"Hey have you seen George?! We need to get a few of these people out of here!" Dylan yelled to Aron over the music.
"Do I look like I'm his mom or something?" Aron spat angrily. Dylan held his hands up in defense not entirely sure what had gotten in to Aron.
"You looking for George?" Jorel asked coming up behind Dylan with Vanessa trailing behind him.
"Yeah you seen him?"
Jorel nodded and pointed down the hallway at the bathroom door, "He had Dani Rose with him."
Dylan's eyes grew wide with surprise, Jorel laughed and shook his head. He too was shocked to see the school's number one goodie two shoes out at a party. But of course she was with George, and he had a certain way of drawing in even the most non-rebellious girls and making them bend to his will.
"Was she okay?"
Vanessa turned her attention to Jorel and Dylan when she had picked up on the conversation, "I heard from Harper that she had chugged half of George's beer so that Aron would leave her alone."
"And she didn't throw up right away?" Dylan asked in disbelief.
Vanessa shook her head, "No, not in front of Aron. After he had left George carried her to the bathroom and they've been in there ever since."
If anything Jorel had thought that maybe she would chug a beer to try and impress George but not to get Aron to shut up. Maybe she's finally at the point where she's had enough of me and him messing with her and is willing to do anything to get us to stop. He shook his to try and mentally clear his head.
"I'm gonna go check up on them, I want you guys to try and get these people outta here."
"Got it." Vanessa said and went in search of Harper, Kiara, and Katrina so that they could help her.
Jorel watched Vanessa's figure until she disappeared around a corner, a small smile spread across his face. Dylan lightly punched his shoulder then left to check in on George and Dani.

George stood behind Dani, holding her hair back so that it didn't get in the way as she threw up all the contents of her stomach. He felt bad for her as her body shook from constant upheaval. If he had known that she was going to do that he wouldn't have let her cause now she was sick and her shirt was soaked in beer. She leaned back from the toilet, her face pale, and her skin felt clammy. He shook his head and helped her lean back against the wall so that he could get a wet rag.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked him weakly.
He shut the water off and knelt down beside her, "Because I'm a nice person despite what people want others to believe."
She took the tag from him and placed it across her forehead. He could tell that it was going to be a while before she would be able to stand, to him she looked like she was on her death bed.
"What do you mean by that? You've been nothing but nice to me." She watched him through half closed eyes waiting for him to answer.
"By that I mean, Aron tries to make me and Jorel come off as these guys who play women, hurt people, and all these other things. I'm really not bad man, neither is Jorel."
Dani nodded her head in understanding. She knew what it was like to want to be your own person but someone else was always trying to force you to be someone that you're not. She understood perfectly what George had meant.
"Sounds like how my mom treats me. She's always forced me into cheerleading, school clubs, and volunteering for things. Honestly I hate doing all that stuff. For once I would just like to let my grades slip and go to parties like these with real friends." She paused to look up at him, his face was blank of any expression. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to dump my problems on you."
"No it's fi-"

"George? Dani?!" Dylan called from the other side of the bathroom door. He waited impatiently for either of them to open the door.
"What?" George asked bitterly as he pulled the door open  just enough so that he could see Dylan.
It was clear to Dylan that George was still a little bit angry about what him and Aron had planned for later. "Look I'm just checking to see if she's okay." He said sincerely. George sighed and opened the door wider for him to step in.
"Hey Dani, how are you feeling?" He asked hopping up onto the counter.
She looked at him suspiciously through half closed eyes, "Fine I guess."
He gave her a tight smile then glanced up at George who was watching Dylan closely. "Well I just came to make sure that you were feeling okay."
"Well I'm better now, thank you for your concern Dylan."
"Alright." Dylan said then jumped off the counter. "Oh and Jess left with Matt already so I'll call you a taxi."
Dani's head snapped up, a look of complete horror covered her pale face. How could Jess and Matt leave without telling her or even looking to see where she was? No doubt she went back to Matt's house to "hook up". She sighed and rested her head in her hands. It was times like these that she hated Jessica.
"I'll take her home Dylan." George said softly, Dylan nodded his head.
"Fine but just get back here before Aron notices that you're gone." He whispered so that Dani wouldn't hear him. With that he left the bathroom to wake up the guys who had passed out in the backyard.

