Lana found me about twenty minutes later, just as Valerie and I were wrapping up another game of Pong.

"Hey!" I said, shooting a Ping-Pong ball and missing our last cup spectacularly. "How was downstairs?" I raised my eyes suggestively.

Lana looked pleased with herself. "Really good. We talked for a while, but then I slipped away and mingled with some other people. Didn't want to be creepy." She looked at me pointedly.

Valerie launched a shot, sunk the last cup, and cried out in joy. Our opponents missed their redemption shots, and just like that, my second ever Pong game was over.

"I saw Taylor and Clarissa down there," Lana said. "They look cute together."

I rolled my eyes and took another sip of my drink. Vodka tastes absolutely awful. Yet somehow, as the night went on, my drink had started tasting better and better.

Lana's eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward and took a sniff of my drink. "You put vodka in here?"

"Yes," I said. "Not that much, though. I'm just on edge."

"Just to be clear," Lana said, "I'd like to point out that I am not responsible for your underage drinking tonight."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying that people like to blame me for their bad decisions. But humans have free will; their bad decisions are all on them."

"No worries. I take full responsibility for this." I took another swig and winced. My earlier thought that the drink was getting better had been pre-emptive; I think the vodka had just settled to the bottom of my cup, and now it was stronger than ever. And yet I didn't stop drinking it.

"What's wrong?" Lana asked. "You seem off."

"Sorry," I said. "I'm just... not fan of Clarissa. She seems kind of like a bitch."

"Ahhh. So that's the issue." Lana shrugged, "Or maybe—like I said earlier—you're just feeling lonely and are taking it out on Taylor's new friend?"

I grumbled under my breath and took another sip.

Lana's eyes flitted down to the kitchen table. Alex and some of the lacrosse guys were re-arranging the cups, setting up two long lines on either side of the table. "Looks like they're setting up for Flip Cup. Wanna join in the fun?" She leaned in to me, her lips nearly touching my ear, and said, "I bet there will be a lot of lacrosse guys playing."

A laugh bubbled out of my lips against my will. "Are you trying to set me up now?"

She shrugged. "It's the least I can do."

I shook my head. "You're wasting your time. I'm a hopeless case, remember?"

Lana shook her head. "Come on and play. Flip Cup is fun."

"How do you even know about all of these drinking games?"

"I've come down to Earth as a frat boy once or twice. They make the silliest deals." She winked at me. "Now come on."

I sighed, but joined her over by the table.

Not surprisingly, Lana was right: playing a game was a great way to distract myself from the Taylor drama. Over the next hour, my thoughts and worries mellowed out. They didn't disappear completely, but it was like someone had wrapped them up in a big fluffy blanket. Some of it was likely due to the addition in my Pepsi, although the games themselves definitely helped brighten my mood. Pong is fun, but only four people can play at once and the games can drag on. Flip Cup, on the other hand, is quick and fun and can accommodate a larger crowd. There were about twenty of us clustered around the table, urging on our classmates, downing drinks, and trying to flip cups in a race down the table.

As I played, I found my eyes drawn more and more to the guys around me. I admit, it was strange to see them in this new setting. Most of what I knew about them was what I silently observed in class—which wasn't much. Senior year wasn't exactly full of exciting subject material, and it's easy to find a zombie unattractive. But now, in the glare of the fluorescent kitchen lights, they all came alive, eyes bright as they played games, joking with me when I missed a cup, asking me about life between rounds. Maybe Lana's right, I thought, and I just have to give them a chance.

I looked across the table at Lana. While she initially seemed to be enjoying herself, she seemed to be getting more and more nervous the longer we played. It was like she was counting down every second she was apart from Billy, and she kept glancing towards the basement staircase, waiting from him to emerge from the depths.

When he finally did come up, he joined my side of the table, nestled down the line between Valerie and Christina. Lana's eyes jumped all over them. First they'd fall to Billy. Then, they'd guiltily slip away. Then they'd creep to Christina or Valerie, as if sizing up the competition. Other times, she'd turn to another guy, draw him into conversation with smiles and laughs, and then glance back at Billy to see if he was watching her. It honestly hurt my head following her line of sight all night.

Finally, at some point Alex clapped his hands together and announced, "Enough with the games! Let's go downstairs and get this party started!"

And with that cry, the great migration down to the basement commenced.

The party downstairs had grown since I had been down there before. The dance floor was now packed with gyrating bodies, drinking and laughing and sparkling in the strobe lights.

Lana grabbed my hand as soon as our feet touched the concrete floor. "Where did Billy go?"

I scanned the room. However, instead of spying Billy, my eyes fell on Taylor and Clarissa. They were dancing in a corner, fast and fun to whatever upbeat song was playing. Clarissa's red hair looked purple in the lighting.

"There he is," Lana said, re-directing my gaze. Billy was on the opposite side of the room, laughing with Alex and moving his shoulders a bit to the beat.

"How do I talk to him now?" Lana asked miserably. "He's talking to Alex."

I grabbed her arm. "We just walk on over."

Lana looked aghast. "You're just saying this because you're drunk."

"I am not drunk!" I said, although I could feel the liquid courage swirling in my veins, making me a little bit bolder. "Come on!"

