"Charlotte", the boy said. Her name sounded strange in his familiar voice, like it wasn't hers anymore, but something more beautiful. She felt as if she was dreaming.

"What's going on?", Liam asked, confused by the almost frightened look on Charlotte's face.

"Jake and I have met at Evelyn's party", she said. She was unable to let go of his gaze. Memories from that night flooded back into her mind.

"He's the one you went to the gas station with?", Liam asked, clearly shocked.

The boy – Jake – looked surprised that Liam knew about that. Charlotte had told him a week after Evelyn's party, when he'd asked her why she hadn't said goodbye that night. She'd just told him she had been very drunk, which was the reason she'd made such a reckless choice - going somewhere with someone who could have been a rapist or a serial killer. She'd also claimed she regretted putting herself in such a dangerous situation, which was a lie. Liam had been shocked about the fact Charlotte went to an unknown place with some random guy, but he also realized he had not been the best boyfriend that night and shouldn't have let her go outside all alone, while he knew she was drunk. And he also admitted he was actually flirting with another girl inside, which was one of the reasons Charlotte went outside on her own in the first place – although she kept claiming that had nothing to do with it. She wasn't deeply in love with Liam, but she hated seeing him drooling over all the hot girls at the party.

"Yes, I was waiting for someone, but he didn't show up", Jake added and he looked at Liam, who tried to smile as if there was nothing bothering him.

"How do you know each other?", Charlotte asked in return.

Liam didn't answer right away. He looked at Jake like he expected him to save the situation, but Jake didn't say anything. After a silence that seemed to take forever, Liam said: "We met at a party, two years ago. After that, we went to some parties together. Jake also installed the security system in our house some months ago. I told you about that, right?"

Charlotte didn't understand why it took Liam so long to answer, because there was nothing special about it. "You did", she said. Her gaze went back to Jake, who nodded shortly as if he wanted to confirm the story. "What a coincidence", she said casually: "You can come join us in the lounge outside." She smiled.

"Sounds great", Jake answered, but there was a strange, amused intonation in his voice. Liam's face had a touch of panic, as if this hadn't been the plan at all. Why would Liam invite Jake if he didn't want him to stay, Charlotte wondered?

Charlotte had almost forgotten she had to go to the toilet, so she excused herself and went upstairs. When she walked back to the outdoor lounge, she saw Jake sitting on a chair in front of Chloe and Harper. Evelyn seemed to have forgotten all about Oliver and was talking to Jake with hungry eyes. She leaned over a little bit to show her interest. There was a strange feeling in Charlotte's chest as she watched Evelyn flirt with Jake, like someone was picking at her ribs with a stick, from the inside out. For some reason, she didn't like the thought of them together. Maybe she had thought Jake would have been her private memory? That would mean the strange feeling was actually jealousy.

"Charlotte!", Evelyn said enthusiastically: "I don't remember Jake at all! Funny, right?" She laughed out loud and Charlotte smiled, while she took place next to Chloe. Chloe seemed happy again, probably because of her make-out session with her ex-ex-boyfriend. Liam sat next to Oliver, but looked like he wanted to switch places with Chloe very badly.

While her friends started talking again, Charlotte felt her eyes were pulled towards the boy in front of her. Jake didn't seem to enjoy their company. He looked uncomfortable, but not in a shy way. He observed everyone with a glimpse of annoyance. He took another beer, but held the bottle in his hands without drinking. She noticed that the muscles of his neck were tense, as were his shoulders. He wasn't relaxed. She also wondered why he was wearing a T-shirt with long sleeves on such a hot day. Suddenly, he looked back at her and Charlotte quickly looked away. She saw him staring at her drink: diet coke in a cocktail glass. He wasn't drunk, so he noticed she wasn't drinking either. Ever since Evelyn's party, Charlotte stopped drinking when she felt her mind go blurry.

"We should play a game!", Evelyn yelled with the intonation of a five-year old. She always talked loudly when she was drunk. "A drinking game."

"Never have I ever?", suggested Harper. It sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Great idea, Harper! You always have the best ideas!", said Evelyn, with an emotional expression on her face as if Harper had just told them the most beautiful poem. If Oliver wouldn't have had his arms wrapped around her, she would have started hugging Harper. "Let's give everyone some shots."

"I don't want to drink right now", Charlotte admitted. She immediately got strange looks from everyone except Liam and Jake.

"You won't have to. You only have to drink if you've done stuff and you haven't done anything", Harper snapped.

