ONE

Two days prior

SOPHIE FOSTER

Every teenager knows that parties are the bane of their existence.

A party is where all the bad stuff happens. You get drunk. You pull pranks. You might say things you never wanted to say. You might do something involving your crush.

That last one, now, that's the most common and therefore, deadliest one. And that's exactly what happened to me.

So I should have known better when It Girl Marella Redek invited the whole school to a party. Lucky for Marella, our school was fairly small so she wasn't in huge trouble.

Originally, I wasn't going to go. I wish I hadn't let Biana sway me.

Okay, let's back the T-Rex up to when we got the invitation.

"Soooophie!" Biana squealed, running towards me. I turned to face her. My friends and I were having our daily meet-up after school. I was currently alone with the boys: my cousin, Dex Dizznee; Biana's brother, Fitz Vacker; and Keefe Sencen-Fitz's best friend and Biana's boyfriend.

"What?" I asked, staring at the overloading excitement on Biana's beautiful face.

"Marella Redek is throwing a party! And the WHOLE SCHOOL is invited," she blurted.

Dex rolled his eyes. "Wow, a party? For a tiny suburban high school? Breaking news! I never would have imagined-"

I held up a hand and Dex stopped talking.

"Okay…" I said to Biana. "But just because there's a party doesn't mean we have to go."

"Are you kidding?" Biana stared incredulously at me. "It's the biggest party since, like, ever! We MUST go!"

With that apparently settled, she turned to Keefe and beamed at him. "Come with me?"

"Of course, Princess," Keefe answered, smirking at her and toying with a strand of her hair. I tried, really hard, not to gag.

"Okay, great. Party," Dex agreed airily. "When is it, again?"

"Two days from now, on Saturday," Biana replied swiftly. She turned to Fitz. "Fitzy, you gotta find a date! Ask Sophie or something!"

Fitz's face reddened and he glanced fleetingly at me. I wanted to shake my head. Nononono. I couldn't go with Fitz Vacker. I used to have a giant crush on him, but it had faded away...somehow. (*coughs* Keefe *coughs*)

Luckily, we were saved by the Dizznee's exchange students, Tam and Linh Song. Tam marched towards us, Linh skipping behind him, stopping occasionally to stomp in puddles.

"Hi to you too," Dex muttered as Tam stopped nearby.

I didn't know the Song twins too well, but they'd come a couple years ago, and left for Vietnam in the summertime. They didn't have any other friends, so they hung around with us sometimes. Well-Linh did. And she dragged Tam along.

"Hiya, guys!" Linh exclaimed. Her beautiful face split into a smile. "Did you hear about the party?"

"Actually, we were just discussing it," Biana replied. I buried my face in my hands. Why must we talk about it?

"Apparently we're invited," Linh continued, oblivious to my predicament. "Are you guys going?"

"Yep!" Biana agreed before I could intervene.

"Yay!" Linh's smile was so genuine, I couldn't bear to contradict her. "Then we'll come too. Right, Tam?"

"What-no. Why on Earth would I want to go to a party?" he asked sardonically, glaring at us suspiciously from under his bangs.

"Uh, for fun. Ever heard of fun, Bangs Boy?" Keefe jumped in, tossing the Hair for added effect.

"Yes. And I don't like it," Tam answered coolly. But I could see a glimmer of mirth in his silver-blue eyes.

"Okaaay. Great! Do y'all want to come over to our place?" Biana suggested, gesturing to herself and Fitz. "We can get ready for the party."

And despite Tam's greatest wishes, we did.

A/N: Sorry, that was horrible. T_T