"You don't have to do that George. It's fine." She said pulling herself up from the floor. All around her images blurred together in a fuzzy haze, the floor seemed to be pulled out from under her feet and rushed up to meet her. Before she hit a couple strong hands gripped her arms and helped to steady her. She smiled up at George when her head stopped spinning. "Thanks. That's the second time today." She said shyly.
He chuckled and scooped her up into his arms, "I'm taking you home, no more arguing."
"Okay." She said weakly and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. Angry voices filled her ears as George carried her through the house. She could pick out Aron and Dylan's voices amongst the chaos. Frankly she didn't care what they were arguing over, but when she heard her name she tried to listen more closely.

"He can't take her home!" Aron yelled at Dylan.
"Dude Dani can't even stand on her own, she needs someone to take her home Aron." Dylan tried to keep his voice low in case Dani was still conscious.
"We need her here Dylan, do you want everything to fall apart before we've even had a chance t-"
Jorel rolled his eyes in annoyance and threw a beer bottle at the wall, "Aron leave her out of this! I've had enough of treating Dani like shit! Just because you don't like her doesn't mean that we have to be assholes to her!" Things haven't even began and already he was getting highly pissed off with Aron. "And leave Vanessa out of this too man! Damn!! What the hell did she ever do to you??"
Aron glared at the Italian. What Jorel didn't understand was that Aron needed Vanessa and Dani as leverage to make sure that Jorel and George didn't back out at the last second like last time.
"Just shut up Jorel and go help Dylan get everybody out of here. The fun is over, time for business."
Jorel watched Aron leave the kitchen with nothing but pure anger towards the younger male.
"Come on man, let's just get everyone out my house and then you and me can go over to Jeff's and talk about this."
Jorel took a deep breath before grabbing the bucket of ice water that he had prepared earlier, "Whatever, but once this is over I'm done with Aron."

"He-hey don't d-dri... Whoa.." Dani lowered her head into her lap to try and ease the motion sickness. A full hour had passed and she still felt like she was gonna throw up again. Ugh, note to self: do not ever chug a beer just to shut Aron up. From the front seat she heard George chuckle lightly. "It's not fun- oh god.."
"I'll pull over again." George smiled to himself as he slowed the car to a stop and switched on the hazard lights. He quickly got out so that he could help Dani out of the car, she latched onto his arm tightly when he opened the door.
"Th-sorry." She apologized for the tenth time, George just shook his head and wrapped one arm around her shoulders while holding her hair back with his free hand. Every now and then when she was able to catch her breath she would apologize again and again, why she did this George didn't know. But what he did know was that if she ever hung out with him again he would have to watch to make sure that she doesn't try to impress Aron again. He still couldn't believe that she had done that, Aron may have been George's friend since he was a kid but Aron still wasn't anything worth trying to impress.
"George," she took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm so-"
"Please stop apologizing Dani." He said slightly irritated. She lowered her head in what seemed to be embarrassment. Carefully he guided her back to the car and helped her with the seatbelt. "I don't mind taking you to Jessica's, it's not a problem for me to help out a pretty girl."
A small smile flickered across Dani's face when she heard him call her pretty, no decent guy has ever called her that. Being that she was captain of the cheerleading team virtually every male in her high school has called her things like hot, sexy, cute, bad, and a bag of money; the last two things still made no sense to her whatsoever, but George? He was different in many ways. For one, he's kept her from falling on her face numerous times, he helped her while she was throwing up, and not once did he try and take advantage of her while she was in a semi-drunken state. If it was any of the boys on the football team, or worse Aron, she would've more than just probably had been raped, or be dead in a ditch somewhere over by Highland and Franklin. Then there was the way that he would smile at her, it was like she could just tell by a small smile from him that he truly meant her no harm. She liked the warm and fuzzy feeling that she got whenever he would touch her. Maybe it was the way that his hands would grasp firmly onto her shoulders to help her keep her balance, or maybe even the soft and gentle way that he would carry her from place to place. Well, whatever it was it made her feel like she was wanted for a change.

