Chapter I, The Lost, Naked Sheep

''Max, you have to totally come to my pj's party tonight!'' Dana squeezes my hands happily, her eyes flickering with pure excitement.

''I don't know, Dana . . . " I hesitate, eyeing her pretty blue, tight tank top that shows off her cleavage. Man, if I only was confident enough to wear clothes like that.

''Oh come on, it'll be fun!'' She encourages me, her expression hopeful and her blue eyes big and happy.

''Who will be there?'' I ask, hoping she won't say the name Victoria.

''Me and Juliet. You can bring Kate too, if you wish so.'' My face relaxes after she says so. I'm comfortable with her and Kate, but I don't know about Juliet. We've never really talked or anything and she seems like a pretty big drama queen to me.

''OK," I say and she nearly jumps from excitement. No wonder she's a cheerleader with this dose of energy.

''Great! I'll see you tonight, girlie," she turns and goes back into her room and I do the same.

I'm wrecked and I have bunch of homework to do, but I decide to text Kate first to let her know.

To: Kate

Hey Kate, you busy tonight? :)

I press 'send' and sit down at my desk as I turn my laptop on. I need to look up some photographers and write an essay on how each of them created their work differently and why they've done it that way and not the other.

Boriiiing.

Soon I hear my phone buzzing so I unlock it; Kate texted back.

From: Kate

Not at all. Why do you ask?

I could easily go to Kate and ask her in person, but I know we'd end up talking about something else and I'd totally forget about my essay, which I know won't be good for my -already- low grades.

To: Kate

Dana invited us to go to her pj's party tonight. Please come, I don't want to go by myself T^T

I text back and look for a clear sheet to write on. Now, the hard part. I actually have to write something down.

I stare at the screen for what feels like ages and when I'm done looking up all of these names, I grab a pen and allow the blue ink to create a careful row of letters.

An hour passes and I'm only halfway done, but I guess it's not too bad so I allow myself a short break.

I check my phone but Kate didn't answer so I decide to go to her room.

I knock and she tells me to come in.

She's playing with her bunny and smiles at me as I come in.

''Hey Max," she greets me and places the cute thing back into its cage ''I just woke up from a nap, sorry about the mess," she adds, hurrying to her unmade bed. Her room is perfectly clean, but Kate's always complaining how dirty it is.

''Did you get my text?'' I ask, settling myself on the sofa.

''Probably yes, I just didn't hear it," she says troubled, reaching for her phone resting on the cupboard and I think she begins to read my message ''Oh.'' She turns to me, slightly confused. ''That's so sweet Max, but I'm not so sure about it . . . "

''It'll be just us, Dana and Juliet. No Victoria," I say and she looks relieved.

She thinks for a while. ''Alright, Max. I'll come with you.''

We chit-chat about the essay for Mr. Jefferson's class as we drink tea. Kate offers her help with the assignment so we promise to meet tomorrow after school and do it together.

We decide to go get some snacks for tonight, so we head to the bus stop.

''Do you think they'll like me?'' Kate asks as we get on the bus and take our seats.

''Of course, Kate. Who wouldn't?'' I answer, giving her a cheering smile.

She's so shy and adorable, always worrying about what the others will think of her. She's so kind and cheerful, I don't think there'll ever be someone not liking her. She's just one of those likeable people, I guess.

Well, there's Victoria of course, but fuck her. No one cares about what she thinks.

''What people usually do at sleepovers?'' She asks shyly, and I take a minute to think.

''I'm not sure. I guess girls usually gossip and talk about boys a lot," I say, my answer making her expression change a bit.

''I don't like either," she answers and I bite my lip.

''Don't worry, I'm sure we'll do something more fun than that.''

Oh boy, I was right.

We're standing in front of Dana's door, bag full of snacks in my hand and I look over at Kate. She chose to wear a simple blue t-shirt and comfortable matching white-blue trousers with strips, while I had put on plain white t-shirt and pink shorts.

The door slowly opens and a pillow flies in our direction, hitting me straight in the face.

