My one and only shining star said
Stick with me and I'll take you far

"Oh God…" I moaned, the boy in front of me smiling in pleasure. "You like that don't you?" He asked, pressing our bodies closer. He was lying in front of me, his body matching mine in rhythm. Suddenly another boy, his honey-blond hair shining in the light, crawled his way close to me. I opened my mouth greedily and within moments I was matching my rhythm to both of them, my red hair clashing with the boys' silver and blonde hair in the dim moonlight that filled the room.

"Kairi!" The blonde boy groaned out, pushing my head faster and faster. I tried to keep pace with him and the silver-haired boy as the tension began to build. I felt the boy inside me turn rigid as he threw back his head and howled in ecstasy, "Oh…." The blonde boy managed out before a thick, hot liquid filled my mouth and my own body finally succumbed to the pleasure.

I swallowed the fluid with a quick tip back of my head and then smiled at the boys panting alongside me. "So the threesome was a good idea?" I managed out as they eagerly nodded their approval. "Oh my god yes…" Roxas sighed happily, lying back against the bed and closing his eyes. "I thought so," Riku nodded as well, peeling off the condom and making a face as he tossed it in the trash can closest to the bed. Music pounded around the whole room making it vibrate around us, the party raging outside the closed bedroom door.

"Olette's gonna be pissed we fucked on her parent's bed," Roxas said softly, though he was smiling still. "Probably, but her dad's a dick," I responded sitting up next to Riku. I stood and stretched my arms, bending over to pick up my clothes. "Yeah, and we smoke joints on his bed all the fucking time," Riku said casually, pulling on his boxers.

"Should I put on clothes?" Roxas asked, opening an eye and watching us dress. "I would," I responded, just as a familiar sound resounded throughout the house.

"Fuck! Cops!" Riku shouted, pulling on his clothes real quick as Roxas and I scrambled to dress. "Fuck fuck fuck!" Roxas mumbled under his breath, pulling on his pants and rushing after us as we crawled out of the window. "Damn…I forgot my weed in her living room," I growled out as we ran through the bushes that surrounded Olette's house. Luckily for us, the window we had crawled out of was in the back for an easy escape route.

"Get a move on!" Riku shouted at Roxas as he hopped behind us, pulling on his pants as best he could. "I can't!" He shouted back, tripping and falling to the ground by my feet. "Goddamnit, Roxas!" I mumbled grabbing his shoes and shirt from him and helping him up. The sound of sirens sounded much too close now as the three of us went running through the bushes and into the safety of the trees.

"They're gonna be scouting over here soon, get your fucking clothes on," I growled at Roxas, as Riku and I slowed down to wait for Roxas to be ready. "So much for a great fucking idea," Riku muttered, crossing his arms and leaning against a nearby tree. "Shut it," I muttered back, closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose to rid myself of the coming headache. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, we'd sat on the bed smoking joints for a few hours before people started arriving for this "party."

"It's not a big deal, just a couple more people," Olette reasoned with us and looking back now we should've just left. But music, sex, and the smoke drifting in the room around us made my judgment hazy. 'Though you don't have very good judgment to begin with…' I could almost hear my mom's voice echoing in my ear. "Let's have a threesome…" I remember suggesting, my nose still slightly white from what we'd started snorting up. My head had been filling with all of these crazy things I wanted to do, things I'd never even thought of before. "Sure," Riku and Roxas had replied though I knew that would be their response, I mean, after all they are horny teenage boys that dream about this kind of stuff all the time.

So we had done it.

Your eyes are sparkling with teenage fire
I'll satisfy your mad desires cause

And now here we were in the middle of fucking no where because we were too high to pay attention to all the shit going on around us. "Let's get the fuck out of here!" Roxas got out, tying his last shoelace. We nodded and began our trek out of the woods into town, about a mile away.

"My mom's gonna fucking kill me," I said with a sigh.

"Your mom's a bitch," Roxas replied, holding a branch out of the way so I wouldn't run into it.

"Thanks," I replied sarcastically.