By the time that Dani had fully passed out George had just turned down the road that Matt lived on. He sighed and pulled the car over to the side, a small smile crossed his face as he watched her sleep from the rear view mirror. She looked so angelic and calm all curled up on the seat. Her hair covered half of her face, her arms were stacked under her face while she had her knees pressed up against her chest. The fabric of her light blue shirt rode up in the back, exposing what looked to be a tattoo. This little bit of information nagged at him as he tried to refrain from waking her up to ask her, but of course curiosity got the best of him. Lightly he tapped her shoulder but she didn't move not make a sound. Ah fuck it I'll just ask her later, he sighed and turned back around in his seat then finished driving to Matt's. As soon as he put the car in park Jessica threw the front door open and ran towards him. A fake look of relief covered her face. He rolled his eyes and picked up Dani's sleeping body in his arms.

"Oh thank god you have her, I was starting to get worried."
George could tell just by her tone of voice that she couldn't give a fuck less if Dani was alive or dead, and honestly that pissed him off. A good girl like Dani shouldn't have to be subjected to this type of treatment from a "friend".
"Shut up Jess. We both know that you don't care about her."
Jess stopped walking, she cocked her hip out and glared at George. How could he know that she actually didn't like Dani?
"And we all know that you're just playing Matt so that Harper can't have him, so cut the bull shit."
Her jaw fell slightly at his words. Now she really wanted to know what else he could possibly know about her, Ugh it doesn't matter right now Jess. She shook her head and motioned for him to follow her inside. "You can just put her on the couch, she always sleeps there anyway. Don't know why though, it's not like she doesn't have a bed at home."
"Yeah, whatever Jess." He said absentmindedly and lowered Dani onto the living room couch. She stirred slightly and held tighter onto his neck, he chuckled and pulled her arms off him then covered her with a blanket.
"Hey man, what are you doing here?" Matt asked happily and pulled Jessica's body close to his.
George watched his friend with a saddened heart, he knew for a fact that Jessica was just leading Matt on but for some reason George couldn't find the strength to tell Matt that.
"Oh I was just dropping off Dani since you guys had left her behind at Dylan's place."
Matt picked his head up off Jess' shoulder to look at her, "Babe you said that she had went home with Jorel."
George just about nearly choked on the very air that he was breathing, he loved Matt as a brother but sometimes he was really stupid. Everyone knew that Jorel has had a thing for Vanessa James since the third grade and was just now working up the nerve to ask her out.
Jess shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot, "Yeah well I guess I got the wrong person."
"You know I'm gonna go so I'll see you tomorrow at Dylan's." He said to Matt then made a run for his car. Today had been a long day and an even longer night, George most definitely needed to get home and take a shower.

