Plastic. We live in a plastic world with Barbie and Ken dolls around every corner.

My parents assured my brother and I our entire life that being a little different is never a bad thing. There was no need to be a plastic girl living in a world made of angels flying on Pegasuses.

Every girl wants to be something, someone, to another person. They want to wear their hair beautifully and cake themselves in makeup until there's no sign of the girl she used to be underneath; even worse, most blame their mistakes and how they look on other people.

But who is it that we're really trying to impress when we walk through the front doors of the school and strode down the hallway with a skirt barely reaching legs and a crop top that hardly covered the chest? Was it really that popular guy that showed a little interest in you at that party last weekend? Is it honestly that cheer captain that tended to get rumors about you to spread like fire through the school?

Or is the reason you change your self completely for your own satisfaction?

Contemplating everything in my head, I watched my best friend's dark hands dance around my face, applying every item of makeup I owned. I had spent over an hour trying on dresses that had been in the back of my closet for years, the long, confusing time came to an end when she stalked in on me in a lacy, black, knee length dress that hugged a little too tightly.

"It looks great." She had clapped enthusiastically. "Not tight enough for your ladies to fall out, but enough for everyone to see your sexy figure. God, I wish I had a body like yours."

After her compliment, she hadn't said a word. Her focus was on trying to get the makeup on me before Mark's party started. It would take about twenty minutes to get to the Dryer Manor; considering it was a gated community, we knew it would be a hassle to get into with the line of cars that would be wrapped around the walls and pouring out on to the street.

Mckenna leaned forward and brushed a strand of my curled bangs out of my eyes, "You look amazing!"

"Thanks to you." I responded with a grin as I pushed up from my computer chair and hurried over to the mirror.

The girl staring back was glowing with confidence, her smile lighting up her jade eyes. The black dressed curved around her waist and forced eyes to her pushed up breasts.

The girl staring back was nothing like the quiet drifting Paige Banner behind the mask.

"We better go. Marcus' party starts in forty-five minutes. If we get there in about ten, we'll be in before all the bullshit starts with the cars." She grabbed her black cardigan from where it was lying in the middle of my white comforter and darted out my door before I could blink.

Ripping my purse from the chair, I watched it spin and twirl until it hit the bed post. Giving myself a quick thumbs up in the mirror for confidence, I ran after Mckenna, hitting the lights on the way out.

We found my parents on the couch, Mom hugging my baby sister against her chest with a motherly smile. Dad was lounged in a kitchen chair, going through old paper work in a blue folder.

As if it were some sort of instinct, his head snapped up as soon as I paused halfway to the door, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Marcus is throwing a party." I smiled sweetly, hoping the mention of the hometown hero would make him reconsider transferring into Overprotective Dad Mode

"Mark? I didn't know you were on speaking terms again." his chapped lips curved downward as his graying eyebrows shot up.

"We're friends again." I lied smoothly, "I thought I told you! It must have slipped my mind."

He set the stack of papers in his hands down and glanced toward his unloaded gun and belt hanging from the coat rack, "I'm working the night shift tonight. I want you to call me as soon as you get there and I'll only be a few blocks away if something comes up and you want to come home."

I nodded, wrapping my jacket around me so his eyes wouldn't fall on how short and revealing the dress I was wearing was.

"Thanks, Daddy." I pecked his cheek, leaving residue under his right eye. Stumbling toward the door, I nearly made it out without him saying a word.

"Be careful and stay safe. Absolutely no alcohol or sex. If I find out you did either thing-"

"I will be grounded and won't be allowed to date for the rest of my life. Yes, I know, Dad. I've heard it all before." I waved off his bluff and opened the door. Mom threw a tired smile after me, running a hand through her thick, dyed black hair rather than waving at me.

I returned it and shut the door in front of me before Dad started to second guess himself and chased us down and shut Mark's entire party down.