"Look guys, either way our parents are gonna bitch us out for getting home so late. So," at this point Riku's face held his signature smirk," You should let me crash at your place, Roxas."

"Sure thing man," Roxas replied wholeheartedly, agreeing much too quickly. Gee Roxas, your queer is showing.

"Thanks a lot guys, that fixes absolutely nothing on my end," I huffed though I felt more helpless than angry.

I love playing with fire!
And I don't wanna get burned

I knew that when I went home my mother would be there…and she'd be angry. Not just angry though, she'd be ready to make sure I learned my lesson and I honestly wasn't ready for that tonight. I felt drained and the headache I felt coming on was gathering intensity.

"Sorry Kai. I mean, you could stay with my sister if you wanted to…" Roxas trailed off sounding unsure and awkward.

"Thanks for the offer but no. I'm not much into those preppy do-gooders. That just ain't my style," I told him with a shrug of my shoulders.

"She's pretty cool," Roxas lamented quietly, his head hung in thought.

"So…anybody got a cig?" Riku asked, disturbing the awkward silence that had begun to soak the air around us. "I got one." I said with a sigh, pulling out my pack of Marlboros.

"Light me," He told me, sticking the tip in his mouth and extending his head so I could light it. "Me too," Roxas added, sticking his cigarette in his mouth as well. I lit both of their cigarettes then lit one of my own.

I love playing with fire
And I don't think I'll ever learn

The woods grew quiet, only the intake of our breaths interrupting the peaceful tranquility.

"It's nice out," Riku commented, taking a long drag of his cig and turning to smile at me. "Yeah, it's a pretty night," I responded, reaching for his hand and intertwining them shyly. The slight squeeze of his hand in mine made it worth the risk. Riku and I had a long history of dating but not "dating" which basically meant we had sex on a regular basis, held hands sometimes, and he even kissed me on occasion but we weren't all "I'm in a relationship with the BEST PERSON EVAH! OMG!"

It was something quiet, passionate..mysterious. Too mysterious, really. I never knew what he was thinking, was he really into me? Or was I just his fuck buddy? His booty call? I don't really know and that bugged the hell out of me…not knowing.

"Kai?" Riku asked me, stopping to give me a nice long look. "What?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable with his scrutinizing gaze lingering on my face. "Way to make me feel like a third wheel guys," Roxas said with a pout, our hands yanking back from each other. It always felt like there was an ocean between us and I was always the one swimming and swimming and swimming to reach the shore.

He could never just meet me halfway.

"You're imagining things," I teased forcing the smile that dominated my face. "Yeah, dude," Riku added, throwing his arm over Roxas' shoulders and giving them a brotherly squeeze. Roxas smiled and punched Riku in the chest, pulling away and running ahead as Riku ran after him. It was nice, just the three of us…the three musketeers.

But what exactly did we fight for?

I shook my head, laughing alongside them and running to keep pace. It wouldn't be like this forever…I threw my cigarette to the ground and pounded it out with my foot, I briefly imagined the cigarette screaming in horror as my foot squashed it into pieces. Poor thing. I laughed at my own silliness then continued on…the drugs must still be effecting me I decided.

"So how about a game of never have I ever?" Riku asked, all of us slowing to a walk. We had reached the heart of the forest meaning we only had about half a mile till we went our separate ways. "Sure," Roxas and I replied at the same time, giggling at the coincidence. "Jinx," I told him slyly, punching him in the arm. "Hey!" He said, rubbing his arm with a smile.

"So..I'll start," Riku said, rolling his eyes at our antics.

"Never have I ever eaten an avocado," He told us. Roxas grabbed his shirt and threw it off while I pulled off my bracelets. Thank God for being a girl.

"Your turn," I nodded at Roxas.

"Never have I ever given head," He said with a wink at me. I sneered at him, yanking another bracelet off and stuffing it in my jeans pocket.

"Never have I ever…" I thought for a moment. What should I say? Thinking of Riku, the next words that popped out of my mouth surprised me. "Been in love."

"Guilty," Both boys said sheepishly, Roxas pulling off a shoe as Riku pulled off his shirt revealing his rippling muscles…God, I'm such a girl.