When Lana didn't budge, I just started walking across the room. She hissed at me to stop, but once she realized I wasn't going to listen to her, she scurried up beside me so as not to be left behind.

"Hey guys," I said, moving my body to the music once we drew nearer. I turned my gaze to Alex, locking my gaze with his dark brown eyes. "Great party."

"Thanks. I'm glad you came, Jessa," he said. He paused, looking thoughtful. "Have you ever come to one of my parties before?"

"Nope. This is my first one." I smiled. "And I'm glad I'm here."

I was very conscious of the fact that Lana wasn't saying anything, which was quite annoying as I thought I was doing a good job of distracting Alex. Come on, I thought. Say something!

Luckily, it was as if God—or perhaps some other being that hadn't banished Lana to the Underworld for an eternity—heard my plea; the next song started, and it was Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy.

Lana's eyes widened and she looked at Billy. "You added it to the playlist?"

Billy grinned his beautiful, sheepish grin. "You made some good points earlier. And I figured people would like the throwback."

I couldn't believe my luck, and I wasn't going to let this opportunity for Lana and Billy to have some quality alone time go to waste.

"Let's dance!" I said, grabbing Alex's arm and pulling him away from my lovebirds. He didn't resist, and soon as we found our own place to dance.

For a few songs, I just let loose, moving to the music and enjoying the way the lights swathed my skin. Alex wasn't half bad at dancing, and I liked watching his face light up and he grooved alongside me. I hadn't really noticed this before—perhaps the vodka was making everything a little clearer—but Alex was actually quite attractive. He had warm brown eyes, slightly darker than his brown skin. And his arms were well defined from a lifetime of playing sports. There was definitely a part of me that wanted to reach out and stroke his arm. Thankfully, I wasn't that drunk, although part of me wished I had the courage to do that.

"Jessa!" came a slurred voice, and then hands wrapped me in a hug from behind. I turned around and saw, of all people, Valerie. The girl had appeared out of nowhere. "I'm sooo happy you came out tonight." She shimmied against me. "You never come out! And I had so much fun playing Pong with you!"

I laughed. "I figured tonight was a good time to start."

Valerie reached out, and I watched her hand trace Alex's tricep. "Everyone is here tonight!" she said, looking at him through her false lashes. "How did you manage to do that?"

Alex laughed. "Not sure, really."

Valerie's eyes swept across the room lazily. "Like, everyone is here. Chad and Eleanor, Lana, Billy, Sharonda, Taylor and that rando girl and..." Suddenly Valerie narrowed her eyes. "Peter Thatcher?"

"Wait, what?" I said, wheeling my head around and thinking that Valerie must be hallucinating. However, she was right. Hesitating in the darkness by the stairs was Peter. He had somehow found the one place in the basement not swathed in party lights; I was surprised Valerie had even spotted him.

"What's he doing here?" Valerie said, her voice edging into a nasty tone. "Does he even talk to anyone here?"

"I can't believe he left his house," Alex said in disbelief.

"He's so weird," Valerie slurred, finishing off her drink in one fell swoop.

I gave her a look. "He's actually really nice," I said.

Valerie rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, I was annoyed. "I'm going to say hi to him," I said. I looked at Alex as I took a few steps away, hoping he'd follow me. But Valerie had already reached her hands up his chest and was guiding him away, dragging his gaze away from me and towards her.

I shook my head and turned away. Typical, I thought.

I walked over to the stairs, where Peter was looking at the crowd nervously. "Hey Peter."

He jumped at my voice. "J-Jessa," he stammered, his hands gripping the bottom of the stair railing. "I didn't know... you were going to be here."

"I wasn't expecting you either. I thought you didn't like parties?"

He rubbed his hand on his thighs. "Well... I actually have been thinking about what you said the other day. About asking... you-know-who to the dance."

My eyes widened. "Wait—you're going to ask her?"

Peter shook his head furiously. "No, no I can't. At least, I can't right now. But I figured maybe I could... try to work up the courage to go to a party. And I knew she wouldn't be here tonight, so I thought it'd be... safer."

"How'd you know she wouldn't be here?"

"She spends her Saturday evenings at school, working on school paper stuff."

"Ah," I said. I guess Lana wasn't the only one who memorized people's schedules.

I looked at him and his death grip on the railing. "Are you having a good time?"

He shrugged. "I don't know... I haven't really done much except stand here." He looked up at me. "You?"

I shrugged, gazing out at the dance floor and all the people. "I don't know. It's been up and down." I looked back at Peter. "Do you wanna dance?"

Peter's skin blanched. "I've never danced before—don't know how. And it's so... bright and... crowded out there."

"We can just dance here," I said. "Away from everyone else, in the dark."

"Um, shouldn't you be out there with... I don't know, Lana or Taylor or someone else? I don't want to take you away from your friends..."

I batted his concern away with a wave of my hand. "They're both occupied. And honestly, right now I'd rather hang here with you."

Peter blinked. "Um... okay. Thanks. I'll... give it a try."

And that's what we did. We danced in the dark, out of sight, out of mind, out of time. Everyone else faded away, until it was just me, Peter, the beat of the music, and a little bit of vodka pulsing through my veins.