Chapter 2

What if someone roofied my drink?

What if Olive abandons me?

What if the twinge in my stomach aches to the point where I feel I find myself hunched over the toilet all night?

All of the overthinking wasn't the least bit helpful. It was too late to back out now. Olive was so happy when I told her I'd go. There was no way I would be the reason she was upset.

You need to learn to live, I chanted in my head like a mantra until it was permanently etched into my brain.

The hot water and the fresh smell of the coconut-scented shampoo kept me rooted inside the shower because I knew, once I stepped out, I would be forced to venture into a high school party filled with drunk, perverted guys or couples grinding against each other.

Ariana Grande's voice comforted me by blocking out the tiniest noises. Otherwise, I'd get sent into full panic mode thinking that a serial killer broke into the house and was looking for their next victim. One of the many benefits of being home alone all the time, I sarcastically thought to myself. I sang along to God Is A Woman as I finished rinsing out the conditioner.

Sean wasn't going to the party tonight and Olive wanted to spend time with him before she left. That left me by myself to pick out my own clothes. Since parties were never my thing, it was a challenge to decide what to wear because I didn't have a clue what was party appropriate.

There was no way I was about to waste time standing in front of my closet so I settled for a tight red crop, white high-waisted jeans and a pair of Vans. I threw the articles of clothing on my bed and went back into the bathroom to blow dry my hair.

My makeup bag was in the corner of the counter, but I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My blonde hair was tied up without a hair out of place, my naturally curly lashes framing my blueish-gray eyes. I thought back to all the times Zach told me how beautiful I looked without makeup.

Fuck it.

Who needs makeup?

That and I was too lazy.

I took in my appearance and wondered if Kayden was going to be there. He was Zach's best friend and if he was going, I could only imagine Kayden would show up. I lowkey hoped I would get to spend more time with him.

My phone pinged on my bedside table and saw a message from Olive saying she was here.

I quickly grabbed my purse, my leather jacket and stop by the kitchen to grab ice water. I wanted to bring something else to drink so I wasn't resorted to drinking alcohol.

Swinging the front door open, I found her leaning against her car with her arms crossed with a level of confidence I envied.

She was in a skimpier outfit than mine; a short, black dress that was tight against her curves, her hair was let down in wild curls and she was in red high heels - knowing red was psychologically the most attractive color.

She applied her usual smokey eye paired with her eyelashes framing her dark green eyes. There was a pink shade of blush in her cheeks and her lips were painted with bright red lipstick to match her heels.

"Damn, girl. You look hot as hell."

The dimples on her cheeks were prominent as she jokingly stood in different poses and her laugh echoed throughout the neighborhood. "You don't look so bad yourself, girly."

She lifted our hands together for me to spin under and climbed into the driver's seat.

-

The house itself wasn't too big, but it had a massive pool in the backyard with a hot tub alongside it. That was enough to entertain the whole school at a party.

There was an outdoor bar serving hard liquor with no bartender, leaving party guests to use their imagination to mix their own drinks.

Marble tiles surrounded the pool and hot tub and there was a garden of roses and carnations wrapped around the backyard.

They even had one of those rectangular gas fire pits surrounded by comfortable-looking patio chairs with a side table of fixins for s'mores - a cozy sight ruined by a girl sitting on her boyfriend's lap as she kissed his neck.

I leaned up on my tippy-toes to scan the crowd for Zach. Once I spot him, he was certainly perkier than this morning.

My body felt paralyzed from head to toe when I noticed who he was talking to - Kayden. It was like everyone else didn't exist. He was in a tank top which left his muscles completely exposed. When he leaned back to pour his drink down his throat, I saw his six-pack physique.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was approached by a modeling agent at some point in his life. The world where it was just the two of us vanished when another girl was getting all handsy with him. The worst thing about having a major crush on a model-worthy boy: every girl wanted to get in those pants.

An arm draped around my neck, but I kept my focus on the jealousy growing in the pit of my stomach.

"So it's Kayden Taylors that you're falling in love with."

Olive was also watching the nauseating scene with disgust swarming in her eyes.

"Can't blame you. The group Zach hangs out with is smoking hot."

The mystery girl was not-so-subtly pushing her breasts against his chest and I was sure I'd get wrinkles from cringing so much.

She seemed bothered that Kayden was only making eye contact as he politely told her to go away. She muttered 'whatever' as she flipped her hair and stepped away. Girls like her made me want to puke all over them. I mentally showed her my favorite finger as she moved on to her next victim.

