The first week of school passed in a blur of syllabuses and textbooks and sleep deprivation. By the end, all the students were sick of it as they reminisced about the summer that they'd let slip by. By Friday, everyone was ready to party.

Addy, Jason, Lucas, and I all sat in my room, predrinking from my parents' (mostly my mom's) alcohol collection. My parents had gone to dinner, so we were home alone and getting ready. I had already picked out my outfit and done my makeup, but Addy still hadn't even decided on what she was wearing. She'd been going through my closet for the past hour, trying on outfit after outfit, all that she ultimately disapproved of for a miniscule reason.

"Addy, can you hurry up?" Lucas asked. "Why is it taking you so long?"

"Girls take a longer time to get ready than guys," Addy snapped at him. "If you want me to hurry up then change societal standards of what's expected from each gender."

"Well, Leila got ready in ten minutes and she's a girl," he said.

"I'm sorry I don't look like Leila. I can't just throw something on and put a coat of mascara and look perfect."

"I don't look perfect," I said. Addy constantly compared our appearances. I knew that I was pretty, but so was Addy. Still, I felt she always made it into some sort of competition.

"Say that again when every guy there hits on you as usual," she said. "Besides, I'm only putting this effort in for Brad Gowoski. It's cuffing season."

"You're going for Brad?" Jason asked. "Why? He's an ass."

"Well, he went for me," Addy said. "But I'm just trying to solidify it."

"I don't recommend that at all. He's a piece of shit."

"So is every guy in the entire world. At least he's a hot piece of shit."

"Addy," Jason said in warning.

"Jason," she responded in the same tone.

They stared at each other for a long time, almost as if they were communicating through their eyes. I felt oddly left out and Lucas and I looked at each other in confusion.

Finally, Lucas spoke up. "I agree with Jason. Brad is a dick."

"I didn't ask either of you. I can make my own decisions on who to go for, thank you very much."

The two boys fell silent, but seemed annoyed doing so. I wondered what Brad had done that had earned their disapproval. As far as I knew, he had a pretty clean slate.

"That dress would look amazing on you, Addy," I said after an awkward minute of silence. She held up the short black dress in her hands and examined it.

"Yeah, I like it," she said, nodding her head. She went inside the closet and put it on, then came back out for opinions.

"I think it's too revealing," Lucas said.

"Who cares?" Jason said. "Addy, you look fucking hot. Holy shit."

She smiled at his compliment. "Thanks, J."

"Yeah," I added. "Brad is going to lose his mind."

"Perfect. Now Lei, can you help me do my makeup?"

I got to work, doing the same look I always did for her. The glittery eye shadow I applied always looked amazing on her, accentuating her large, doll-like eyes and playing off her skin tone. Addy was beautiful in every sense of the word, in a way I would never be. I had always wondered why she couldn't see it, but Addy had been idolizing my looks since we were children.

When we were finally done, we put on our shoes and headed on our small trek to Brad's house. He lived a couple blocks away from my house, a mere five minute walk. It was starting to get chilly as it got darker, but the alcohol in my system kept me warm on the way. I wasn't nearly drunk enough, but my tipsiness was evident in my slightly staggered walking.

After I'd tripped over myself a few times, Lucas came over and put his arm around my waist, holding me up and steadying me. "How are you already this drunk? You had three glasses of wine."

"You know I'm a lightweight!" It was another unfortunate gene I'd gotten from my mother.

Lucas sighed. "You can say that again."

"You know I'm a lightweight," I repeated at his request.

He let out a chuckle and tightened his grip around me. If there was one way to represent Lucas and my relationship, it was this moment with him holding me up, steadying me. Lucas had been my rock for as long as I could remember.

Jason and Addy walked ahead of us, talking quietly to each other. We arrived soon after and the party was already in full swing. There were already red solo cups and beer cans strewn across the impressive front yard, cars parked all the way down the street, and drunk teenagers puking in the fountain outside. Just looking at the scene in front of me made me wrinkle my nose. It was so trashy.

We pushed our way to the front door which was left wide open for the partygoers. The large mansion was already too crowded with people and immediately I felt claustrophobic. I clutched on to Lucas's arm tighter, wanting to get out of the crowd and into a more secluded area. Brad always kept the top floor of his house as a "VIP section", and I already knew I wouldn't be venturing out of there for the majority of the party. I would much rather enjoy the lounge-like atmosphere than the alcohol-fueled love fest here.

Once we had climbed the grand staircase all the way to the top, we found there was an actual bouncer with a list standing outside the door to where Brad was. I had to roll my eyes at that. This was a highschool house party, not the Pentagon.

We gave him our names and he let us in. The moment we were inside, I saw Brad jump up from where he was sitting with his friends. His eyes travelled over Addy appreciatively before turning to me. The look he gave me was one I knew all too well, a look that told me that Addy wasn't the only girl he would hook up with tonight if he had the chance. Usually I would've shaken it off and let it slide, but the way his gaze lingered scared me.

"Hey Addy," he said, giving her a side hug, and then gave me one as well. "Hey Leila."

