Читать книгу The Teacher: A shocking and compelling new crime thriller – NOT for the faint-hearted! - Katerina Diamond, Katerina Diamond - Страница 12

The Host

Then

The door was already open when their cab pulled up to the house. A girl Abbey recognised was puking in the shrubbery of the house next door and she could see a couple of other people from her course fumbling with each other in the side alley, so undignified. Abbey imagined herself and Christian locked in the same embrace and suddenly it took on a whole new appeal.

She could feel the pit of her stomach humming with excitement as they walked in. The vibrations of the music thumped through her lower body and added to the rising anticipation. She scanned every corner of every room as they walked through. Everyone greeting Dani as they went by and she got sucked into conversation with some other girls, and Abbey continued through alone. For the first time she noticed eyes on her, not mocking or derisive but hungry and lustful. So this is what it feels like. It wasn’t long before a drink was planted in Abbey’s hand. She drank it with the confidence of someone who could handle alcohol far better than she could. Tonight was not the night to be Abbey, where was the fun in that? Tonight she was going to be better. Stop holding yourself back and enjoy it! She had always been well aware that her self-esteem issues were of her own creation. Being raised by a single father, she was never quite sure of the social etiquettes a girl should adhere to, just mostly guessing and copying had got her through this far.

She walked out into the garden to the sound of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’, fairy lights hung from the trees and willow fences, twinkling, magical. Her butterflies were worse than ever and as a small crowd parted she caught sight of Christian. She felt like she was in a movie. She took a deep breath and made her way towards him, praying he would see her before he saw Danielle. Jamie actually saw her first and whispered something to Christian who turned around. She could feel his eyes moving up and down her body as she pretended not to have seen them yet.

‘Glad you could make it’ He smiled as she approached and she saw something she hadn’t ever seen before, excitement, lust. He had finally noticed her as a woman, she felt his gaze lingering on her breasts as she smiled at Jamie who seemed to be smiling back. It occurred to Abbey that she had never seen Jamie smile before and she was glad for that fact because it wasn’t a comfortable smile, it was awkward and forced. She shook off the creepy feeling he gave her and turned her attention back to Christian, who was still trying to look like he wasn’t checking her out. He was waiting for her to turn her back to him, she could feel it, he must have seen Dani in this dress before so he knew what to expect. Who knew a plunging backline could cause as much trouble as a low-cut top? She wickedly bit her lip as she walked to the punch bowl, feeling his eyes on her for the duration, her skin prickled and tingled at the idea of what he might be thinking about her right now. She thought about his lips on the small of her back and blushed to herself as she quickly necked another drink.

Four glasses of punch later and she was laughing freely. Why had she hidden in the background for all those years? The attention she was getting felt deserved. Tonight she was pretty. She could almost smell the hunger on the boys who were chatting to her, flattery in spades. Tonight everyone wanted what she had. Before long she was sitting on the sofa huddled between three boys from the cricket team, downing shots of tequila, she didn’t much care for it but she was enjoying the party too much to suddenly be the sensible one again. Dani sat across from her, clearly happy with the reception her protégée was receiving.

‘Come on, Abs, let’s do it another way,’ Dani called as she saw Abbey screw her face up at the offer of another tequila. The boys watched eagerly as Dani swept her hair to one side exposing her neck, she licked the palm of her hand and dragged it down leaving it glistening wet, and then she poured the salt on to herself. She was poised as though she were ready to be taken by a vampire. Abbey leaned over the table, only slightly concerned that her dress was far too short for this position and glad that she hadn’t taken Dani’s advice of wearing a thong. With one knee on the coffee table Abbey pressed her tongue against Dani’s neck sweeping the salt away slowly. Dani poured the tequila straight into Abbey’s mouth then grinned at her, exposing a lemon between her teeth, Abbey could feel the camera phones pointed at her as she placed her lips around the lemon in Dani’s mouth, she sucked the juice and they continued to kiss over the table for the titillation of the hormonal boys. As Abbey pulled away she saw Christian watching them and suddenly felt a huge wave of betrayal, like she had somehow been unfaithful to him, even though he had Dani. Maybe she was mistaking his look, maybe it was intended for Dani but no, it was for her. The whoops and cheers only added to the cloud in her mind as the tequila mixed with the punch in her stomach. She had to get out of the room, away from all the noise.

Abbey staggered up the stairs, clinging to the railings and dragging her increasingly heavy legs to the bathroom, not entirely sure she would make it. She stumbled through the door and fell at the feet of the toilet, firmly gripping the basin as the contents of her stomach erupted from her mouth. Tequila tasted just as unpleasant on the way out as it did going in, only without the benefit of a citrus chaser it burned her throat. She felt a hand brushing the back of her neck as someone pulled her hair out of the firing line.

‘It’s OK. I’ve got you.’ She was too queasy to be surprised to hear Christian’s voice, but was grateful for the intervention. Well aware that this was probably the end of any future between them, she figured he was more concerned for his bathroom than he was about her. He helped her to her feet and passed her a towel.

‘Thanks,’ she barely managed to mutter through her embarrassment.

‘Hey, it happens! Here, you can use my toothbrush if you want, I have another one anyway.’

There’s something strangely intimate about letting someone watch you brush your teeth. She couldn’t help feeling vulnerable and exposed, like this meant something. Abbey had never been good at reading signals but this felt so definite, the way he watched her, it wasn’t the concerned look of a friend, it was something else, something far more significant.

Abbey lay down on Christian’s bed, he had pointed her in the direction of his bedroom while he fetched her some water and paracetamol to relieve her throbbing head. He had no posters and a sparse minimalistic room, there was very little to indicate that anyone other than a methodical and organised person lived here. Abbey was surprised at the lack of personality the room displayed, she didn’t know what she had imagined but it wasn’t this impersonal and cold space. She must have dozed off. She awoke to find Christian sitting on the side of the bed holding a glass of water and pills, and she sat up and drank thirstily, washing down the tablets.

‘Feel better?’ Christian brushed the hair out of her eyes and smiled warmly at her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

‘Sorry, I don’t usually drink tequila.’

‘It’s good to see you let go … and you look amazing tonight.’ His hand trailed down her back, fingers barely touching her skin. ‘You’re actually quite pretty.’ He leaned forward and kissed her, mouth slightly parted, just enough for her to feel his hot, wet breath against her lips. What about Dani? she thought as she kissed him back. Was she still asleep? Was this a dream? Was he really kissing her? She held her eyes closed tight for fear that if she opened them his mistake would be realised and he would pull away, disgusted.

His hand was on her knee now, her instinct was to clamp her legs shut so that it could go no further but something inside her stopped that gut reaction, and as his hand travelled up past her thighs she just allowed it, despite every fibre of her being telling her to stop him. Dani would get over it, wouldn’t she? Would she hate her? Blame her? Would she even find out?