g w e n:

Luke and I were okay now. After keeping a considerate amount of distance between us, plus graveling and a pint of my favorite ice cream, all was forgiven. As long as he promised to stay safe and to always keep me in the loop, Luke and I could continue our friendship. I actually missed the tall, blue-eyed boy with the quiff adorning his head. Things fell back into place just as easily as they had after the accident and Luke certainly helped with that.

"So now that we're like B.F.F.'s now, wanna go to a party tonight?" Luke asked as he drove the both of us to school that Friday morning.

"A party? I don't know Luke. Crazy parties aren't so much my thing," I honestly told him. I've been to parties with my peers before, but they were innocent and nothing overtly barbaric.

"I know," he stated with a smile, looking to me for a brief moment before turning into the school lot, "but I'll be there, along with some people from class. Tell Charlie to go to-- actually, beg her to come along."

I raised a brow in his direction, a playful smirk forming on my face, "are you sure you want me to be there and not just Charlie? You could ask her yourself you know. Pretty sure you don't need me to do the deed."

"Charlie makes me nervous," Luke disclosed and I just about choked on my morning tea, which was inside a pink thermos-- another I'm sorry gift from Luke.

"I still find that very hard to believe," I giggled. "You tend to be a pretty confident guy; a serious ladies man."

"Okay, let's not go that far," Luke corrected, finding an empty space and parking in it. "I'm confident in myself, but the second I see Charlie, I turn into putty. She's absolutely perfect and I just don't want to disappoint her, you know?"

"I understand how you feel," I reached over and gave Luke a reassuring squeeze of his hand. "And you know what? I think I could use a little socializing. I'll make Charlie come along to the party."

"Really?" Luke's eyes widened with excitement and joy, causing me to giggle at his goofy expression.

"Yes, I will come along to this party," I smiled.

"You really are the best Gwen," Luke happily complimented. "And you don't have to drink or anything. No one's going to pressure you anyway so you'll be fine."

I smiled to myself, moved by Luke's words. Sitting in the car with him now, it was hard to believe he was ever involved with anything sketchy and dangerous. Luke really was a good guy and I was glad that he and I were on good terms again. I missed him dearly and I was glad he invited me to the party.

The two of us exited his car, stepping out into the school's car park as the warm air kissed our cheeks. I was glad that Mesa Vale actually provided other uniform selections in addition to the normal button up and blazer because in this Australian heat, I was for sure going to die from a heatstroke if I had to walk around in several layers. A simple white collared polo with the school's insignia adorned the upper, right side was tucked into my pleated skirt and my long, dark locks were thrown into a high ponytail.

When we walked across the lot and stepped into the main building of campus, the first bell rang, prompting the masses of students to stroll into their homerooms. Luke and I sauntered into ours, laughs escaping our mouths as we joked around. However, when Luke's eyes landed on Charlie, who was sitting in her normal desk, I felt an uprising of awkwardness takeover his system. So instead of waiting for Luke to make the first move, I did.

"Hey Charlie," I smiled. She looked up at me with a small grin. Unlike last week and the past few days, Charlie had on her usual makeup of foundation, black mascara and a tinted lip balm. I guessed she was finally feeling a little better about losing Ashton, which I now knew was someone she loved so deeply at one point in her life.

"Hi Gwen," Charlie waved at me before looking up at Luke who took a seat in his desk, "hey Luke."

"Hi," he awkwardly waved and gave her a tight-lipped smile. I scoffed at his lack of confidence because he honestly had nothing to worry about.

"So, Charlie I was wondering if you had any plans tonight?" I asked her.

"I don't. Did you have something in mind?" She replied, causing me to smile wide at her.

"I was actually wondering if you'd like to go to a party tonight?" I brought up, looking at Charlie with a glimmer of hope in my eyes.

"Is Gwen Guzman actually asking if I want to go to a party?" Charlie let out a chuckle, a good sign so far. She hadn't agreed, but she didn't say no. Maybe a little bit of socializing tonight was what both Charlie and I needed.

"I know, I know, it's really weird seeing as I don't come across as a girl who actually goes to real parties," I agreed with a giggle, "but I really want to experience one. Plus I haven't had the most grandest of weeks, and I know you haven't either. So I think you should come over, we could get ready together like those cheesy teen movies and then head to the party?"

"How can I say no to that argument?" Charlie mused and I swear I saw some excitement behind her brown eyes. "But it depends..."

"Depends on?" I raised a brow.

"Is Luke coming with?" Charlie grinned, wiggling her eyebrows as she glanced at the dimpled boy who was quietly listening in our conversation.

"Yea, I'll be there," Luke answered with a nod of his head.