"Never have I ever had a vagina," Riku said and with an angry huff I pulled off my over shirt. "That's not fair!" I told him, punching him hard in the chest. Oh God yes…I got to touch him. Damnit! I needed to stop drooling all over Riku. This was becoming a problem.

"Never have I ever had sex with a man," Roxas told us and this time I grabbed my shoe and threw it at his head. "Really guys?" I asked them angrily, annoyed that they were using these things to score.

"Never have I ever had a penis," I told them, watching them strip down some more with satisfaction.

"Never have I ever eaten a girl out," He told us watching as neither of us pulled off our clothes. "Damn," Riku whispered, failing at least once. Thank God though, I didn't want to be in my underwear or even naked by the time we reached town.

"Never have I ever eaten meat," Roxas told us, his damn hippie vegetarian shit giving him a free round.

"Never have I ever had a man crush," I countered, watching both of their faces turn red as they pulled clothes off in shamed silence.

"I'm done with this game," Roxas said, pulling back on the clothes he'd pulled off with a pout. "Quitter!" I teased, poking his cheek. "Riku, make her stop…" Roxas whined. "Nope, you got this one on your own," Riku told him as he pulled on his clothes too.

"You're an ass," Roxas told him, sticking out his tongue like a little queer. 'Oh yeah, he was ready to lick Riku's popsicle' I thought with a smirk.

Giving up on poking Roxas, I pulled my own clothes back on and slid my bracelets back into place. "We're almost there," Riku told us with a smile. It wasn't a "smile" it was a "Riku smile" which we knew meant something was bothering him. He always played these damn games, acting like nothing was wrong when we could clearly see on his face that his mind was in a dark place…a place he was always afraid to take us.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, grabbing his arm to stop him and let Roxas get ahead of us. "Nothing," He told me with another fake smile. "I know you're lying Riku," I told him angrily. "Lay off, Kairi!" He snapped back, pulling his arm away and walking into the thinning trees.

My heart is aching to see you play
And I can't wait till another day

For a moment, all was still.

"We know you are out here!" I heard a man's voice shout over an megaphone, the sound of dogs barking in the distance making my skin chill. Oh no…I ran as fast as possible, grabbing Riku and Roxas to get them running as well. "What the fuck, Kairi?" Riku asked as we ran.

"It's the fucking cops! They followed us in the woods with dogs!" I shouted at him, town appearing before us. And red and blue lights. "Shit!" I hissed. "They have us trapped," I told them hovering for a moment between the trees. We hadn't been spotted yet but we had to be spotted eventually.

We were trapped.

"Come on, this way!" Roxas told us, grabbing our arms and pulling us to the left away from town. "Where are we going?" I asked him as we ran, our breaths sounding louder and louder as we panted from the strain of all the running. "Here," He stopped, pointing at the lake before us.

"This lake has a river on the other side that goes past my house. You'll have to take the subway to get to your house, Kai, but you'll be safe," He told us, jumping into the lake as he began swimming away from the shore. "Come on, guys!" He called to us.

We had no other choice. I didn't like the idea of swimming in a disgusting lake in the middle of the night or coming home soaking wet or even walking around with my jeans rubbing against my skin and chaffing it because of the water, but this would keep us out of the slammer. And really, that's all that mattered to me.

I jumped in and Riku followed after me. We swam for a while until we came to an opening that had a strong current which we took to be the river we had been aiming to find.

"This is it," Roxas told us. We got out of the water and walked along the shore, following the river. It wasn't a good idea to be wandering around here so late at night, the forest threatened to swallow us whole. The "pretty night" from earlier had transformed into a dark, scary place that made me shiver in the late summer air.

"And here we are," Roxas finally whispered, the little river disappearing to the left and a highway straight ahead, opening up for us. "Finally…" I muttered, relief evident on all of our faces. We were off scott-free. "Alright, Kai, this is where we part ways," Riku said, hurriedly throwing his arm around me in a quick one-sided hug that left me more than a little bitterly disappointed.