Suddenly, his eyes landed on me and he excused himself from his friends. There went my heart that started spazzing out of control and the tightening ache in my stomach. And he didn't even have to do anything.

All he did was walk toward me with his eyes trained on me. He approached me until he was mere inches away. I could feel his alcohol-scented breath on my lips. It was just the two of us again and everyone else melted away.

"Bella." His deep voice whispered. He put his hands on my lower back and pulled me closer. I was in a hypnotic state the longer I looked into his eyes.

Kayden's hand reached my cheek and his fingers pushed a strand of hair away. I thought it'd be a passionate moment - our lips gently brushing against each other.

I was wrong.

He led me closer to the house and pinned me to the nearest wall. His grip on my wrist was tight as his lips smack into mine. His tongue explored the inside of my mouth and moans escaped him as his hands traveled down my thigh.

My arms wrapped around his neck and I gave in to his touch. I let out a soft moan as his tongue licked my bottom lip and my hands slid down to claw at the material of his shirt.

Psyche. Did you really think that was happening? I wish. I'm not that lucky.

"Why didn't you tell me you were in love with Hercules?"

Her eyes bored into my face. Her jaw dropped with her lips curled upward. She then pressed her lips together, as if she was keeping herself from squealing or cheering.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Me? I'm not. I'm, I'm not looking at you in any way."

I arched a brow at her which she shrugged and waved it off.

"Anyway, I would've kicked the big asses of the chicks who tried to flirt with him. I know he's like... hot. Like, really smoking. Like, drop dead gorgeous. And that ass—"

"Do you have a point here?"

"Sure every girl likes him, but if I knew you liked him, I would've kicked their asses."

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would never stop teasing me about it."

"Honey, I tease you because I love you. The same reason why Zach gives you crap about not knowing your long division. At least you have a leg up, being best friends with his best friend and all."

If only that would help, but he only sees me as his sister. There was nothing worse than being thought of as a sister by your massive crush. I doubted he felt the same way I did and that brought the knots back in my stomach.

"Look, why don't we take a break from ogling over a God and have a fun girl's night out?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to ditch me?" I questioned, thinking that she was, in fact, going to leave me high and dry.

She looked offended. The confident smirk that was spread across her face faded into a frown. She never frowned like that. The longer she didn't say anything, the more I was afraid this was going to turn into a big blowout. "This is your first high school party. You really think that little of me that I would ditch you?"

Guilt was eating me from the inside out. I shouldn't have thought she was going to abandon me. She was always the overprotective type. If I were sexually harassed, she'd be the first to 'take care of the problem'. It was just the overthinking that had to take over.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have thought that—" My brows furrowed when she cut me off bursting into laughter. A sigh of relief flew out of my lips when I realized what she was laughing at. She was laughing so hard, her hand gripped my shoulder to keep herself stable.

"Belles, I was just joking. No worries. I'm not gonna freak out and leave you over a silly insinuation." She hooked her arm around mine. "I'll never leave your side tonight." Her heels against the pavement sounded throughout the yard. "Besides. Who would be there to tell rapists to fuck off?"

The laugh that escaped my lips was a bit forced as I was too distracted taking in the sights I walked by - the hot tub where one couple was talking with red cups in their hands and one other was sucking each other's faces off.

There are two types of couples in this world.

There was a guy at the top of the roof who cannonballed into the pool, causing the water to splash everyone in the splash zone. I didn't expect guests to be allowed inside, but boys were sitting on a long couch and a girl was sitting on her boyfriend's lap on a massage chair.

The inside party was mostly in the kitchen where guys and girls from different schools were either taking shots or playing beer pong on the island.

What did I just get myself into?

"Ugh. Olly, what did you get me into?"

Olive simply shrugged and I rolled my eyes, spinning on my heels already on my way back to her car until Olive pulled me back with an amused giggle escaping her lips. "I'm sorry, but we're not going to drink or do anything too crazy. We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with and as soon as you want to go home, we will, but at least try to have a fun time."

The weight on a hand landed on my shoulder and I looked up to see Kayden standing right behind me, his chest so close, it touched my back. Shivers trailed  the length of my spine and I avoided letting my eyes travel to his lips. Otherwise, hell would break loose.

"You made it, Belles. Olly Bolly." He draped his arm around me and he was close enough that I could smell his cologne. I reminded myself that he was just my best friend's best friend before I leaned back into him and clung to him for as long as I could.

My attention was trained on Olive and I gave her a nervous look - which only made her mischievous smirk grow bigger. If he kept walking around with me under his arm, this would be a long night.