MONTHS PASSED AFTER THE BLIP AND I WAS STILL DEALING WITH THE REPERCUSSIONS OF IT. It was now November of my junior year in high school. School has finally started to get back to 'normal'. But this new normal consisted of regular panic attacks and nightmares. My hand tremors have gotten bad again because I've had no desire to use my magic. I haven't seen Strange in a while and no doubt he's wondering why but he hasn't made an effort to reach out to me.

    Using my powers remind me of the battle on Titan and that reminded me of how traumatic the whole experience was. So I stopped. I even stopped wearing my sling ring. It's been in my nightstand drawer for I don't even know how long.

    School has been going seemingly well for me. Gwen and I have made a new group of friends. I've been focusing on my school work more to distract me from the looming feelings of anxiety.

    Today when I came into my AP English class, my friends were huddled together talking about something. I sat down next to them and smiled at them, listening to what they had to say.

    "What are your guys's plans for the weekend?" a girl named Kate asked.

    "I heard Flash Thompson's parents are going out of town this weekend so he's throwing a party."

    "Flash Thompson is having a party tonight?" Gwen asked.

    "Yeah."

    "Emmie, you should go!" Gwen nudged me. "It'll be fun!."

    "I don't know... My mom might want to do something tonight." I don't go to parties, I'm not that type. I went to one at the beginning of my sophomore year for less than an hour and dipped. That's just not really my crowd. The idea of a bunch of drunk teenagers doesn't sound fun to me.

"Oh, that's okay." Gwen's smile faltered slightly before turning back to the group. "I think I'll go!"

    The other girls laughed as they debated what to where to said party. I listened even though I had no intention of joining the group of girls. I would feel really guilty leaving my mom at home by herself tonight. Besides, it can't be that fun right?

    "Emmie, if you change your mind let me know." Gwen offered before the bell rang, signaling that class had started.

.•¤۞¤•.

    THE INVITATION TO FLASH'S PARTY LAID IMBEDDED IN MY HEAD ALL DAY.  As the day progressed, my friends' excitement got to me. I started to feel a little left out and I began wondering if I should have accepted the invite.

    "Flash Thompson is having a party tonight."  Lucía announced as she entered my room.

    "I know, I heard all about it." I looked up at her over my homework.

    "I'm going to go." She sat down on my bed. "You should too."

    "I don't know. I have this big uh- english project to do." I sighed pulling an excuse out of my ass.

    "Oh come on, Emmie." Lucía got up to look at my homework from over my shoulder. "Even I don't do homework on Friday nights."

    "Okay well I'm not as naturally gifted as you are." I rolled my eyes at her.

    "You're going." She stated shutting my laptop. "It'll get you out of this mopey mood you've been in."

    "I have not been moping!" I stated incredulously.

    "Yes you have. You've barely gotten out of the house lately and you don't talk to anyone besides me and Gwen." Lucía made her way to my closet, rifling through my clothes.

    "That's not true." I turned around in my chair to watch her.

    "You need some excitement in your life." She pulled out a long sleeved v-neck shirt in a deep red color. "I have never seen you wear this before!"

    "My life is plenty exciting at the moment." I said thinking about what I was doing months ago on a planet in outer space. "Going to a stupid party is not going to change the course of my life that much."

    "I don't know, maybe it will. Maybe you'll find a boyfriend." Lucía shrugged, throwing the red shirt onto my bed.

    "I don't need a boyfriend."

    "What you need is to have fun." She bent down to pull out a pair of jeans to match the shirt.

"This is what you're going to wear tonight, and you are going to go to that party and have a good time." When she saw my blank expression she added. "If you don't have fun then you can come hangout with me."

    And with that she left without another word. I sighed as I looked at the clothes laying out on my bed and thought, hell why not. I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Gwen.

Ems:

I changed my mind, what's your plan for tonight?

Gwenny:

YAYYYY

IM SO EXCITED YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW

Kate said she'd be the DD tonight so shes picking us up at my place around 9

.•¤۞¤•.