"Go! Go before Dad comes out!" I hissed through my teeth as soon as I threw myself into my best friend's Buick. The startled look on her face faded when she saw the knob on my front door starting to turn and shake the frame. She turned the key in the ignition and backed out as quickly as possible, tearing at her seatbelt to break it loose once we were on the street.

"You're dad is an overprotective psychopath." Mckenna joked. I looked over my shoulder to find him in the middle of the driveway staring after us, using his hand as a visor. I threw my head back against the seat as soon as I was sure we were in the clear and a safe distance from my house.

"My Dad is a cop." I clarified.

"That doesn't make him any less of a psychopath. He literally chaperoned that eighth grade dance just so he knew we weren't being felt up by guys." She stated, running a hand through her straightened, thick, dark hair.

"Well, Devon did actually try to do it. You're lucky Dad was there to scare the crap out of him." I laughed.

"So much so that he stopped dating girls completely." Mckenna added, shaking her head in amusement.

We stayed relatively quiet the rest of the way to Marcus' house. I could finally feel a bout of nervousness starting to set in. My stomach was twisting into hard knots, my lips quivered slightly, and my heart felt as if it were going a million miles per hour.

I had been planning this night for years; the night I finally lost my virginity.

Most girls, like Mckenna, valued it as if it were the most precious thing in the world. They acted like they'd quite possibly be dead once they lost it. I didn't care about it as much as they did, I was just terrified of the feeling.

My mom had told me horror stories of what she'd seen working at the hospital repeatedly, and Dad refused to say a word about the entire situation. I thanked God everyday for that.

"You look like you're going to be sick. Are you thinking about Mark's-"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence." I mumbled, "It's not that. I just. . . the last time I was at a party, things didn't exactly end well."

She frowned, averting her eyes before she spoke, "I'm sure he doesn't even remember your name, Paige. Just calm down and pretend to be drunk. He'll eat that up in a heartbeat."

"I hope so." I shut my eyes and let my head fall against the chilly window, the cold against my cheek spreading throughout my body.

*

We beat Marcus' groupies to the party. They began to round the corner once we were inside the mansion, climbing the gorgeous porch steps and breaking through the few people lingering by the door that had gotten here before us.

Mckenna immediately gasped, "If you don't make a move on Marky Mark, I will. This house is gorgeous."

As much as I hated to admit it, she wasn't wrong.

The first thing most eyes were drawn to was the chandelier strung from the ceiling. I knew from experience that anytime the sun would break through the window pane, it was illuminate it to a point that it reflected on to ever wall and the furniture. Then of course, eyes went to the gold drapes. Marcus' parents were both interior decorators and made sure anyone that came in for one of their Gala's or even a dinner knew it. They changed the furniture and curtains every six months so nobody would judge them for being the same. The current sofa and loveseat that resided in the living room were a velvet red and were both being occupied. One with a couple making out, the other with a few guys sitting and talking.

A picture of the Dryer boys hung on offset on the hall walls and up the stairs; they went up by age the higher you climbed the steps.

It had been so long since I'd seen Marcus' younger brother I had no idea what kind of monster he'd turned into.

"I am going to go find myself a guy that's willing to get me beer just in case your dad comes over tomorrow and searches for fingerprints. Have fun, be save, and remember to protect yourself." she winked before skipping off across the room to the three boys perched on the couch.

I wandered up the stairs as if it were a six sense. I knew the house like the back of my hand; not that I'd let Mark know I still remembered it.

I was almost at the top when someone fell into me and drenched the both of us in a pitcher of beer. "Shit! I'm so sorry!"

My head whipped up at the familiar voice, not at all shocked to find Mark standing in front of me with a dumbfounded expression.

There had always been a part of me that agreed with Mckenna. The theory that he forgot about our childhood and what happened that night had always seemed like most realistic of them all. Seeing his face now, the look in his pale blue eyes, I knew that he remembered everything.