The next day Dani woke up feeling like she had been hit by a bus. She groaned and slowly made her way to the kitchen, the bittersweet aroma of coffee filled her nostrils and beckoned her name.
"Hey, how was last night?" She asked Jessica as she made herself a cup. Jess rolled her eyes and pushed past Dani, causing her to drop the sugar jar.
A frown pulled at her facial features as she glanced up at Jess, "Well good fucking morning to you too Jess."
She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Oh so you spend one night with George Ragan and all of a sudden you're not afraid to curse? Wow Dani you're so cool."
Dani looked up at Jess totally unsure of why she was treating her like this, it was so unlike Jess to be this mean to her. You know what it doesn't even matter, her and Matt probably got into a fight and she just needs space. 
"I'm going to go get a dustpan." She mumbled and headed for the cleaning supply closet.
"Okay."
Dani felt completely confused as to what could've caused Jess to be such a... Well a bitch. She sighed and sat down her mug, the microwave clock read 11:27.
Damn if I don't get on the road now I'm gonna be late! She quickly gathered her stuff and ran for the door, no way in hell was she going to go through extra body combat workouts. She sighed and ran for the bus stop at the end of the block. Her mind kept wandering back to George and how he had been so kind to her last night. It was refreshing really to know that he was friends with Aron, but he still treated her with respect. Huh, I wonder how he is this morning?

A loud banging filled George's room causing him to roll out of his bed and land in a heap on the floor. He groaned and pulled himself up using the bedside table to help him gain his balance.
"What mom?" He asked groggily.
She smiled at her son who stood still half asleep and rubbing his eyes, "Mrs. Alvarez tells me that you helped the Rose girl home last night after Dylan's party."
Georges eyes flew wide open, "How did you find out?" He asked completely stunned.
"Oh you know that you boys can't keep stuff like this a secret from us, besides we're women, we gossip with each other."
This much was true. George could never keep a girl a secret from his mother, no matter how hard he tried.
"So when are you going to bring her by?"
"Mom!"
She held up her hand and turned to go. "I'm just saying that she's much better than that Borden girl, she's too sexual with you and I don't need you knocking her up."
George shuddered at the thought of getting his ex girlfriend pregnant. No way was he ready to have a kid, not now nor ever would he be ready for that type of responsibility. He sighed and helped his mom get breakfast ready for his dad, brother and sister. The whole time that he cooked pancakes and helped make coffee he couldn't help but think about whether or not Dani could be interested in him. She was very beautiful and it seemed like she trusted him despite the fact that everyone at school always said that he'd just end doing drugs and be kicked out of the house and school. People always had a tendency to judge him based on how he looked and who he hung out with on the weekends, no one ever took the time to get to know him. Well, no one except Dani of course.
"Should I?" He asked aloud.
"Should you what honey?" His mom asked sweetly, she looked up at her son who looked to be deep in thought. She knew that he was thinking about the Rose girl just based on how red his cheeks were turning. She smiled softly and plucked a single red and pink rose from the vase that sat on the table. She wrapped them in a wet paper towel and tied a ziplock bag around the end then handed it to George.
"Take these to her and invite her to dinner tomorrow evening."
He stared down at the roses completely stunned that his mom just gave him permission to bring a girl home for family dinner.
"Thanks mom," he said and hugged her before heading out to find Dani.

An hour later he parked his car outside the gym where he knew that the cheerleading team rented out one of the Zumba rooms. Thankfully it was right by the front entrance so he didn't have to deal with the receptionist. Just like he had thought, Dani was in the room practicing one of her cheers that she had performed at the pep rally two weeks ago. She looked beautiful from where he stood, and it wasn't just because she was only wearing a sports bra and spandex shorts, he could see the dedication in the way that she moved to the music. Every now and then when he was able to catch a glimpse of her face he could see the concentration that was etched into her features. She soon stopped and changed the song to a more aggressive rock song. He listened closely to the words and came to realize that it was The Cranberries' song Zombie. For a while he was stunned that she even knew the band, but again he could see her passion and dedication as she danced to every note. When the song ended he slipped inside, tucked the roses in his back pocket and applauded her performance. Her whole body whipped around, almost like as if he had scared the life out of her. But when she saw that it was just him she relaxed and gave him a warm smile.
"Hey stranger."
"You know you're absolutely beautiful when you dance right?" He stated simply, her cheeks flushed a bright red in response. "Thank you." She said quietly. "What are you doing here? Kinda thought that you had plans with Aron and them."
He shook his head and pulled out the roses, "I don't actually. I came here to give you these and to invite you to dinner at my place with my family."
"Oh uhm.."
"Well that's if you want to," he added hurriedly, "my mom heard that I had taken you home and she wants you to come over and I just thought tha-"
"I would love to George."
A weight lifted off of his chest the moment she had said yes, and was quickly replaced by one of excitement.
"That's great, I'll pick you up tomorrow at your house around six o'clock."
She smiled at him and nodded her head, "That would be perfect."
"Cool," why do I feel so nervous now? It's just dinner. "I'll let you get back to practice." He said then made a beeline for the door.  As he drove back home he couldn't help but feel like as if he was being followed by someone. He tilted the rear view mirror and sure enough he saw the car that he hadn't wanted to see. Soon his phone began to ring and flash Aron's name across the screen.
"You do know that it's considered stalking, what you're doing right now, right?"
"Go. To. Jorel's." Aron said in the best threatening tone he could manage without completely going off on George. Both boys hung up with the other and drove to Jorel's place. When George pulled up he saw that the rest of the guys were already at the house. He sighed heavily and ran inside before Aron could cause a scene outside.

