Bass pounded out of speakers on the far end of the deck, creating a bone-shaking kind of buzz. I smirked as I watched Shan try to convince Trey to dance with her. I didn't know why she tried, he was way too sober to even think of asking him. Eventually she gave up and looked at me, pushing out her bottom lip, "Holland?"

Nodding, I downed my drink and followed her; I usually stood in for Trey, like a pseudo boyfriend. That was enough relationship for me. This way, I got to have fun, without the tipsy grabby-hands Katies throwing themselves at me.

Then again, I thought as I looked around, fun with a girl who wasn't dating my best friend would definitely be better.

I caught sight of Amara in a low-cut, belly showing top and a see through lace skirt coming around the side of Sean's house. Damn, she was giving sexy witchy vibes in all that black with her hair looking like a halo of fire. Too bad she was psycho. I could do without her kind of fun.

"See anyone you like?" Shan asked like she'd read my mind.

"Haha, Shan."

She grinned, "I see you looking, Holland. And, sorry, but we've known each other a long time... you've got that stressed out look, and you tend to hook up when... sorry, I'll shut up."

"Thanks, Shan." Suddenly I didn't feel like dancing. Yeah, we'd known each other for three years, and sure, that made us pretty close, but I never realised she spent so much time analysing my moods.

"No! Holland! Come on!" She followed me. "Terrence, I think I broke Holland."

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing. She said nothing." I snapped.

"He looks stressed."

Trey and Heinz looked at me and then lost their shit laughing. "Daze's looking to get laid!"

God, I needed new friends that didn't have opinions on how I relieved stress. I ditched and found Sean in his large kitchen, surrounded by several girls and a truckload of alcohol.

"Daze! 'Sup, Bro!" He yelled too loudly when saw me. Already drunk.

"Hey. Just came to get some of these." I made an excuse and ducked away quickly after grabbing a couple drinks off the counter. That scene meant I would spend the better part of the night trying to peel one or more of those girls off myself. Class one climbers, those Katies were; the kind that were desperate to gain any kind of social status, and would seep into every part of your life. And I liked my life being no one's business.

"Hey hey, Babygirl! Looking great as always." I almost gagged when I heard Slimy-Teddy's voice, like a 2000s movie sleazebag trying to lure drunk girls into the back of his bang van. How come girls couldn't hear it? I glanced to see who he was talking to and decided I wasn't about to get involved. Not when the girl air-kissing Slimy-Teddy's cheeks like some kind of Beverly Hills socialite, was Amara. Who did that anymore? So stupid!

I found my friends again; my annoyance was not worth having to deal with the Katies. Shan ran at me when I broke through the edge of the dance floor, "I'm sorry, Holland."

Her pout was something I always caved to forgive. "I got us drinks," I held up beers and handed her one of Sean's gourmet raspberry sodas.

"Oh yay! You're not mad at me!" She pulled me down to kiss my cheek, and then settled onto the railing behind us. "Buuut, Holland, are you watching Amara?"

"Isn't she your unicorn?" Trey's elbow poked my side.

Shit. I looked away from Amara, to them, "I said she was like a unicorn because I was pretty sure she didn't exist. Not that she was my unicorn."

"How is that different?" Shan tried to nudge me in Amara's direction. "You've been watching her since she got here. Go. Talk to her."

"So that's her, huh?" They didn't know I'd already met her. "Can't say I've ever seen that girl at a party before."

"Bro!" Trey laughed, "She's at all the parties, but she don't stay long."

"You've just never noticed her before." Shan poked my chest, "But you have now, what are you gonna do about it?"

How about nothing? Thankfully, Heinz showed up right then, pulling me away so I didn't get dragged into yet another annoying 'get Holland a girl' talk.

The dance deck was crowded now, and there was no way across that didn't brush us against bodies as we went. We danced through a group of girls, and I stopped to spin the girl in the middle of their circle. On the other side of it, Heinz rolled his eyes at the squeal-fest we left behind us.

Flirts, that's what we were, according to Shan. Was there a problem with that? Shan probably meant tease, because I almost never did more than flirt. I mean, not unless I knew there wasn't going to be any drama.

