The words echo in my mind. I stare at my feet. "Basically I'm trespassing, I should really go and-"

He laughs. " You just delivered stuff, we talked, I like you and I asked you to stay. I won't call the police."

"Really?" My eyes move to his face.

"Yeah, really. I think you will like my friends. They're just a bunch of weirdos, but they're treating me like a normal person. I'm sick of all the butt kissers and the girls who start to hyperventilate as soon as they see me. You didn't freak out this afternoon. I like that."

I wiggle on my heels again.

"And I've never seen someone who looked so lovely and uncomfortable at the same time."

Was that a compliment? "Thank you, I guess."

"Does that mean you're staying?"

I scratch my head. Actually, he is a nice guy. "Okay."

A broad smile appears on his face. "Awesome!" He walks to a giant fridge. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Can I have some water?"

"Sure." He hands me a glass of ice-cold water. "Can I ask you something?"

"Depends on the subject, but fire away." I take a sip from my glass.

"This afternoon your friend said you are a medical student."

"Yep, that's right."

"For my next role, I really need some medical advice. Maybe you can help me?"

I raise my eyebrow. Doesn't the movie company hire experts to help actors out? "I'm not a doc-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you're not a doctor yet, but you're the only person I know who has some solid medical knowledge. I just need your professional opinion about some stuff."

"Yeah, sure, but I'm a bit busy until Wednesday. We could arrange something after that."

"Cool!" He walks towards the door. "Let's go to the living room. My friends will be here any minute."

I follow him, but just before I set foot in the hallway, I realize something. "Megan!" I say. "I completely forgot about her. She's still waiting outside."

He grins. "Let her suffer for a while. Serves her right, trying to sneak in. Just let her sweat for an hour or so."

He laughs when he sees my upset face. "Don't worry, she's welcome. This whole plan is something my friends would have come up with."

I follow Dan as he walks through the house. The hallway goes on and on. I'm afraid I will get lost and they have to send out a search party to find me again. Then he finally opens a door. The room behind it is huge. His footsteps echo through the room. He waves at several elegant couches and chairs "Make yourself comfortable. I'll have to do something. I will be right back."

I walk around for a bit before I sit down on a random couch. Something bumps against my shin. A beautiful black tabby cat is staring haughtily at me. I scratch his head. He jumps next to me on the couch and lies as close to my legs as possible. A low purring fills the room. I love cats and his presence reassures me somehow.

I don't know how long I sit there, the cat is a nice distraction. When Dan finally comes back, the blond girl is with him. She looks familiar, but I can't remember where I have seen her before.

"Hey, delivery girl," she says. "Look at you! You already made friends with Mr. Fluffykins." The cat yawns and jumps elegantly off the couch.

Mr. Fluffykins? Poor cat. "I'm Elise. Nice to meet you," I say.

"I'm Kate." She pokes Dan. "When is Alex coming?"

Dan shrugs. "He should be here any minute, just like the rest of them."

"I'm going to wait outside for him."

Dan laughs. "If you see a girl hanging around, can you send her inside?"

Kate frowns. "Why would there be a girl outside? Did one of your crazy fans get past the guards?"

He smiles. "Nope, long story. Too long to tell you now."

Kate shrugs and walks away. "Whatever, weirdo."

When she left the rooms, a doorbell rings. "I'll get it," Kate says.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Dan says.

I cock my head.

"You were chewing on your lips."

"O. I wasn't even aware of that. I guess I'm nervous. I'm not going out that much."

"Me neither. I didn't like clubs anyway, but I miss going to concerts."

Just when I want to ask him what kind of concerts, his friends invade the room. They pretty much pile up on Dan. The room feels smaller and more comfortable with all the people chatting, making noise. They banter a bit until someone notices me.

"Hey, Dan, who is that chick?" A dark-haired guy stares at me.

"Everyone, this is Elise. She's my medical expert."

They stare at me until the dark guy says: "So that's what they call it nowadays, huh?" Laughter fills the room.

"Guys, please be nice to her." He points to the dark-haired guy. "That's Alex, he's a bit of an ass, he can't help it."

The other guys and girls introduce themselves. I try to remember their names, but I doubt I will remember them all. Suddenly I hear a weird noise. When I look up, I see one of the walls slide away. A giant flatscreen television and a sound system appear. Someone puts on some music. Two girls start to dance, some guys grab game controllers and play some racing game. I just stay where I am, looking around.

"Go get your friend," Dan whispers.

"You sure?"

"Nope, but you look a bit lost, so go and get her."

I leave the door ajar, and I walk to the place where Meg parked the car.

She's standing outside, tapping her foot. "What took you so long?"

"There are some complications."

Her eyes are just small slits. "What kind of complications, Eli?"

"It's not a celebrity party."

"Why didn't you come back right away?"

"It's a party just for his friends. He asked me to stay."

