Everything I Shouldn't / Everything I Need by Stacey Mosteller Page A

as his body thrusts into hers. There's a part of me that is extremely jealous that he isn't whispering in my ear while holding me hostage beneath him.
    Logically I know Jeremy has a girlfriend, and that he isn't celibate, but in my heart, I fully believe he cares about me in a way that has nothing to do with me being his friend's sister. Seeing him in bed with Melanie is enough to break me and I'm unable to choke back my sob. As soon as they hear the sound, Jeremy and Melanie freeze before they see me standing just inside the room. She immediately turns away from me but not before I see the mortified expression on her face. Jeremy's eyes are wide and full of horror, then remorse. Unable to look at them any longer, I turned and run, the only thought I'm able to concentrate on is getting away before they catch me.
    After sending a quick text to Livvie begging her to come get me, I go to my room. It takes only a few minutes to wipe the tears from my face and then I'm sneaking down the back steps to avoid running into them. I know it's only a matter of time before Jeremy comes looking for me and I want to be long gone by then. As I creep quietly towards the back door, I can hear them having a quiet discussion down the hall.
    "Where are you going?" Mel hisses, she's definitely upset.
    Jeremy sighs, "I have to go check on her. I need to know that she's okay." I imagine him running his hand through his hair, he always does that when he's stressed out or upset.
    "Are you kidding me? I'm sure she's fine. She's nineteen Jeremy, not ten." Melanie's voice is rising, but I don't want to listen to anymore. I needed to get the image of him on top of her out of my head.
    Shutting the French doors as quietly as I can, I head around the house and down the circular driveway as I send another text to Olivia, telling her I will meet her at the edge of the driveway. She doesn't live far away, so I'm hoping she'll be there by the time I get to the road.
    When she pulls up, she isn't alone. Emmett's driving, so I slide into the back seat and once Emmett pulls away, Livvie turns to look at me. "You look like shit. We were only gone for like five minutes. What the hell happened?"
    "I really don't want to talk about it Liv. I just want to get out of the house for the night, okay?" If I tell her what I just saw, Olivia will do one of three things; she'll insist on going back to the house and confronting Jeremy, she'll pity me, or she'll remind me that I'm never going to have him the way I want him and then set me up with yet another of Emmett's friends. I've been down this road too many times to count already.
    She studies me until I want to squirm under her scrutiny before finally, she says, "Well, we're going to a party. We can go, have fun, get wasted and forget about whatever it is that's bothering you. Sound good?"
    That sounds like exactly what I need to do. I've never been drunk before, but maybe that will erase the images that are torturing me tonight. I nod, and Liv's face lights up. Twisting back around in her seat, she claps her hands and lets out a whoop. "Girrrrl, we are going to get you so drunk tonight. Maybe you'll even find a guy to take your mind off Jeremy!" Just the mention of his name makes me want to break down and sob. By the time we pull up the frat house, I'm resolved to getting drunk and forgetting everything that happened today.

    We've been at this party for a little over two hours and I'm sure how many drinks I've consumed. As soon as we arrived, Livvie grabbed my arm, led me straight into the kitchen and requested something fruity tasting the name of which I don't remember. It tastes like Kool-Aid, but based on how fuzzy my head is, it must be straight alcohol.
    After setting me up with my new buddy alcohol, she introduces me to a guy on Emmett's football team named Clay, the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. I know she means well, but I'm just not into him. She's always setting me up with some random guy and to be honest,