I quickly shook his arm off my shoulder and walked further into the large room, finding a large empty couch and plopping myself down on it. Addy lingered by Brad as he said his greetings to Lucas and Jason. They did their weird soccer team handshake and then followed me to the couch. I stared at Lucas as he walked over, begging him with my eyes to come sit next to me. He obliged, and I felt myself let out a breath when I felt his arm drape over my shoulders, like my own personal safety net.

The rest of the night consisted of me holding Lucas tightly to me on our one spot on the couch. Every time he tried to get up, I pulled him back down. At first he didn't object, but after a couple more times he grew annoyed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said. "I just don't want anyone to come talk to me. I just want to sit here with you."

He smiled at my words and I immediately felt bad. I genuinely did want to sit with him, but sometimes I felt that by saying it I was leading him on. "Okay," he said. "I just want to sit here with you, too."

And so we sat for the majority of the party. Jason and Addy disappeared to do god knows what, but Lucas and I didn't move from our spot. It was more than enough for me, and I knew I had a better time talking to him here than doing the usual party activites.

Not much long later, Melissa came and joined Lucas and I. She sat on the other side of Lucas, all smiles and soft touches and batted eyelashe extensions. Although she said hi to me in the beginning, it was clear she was only here to talk to Lucas. I sat awkwardly as they talked, contemplating whether or not I should get up and give them some privacy. I mean, that would be the nice, polite thing to do. But I didn't want to do it.

My decision was made for me when Lucas took his arm from around my shoulder. It wasn't an explicit gesture, just him moving around, but for some reason it signalled to me that he wanted me to leave the two of them alone.

When I stood up, Lucas looked up at me. "Where are you going, Leila?"

"I'm just heading to the washroom," I said. "I'll be right back."

I walked away, not really planning to go to the bathroom. I ended up on some balcony overlooking their sprawling grounds. The Gowoskis even had a regulation sized soccer field put in just for Brad to practice.

Think of the devil and he shall appear. A moment later, I heard the door slide open. Turning around, I saw that it was Brad in all his tall, muscled glory. If I was being honest, I didn't find him that good looking. He was average to me, just any other quintissential student athlete. I'd never understood the hype.

"Leila?" he asked. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was just getting some fresh air," I said. "Sorry, I'll get out of you're way."

"No, stay," he said. "I'm bored, I want someone who's not shitfaced to talk to."

"Where's Addy?" I asked.

"Shitfaced."

"Ah," I said. Classic Addy, always drinking in excess.

"Honestly, I've been wanting to talk to you all night, but you've been glued to Lucas," he said. "But now I see Lucas is chatting up Mel, so I can finally get my chance with you."

"Wow, the great Brad Gowoski wanted to talk to me?" I said sarcastically. "What an honor!"

He let out a laugh. "Sassy, I like it."

"Look, Brad. I know you're a nice guy, but I'm going back inside."

"Why?"

"Because I thought you were going for Addy, and I'm not about to get in the middle of that."

"There's nothing between me and Addy," he said.

I shrugged. "I don't care. She's my best friend, and I'm not going to do anything that's even remotely risky."

"Leila, there's nothing risky. Nothing happened with me and Addy, seriously."

"Haven't you been hitting her up all summer?"

"We've been talking all summer, but that doesn't have to mean anything."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Ah, I love me a good old-fashioned fuckboy. Sorry Brad, I'm going inside."

"Okay, Leila, wait. I won't hit on you, I swear. Just stay here, I'm seriously bored of this stupid party."

"Um, no," I said. "Lucas is probably wondering where I am."

"Trust me, Leila," Brad laughed. "The last thing Lucas is doing right now is thinking about you."

I sighed. "You're probably right, I guess."

"It's good to see him with girls, though. He can't spend his whole life pining after you, can he?"

"He's not pining after me," I said defensively. "We're just friends."

"And you think that's what he wants?"

"What he wants doesn't change what we are."

Brad pondered over that. "So that means you're single and ready to mingle?"

"Not with you."

"Ouch," he chuckled. "If I knew that talking to Addy for a few months would've flushed away any chances with you, I never would've done it."

"That's a rude thing to say," I said. "Addy's my best friend, you're lucky she even gave you the time of day."

"I know I am," he said. "Addy's great, she's funny, she's super hot, she's down for anything. But you're hotter."

Two things in his words pissed me off. The first was that he compared Addy and I, because that was just stupid and messed up. The second was that the only compliment he had about me were my looks. Of course that's all he had to say, that's all everyone had to say.

"You know, Brad, if there was any chance of you getting in my pants at all, you just flushed it all down the drain. That was such a shitty thing to say."

I went to walk out of the balcony, but he stood in my way. "Wait, I'm sorry if that was mean. I meant it as a compliment."

"Don't you ever say anything about Addy ever again," I said, sticking my finger into his chest for emphasis. "She's way out of you're league." And with that, I brushed past him and back into the house.

"Have fun giving Lucas blue balls for the rest of his life!" he yelled after me, but I ignored it. Jason and Lucas were right, Brad was an ass. How dare he hit on my best friend, then have the audacity to hit on me?

The question now was how would I tell Addy about this?

- - -

So guys, thoughts on the story so far?! Favorite characters, least favorite characters, favorite scenes, what you want to see more of, what you want to see less of, tell me everything!! Hope you're all enjoying it so far!