Meg's mouth slightly opens.

"Do you want to come as well or are we going to a pub in town?" I ask.

Meg quickly recovers. "Of course we're going to this party. Let's go." She hands me my bag with my phone and keys and we walk to the house.

When we enter the room, more people are dancing. I take Meg's hand and we walk to Dan.

Dan smiles. "So you're the evil genius behind that stupid plan."

"As far as I know I'm at your party, so my stupid plan did succeed," Megan says.

"Touché. I hope you have a good time."

While Dan and Meg are talking with each other, my eye catches something. On the big screen, two game characters are punching and kicking each other. I know the game and it brings back memories. Megan's hand on my arm brings me back to the here and now.

"Are you going to join them?"

I nod. "Of course. They're just pushing buttons, I think I can beat them easily."

"What are you talking about?" Dan looks confused.

"Our little Eli here is an awesome gamer girl. You're going to see a legend in action."

I walk towards the guys. "Hey, can I try?"

One of the guys raises his eyebrows. "Sure." He says and hands me over his controller. I sit down on the couch and get rid of my high heels.

"Do you know how it works?" he asks me.

"Yeah, I know what to do," I say.

I recognize my opponent. It's Alex. "What's up?" The smell of alcohol is on his breath.

"'Sup?" I say.

We choose our characters and they laugh when I pick one of the female characters.

"Ready?" Alex says.

I nod. He starts the game. My fingers are on the buttons. The fight starts slowly, but soon I remember all the combinations. The first round is a close call but ends in a win for me. The mocking stops and soon I get cheers.

In the second round, I try most of the special moves I know.

"How did she do that?"

"Is she using some kind of hack?"

"Yay, go Eli!" Meg is cheering for me.

I win this round a lot quicker and in the third round, I really kick his ass.

"Wow, where did you learn that?" Dan is standing directly behind me.

"I used to play this a lot with my brother when he was... when we were young."

Dan sits down between Alex and me. "Okay, give me that controller."

Alex's watery eyes try to focus on Dan. "Are you ready to get beaten by a girl?"

Dan just smiles and Alex walks away, muttering something.

"Okay, let's do this." He starts a new game. Dan is not really a tough opponent and I'm working through some difficult combinations, making my character do backflips and kicks. I'm focusing on the screen and forget my surroundings until something hits my shoulder.

"Hey!" I say. Dan smirks.

His shove distracted me and now he's winning. I try to catch up with him. Eventually, he wins, but it's a close call.

"That's not fair!" I say.

"Sorry, but that's how I used to win this game against my brothers."

Round two starts and this time I'm prepared for his attacks, and I start to push back. It's a lot harder to make the difficult combinations, but I still manage to stay ahead of him. This time I beat him easily.

"Ha! In your face!" I say.

Dan raises one eyebrow. "I wouldn't be so cocky. There's still the last round."

I lean forward, prepared to fight a tough battle. The countdown starts and immediately I start to push the buttons on the controller. I expect a punch every second, but it's not coming, and I try to focus on the screen. Suddenly I feel arms around me, lifting me up in the air.

"Let me go!" I yell, and before I know it Dan has put me on his lap. He quickly grasps my controller. I try to take it back, but he's much taller than I am. I know I have to trick him to win this fight. I bring my lips close to his earlobe and I blow gently against it.

Dan makes some uncontrolled movements and I quickly snatch my controller back. Of course, I win the fight. My head feels light, although I didn't drink any alcohol, I'm just having so much fun. When I try to stand up, he pulls me back and wraps his arms around me.

"Do you have any other hidden talents?" he asks.

He stares directly into my eyes. I get the tickling feeling of a thousand butterflies fluttering in my stomach. When I want to answer him, his gaze shifts to the door.

Kate's standing in the doorway, her face looks red and puffy. She beckons Dan.

"Sorry, I have to talk to her. I'll be right back." He walks away and embraces her. Now I know where I saw Kate before. She was in that picture that Megan showed me this afternoon. I see how she buries her face in his shoulder and her body shakes like she's crying. I feel guilty, I would be upset as well if a girl was sitting on my boyfriend's lap. It's hard to turn my eyes away from the scene, but a guy asks me if I'm up for another round. His name is Ruben and we play a couple of rounds. He's actually better than Alex and Dan, and he makes me almost forget what I just saw. Although I win most games, I feel like I suffered a defeat. When I'm done gaming, I search the room for Dan, but I don't see him or Kate, so I just talk with Ruben about games.

Someone's handing me a glass of wine. It's Megan. "So, gamer girl, are you enjoying yourself?"

I force myself to smile. "Yep."

"Are you glad I dragged you along?"

Just when I want to answer her, I hear the sound of breaking glass, followed by a thud. After a few seconds, someone starts to scream.

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AN: Thanks for reading! If you liked the chapter, please vote for it by pressing the little star :)