"Harper!" Chloe pierced her elbow in Harper's side, who just rolled her eyes and started pouring alcohol in some shot-glasses. Charlotte felt a mixture of annoyance and shame. Now Jake also knew how incredibly boring she was.

"Never have I ever kissed someone of my own gender", Evelyn said and drank immediately after. Charlotte always thought people had to say things they didn't do themselves, but she probably misunderstood the game. Harper and Chloe also drank.

"Never have I ever had a one-night stand", said Liam. Evelyn, Harper, Jake and Oliver all drank. For some reason, Charlotte was happy Liam didn't drink. Evelyn refilled their shots and gave Jake a long stare when she gave him his. He didn't even seem to notice it.

"Never have I ever had sex", Harper said loudly and she looked straight into Charlotte's eyes with a mocking grin on her lips. Charlotte tried not to look offended. Harper, Evelyn, Oliver, Jake, Liam and Chloe drank. Charlotte felt her stomach turn around. She tried not to look at Jake and hoped he hadn't seen her not drinking. She didn't know why she felt so ashamed about it. Everyone besides him and Oliver knew about that, so why did she feel like it was such a big deal all of a sudden?

"Never have I ever had a threesome", said Chloe. Evelyn and Oliver drank. Evelyn really had done everything, Charlotte thought.

Everyone looked at Charlotte. She wanted to think about something she had actually done to show them she wasn't some prude, but she really couldn't think of anything. "Never have I ever done drugs other than weed", she said, trying to insinuate she actually had done weed in the past, which she hadn't. Oliver and Evelyn drank, followed by Liam and Jake. She hadn't expected that.

Jake waited until his shot-glass was refilled and stayed silent for a bit. "Never have I ever licked a toad, because I thought it would make me high", he said.

Everyone stared at him in confusion, but suddenly, Liam started to laugh out loud: "You weren't supposed to tell that." He drank. Everyone started laughing.

"And did it work?", Evelyn asked curiously.

"I was already high at the moment", Liam admitted: "So I wouldn't know."

"Never have I ever cheated. And with cheating, I mean kissing or having sex", Oliver said. Harper shrugged her shoulders and drank.

"That's one full round", Evelyn said with a smile. "Now the fun part!" She did something weird with her eyebrows in an attempt to look mysterious. "The one who drank the least, has to do one full round, so seven shots."

"No", said Charlotte angrily. "I'm not doing that. You know I can't handle that much alcohol."

"Or", Evelyn continued with a stern expression on her face: "You can also drink two shots and do a task."

"Which task?", asked Charlotte, suspiciously.

Evelyn hadn't thought about that yet, so she just looked around for ideas.

"You could strip", Oliver suggested. He immediately got two very dark looks: one from Evelyn and one from Liam. Jake also looked at him with a disapproving expression.

"You drink two shots and you...", Harper thought: "Kiss the new guy."

Charlotte rolled her eyes before she could be shocked: "You're such an idiot Harper. I have a boyfriend."

Harper pressed her lips together, trying not to lose her temper.

"I actually like that task", Evelyn said enthusiastically. "Five seconds. You need to kiss Jake for five seconds."

Charlotte stared at her with disbelieve. Were they all so drunk they didn't see how stupid that ..

"I don't mind", said Liam suddenly, interrupting her thoughts. Charlotte couldn't help but gasp.

"What do you mean, you don't mind? You want me to kiss someone else?" She stared at him, almost as offended as she was shocked.

"It's just a kiss and I'm here. It's not the same as cheating", he answered, but she could see he wasn't believing his own words. He was just acting cool and careless, like he always did when there were other people around. "It's better than stripping", he tried. She couldn't believe this.

"I'll drink seven shots and you can all call the hospital together when I'm unconscious", she said angrily.

"Just kiss Jake", Evelyn yelled, "You don't have to drink anything if you kiss him, I promise."

For the first time, Charlotte made eye contact with Jake. He didn't even seem impressed with the whole thing. He just sat there, not really reacting on anything. But he did look back at her in a way that revealed he wanted it to be her choice. He didn't protest, but he also didn't stand up to force his tongue down her throat. She couldn't handle his staring eyes, wondering what she would choose.

"Alright", she said hesitantly. "If you don't think it's a problem?"

Jake nodded almost unnoticeable and stood up. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She felt as if she'd forgotten how to kiss. Maybe she actually did need those two shots?