Clarey

"I hate Math," I said, slamming my locker door shut. Trish scowled at me. "Don't look at me like that. Math is hard."

She slanted me with a tired look. "No, it's not."

"Not if you're a Math whiz," I groaned, pressing my forehead against my locker. The cold metal eased a bit of the pain from my throbbing head. "What is up with Mr. Greene giving us a whole book of Math problems, anyway?" I sighed in frustration. "He's trying to torture us, I swear."

Trish gave a low chuckle as she tucked the rest of her textbooks inside her locker. "It's pretty easy. Don't worry, we'll study together. I'll help you out."

"Thanks, Trish." I placed an arm around her as we passed by a couple of cheerleaders leaning against their lockers. The smell of heavy perfumes mixed in with cigarette smoke and hair spray permeated the air. It's pretty much the same thing every day at Bonita Verde high school. One of the girls gave us a dirty look.

Okay, just because you put an arm around your best friend, everyone thinks you're a damn lesbian. Masiela, the head cheerleader, was one of Bonita Verde's member of the it crowd. Tall, dark, and hot. Most of the guys in the jocks department lust after her. She has long, dark, wavy hair and a body to die for. It was such a pity at one time I wanted so much to be like her. Well, I used to anyway. Although I really had no idea why I wanted so much to be like her in the first place since she was BV high's Queen bitch. I guess it's because we're human. We always want what we don't have.

I heard her cough at the same time saying the word lesbo. Her posse started laughing along with her. Boy, was I pissed. Time to inject some sense into this person.

I stopped in front of her, crossing my arms against my chest. My eyes turned into a pair of angry slits. Trish sensed what was about to go down. She grabbed my arm but I shook it away.

"You have something to say to me, Rodriguez?" I snapped.

She simply grinned devilishly at me, lifting her perfectly French manicured nails and pretended to inspect them like how she always does whenever there was a confrontation involving her. I'm sick of her bullying all the weak kids at school. I'm going to give her a piece of my mind.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said sweetly. "I was just thinking this school is too good for a person like you. Oh, wait, let me rephrase that. You're actually a disgrace to this school."

My blood had finally reached its boiling point right after she said it. I was seriously ready to pounce on her. No holding back this time.

"Take that back," I said each word slowly in my deepest voice, hoping she'd step back with her tail between her legs. "I said—"

I was about to hit her when someone grabbed my arm.

"Evan?" I tried shaking his hand off. "Let go of me!"

"Break it up, break it up. Cat fights over. Nothing to see here, guys." Evan waved at all the students away that were watching our little show that was nearby the principal's office. Yeah, the Principal's office. How cool was that? To add more to my misery, Lance, who was Evan's best friend, started laughing hysterically like a freakin' Hyena.

The idiot. Why the hell did he come back here again?

Masiela glared at me then muttered "Fuh-reak" before she went on her way. I also saw her wink at Evan, and I swear, I wanted to pull her ponytail if I ever had the chance.

"You're such a tomboy, CJ." Evan chuckled while he adjusted the sling of his backpack on his shoulder.

My lips curled in disgust. "Please don't call me by that name."

"Why, what's wrong with CJ?" He asked innocently like he doesn't know what I'm talking about. "It's quite fitting, to be honest."

"Get lost, von Detten," I brushed past him angrily, my fists balled up tightly at my sides. But he quickly caught my arm. My eyes met his green eyes. "What?"

"Lance is having a pool party tonight."

I rolled my eyes. "So? What was I supposed to do with that information?"

He jogged along next to me with his hand still holding my arm. "Seriously, you should come."

"Thanks. But I wasn't invited." I turned to look at Trish who was walking next to me, bug eyed and a huge smile splayed on her lips.

"Well, consider yourself invited." His eyes gleamed meaningfully, although I didn't like trusting the enemy. He may be cute, but Evan was capable of a lot of things. Let's not forget the fact that he's Lance's best friend. We can't be too careful.

My eyes dropped down to his hands. I blushed, realizing his warm fingers were still latched on to my cold skin. We were complete opposites ever since back then. Every time our skin made contact, I'd be the cold one while he was the hot one. Almost like fire and ice, if you think about it.

How ironic since I'm always the cold one. To be honest, I do act cold around a lot of people, specifically to you-know-who in front of me.

I released myself from his grip, shooting him the glare. "Whatever."

"I'll take that whatever as a yes." He smiled and went back to his group of friends. Evan looked back one more time before they disappeared down the stairs.

As soon as they were gone, I turned to Trish. This time, I was the one who was bug eyed. Okay, back the truck up. What just happened? Rewind.

Evan just invited me to a party? Woah, this is major. But the question is, why the hell was I invited? Out of all people? Maybe there's some sort of catch somewhere. First of all, Lance had always hated my guts and he would never ever invite a nobody to his party. Unless...

"I know what you're thinking." Trish said with a huge smile.

Nope, I am not going.

*

"Yes! We're going to the party!" Trish exclaimed. Apparently, she and Sofie got invited, too. She was squealing in delight, shooting Spanish words left and right. You probably know by now that we don't get invited to huge parties. It's pretty obvious, right?

We were at the school parking lot, sitting on top of the hood of my car, killing time before starting my shift at the diner.

"Hell no, I'm not." I took a bite out of my Turkey sub.

Trish sighed.

"That's the main reason why nobody asks you out, Clarey." She shook her head in disappointment.

I took a sip of my soda to clear my throat. "Why, what's wrong with me?"

"You. The way you act, the way you dress—"

"Woah, hang on a sec. For your information, there's nothing wrong with the way I act or dress," I said defensively. "Besides, all guys out there are freakin' horndogs, okay. They only want one thing from you, and that's obviously your V-card. So you better watch out."

