I woke up the next day to the bright rays of sunshine coming though the window, the reeking smell of alcohol, and a pounding headache. I groaned and pushed myself of the bed, rubbing my eyes. The sunshine felt like a billion radioactive waves pounding onto my head. I sluggishly pulled myself off the bed and pulled the drapes shut. I felt like I was forgetting something I had to do today, but I couldn't remember. What the heck happened last night?

I managed to walk down the stairs and entered the living room to a huge mess. There were beer bottles everywhere, and for some weird reason- toilet paper all over the floor. Tyler and Ezra were passed out on the couch, and Megan had fallen asleep on the kitchen counter. Yikes.

I slowly shook Tyler, trying to get him to wake up. He opened his eyes and got up, staring at the mess around him. "Oh, god." He sighed. Then he woke up Ezra, while I went to wake up Megan. Tyler was the only one of us who seemed somewhat normal, so he made coffee while the three of us massaged our heads.

"Thank god it's Saturday." I said, slowly sipping from my coffee. "Ugh, Alex stop breathing so loud." Megan grumbled. "What even happened last night? I remember Veronica coming over with her friends... and then everything is a blur."

I wracked my head trying to remember. It came back to me piece by piece, and when it finally did, I looked at Ezra with a big smile on my face. "You remember what happened Ezra?" I asked him, gesturing towards Megan.

He first looked at me in confusion, until realization dawned on his face. Megan seemed to realize it too, both their faces red. "We'll give you guys some space." Tyler smirked. Then he and I went to the living room to tidy up. His parents were going to be back soon, and it was nine in the morning. That's actually pretty early to wake up, for a bunch of people who were partying heartily last night. As we cleaned up, my mind became less and less foggy, until I finally realized what I was forgetting.

"Shit, shit shit!" I yelled, dropping a red cup and grabbing my phone. I saw five missed messages from Stacy and the other girls on the team. Oh god no. No, this can't be happening.

"Meg! Drive me home right the hell now!"

"What?"

"Now!"

I went to the kitchen, dragging her by the arm and forced her to get in the car and she managed to drive. Once we reached my house, I ran in like my ass was on fire, grabbed my gym bag and got the hell out of there. "Take me to school godamnit." I told Megan, and she finally understood what was going on when she saw my gym bag. "Holy crap, what time were you supposed to be at practice?"

"Eight."

"You're an hour late, you're screwed."

"I know, just drive!"

Tyler hadn't come with us, since he already told his coach that he wouldn't be attending practice because he had to go somewhere with his parents. I changed in the backseat of Megan's car and we got there soon enough. I banged the door open and ran like crazy, finally arriving on the basketball court, my hands on my knees and completely out of breath, my headache intensified by a million. The coffee hadn't fully helped.

The guys and girls' team were already almost done with their drills, both the Coaches supervising. Coach Dixon was running the girls practice, with the angriest face I had ever seen. When I arrived, he turned towards me with a look of pure rage and disappointment.

"Ms. Peirce."

I gulped. Shit, I was so screwed. What kind of captain misses extra practice less than a week before a big game? I'm dead meat. Coach looked at me for a straight five seconds, took a deep breath, and then he yelled.

Super loud.

That everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.

"I have never seen such incompetent behaviour as a captain in my life! Arriving at practice an hour late? You call yourself a captain? This is a disgrace Peirce. A disgrace! You better have a damn good reason and you better get your act together, or so help me god you won't live to be a captain!"

I don't think I've ever been so humiliated in my life. Coach had never yelled at me like that. Ever. This was a different angry side of him none of us had ever seen before, and I'd gotten the brunt of it. Literally everyone was looking at me, even the boys team on the adjoining court. I don't think I've ever felt as ashamed in my entire seventeen years of life, than I did now.

"I'm so sorry Coach. I have no good excuse. I know I've messed up, but I promise it won't happen again."

He simply stared at me, not saying a single word. I couldn't breathe, waiting to hear what he would say.

"This is your last chance Peirce. You're a damn good player, and that's why you're captain, even after you punched Mr. Hunter in the face. You know how extremely important punctuality is, and if your screw up again, I won't have much of a choice."

"I won't Coach, I swear."

He gruffly nodded and looked back at his clipboard. "All right, now get on the court."

I shuffled towards the court; my head hung. Every single person here had seen it happen, the humiliating disappointment. But then...

I turned to look at the boys team and found Shawn staring at me. The moment he realized I saw him, his face morphed into the biggest smirk, his eyes filled with a different kind of attitude. Of course.

The son of a bitch had tricked me. He knew we had practice today, and he made sure I'd get drunk and forget. He made me think he'd forgotten all about the time I punched him and blocked his shot, and he's gotten his revenge. The guy was an evil genius.

He had the audacity to wink at me again, and then ran back to his team. I felt so angry and frustrated, it was a miracle I could contain it. If I lost it again, I would most definitely lose my captaincy. I stared down at the blue captain's armband on my wrist. I'd worked so hard to get it, and I certainly was not about to throw it all away. I would get my revenge on Shawn all right, just not through basketball.