With a sigh and a smile, Charlie turned back to me, "count me in. I'll be over around 7ish? I'll bring pizza."

"That sounds absolutely perfect," I declared, just in time for the second bell to ring and our homeroom advisor to walk through the doors.

I turned back around in my desk, pulling out a pen from my school bag. Our professor proceeded to take roll and as she called out Calum's name, I was not surprised when there was no answer. He hadn't been in school all week and while I was a little worried about him, I knew that he was fine. He was probably somewhere with Michael drinking in the middle of the day. It wasn't the drinking that bothered me, it was the excessive amounts of it I was concerned about. But as long as Calum was with Michael, I had faith that he'd be safe. Despite the extra-curricular activities they both got into, Michael seemed to always have Calum's back and vice versa, so I tried not to worry about it.

I couldn't deny that I missed my stubborn, dark haired bad boy. We just got into a relationship and things were already rocky between the two of us. I guessed I was to blame because I deliberately chose not to talk to Calum, no matter how many times he tried to call and text me over the weekend. After a week of space, I grew to really miss Calum. I missed his smell, his tight, protective hugs and I even missed the way he'd accidentally curse. I definitely had no choice but to call him this weekend, otherwise I'd risk losing him and I didn't want that.

Most definitely.

//

After a begrudgingly slow and torturous day at school, I was finally in the comforts of the Hemmings household. The moment I stepped foot into my room, I face planted straight onto the bed and fell fast asleep in less than five minutes. I was clearly overwhelmed with stress and fatigue that my body was seriously taking its toll. But after a really nice two hour nap, I woke up refreshed and ready to go out. I had a few hours before I would be expecting Charlie so I decided to take this time to contact Calum.

Pulling out my phone, I tapped on the screen to find his contact, putting it straight to speaker the moment I called him. To my dismay, he didn't answer. It went straight to voicemail. Hopefully he was just busy and not trying to avoid my call. After ignoring him for the past several days, I would understand if he was annoyed with me.

"Hey Cal, it's me. I miss you," I spoke after the beep, "please call me back. I want to see you."

I hung up the phone with a disappointed sigh before tossing it off to the side. I decided on taking a long, warm shower to ease my mind and relax me before Charlie comes over. The warm water against my skin the perfect remedy to a terribly long week and as I lathered the floral-citrus bubbles against my skin, it was like a metaphor for washing away a week's worth of stress.

After spending almost an hour wallowing in the warm water and listening to my favorite songs reverberating off of the bathroom walls like a teen-pop party, I finally stepped out of my own little haven. I dried myself off completely, keeping my long hair inside a towel atop my head, as I threw on pajama shorts and a baggy shirt before reentering my room.

"Hey cutie," Charlie sat on my bed with a grin on her face. I looked at the clock hanging on the wall to see that it was only 6PM.

"Charlie, hey, I wasn't expecting you for another hour," I mentioned, bending over to shake my hair out of the damp towel.

"I know, but I got bored and decided to come by early," Charlie explained. "Luke let me in and then ran into his room. He seems on edge."

"I think it's just cause you make him nervous," I chuckled, closing the bedroom door. "Luke still has a big crush on you."

"Figures. He should stop being so jumpy around me. I don't bite," she declared, before shooting an incredulous grin in my direction, "well, unless you want me to."

I let out a chuckle, sauntering across the room to join her on the bed with my legs crossed on top of the comforter, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure, shoot," Charlie smiled.

"Does Calum go to these parties?" I questioned, causing Charlie to look at me in puzzlement. "I mean, it seems like a party anyone can go to; nothing exclusive. So I just wanted to know if Calum could possibly show up tonight."

"If this were a year ago, yes, most definitely Calum would be there," Charlie informed. "Every time I went to a party, Calum would be in attendance with Janet right by his side. They were the power couple. Like David and Victoria Beckham."

I nodded my head. Even though I still felt guilty and terrible about what happened to Janet, there was no denying how uncomfortable I'd feel whenever I'd think about Calum and Janet together. She was in his life during his more finer moments and they probably shared several firsts together, kind of like Ryan and I. But now it was me and Calum, and even though he could be hard to deal with, I liked it a whole lot better.

"Is everything okay between the two of you?" Charlie asked. Through her tone of voice and the concern on her face, I could see that she genuinely cared about me.

"Calum's really hard to read. I just want to be there for him and help him out but he's a closed book wrapped in cellophane.

"I going to be honest with you Gwen," Charlie started and I gazed at her, patiently waiting for her words, "Calum is hard to figure out. His outer shell is the toughest to crack, but if there's anyone who can crack it, honey, it's you."