The way you shake me is really hot
You know how to use what you got

"Bye Roxas, Bye Riku…" I mumbled, waving as they took off across the highway to the neighborhoods lying beyond and I continued alongside it wondering why the hell I had to live on the other side of this huge city.

I guess for several reasons….

See, my mom wasn't "World's Greatest Mom!" Or "Supermom!" Or anything like a good parental model. My mom was an alcoholic. A drug addict. A stripper for most of my life. And she looks down on me for following in her inadequate, messed up footprints.

So we lived in this crappy apartment, my father a face in the crowd of many, and I was the deviant of my household. My mother's success in the realty business giving her the most condescending attitude I'd ever had to bear witness to. And on nights like this, when I had been away for a while, she'd be drinking. "Why are you so fat, Kairi? Huh? What's with the long face, Kairi? What's crawled up your ass, Kairi? Where ya been, Kairi? Kairi! Kairi! Kairi!" Until finally, I'd snap. I'd say something…anything…back to defend myself.

Sometimes I couldn't even go to school for a couple of days after that.

She wasn't always abusive, just when I snapped at her or she'd been drinking a lot. Normally, I tried my very best just to keep my damn mouth shut. It wasn't easy, I'd always been known to have a bit of an attitude but when it came to her I was just too much of a coward to stand up for myself.

But, like my signature locks, I had a fiery temper that was a force to be reckoned with.

I love playing with fire
And I don't wanna get burned

I sighed, walking on to the subway station that lay near their neighborhood. It was nice to get out of the wind that had picked up, my wet clothes making me shiver from the chill. A gas station lay ahead of me, the subway station stairs farther up to the left. A market stretched out on my right and several shops dotted the area as the space became urban and I stepped out of the rural woods that stretched behind our town.

It was a nice change of pace when I stepped down into the warmth of the subway station. At this time of night it was nearly deserted, only the occasional businessman back from the hotel where he'd been "at business," and strange men in trench coats walked around.

I briefly noticed that there were no women around and I was all alone.

Maybe it wasn't such a great idea being here at night…but how else would I get home? I didn't have any other fucking way. Besides, those assholes had left me all by myself and if I got hurt it would make them feel bad, right? So I guess it wasn't my fault at all and definitely not my idea. I had no choice, I was only a helpless victim of fate and bad friends, and I was perfectly innocent.

I sat down on a bench, feeling satisfied.

I love playing with fire
And I don't think I'll ever learn

Just then I heard a soft sob, a blur of black rushing past the place where I sat. I looked up in time to see a girl standing in front of the space that held the tracks for the subway. She was beautiful; her long blonde hair touched her lower back in soft cascades, her cheeks rosy and tear-stained, her lips trembling from the strain of holding in sobs, and her ocean blue eyes bloodshot. She had on a black hoodie that had obviously been used to help her sneak around in the dark night and a pair of navy blue pajama pants. It was made clear to me that she hadn't planned on sneaking out to come to the subway station, even her signature bulky, hipster eyeglasses were missing.

I saw the next subway train coming and saw the girl take a deep breath, as if to prepare herself.

Immediately, I knew what she was planning on doing. "No, wait!" I yelled, hopping up from the bench and grabbing the girl by her arm just in time to pull her out of the way of the subway. "What in the hell are you doing?" I gasped out, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.

She continued crying, her thin body shaking and suddenly she fell to her knees taking me down with her. "K-kairi?" She asked me between soft cries. I nodded my head, feeling as though I should reach out to her but not quite knowing how to.

Acting tough with looks that kill
You got me going and I can't stand still

"What are you d-doing here?" She asked, rubbing her little red nose with the sleeve of her hoodie, observing me with tired eyes. "I don't think that's the important question right now. I think a more important question is, hm, I don't know…why the fuck did you just try to kill yourself?" I responded, forgetting to be nice in my haste to figure out why I'd saved this loser from certain death.

"It's a long story," She replied carefully, looking down at her hands in embarrassment. "I have time. Just missed my subway," I said huffily, standing up and helping her up as well. "Come sit down," I told her, leading her to the bench I'd been sitting on when I'd first seen her. "I don't really wanna talk about it," She told me, rubbing her arm and looking off into the distance.

