“Thanks, but no, thanks,” I said, even though I was so tempted to take him up on the drink. Harley was majorly cute and all, but what was the point? I wasn’t about to let temptation lead me astray, not tonight when I needed to keep my head clear so I could study and get a good score on my GRE.

“Really? That’s too bad,” Harley said.

He really seemed disappointed, and that was surprising. Surely he’d seen Dental Floss Girl or any of the other super attractive costumed folks here tonight. Was he really that interested in hanging out with me? A girl in a struggle cat costume?

Even if he was, it didn’t matter. I didn’t have time to hang out and certainly didn’t want to end up with a hangover in the morning.

“Yeah, it’s just that I should be going. Got things to do tonight,” I said, deciding to double down on being responsible.

Harley shrugged. “Bummer, but okay. Guess I’ll see you around.”

He headed off, and I watched him go, admiring the view from behind while kicking myself for turning him down. It wasn’t every day that I got hit on by a hot werewolf.

I quickly pushed Harley out of my mind and threaded my way through the crowded room, heading for the door.

I was most likely the only person in this apartment even thinking of leaving right now. From the looks of it, things were just starting to heat up. People were making out in dark corners and on the couches, against the walls, dancing like maniacs, laughing, having a good time.

Maybe I was missing out.

It all seemed a little childish…but it was like Harley said, what was so wrong with that? It was fun to let go sometimes.

I paused and looked around, quickly coming to the conclusion that Harley’s costume was better than literally everyone else’s. He actually looked like a werewolf—so much so that I’d literally screamed in fear when I saw him standing there outside the bathroom.

I started walking again and had almost reached the door when someone grabbed my arm. It was Simone.

“Aliyah, where are you going? Don’t tell me you spent half the night in the bathroom and now you’re slipping out without saying goodbye?”

I winced. “I’m sorry, but I need to get home. If I want to pass the GRE, I need to study—”

“I’m not letting you use that excuse this time, Aliyah! It’s one night out of the year! Live a little. You have your entire life to study!”

I said nothing because I was trying to come up with another excuse—one that might actually move Simone to let me go peacefully—but I was coming up short. Lately, I’d been using every excuse in the book to get out of hanging out with Simone, and she was obviously not going to take no for an answer tonight.

She reached up and adjusted my mediocre cat ears that obviously made me look like a sexy otter.

“Come on, Aliyah. You look so cute tonight. Have some fun, let your guard down, have some of my punch.” She pulled me over to a crystal bowl brimming with bright green liquid. “I call it toxic sludge!”

She poured me a cup, and I sniffed it and immediately wished I hadn’t. The name was spot-on since it smelled so strongly that it could truly be radioactive. If I even took a sip of the stuff, I would be down for the count for the next week.

“Anyway, what have you got to lose, Aliyah? Do I have to remind my bestie that all work and no play makes you boring AF?”

“No, you say it so much already that I have bad dreams about it.”

“That just means it’s true!”

“What? That’s not what that means, Simone.”

“Whatever, just…be a cat tonight, okay? Make that hot wolfy guy I saw hitting on you your prey. I promise you won’t regret it.”

I glanced at the door and then back at the party. Everyone was having such a good time, and who was I to judge the ways that people liked to have fun? If dressing up like aliens and dental supplies and werewolves and bear-dogs made people happy, well then, maybe I was the one missing something.

“Maybe you’re right, Simone.”

“I know I’m right! Now cut loose and have some fun!” Simone went prancing off, her disco ball costume sparkling as she started dancing with a group of guys dressed as the Village People.

It was time for me to loosen up a little and have some fun. When was the last time I’d enjoyed a fun, no-strings-attached, one-night hookup? I couldn’t even remember…and that meant it had been far too long.

I looked around, suddenly feeling like the night was full of possibilities.

Where was Harley?