"You think so?"

"I know so. You've already got Calum locked in a friendship that doesn't involve drugs, alcohol or spray paint. If that doesn't sound like you're on the right track to helping out a lost soul, then I don't know what is,"

"You're seriously the best," I gushed, a rush of emotions uprising in me, "come here," I held out my arms and in an instant Charlie met me for a tight hug.

"I have your back," Charlie promised and with my chin resting against her shoulder, I smiled happily.

The two of us emotional girls pulled away, a slew of giggles erupting in the room and moments later did both of our stomachs grumble obnoxiously. Pointing to each other's tummies, we hysterically laughed again and man, did it feel good to laugh this much.

"Shall we order pizza?" I suggested.

"Yes! And then we can start getting ready for the party. Something tells me we'll be too distracted with messing about than actual pampering," Charlie predicted.

And she was absolutely right.

It took us a long time for the two of us to get ready. Even with the simplicity of our makeup and hair, the fact that we were stuffing our face with pizza and sugary drinks only added to the long list of distractions. Seeing as this was my first official party, Charlie took the liberty of helping me choose something to wear. My style was normally conservative and well put together-- I honestly didn't know how to wear other types of clothes even though I've always wanted to try.

Pulling out pieces from my own closet and matching them together in ways I didn't think of doing, Charlie had me wearing an outfit that was different, yet familiar and comfortable all at the same time. Looking in the mirror, I softly gasped at the party garb that adorned my body. A simple black, peplum pencil skirt adorned my bottom half and a laced, hot pink cropped bralette that I normally wore under sheer blouses completed the outfit. Only a tiny line of skin showed between the skirt and top which oddly didn't make me feel totally naked. I liked how Charlie didn't try to change me completely-- she simply altered a few things and I was extremely grateful in that respect.

"Knock knock? Are you girls almost done?" Luke's muffled voice filled our ears from the other side of the door.

"Yea! You can open the door, it's unlocked," I yelled from the vanity. I was currently sitting on a chair as Charlie ran a flat iron down my wavy hair, making it much longer than normal. Luke walked into my room, looking very handsome. Black skinny jeans, a black shirt, a blue flannel and one of his many black beanies sat atop his head, his signature quiff sticking out.

"Why does it smell like..." Luke's voice trailed off the moment his eyes landed on the box of pizza on the floor. "You guys have pizza?!"

"Go ahead and finish the rest," Charlie chuckled. "There's only like 2 slices left."

"This is an extra large," Luke pointed out with furrowed brows.

"We were super hungry," I shrugged innocently, as Luke grabbed one of the slices of pizza. He took a bite, his eyes rolling back from the cheesy, greasy delicacy in his mouth.

After another ten minutes of applying lip gloss and taking several mirror selfies for Instagram, Luke, Charlie and I were ready to leave. After bidding Mrs. Hemmings a goodbye, and making us promise to stay safe, the three of us hopped into the car to the other end of Sydney where the party was.

"So this is the plan," Luke turned down the music in his car, "no one leaves Gwen alone. Someone has to be with her at all times. I'm staying sober so I can drive, which means you two," he paused, glancing at us through the rear view mirror, "can drink. But just leave your phones on at its loudest volume and on vibrate so we can stay in contact with each other if anything happens."

"I like how responsible you are," Charlie complimented.

"Oh thanks," Luke but his bottom lip shyly, before a smile filled his face.

"Do you think you're gonna drink Gwen?" Charlie asked.

"Um, maybe a teeny-weeny bit. I just don't want to go overboard," I disclosed, "I've always been straight edge."

"Ah, that's cool. Well if you do want to, I'll watch you. If not, then there's always bottles of water and juice to sip on," Charlie reassured, giving my hand a squeeze.

In 15 minutes, we made it to a very large home. Cars lined against the curbs and loud music thumped against the walls that the windows could rattle out of its pane. I felt an uneasiness in my body; whether it was the adrenaline of going to my first party or the amount of pizza ate, I grabbed ahold of Charlie's hand for support. As we walked up the brick steps, my eyes caught glimpse of a dark headed boy whom I missed very much. His strong arms that I missed around my body flexed as he held onto a bottle of beer. He stood across from Michael as a few giggling girls surrounded the two boys. Then, without knowing my feet were even moving, I let go of Charlie's hand and sauntered right up to my bad boy.

I never made it however, because before I could utter a single word, Calum and one of the pretty girls locked lips, shattering my entire heart. I stopped breathing momentarily, feeling tears form in my eyes before I turned back around and ran away. Despite the calls of Luke and Charlie, I continued down the sidewalk, my broken heart trailing behind.