Chapter One- Honest Mistake
Callie knew it was a bad idea.
The brunette stood to the side of the room watching as her foster sister danced drunkenly, wedged between two guys. Callie had tried to keep an eye on her but between Wyatt's meltdown, the run-in with Liam, and Mariana slipping off out of her sight, Callie had missed the half a dozen drinks the Latina had downed.
Now Callie was torn. She knew what she should do; taking Mariana home undoubtedly outweighed spending the night with Wyatt, but the boy's meltdown earlier had honestly scared her and she wanted to make sure he was going to be okay.
Callie made eye-contact with Mariana from across the room, and she wasn't surprised when she received a glare in response. Even drunk, Mariana still had a problem with Callie.
Callie sighed, brushing it off as she turned around and went in search of Wyatt. Mariana would be fine by herself for a while, she reasoned.
Mariana watched as Callie walked off, surprised to find herself even more annoyed at her foster sister although she didn't really know why. She stopped dancing and made her way over to the drinks station, grabbing the closest empty cup and filling it with beer.
She downed it quickly as her mind went to the rest of the night. Right now Jesus and Lexi were probably laughing and having fun her moms and Lexi's parents.
She shrugged it offer bitterly and went to grab another drink but was stopped before she could.
"Mariana, right?"
Mariana turned to see who had just called her name, surprised when she saw a taller yet attractive blonde standing behind her. He had two drinks in his hands and gave her a smile.
"Yeah?"
The blonde boy smirked, but the liquor in Mariana's system kept her from seeing the sinister side. "I'm Liam."
"Nice to meet you." Mariana's voice was slurred but she was still sober enough to throw him a flirting smile. "How do you know my name?"
"I'm a friend of your sister's."
Mariana rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Foster sister."
"Right. Sorry." That was just the reaction Liam was hoping for as he held out a drink to her. "Let me make it up to you?"
Mariana smiled, flirting as she accepted the drink. "Sure."
"Do you want to go somewhere quieter?" Liam asked after he was sure Mariana had downed at least half her drink. "Come on, I know a place."
Mariana followed without a word. She was becoming dizzy and it was too hard to focus on walking straight and talking at the same time but she put it down to one too many drinks.
She didn't even protest as Liam placed a hand on her back and lead her up the stairs. She looked over the banister and saw Callie talking with Wyatt which only made her more determined. She didn't even argue when they made their way into an abandoned bedroom, and she watched as he locked the door behind them before joining her on the old mattress in the middle of the room.
Callie was pissed off. It was half an hour before their curfew and Mariana was nowhere in sight. Even if she did manage to find her soon, they would still be cutting it close.
It was partially her fault. She had spent the last hour with Wyatt, consoling the drunk boy. However when he got up and went back out to the party straight afterwards, Callie's mood had already been dampened.
"Have you seen Mariana?" Callie was trying not to sound frustrated. She didn't even worry about who she was asking, she just wanted to find the other girl.
The only responses Callie got were either "No's" or drunken stares. Callie shook her head and weaved her way through the dozens of drunken teenagers.
"Who are you looking for?"
Callie turned at a tap on her shoulder, coming face-to-face with a guy she vaguely recognized as one of Brandon's friends from school. "Mariana Foster."
"Brandon's sister?" Callie nodded. "Come on, I'll help you look."
Callie would have usually thrown back some statement about not needing help but she was getting desperate and figured if she had someone helping her then they may just be able to make it back to the house before curfew. "Thanks.
"No problem. Designated driver, got nothing better to do." Callie didn't ask for a reason but it did explain why he wasn't drunk like everyone else at the party. "I'm Jake."
Callie nodded, shaking his hand quickly. "Callie."
"Come on, she's probably around here somewhere."
After ten minutes of searching downstairs, the two split up; Jake taking outside while Callie headed upstairs.
"Mariana?"
Callie was annoyed now. She didn't even want to come to the party in the first place and now she was going to get into trouble for breaking curfew.
A girl near by pulled away from the boy she was making out with, giggling drunkenly as the boy kissed her neck. "She's in the bedroom."
Callie looked towards the room the girl had nodded at and made her way towards the door.
"Mariana?" Callie knocked repeatedly on the bedroom door, trying to twist the doorknob.
It was locked so Callie simply kept knocking, her voice getting louder as she became more panicked.
She turned back to the girl, chewing her lip anxiously. "Is she in there with anyone?"
"Some boy." The girl giggled again as the boy groped his hands up and down her body. "Hottie. Older. He's not from school."
That was never a good description, but Callie was already on edge and her mind automatically went to Liam.
"Mariana? Open the door!" Callie knocked harder, using her shoulder to try and budge the locked door open.
She received no response so Callie kept trying, only stopping when Jake came up to join her.
"She's in there with some guy." Callie ran a hand through her hair, nodding towards the door.
"You're sure?"
Callie nodded. "Pretty, yeah, but I can't get it open."
Jake knocked on the door, trying his luck. When he received no answer, he put his ear to the door and listen for a few seconds before pulling away.
"Move back." He order Callie.
Callie did what he said, watching as he banged his shoulder against the door. On the third time, the door burst open, breaking off at the lock.
"What the hell?!"
Mariana was in the middle on the mattress, legs spread and completely unconscious. Liam was on top of her and turned angrily when the door opened.
Jake was across the room in seconds while Callie stood frozen in the doorway. She watched as he pulled Liam off Mariana and held him up against the wall, his fist connecting with Liam's face and body multiple times.
Callie only moved when she noticed they had attracted a crowd.
"Mariana?" Callie bent down beside the unconscious brunette, shaking her shoulder. "Hey. Wake up."
Callie pulled down Mariana's dress, ignoring the fact that her underwear was thrown a few feet away from them, and tried to help the Latina up.
"Mariana?" Callie shook Mariana's face, trying to get her to come around. "What did you take?"
Jake still had Liam against the wall, holding him back. "What did you give her?"
Liam smirked, focusing his attention only on Callie. "Nothing you didn't enjoy."
Callie shivered involuntarily and stood up shakily, trying to balance the weight of the smaller girl against herself. Mariana had started to come around but was still very much out of it.
"Hey, can you help?" Callie asked Wyatt who had appeared in the doorway much like the rest of the party.
Wyatt stepped forward, still drunk but sobering up as he took in the sight in front of him. He swung one of Mariana's arms around his shoulders as Callie did the same, both of them struggling to get the smaller girl out of the room and down the stairs.
They made it outside the house and Callie took a seat on the porch steps, balancing Mariana's weight against her as she turned to Wyatt. "Get some water."
Callie wasn't sure what to do so she did the first thing she could think of, throwing the glass of water across Mariana's face when Wyatt returned and handed it to her.
The party guests had gone back to the way they were before, bored by the drama caused by the two brunettes. Mariana was slowing gaining consciousness but was struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Mariana?" Callie questioned for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Mariana groaned but at least it was a response. Callie turned to Wyatt, still unsure of what to do.
"Call an ambulance." She finally ordered.
Mariana, who had come around more within the last few minutes, shook her head and groaned. "No…"
"You need help. We don't know what he gave you."
Mariana shook her head again, laying it down on Callie's lap as she struggled to stay awake. "No hospitals."
Callie didn't even know why she was arguing. Mariana was hardly in her right mind to be making decisions. "But-"
"No." Mariana stated once more.
Callie sighed, not knowing what to do. On one hand she knew it was in Mariana's best interests to call an ambulance, but on the other side, her foster sister disliked her enough already and it was her fault that she was in this position to start with.
"Don't tell moms."