Instead, I took all the anger I felt and channelled it into the game. I remained absolutely focused for the hour left in practice. I ignored the ringing in my head and my aching feet. I just pushed through. No way in hell was I going to let Shawn win this one.

I dodged, I intercepted, I swerved and I anticipated. I calculated every move in my head, ten times more than I normally do. I cannot afford to lose focus so close to the opening game. I've got to make Coach proud.

Once practice finally wound up, I limped back to the bench, panting like crazy. I'm never drinking again. My stamina has reduced by a ten-fold just because of it. How the hell is Shawn not even slightly affected?

As everyone shuffled out to the locker rooms, I walked up to him. He was laughing with Brad, who stopped when he saw me. "Oh, hey Alex. I've got to go..." Then he awkwardly ran off. Shawn turned to face me with an evil glint in his eye. "What do you want Peirce?"

"You psychotic piece of shit."

"Hm, what?"

"You better be thanking god I'm not smashing your head into a wall right now."

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do?" He whispered snarkily, eyes following someone behind me, and I turned around and saw Coach Dixon. I grit my teeth.

"How even? You were so drunk last night. I won in beer pong."

"More like apple juice."

"Huh?"

"The only damn thing I drank last night was apple juice. You think I'm an idiot to drink so close to a game? You actually fell for it. Veronica didn't drink during that game either, she was already too drunk to notice she wasn't drinking beer."

I clenched my fists. This guy was getting on my nerves. He was the single most evil, devious and annoying guy I've ever met. Why the hell is he so popular? Isn't his personality repulsive enough?

I looked back at his face, right into his annoyingly way too bright green eyes. "Screw you, Hunter. You're not worth it." Then I turned around and walked away without a second glance.

***************************

"That dick."

"I know."

"I'm going to kill him!"

"Not necessary."

Megan looked at me like I was crazy. "How are you not angrier about this?" I shrugged and took another sip of my cappuccino. Megan, Tyler, Ezra and I were at Loco Latte again, and I'd just told them about what happened during practice and Megan was pissed.

"I'm going to key his car." She announced and started to get up, but Ezra who was sitting next to her, quickly grabbed her hand to stop her. Megan stopped and looked down at their hands, and there was an extremely awkward tension. Ezra cleared his throat and let go. "Don't do it Meg. His parents would probably sue you for scratching their precious son's Mercedes."

"It's fine. I'll get him back eventually." I reassured her. She huffed and sat back down, glaring at Shawn sitting at his usual table with his jock and cheerleader friends. I was sitting with my back to them, but I assumed that's who Megan was glaring at.

"That's messed up. I can't believe Shawn would do that." Tyler intervened, shaking his head. "Why are you so surprised?" I asked. "He always seemed like a jerk to me. You told me so when Mr. Jones made him my partner for the project."

"I know, but he's not completely a jerk. He has a weird sensitive side. I accidentally heard him talking to Brad in the locker room after practice once. He's got some issues with his dad."

"Huh. Still doesn't give him the right to be a jerk. Everybody's got problems. You can't use your parents slacking off as an excuse for everything. Sometimes shit is your fault. No matter how much you deny it and take it out on other people." I burst out angrily.

The three of them stared at me, startled by my sudden outburst. I hadn't realized what I was doing either. Some anger just escaped from me. Ezra was looking at my hand on the table with his eyes wide and I looked down, realizing that I'd crushed my empty paper coffee cup. I immediately unclenched my hand, and awkwardly stood up. "Uh, I've got to go help my mom make dinner today. See you guys." Then I got the hell out of there.

What the heck was that? I almost had some weird temper tantrum right in front of my friends. Pathetic. I've got to get my shit together. I can't take out the crap going on in my house on them.

"Alex! Wait up!"

I turned around and saw Meg running after me. I stopped. "Meg? What's up?"

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"The way you just acted. You have something you want to tell me?"

I sighed and put my hand on her shoulder, in a somewhat reassuring way. "You're my best friend Meg. I have nothing to hide from you."

"Doesn't seem like it. You're lying to me again. You're clearly upset about something besides stupid Shawn Hunter."

"Again? What on earth are you talking about?"

"Every single day of our lives Alex! There's always something going on, and you're so secretive about everything. I honestly feel like I barely know you sometimes."

"That's crazy. We've been friends since we were kids."

Megan looked worried; I don't know what for. Why was she overreacting? Okay, yes, I may be lying to her a little, but how is my family any of her business? I'm not exactly the most sharing and open person on the planet. I don't need people knowing my stuff and seeing me like some vulnerable little kitten. I'd absolutely hate it. I love Megan, but I can't bring myself to tell her anything, even though I know I can trust her. I can always be wrong and get stabbed in the back. I don't know.

"I'm serious Alex. You're like a brick wall to me."

"Meg, drop it okay? I don't have anything to lie about."

She sighed and gave me a small smile. "Okay." She said softly, and then went back inside the coffee house.

Woah. What is with everybody today? That was one super weird conversation. I just sighed, turned around and walked back home, my thoughts muddled with everything that had happened today.