Ah Shit! I noticed too late that Heinz was headed for the motorcycle models from that afternoon. I would have turned around, but at this point, I would be too obvious.

Cece Dewan turned first, a megawatt smile on her face, clearly drunk as she greeted Heinz and stumbled down the steps at us. I braced myself for the usual onslaught of cling, but she didn't even look at me and crashed right into Heinz, swaying him back into the crush we'd just exited.

Michelle, her equally tall and gorgeous, Siamese-best friend went with them, her face never turning away from her phone. Heinz was about to become part of one of their broadcasts.

Grabbing a fresh drink from the cooler they'd abandoned, I leaned against the railing and watched the dancers below. I realised without meaning to, I was watching Amara as she twirled and weaved through the crowd. Somehow, she was all I could notice, now that I'd met her. She'd ditched Slimy-Teddy and was dancing with the head cheerleader and three guys from the swim team; did any of them know how certifiably insane she was?

Dammit, Shan was right, I was watching her hard.

"Holland." A hand landed on my arm. "You were great yesterday. You practically carried the game as always."

"Livy!" How hadn't I seen that Cece and Michelle's third was still around? "Thanks. You look... nice tonight."

She wiggled in her tiny sparkly dress. "Thank you, kind sir!"

Olivia was always a little awkward, but really cute. And sometimes—like in that dress—she looked killer. But dammit, I wasn't about to prove my friends right by falling into our regular no strings hook-up, so I looked away.

"Daaaze!"

Aw shit! I'd lingered too long in one spot and the Katies had descended. The social vultures, with their shiny polished claws. Suck it up, Daze, I told myself, just play your part; 'flirty soccer god ice cream cone rolled in drunk girl peanuts' as Shan always said. I tried not to laugh at the image.

For the rest of the night, I'd be listening to how awesome I was, while the Katies one-upped each other with what they knew of my game plays. Great!

Half the party away, a random girl forcing Eden McLaren into a fight was a good distraction for a short time. But a hand dragging through my hair called my attention back to the Katie with the blonde hair. "You like long hair, right, Daze? Because mine is the longest."

That's nice?

"Sure, it's the longest," Katie with no bra said, leaning on me in a way only a drunk person would think looked natural. I couldn't even move back because of the railing. Great. Just great. "But mine doesn't clip in, and..." she whispered in my ear, "the curtains match the drapes."

I thought three things at that moment. She smelled like a bar floor, she'd said that entirely wrong, and she needed to remove her hand from my crotch.

"I'll let you see."

And I was done. Done with this night. Done with the party. Done with playing nice for the Katies.

Thank goodness for Olivia coming to my rescue. Slapping their hands away, she inserted herself between us, "You promised we'd dance."

I let her pull me away and lead me down the steps, like I had no choice. "Hey, you drive, right?" I asked a girl I knew at the edge of the dancing crowd. "You sober? Good, can you drive those girls home? Thanks."

"You're too nice, Holland." Olivia threw over her shoulder as we pressed through the crowd.

"You're not nice enough, Livy."

"Those drunk-ass Katies? They're actually looking for it."

"Maybe they are, but I'm not that guy. Not when they're that gone."

"Too nice, Holland!" She spun to face me, finally finding a pocket of space large enough for us.

"Decent." I clarified. "And you're my hero, Livy!"

"You owe me," she teased, entwining our fingers and pulling my arms around her as she spun back around.

"Don't I always?"

I didn't mind that she held my hands, or that she swished her body on mine. She was a godsend, constantly helping me escape the overly forward Katies. I'd lost count of how many times she'd acted like a repellent, keeping them away. She didn't smell like a keg or the inside of a rum barrel, she was sober, and most importantly, she didn't expect anything. Well, she expected something... but it came with no strings, and I liked it that way.

"Hiiiii, Oliviaaaa!"

Great! Shan hip bumped Olivia, an arrogant grin on her face.

"Shan!"

"I see you found Livy." Trey's face mirrored his girlfriend's. Tomorrow I'd have to hear a shit-ton about how I handled stress, but for now, I'd ignore them. 

-.-

Thoughts?