A stray tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away with a quick wave of her hand.

I felt my heart speed up, something like empathy filling me. I knew she didn't want to sit here on this cold bench next to a sopping wet girl she barely knew but I felt like it was ridiculously important for her to do so. As though somehow that would make everything better, even if it wouldn't. "Please, sit," I told her, scooting over so she could. "Why are you trying to help me?" She asked, sitting tentatively down on the wet spot and frowning as she tried to wipe some of the water off with her hoodie sleeve. Not that it really mattered; she was already from where I'd pulled her against me out of the way of the subway.

"I guess…"I started, pausing as I tried to identify the reason. This was Roxas' sister, that meant something right? But I didn't particularly care for her. So why help her? In any case, she might not have even died. Maybe she wouldn't have even had the courage to do it. So why decide to help her? "I don't…know," I finally managed to get out.

"Well…thanks," She said softly. Her voice was timid, unsure, and the exact opposite of my haughty, sure voice. Something in me longed to reach out and comfort her, to give her the courage to speak and maybe even get to know her.

My arms are dying to hold ya tight
You're my little dark dynamite you know

I shook the feeling away and held my arms closer around myself. "Here," She said, peeling off her hoodie and putting it over my shoulders. Under her hoodie she wore a spaghetti-strapped black tank top that had the image of a moon surrounded by clouds in the middle. I smiled; it was almost cute to see her in her pajamas here in the middle of the night.

"Aren't you going to head home?" I asked her, speculating on her presence that suddenly made me worry that I might actually have to sit here and have an awkward conversation with this girl had somehow saved. "Um…I don't really think that's a good idea," She said, fiddling with the ribbons on the front of her pajama pants.

"You could…um…go to my house, I guess…" I trailed off, not quite sure why I'd offered to help her. When I looked into her eyes I saw myself, facing my mother in cowardly silence, staring right back at me. It made sense to me now, why I wanted so badly to help her. She was…like me. Less attractive and nerdier but something like a knock off of myself.

"That would be great!" She said quickly, brightening with enthusiasm.

"So uh…you still fucking that Sora kid or whatever?" I asked, trying to make some conversation. Her face darkened and her mouth tightened into a thin line on her pale face. "We don't do that sort of stuff," She said with a sniff. Well, that was bitchy. "Too good for it or something?" I asked her, crossing my arms. She looked ashamed and her face reddened slightly, "Not what I meant," She told me. "Don't worry, I get it. You're not into the guy, right?" I asked and her eyes widened as she nodded her head in astonishment. "How'd you know?" She asked and I shrugged, "I'm not named the gossipy bitch for no reason."

I love playing with fire
And I don't wanna get burned

"Just…don't tell anyone. Please?" She begged of me and I smiled, knowing no one would really care about her and her little boyfriend's problems. "Cross my heart and hope to die," I told her. She sighed in relief and leaned back against the back of the bench, closing her eyes. "Tired?" I asked her and she nodded. "Listen, why don't we just go back to your house? It's closer and whatever it is you're running from," at this I sighed and put an arm around her shoulders, "I'll be here to face it with you."

It was the nicest thing I'd said to anyone in...a long time.

I felt a tingle of something warm rush through me and I smiled against my will, pulling her up so we could walk together. "Is that okay with you?" I asked her and she reflected my smile. "Sounds great. Just promise me one thing Kairi."

"Um what?" I asked her unsurely.

"Promise you'll talk to me again after tonight," She requested of me, her eyebrow raised in a challenging way that made me want to give her my own bitchy challenge back. "I promise and whatnot," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Now let's get to your house," I told her. And to Riku I silently added to myself as we ascended the stairs into the night again.

I looked over at my walking partner and knew, somewhere deep inside, that our encounter meant more than I'd imagined. Tonight, I'd saved the life of a girl I barely knew. Instead of an end, this was a beginning. Our beginning. And with a smile, I welcomed it.

It was time for something new.

I love playing with fire
And I don't think I'll ever learn