I hear Dana's laugh and I pick the pillow up, throwing it at her. We laugh and come in, where I put the bag on her desk and we settle ourselves at her sofa, while Dana and Juliet are talking about some video posted online.

Dana's dressed in a white tank top and grey shorts, while Juliet's got on a sexy looking layered-blouse with leopard theme and matching shorts.

We all decide to watch some rom-com movie on Dana's laptop and we like it so much we actually watch another one which turns out to be even better.

Then, Dana paints our nails and Juliet does our hair and we all pretend to be some crazy models on a side-walk, making funny comments about our costumes.

But when it's past 11, Dana takes out a water bottle and tells us to sit in a circle, explaining we're going to play some dares.

She spins the bottle and it stops pointing at me.

''Okay, Max, I've got a dare for you," Juliet speaks and she and Dana both giggle, looking amused. ''You'll go to the boy's dorms and take a long shower in their bathroom," she says and I open my mouth to refuse, but Dana stops me.

''Come on, Max. It'll be fun, you'll see.'' But I don't see. I don't get how taking a shower in their dirty bathroom will be amusing for me.

''If you do the dare, we'll worship you forever," I hear Juliet, but I shake my head in disagreement.

''We'll come with you,'' Dana adds ''We won't get in trouble if that's what you're worrying about.''

I think for a minute, Dana making a pretty-please face at me and I roll my eyes. "OK."

They both scream with excitement and they almost drag me out of the room, Kate following us behind.

''Max, are you sure it's a good idea?'' I hear Kate whisper as we're heading in our pj's to the boy's dorms.

''No. But it's gotta be fun, right?'' I ask, unsure of my own words and I feel the lump forming in my throat as Dana opens the big, double doors and seeing no one's out in the hall, she waves at us to follow her.

''We'll wait at you here. The showers are just there," Dana points at the white doors with her index finger and she crosses her arms, waiting for me to go. Wow, she must know each corner of this place.

I've never been here and I hope, -I pray- that no one will see me. To be honest, I'm scared and I don't even know why I agreed to even doing this stupid dare. I guess I want to be cool enough to be Juliet's and Dana's friend.

So I slowly open the doors and I peek in, luckily no one's in there. Do boys never shower?

I go in, nervously picking the cleanest shower which isn't easy considering boys will be boys and they're messy and I'm glad I'm a girl. Our dorms are -usually- neat and clean.

I undress and adjust water then I just stand there for a while, counting the seconds and thinking how many time has gone past.

At the thought of boys like Logan or Zachary washing in the same cabin I feel gross and want to get out of there as quickly as possible and I'm trying my best not to touch anything with my naked body.

Somebody comes in and I accidentally hit my hand against the wall. I cover my mouth, trying not to make any sound while I massage the painful spot.

I have no idea who the person is, because they remain quiet. Then, I hear a movement of my shower curtain so I move around quickly, to see that my clothes are gone.

I knew it. I knew they just wanted to prank me.

I hear their footsteps and laughter as they run away, amused with their successful little prank.

They are so goddamn childish sometimes.

I turn the water off and reach for a towel, but then I realise I didn't bring any towel, so I just grab my arms, not knowing what to do.

So I put on my cotton underwear, the only thing they left me.

I guess I could cover myself with the shower curtain. But maybe they're waiting for me at the hall, and everybody else is still in their rooms? God, I hope so.

So I open the door, shaking and shivering, hoping no one will see me.

But as I do so, I feel like I just hit something or rather someone and their growl makes me realise it's not the girls.

It's one of the boys.

And as I'm about to shut the doors, his hand stops it from closing and I turn around and run to the shower, where I hide and hope he'll go away.

''Who's in there?'' He asks, and I hear his footsteps, so I bite my cheek so hard I can feel the blood on my tongue.

What the hell have I got myself into? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

I cover my eyes and I feel myself shaking from both cold and horror.

Should I wait? Run? Hit him so he'll go away? Just walk out?

I know one thing. I definitely don't want him to see me.