Dylan glanced up to see who had came inside, George came in and plopped down next to him. He shook his head at the Irishman. "You just had to make things worse didn't you?"
"Shut up Dylan. What about you and Lexi?"
Dylan quickly shut his mouth when George brought up his current girlfriend that he had been hiding from Aron and Jeff. "George please don't say anything abou-"
"I won't if you lay off of me about Dani." He whispered sharply, Dylan nodded his head and relaxed back into the couch.

The door slammed shut and soon Aron appeared in the doorway, his whole body was stiff and seemed to be radiating his anger. He paced the living room for a good five minutes. All the boys stopped paying attention to Aron when they heard the front door open, followed by the familiar sound of Matt's raspy voice yelling for them.
"In here Matty!" Jorel called and soon Matt came strolling in and sat down next to Jordon.
George glared at Aron. He couldn't believe that he had now gotten Matt involved with this, he had nothing to do with what was going on lately. This has already gotten too far.
"So I got a call from Jeff." Aron began slowly, each of the guys stared back at him in anticipation. "He says that we'll be able to pull this off at the end of December." All around him he received a chorus of, "What?!" He nodded his head and pulled out a few folded up pieces of paper and handed them to Dylan.
"Aron...this-this is impossible there's no way that we'll be able to do this." Dylan passed the papers off to George who looked like was damn near ready to rip Aron's head off.
"Things will be okay if we stick to Shady's plan okay? It won't be like-"
"Like what Aron?" Jorel took one look at the papers and instantly felt angry again. "The last time we tried to do some shit like this?!" Out of all the people in the world who would agree to doing this Jorel would've expected someone like Shady to try and pull it off, but Aron had a bit more common sense. Or at least that's what Jorel had thought until now. Jorel knew what had happened the last time that the guys had done this and they had failed all because of Jeff and his greed. Hell he had nearly gotten Aron and Matt killed for it too! He shook his head and threw the papers on the floor. If Aron couldn't see that this wasn't going to work then there was no point in sticking around and trying to convince him otherwise, he'd rather protect Vanessa in case Jeff got anymore wild ideas. Sure him and Aron had been best friends for years but Jorel was tired, tired of always bailing Aron out of trouble and getting into trouble for him. Enough was enough, he was done. "Look you can have your little meeting but I'm out," he said and grabbed his keys off the coffee table. "I'll be at my sister's place if any of need me."

Part of Aron felt hurt that Jorel had basically just chosen Vanessa over him, but the other felt nothing but pure rage. Fine. If that's how he feels then he'll get what he deserves. He waited until the sound of Jorel's truck had faded away to continue speaking. "Now before I go further into detail does anyone else want to back out?" He had mostly meant that for George, the rest of them he knew that he could count on. They all stayed quiet, not making eye contact with him. "Good. Now, down to business."