"Not all guys are like that, CJ," Trish retorted, dusting off the crumbs from her lap. 'Actually, you know what? Suit yourself. You're still coming to the party."

*

Oh, boy. I parked the car at the end of the street. My brothers were nice enough to let me get off early from the diner. Trish and Sofie quickly got out, while I stayed glued in the driver's seat. We could hear the faint sound of music coming from the party.

"This is not a good idea." I said in a singsong voice.

"Come on, Clarey. Evan the freakin' hottie just invited you." Sofie stated. They both started pulling me out of the car. "Don't be a buzzkill. Please, mamacita?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm not going in there."

Sofie glared at me. "Why the hell not, chica? Come on, get with the program."

"Masiela is at that party," I swallowed nervously. "And the last time I checked, we almost got into a serious death match earlier today."

"Oh, sprout some balls, will ya!" Sofie gave a light chuckle. "If she ever bothers you again, I'll go and kick her ass myself."

We all laughed as Trish and Sofie continued to tug at my arm as we walked up the street to Lance's house, which by the way, was massive. Almost like a mansion. The street was congested with cars and people, all laughing, some throwing up, making out, you know how it goes. They're all just having a great time. I'm surprised the cops haven't intervened yet.

As we worked our way in, the warm air greeted us that reeked of cigarettes and booze. I started coughing. My poor lungs were not immune to this kind of environment. I really wanted to back out and just go straight home and bury my nose in a book.

The music was on full blast. The blaring music was "All the small things" from Blink 182. Everyone was dancing happily, couples grinding with each other and making out in every corner of the room, like hello, get a room, please. Don't do it here.

Gross.

The whole place was just like any other party scene of a college movie. Except most of the kids here are still in high school. Totally disgusting. Where are Lance's parents anyway, and why are they allowing all these kids to trash their beautiful home?

The whole football team was there as well as the whole cheerleading squad. Except I haven't spotted Trevor or Masiela, which was weird. Everyone's holding their red cups and were just drinking away like there's no tomorrow.

I tried searching for Evan. I don't know why I was looking for that jerk? Maybe because he was the one who had invited me in the first place? I noticed that Trish and Sofie had already abandoned me.

Just great.

While most of the people from school had their favorite jerseys on, I was wearing a loose black shirt that says Screw You in the front and skinny jeans with my usual gray converse sneakers. I ditched my favorite dark gray ball cap for the night and just let my hair loose. I walked over to the pool area where most of the students were hanging around in their swimsuits acting like a bunch of party animals in the water. I nibbled on my bottom lip, debating if I should stay or abort the mission and return to headquarters.

"Glad you came, CJ." The familiar smooth voice behind my ear made me flinch. His warm minty breath made the hair around my nape tingle.

"Evan, you jerk," I slapped him in the arm. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Ow," he massaged his arm. "That really hurt."

I crossed my arms against my chest and frowned. "Why did you invite me here, Evan? This is not really my scene."

He just grinned at me, shaking the contents of his red cup. I looked up, his eyes deeply set beneath his thick brows were scanning me up and down while he bit his lower lip, which by the way, made me so damn uncomfortable.

I sighed, gently pushing his chest away from me. "You're drunk."

"No, I'm not." He said defensively, still grinning at me like he's up to no good. I knew what alcohol smelled like and I could smell it in the air. I wasn't sure if Evan was really drunk or not.

I walked away from him and stood in one corner with my hands buried inside my pockets.

A few minutes later, I saw Evan talking to Lance and the rest of the jocks. I saw him glance at me and they all erupted with laughter. I cringed, my face turning to ten shades of red. They must be talking about me. I'm usually great at assumptions, so the best thing to do right now is to trust my gut and get the hell out of here.

Squeezing myself through the crowd towards the kitchen table, I had to find something to eat since my stomach's been growling for the past fifteen minutes. I stared at the table. Nothing but chips and kegs of beer. Beer. What a shame. There are a lot of people here who are underage. Let's hope they'd be smart enough not to drink and drive. Getting a DUI will wreck your life, or with the worst-case scenario, will take someone's life. How about not drinking at all? Save yourself the trouble.

Okay, back to the chips. They're not that appetizing, but the chips will do just fine. Just until I get out of here. I needed to find Sofie and Trish.

Not for long, I heard loud screams coming from outside the pool area as well as a girl's shrill cry. "Evan's drowning! Evan's drowning!"

Wait, what?

I immediately ran outside and saw Evan at the bottom of the pool. Everyone was out of the water. My heart lurched. Seriously, what the hell? Why isn't anyone moving?

"CALL 911!" I cried and jumped in the water to rescue Evan. I pulled him out as fast as I could, and without even listening to his pulse, I tried doing CPR on him. I was worried sick that he wouldn't make it. Luckily, I took a CPR class and passed my license.

Oh, God. Evan! Stay with me!

Before my lips made contact with his wet lips, he started laughing.

"What the—" I pulled away. He was smiling up at me, eyebrows wiggling.

"Thank you for rescuing me, babe." He said, dragging his tongue across his lower lip.

"You asshole!" I slapped him hard in the face and everyone around the pool started laughing so hard.

I knew it. Never ever trust your enemy.

Completely embarrassed and not a shred of dignity left, I quickly ran outside towards my car. Sofie and Trish ran after me.

"He's a fucking jerk," I cried, my face drenched in tears now. "I hate him! I hate him!"

Trish and Sofie just hugged me, trying their best to calm me down. I don't know what is up with Evan making my life a living hell now that he's back. Lance was the one who made me cry the most when we were kids. Was Evan trying to be the King of the it crowd or something? I promise he'll get it back next time. Oh, yes, he will definitely get it.

A knife to the heart.