It's another summer night, and we're in the middle of hitting up another party at another person's house. Every party is just so similar. They all smell the same, all feature the same group of people dancing shamelessly, with the same iconic red solo cups filled with alcohol sloshing around. Sometimes, it seems like an accident waiting to happen. The dance music thumps so loudly you can barely hear what the person next to you in trying to say. But this party, I don't know what it is, but it seems different. There's something about it that I just can't put my finger on.

Right now, I'm staring into the eye of the party from the outer edges, a typical bright red cup in hand as per usual, filled with god knows what kind of cheap beer they filled the keg with. In this house, the kitchen faces onto a huge living room in a open concept type of set up. However, the kitchen does have an island, and that's where I am right now. For a party, it's fairly quiet where I'm standing, at least enough to be able to hear myself think. Not that he thinking thing is necessarily a good thing. On the other side of the living room, in the other side of the fray, is a couple who just can't seem to get enough of each other. if you combine that sight with the alcohol, it has me reminiscing about what could have been with Zach. Carter and I were never as hot and heavy, and I suppose that's why it kept happening with Zach, no matter how much I felt I should have stopped. It just felt too good. But then you add in the fact he's probably with Kaillie on this Saturday night, and suddenly this whole remembering thing isn't as fun. Everything just comes back: the good and the bad memories, not just the ones I want to remember.

You see, this is why I'm standing at the edge of the party right now: I'm no longer in a party mood. Interesting, eh? That the one place that should put a person in a careless, fun mindset is no longer working for me, at least not tonight.

Maybe something is seriously wrong with me. This is kind of concerning.

"So who was he?" a voice interrupts my reverie, and my train of thought breaks at the sound. Turning, I see it belongs to a girl around my age, but one that I have never seen before. There usually aren't new people at these parties, and I would know, because I've been to quite a few lately. Maybe it's the alcohol, or maybe it's the mid-July heat, but either way I can't figure it out.

Who is this girl? The question reverberates around my head, but no answer seems to come to me. She's a mystery. A mystery that caught me off guard in one of the only moments I have shown weakness. Even my own friends have not found me in a moment like the one I was just so tangled up in. "What are you talking about?" I repeat dumbly, opting to go for oblivious instead of vulnerable.

At this, the mystery girl just smiles, like she can see right through me. It's a little unsettling, and I kind of hate it. However, something tells me that the hate is only coming from the walls I hold so high over everyone else, and the hatred is actually the tower guards yelling in alarm, thinking there is incoming doom. Meanwhile, the lonely girl inside the castle walls is just waiting for someone to push through those stone walls with all their might. That part of me, that isolated girl, she desires for someone to see through the high levels of masonry and the security guards and waltz right in anyway. To blaze their path inside, and charge their way to me, no matter how many alarm bells are going off and how scared I may be at their brazen actions. "The couple you're staring at- who was he? An old flame?" she questions me curiously, just missing the mark but showing that she knows how to play the game.

Right now, this girl, who ever she may be, is outside my walls, trying to storm the castle, but that lonely girl inside me is too afraid to open the doors. Instead, she's crouched on the floor in corner, hoping the attack doesn't come. The guards are all behind the stone doors, adding even more weight to the massive rock slabs that are holding this girl back. "Who are you talking about?" I ask, as if I'm not the one who's being ridiculous. She knows exactly what I was staring at, a happy couple dancing in the middle of the party, grinning at each other like there is nowhere else in the world they would rather to be, but I'm continuing to pretend she's wrong. Maybe I just need to get out of this situation, out of this headspace, and find something better. Something more familiar or more productive for me. I'm not ready to open up the doors when they could lead me to the earthquake of pain I'm still feeling the aftershocks from. "I was just looking for my friends, and I found them. Sorry," is what I tell her, but I'm really not sorry to escape that situation, and to be honest, I didn't see my friends. I saw something better - a distraction from my thoughts.

"Suit yourself," she mutters quietly as I take more steps further away from her and her many intrusive questions. Who I saw was the head of a fairly tall boy with his dark-haired head turned away from me. The perfect target for a girl in need of an interference from the complications I appear to find myself in. I need someone to make me forget everything-Zach and the mystery girl's questions that made me think a little too hard- at least temporarily. I need someone to numb this brain of mine for a little while, and maybe a makeout session with an attractive stranger is exactly what I need to do that.

I prance over, rocking the type of confidence that guys seem to find alluring. The guy is talking in a group, but when I tap his shoulder, they seem to immediately disperse. All my drunken graze sees is tall, dark and handsome, and that's all I need right now. "Hey, wanna go somewhere and makeout?" I ask, losing all sense of subtly.

All he does is smile shyly, as he tells me, "I know a place," in a voice as smooth as silver. Then he takes my hand and leads me down the hall, to a place where I can hopefully forget all the thoughts that are trying to run my mind, as his hand lifts my chin up and he presses his soft lips to mine.

*~*~*

My phone buzzes in a quick succession, signaling the phone call that distracts me from the kisses meant to do exactly that. So much for that plan, right? We disconnect our lips as the fourth call rings and I actually answer.

"Sara?" a female voice panics on the other end of the line, "Where are you? None of us has seen you in an hour," she goes on, concerned. By now, my mind has cleared out of the haze, and I've figured out that it is Mackenzie freaking out on me. They must be getting ready to leave, or she wouldn't be so worried.

"I'm fine," I laugh, even though I'm a little touched by their concern, "I'm just in one of the rooms, I'll be down soon." Saying this, I get up from the bed I had been lying on, and go to pick up my blue crop top, tossing it back onto my frame.

The line is silent for a moment, before Mackenzie replies, "Alright. I'm just going to go thank Jordan for the party. Lacey and Reagan are going to waiting downstairs."

"Okay cool," I affirm, hanging up the phone. Once I have my shirt on, I go looking for the light jacket I had worn. it had been around my waist, not that it had stayed there. Turns out, the black piece of fabric is on the floor, on the same side of the bed as the handsome stranger who had been a great temporary distraction.

He lies on the bed lazily, just observing me in the dim lighting. "So who was that?" he wonders aloud, while I grab my shoes and sit on the end of the bed with my back turned to him.

"My friend," I tell him, "I gotta go, thanks for everything." It's as simple as that, right? Despite popular belief, I don't usually do this, and especially not with strangers. But luck would have that I put myself in this situation, and now it is time to get myself out of it, now that I have gotten what I needed. Fuckboys, you know they use girls to get what they want, it's not like this is all that different. Unfortunately, I'm probably going to be judged anyway. Argh, fuck society.

With my flats on my feet, he sweetly says, "Not a problem," as I go to leave the room, letting me know I'm not the only one who was satisfied with the interaction. Just as I go to open the door though, someone knocks on the other side. This simple action forces me to look over at him briefly, where I only really see him gesturing for me to just open it. And who is on the other side of the door, you ask? Mackenzie is. And the longer we stand there, the more pissed off she looks.

---

So what do you guys think is going to happen next? I'd love to know your predictions!

Also, can anyone see the Solar Eclipse today? I think it might just be starting where I am, even though I can't really go outside and check, as I don't have the special glasses to protect my retinas from potentially being burned :P

Feel free to VOTE, COMMENT & FAN!

Until next time,

~Talia :)