Phoenix: The Rising by Bette Maybee Read Free Book Online

much for parties, you know.” Julie could have belted her, not for the comment about parties because it was totally true, but for calling her “our little Julie”. Instead, she bit her tongue and forced a smile.
    “Charsey Winters. You’re looking delicious, as usual.”
    Julie saw Kas’s eyes drift down to Charsey’s cleavage, which was billowing over her tube top. Charsey’s hand snaked up to Kas’s face. She pulled him to her and gave him a full-on kiss, pressing her chest up against his. Julie could swear she saw an exchange of tongues before Kas pulled away from her. Julie cleared her throat and looked up at Kas.
    “Kas, could you get me a beer?”
    Kas tore his eyes from Charsey’s cleavage.
    “Sure, babe. Be right back.”
    Julie had no intention of drinking. She just wanted to get Kas away from her for a few minutes so she could talk to Charsey.
    “Where’s Eli? I figured you’d be here with him.”
    Charsey’s eyes flashed. “Well, you figured wrong. I decided Eli isn’t my type.” Her eyes trailed over to Kas. “Now Kas, on the other hand...” Julie couldn’t care less if Charsey was interested in Kas. As a matter of fact, she would gladly turn him over to her. But right now, she wanted to know what was going on with her ditzy friend. She grabbed Charsey by the arm and dragged her down the hallway. Finding an empty bathroom, she pulled her in and locked the door behind her.
    “Are you drunk, Charse?”
    Charsey pulled out a tube of strawberry lip-gloss from her pocket, turned to the mirror and applied a double layer, smacking her lips together in approval.
    “No.” She put the tube back in her pocket, then leaned forward and kissed the mirror, leaving a perfect imprint of her lips. “I’m not drunk, sweetie. I am in total control.”
    “Then why are you acting like this?  Like a—”
    Charsey finished her sentence, “Ditz-extraordinaire?”
    She turned back towards Julie and cocked her head. “That is what you think of me, isn’t it, Julie?”
    Julie lowered her eyes, ashamed that Charsey knew exactly what she thought of her.
    “Ummm ... well, yes, sometimes.” 
    She looked back up to see Charsey smiling.
    “I’m a pretty good actress, aren’t I?” Charsey lifted an eyebrow. “Boys love the ditz, Julie. Well, most of them, anyways. Plus, it keeps me out of your precious AP classes. Those kindergarten courses I qualified for are a breeze, and that’s how I like it.”  She unlocked the door and pulled on it. “You know what they say, Jules, ‘all work and no play makes Charse a dull girl’. A paraphrase of a very old proverb.”
    Charsey hesitated, closed the door again, and walked back to a now baffled Julie.
    “I like the second part of the proverb better, ‘all play and no work makes Charse a mere toy’.” She leaned in and whispered directly into Julie’s ear, “I like being a toy, Jules. I like it very much.” 
    Julie swallowed and stood frozen to her spot as Charsey breezed out the door, humming.
    Who the hell was that?
    ****
    Kas turned around just as Julie came back into the room. The scowl on his face made it pretty obvious that he had been looking for her. “Where’ve you been?”
    “Umm ... sorry, I just needed to use the bathroom.” That seemed to appease him, and his scowl softened just a bit. “Did you happen to see where Charsey went?”
    Kas, being at least a head taller than most of the kids at the party, scanned the room. He motioned with his head to the top of the stairs. Julie turned just in time to see Remy disappear around the corner of the upstairs hallway with a giggling Charsey flung over his shoulder.
    “Looks like she and Remy are gonna have a good time tonight. Lucky bastard.”
    Julie swallowed in disgust.
    “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, Chica.” Kas handed Julie one of the three beers he carried. He downed one of the remaining ones, crumpled the cup and threw it over his shoulder. “Drink up.” He tapped his cup