"Paige?" he breathed out heavily.

"Marcus." I answered, my eyes flickering to the tight black v-neck stretching across his broad chest.

"What are you doing here? I didn't. . . you haven't. . . why are you here?" He fumbled with his words nervously. I was too busy reeling in shock over hearing the most popular guy in school at a loss for words. He was always busy running his mouth, I was sure it wasn't possible for him to shut it. I had been wrong.

"I need you to have sex with me." I stated bluntly.

He only blinked rapidly.

"What'd you say?"

"I need you, Marcus Dryer, to take my virginity tonight." I said it slower, as if I were talking to a three year old.

He set the pitcher on the ground beside the wall, "Look, Paige. I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but get out before you do something you'll regret."

"I'm not going to regret it, Mark. You know as well as I do that I don't care as much as every other girl." I sucked in a deep breath, "Please?"

"What do I get out of doing it?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"I don't know and I don't care. There's no strings attached, no hooking up again, just one night." I held up a finger, "One night is all I'm asking for, Marcus. I'm sure you've done it before."

"Not with you." he shook his head, "I can't do-"

I forced myself up the last step and pulled him down until he was at level with me. I kissed him as desperately as I could, shocked when his hands found the small of my back and he guided us back the way he'd come.

He pushed his door open behind me before slipping his warm hands under my legs and hoisting me on his waist. Kicking the door shut, he walked over to his blue sheeted bed and dropped me on to it.

"You're sure you want to do this?" He asked, voice barely audible.

I wasn't sure.

"Yes." He pushed down on the bed and positioned his entire body between my legs, kneeing them apart. I pulled away for good after a few minutes, my breathing catching in my throat.

"I have to. . . to take the pill." I was relieved the lie sounded so believable.

He backed up and moved away so I could get passed him, "Go ahead. I don't need you getting pregnant on me."

I flashed him a dark look before running toward the bathroom. I shut the door and leaned over the sink for a moment, tears stinging the back of my eyes.

I was really going to do this and I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I hadn't spoken to his dumb ass in over five years and now I was on my knees begging him to be the one that took my virginity? What kind of person did that make me in his eyes? Was I weak? Was I a bitch for what I did eight years ago?

"You can do it." I whispered, reaching for the knob again, "You can do this, Pai. Then it'll all be over. It won't ever be as bad as the first time."

I slowly pushed the door open, my head slowly shifting to the side as I scanned the room for Marcus.

"Mark?" I breathed, ducking out of the bathroom. He was nowhere to be seen.

Marcus Dryer had run out of me; somehow I wasn't the least bit surprised.

I headed for the door, a stinging in my chest as I shook my head to myself. I had been stupid to think he-

"What was that?" I questioned myself aloud, lifting my head. My own thoughts dissipated when my eyes centered in on the baby carrier resting on top of a fort of pillows, a yellow sticky note taped to the handle.

I should have turned and ran at the sight of it, at the very least screamed for Marcus. This carrier wasn't meant for me; I had no doubt it was for him.

Somehow I managed to be surprised there was a small, beautiful baby inside. His body wrapped in a blue Superman blanket, body no bigger than the model truck my dad had built with me a few years ago.

As I reached down, ready to brush my hand along his cheek to make sure he was real, his eyes shot open and startled me so much I jumped back and nearly fell.

Those eyes, those beautiful, pale blue eyes that were easier to get lost in than the House of Mirrors at the carnival. I'd know them anywhere.

This baby was Marcus' and I was positive he had no idea he existed. Stepping closer to the baby, I stared down, meeting his familiar blue eyes.

"Shit." How was I supposed to tell Marcus Dryer, star linebacker, that he had a baby sitting his bedroom on his bed when there was a party breaking out downstairs?

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed! 

Let me know what you thought! The next chapter will actually be really interesting. I'll let you in on a secret; Marcus won't know about the baby for most of the book. 

~ChasingMadness24