    LOUD WAS THE BEST WAY I COULD DESCRIBE THE PARTY. Rowdy high school kids were yelling over music that I didn't recognize. I tripped over red solo cups and spilled booze on the floor on my way into the party. From the looks of it, Flash Thompson had a nice house. I'm sure his parents won't be too happy about him trashing it while they're gone.

He had a makeshift DJ booth set up in the corner of his living room, complete with his very own microphone and colorful strobe lights. He spoke into the microphone reminding the party goers to clean up after themselves, to which they ignored.

I didn't even make it ten steps into the house until a boy I recognized from my algebra class came up to me, offering me a red solo cup full of a mysterious liquid. I looked over at Gwen for reassurance and she shrugged, so I accepted the drink with a smile. I took a sip and coughed when the liquid burned the back of my throat. Kate laughed.

"Geez Emmie, have you never drank before?" a few other girls in the group laughed along and I gave a half-hearted smile. 

I haven't.

I looked around surveying the party crowd. I spotted Lucía and her friends playing beer pong with a group of guys I didn't recognize. There were a few people shamelessly making out on Flash's living room sofa. Lots of people chatting, and some dancing. I didn't know what to do so I awkwardly followed my group of friends around the house. I was grateful that Gwen offered me her hand to help guide me through the massive house.

As we passed through the crowd of party-goers, some shouted at me not expecting me to be here. I smiled back trying to bite down the weird feeling that was in my stomach. My friends led us to a sitting room towards the back of the house, it was much quieter than the rest of the party.

A group of jocks were already occupying the room. It smelled like axe body spray and beer. They cheered when Kate and Julia walked into the room. The two of them were the biggest flirts of our group so it was no surprise that they wanted to hangout with boys. Gwen and I shared a look before we joined them on the array of sofas and chairs.

.•¤۞¤•.

THE BOOZE IN MY CUP SLOWLY BEGAN DISAPPEARING. Sure, it did make me start to feel more comfortable, but the pit in my stomach began growing. I must have been at the party for an hour or two because I began to grow bored. I watched as Kate and Julia practically threw themselves at the guys who seemed to be enjoying the attention. Every now and then, Gwen and I would share a look of disgust.

When I finished my drink, I sat it on a side table and looked around the room. One of the boys noticed my empty drink and came up to me. He had smooth dark skin and a smile that made you want to smile too.

"Hey, do you want to go with me and get a refill?" He offered. I looked around at my friends who had their attention elsewhere.

"Sure." I shrugged, getting up and following him out the door.

"I'm Zach." He shouted over the noise of the party, looking back at me.

"Emmie." I smiled. He seemed friendly, and he was also very attractive. "Thanks for saving me from all that. I felt like I was gonna throw up listening to Julia flirting."

"No problem." He chuckled. "I've never seen you around before. Are you new to Midtown?" He asked once we made our way to the kitchen. There were only a few people walking around, much quieter than the rest of the party. There were some coolers scattered about, filled with beer.

    "No, not to Midtown. I'm new to the party scene and stuff." I answered, leaning back onto the counter. Zach had a comfortable presence that was a nice break from the loud atmosphere.

    "Oh I see," He smiled. "I was gonna say I'd never forget a pretty face like yours."

    I blushed at his compliment as he reached down into a cooler holding up a bottle.

    "You want a beer?"

    "Uh-"

    "Emmie!" Lucía had waltzed into the kitchen with a few of her friends and interrupted my conversation. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

I flashed her a smile as she came up to me and Zach.

    "Hey so, we're gonna dip. Do you want to come with us? I figured you wouldn't be having any fun but," She eyed Zach standing next to me. "Up to you." She shrugged. I debated staying with my friends and my DD who is drunk or going home, and the latter sounded better.

"Uh, yeah sure." I grabbed my phone off the counter. I looked back at Zach and smiled a sympathetic smile at him. "It was nice to meet you."

"Yeah, I'll see you around, Emmie."

The use of my name made my stomach erupt in butterflies. As I followed Lucía out the door, I looked over my shoulder to see that he was still looking at me.

Damn, maybe I should come to these more often.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

i love this chapter it's so fun. i love emmie's relationship with gwen and her sister and i hope you guys do too!!

thank you for all the support <3

CJ