren't any guidelines. You just had to let go and feel the music, and that scared me.

I seriously began to curse the amount of alcohol that I consumed as the room started to spin more and more, until I felt light and free. My body felt like it was in a haze, going through the motions, but not truly processing what was going on.

"I'm going to go get another drink," I told Sam, stumbling my way off the dance floor, unable to even walk straight. On my way to the kitchen, I saw something catch my eye, which made me stop dead in my tracks.

A table.

Thinking that it would work well as a makeshift stage, I made my way over there. When I finally reached it, I planted my hands on top of it, trying, and failing, to pull myself up. After what felt like the hundredth time, I finally launched myself on top of the table, nearly falling off once I stood up.

After a few seconds of wobbling, I finally regained my balance somewhat, planting my feet on the table top. I began to dance, letting the beat run through my body and overtake me. I heard someone cheer me on, only fueling me as I danced harder to music.

More and more people began to cheer, as I became a spectacle.

I'm famous. I thought. I have fans!

The cheers slowly started to morph into the word strip, as the chant became louder and louder and louder.

"Strip! Strip! Strip! Strip!"

Well I can't let my fans down now. I sighed, being famous was such a burden.

I slowly lowered my strap off my shoulder, attempting to look somewhat sexy. I had never done it before, so the only reference that I had were from movies, which weren't very credible. I grabbed the bottom hemline of my dress, getting ready to take it off over my head. But before I could lift it, a strong pair of arms hooked around my legs and lifted me up, throwing me over their shoulder.

"Hey!" I yelled, pounding the unknown person in the back. "I still had the grand finale left you jerk!"

After protesting to no avail, I gave up, limp on this person's shoulder. I surveyed his body, noticing his tall build and muscular frame.

"You have a nice butt." I blurted out, not being able to hold it in. "Can I touch it?"

Without waiting for confirmation, I poked it, trying to see how hard it was.

"It's really firm," I said, angling my head to the side to get a better look. "I'd rate it a solid 8.5."

"Shut up." The voice yelled, cutting off my commentary.

"Fine," I grumbled, looking away. It wasn't until then did I realize that this person could literally be kidnapping me.

Play it cool, I reminded myself. Don't panic.

I scoured my head, trying to remember some karate moves from the class I took when I was six. I groaned in frustration, my head to foggy to remember anything. I settled on just kicking him where the sun doesn't shine and making a break for it. Before I could enact my plan, he set me down in a car.

I looked up at him, realizing that it was Christopher.

"Hey," I laughed nervously, "Just forget what I said about your butt."

He completely ignored me, his jaw clenched.

Wait, was he mad?

"Brielle, Sam's here," my mom yelled from downstairs, gaining my attention. I quickly grabbed my backpack off my chair and went downstairs, knowing that Sam hated waiting for people. I usually rode to school with Scott since he had a car. However, with our current state, I didn't think that I could last the ten-minute car ride. Luckily, Sam's parents bought her and Daniel a car to share, so she was able to drive me to school this year.

"Thanks for the ride," I said to Sam while opening the car door. Noticing that Dan was in the back seat, I turned around, waving to him.

"Don't thank me so soon," she began. "You're going to be the one paying for gas money."

"What!" I cried out, surprised at how cut-throat she was. "How is that fair?"

"You're just lucky that I'm not charging you an uber fair."

"My house is right down the street from yours," I cried out. "I'm literally on your way to school."

"Don't hate the player," she shrugged. "Hate the game."

I rolled my eyes at her, knowing that she wasn't actually going to charge me. Or at least I hoped.

When we finally pulled up to the school, Daniel quickly hopped out, not even stopping to say goodbye first. I looked to Sam questioningly.

"He doesn't want to be seen with us," she told me. "He said something about his reputation." I rolled my eyes. Boys.

Grabbing our backpacks, me and Sam exited the car. I was somewhat nervous for the first day of school. We were starting junior year, and I was really nervous about my course load. I was talking all honors and AP classes, while still dancing every day. I cleared my head, trying not to get stressed already.

We walked into the school, the familiar smell of sweat and lemon cleaner hitting my nose. However, the school was much quieter than I thought it would be. Everyone in the hallway was talking in hushed whispers, as if they were telling a secret that they didn't want anyone else to hear.

I made eye contact with a girl before she looked away, whispering furiously to her friends once more. It wasn't until I looked around that I realized that multiple people's eyes were on me.

Wait a second, was I the one they were taking about?

I looked at Sam, confusion written on her face as well.

What in the world was going on?