"Spencer!" The voice cut through the low base filling the dark and crowded room. I looked over at my roommate who was pushing her way through the mess of people, moving in my direction. She stopped briefly to step over a sweaty body sprawled on the floor and threw me a why-the-fuck-are-we-hear look.

"Madison," I chuckled as she finally slid up next to me, "you dragged me here, not the other way around, so don't give me that look."

"Whatever. Let's just go out back, Jessica is out there waiting. It's too damn hot in here!" She exclaimed, shoving off a drunk girl who was trying to use her for support. "Ugh, seriously!"

I turned to the small group of people I had been talking to for the past half hour and threw them the whole 'nice meeting you' followed by an apologetic smile routine as Madison started pulling me away.

"Wait," I felt a large hand grab my wrist, "I thought maybe we could head out of here," a gruff voice said "you know, just you and me?"

I fidgeted a little as I looked down at the hand clamped onto my arm and let out a small sigh, "I'm flattered, really, but-"

"Listen buddy," Madison's harsh voice came shooting over my shoulder, "unless you drop the dick and grow a hot rack she's not interested." My eyes shot from my wrist up to the shocked faced staring at Madison. "So," she continued with a rough tug on my arm that brought me stumbling backwards into her, "I suggest you back off." And with that she turned on her heel and continued pulling me through the sea of people.

A smile spread across my face as I watched the back of Madison's head. We hadn't always been friends. Hell, there was a time we couldn't stand each other. But that was back in High School when she was Head Cheerleader and I was the girl she kicked off the squad for dating a basketball player. A female basketball player to be a little more specific.

Can't get much higher on the Bitch Scale than that.

We exchanged a slew of unflattering words and phrases through the rest of our High school years but things changed once college came around. I had answered an ad for two girls looking for a roommate my Freshman year at UCLA and one of them turned out to be Madison. We were both shocked when I showed up for a tour but she quickly apologized for her past behavior, explaining that she had changed and was deeply sorry for how she'd treated me. She even threw in the fact that her other roommate, Jessica, was actually gay and she had no problem with it. It took a little while for me to come around to the idea of living with Madison but after some persuasion I decided to go for it.

We've been roommates and friends ever since.

And she's a great one, friend that is, but sometimes she tends to be a little overprotective. Hence the whole "drop the dick" situation. I'm guessing it has something to do with feeling bad for how she treated me in High School and, even though it can be a bit much at times, can't criticize her for caring, right?

I let out a long sigh when I felt a cool breeze pull my hair away from my neck and face.

"Better right?" Madison grinned as she looked over at me.

"Much." I took in the backyard we had stepped out into. It was dimly lit by strings of white hanging lights that swayed back and forth ever so slightly in the gentle breeze. The lawn was outlined by leafy trees and there was what looked like a pool and pool house farther out. "Whose house is this anyway?" I mused allowed.

"Who knows, gotta be someone rich though yeah?" A voice to my left made me jump.

"Jessica, you scared me!" I scolded my read-headed roommate with a smile as she snaked her arm around my waist.

"Well not a hard thing to do, you're always milling around in that head of yours." She chided gently before striding forward, beckoning me and Madison to follow.

We ended up down at the pool, all three of us, with our feet dangling over the edge. Madison was swaying next to me. She was humming some obscure tune, spilling beer over the side of her cup every so often. Jessica was over on the other side of the pool. She had been laughing and leaning into the ear of some girl for the last ten minutes. I sighed inwardly as I nursed my beer. This was definitely going to be a longer night than I had hoped. There was no way I was going to be able to pull Jessica away from that pretty blonde anytime soon and it was safe to say I'd be needing her help getting Madison home tonight.

I let my eyes scan over the small clusters of intoxicated people scattered in and around the pool. The light danced over their bodies and faces as it bounced off the surface of the water. Everything felt a bit surreal in this place, almost like time had slowed to a lazy meander. The inhabitants of the small space looked to be a little less than human; the light adding more dignity to their features than their current states deserved. It was then that I felt my breath catch in my chest as my eyes fell on her.

One thought occupied my mind.

Beautiful.

She was leaning her hip on one of the poolside tables, bracing herself on a hand as her body curved forward, talking to another woman in a chair in front of her. Soft auburn curls framed her face and even in this light I could tell her skin was a delicate bronze. A self-assured smile graced her perfect face as she looked down, deep in conversation.

The sounds of water and chatter died around me and the thump of my heart deepened but slowed as my whole body focused its attention on her. I saw her forehead crease slightly with a frown. Her head snapped up and her eyes immediately locked onto mine from across the pool as if she knew she was being watched. As if she knew it was me doing the watching.

I was too surprised to look away. Surprised by the intense dark eyes that held onto my cobalt blues. Surprised by the way my body was reacting to the whole situation. I don't know how long we had been staring at each other but all I could focus on was the steady, deep thumping of my heart and those eyes.