"Raven, you ready?" Selene calls from the other side of my bathroom door.

"Yeah, almost!" I yell back. My hands shake vigorously as I grab my blush. I brush it on quickly and then I apply a fruit punch pink lipstick. I exhale as I stare at myself in the mirror: silver and black smoky eye, my curls in perfect ringlet-form and a purple fit-and-flare dress with black tights. I turn and open the door. "Ready!"

"It's about time! They've probably started the party without us!" Selene cracks. She flips her newly-curled locks behind her shoulder and fixes her black body-con dress. Selene notices my shaking. "You're still shaking? You seriously need to chill out."

"Shut up," I mutter. "Let's just go. Jay hates when people are late." I walk over to my closet to grab a pair of Oxford flats and I notice that Selene has her five-inch patent black strappy heels in her hand. "You're wearing those?" I raise an eyebrow.

Selene looks down at her shoes. "Yeah, what's wrong with them?"

"Well, we are going to a bar, and well… those are five inches."

My older sister thinks for a moment and then it hits her. "What are you insinuating?" She puts her hands on her hips.

"I'm just saying, Selene, you like to get tipsy."

"Listen, Raven, I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself and I choose to wear these shoes. Not let's go!" She stomps out of the room and I follow her. The elevator ride is silent.

"Do you want me to drive?" I ask, trying to be cordial.

"No," Selene snaps.

No words are spoken on the way to the bar where the TAPS guys and gals always hang out. It has been a week since Selene and I have moved to Warwick, Rhode Island and our new coworkers are throwing us a welcome party. I have to admit, it's weird not being in Grand Rapids—I have lived there my whole life, but that era has ended. Selene and I have separate apartments since we figured that we would kill each other if we shared one. I have been putting out applications to different bakeries and I have an interview next week, since Selene and I are technically on TAPS probation to see if it works out.

"We're here," Selene says quietly.

I snap out of my trance. "Oh, good!"

We enter the bar and the TAPS team shouts, "Aye!" Everyone is there: Jay, Grant, Andy, Dustin, Donna, Brian, Tango and… Steve.

"Hey, guys!" I say as loud as I can possibly bear when I am in front of them. I step towards our group.

"Girls, I would like you to meet Andy and Dustin," Jay says with a smile, gesturing to a short, scrawny man and a taller man with spikey hair.

"Hi, I'm Raven, and this is my sister, Selene," I introduce.

"Nice to meet you, girls, and welcome to the team," Andy says in a friendly tone.

"Okay, enough introductions—let's party!" Selene says with an excited smile. She walks over to the counter and orders a drink for herself.

"…Sorry about that," I say, rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment. "She likes to have fun!"

"Nah, that's all right. I get that," Dustin assures me.

"Okay," I breathe. "Well, I'm gonna go get myself a drink and I'll talk to you guys later." I wave and walk over by my sister. "Corona Light with a squirt of lime, please," I say to bartender. He hands me the drink and I look around, trying desperately to find a table, but then I spot Steve and Dave… and then they spot me and begin to wave me over. "Oh, geez," I whisper to myself as I start to walk over.

"Hey, Raven," Tango says with a grin. "You look nice."

"Thanks," I mutter, slightly blushing. "Hey, Steve."

"Hi, Raven," he smiles.

"Well, I'm going to go ask Selene if she wants me to buy her a drink," Tango says boldly.

"Oh, could you watch her for me?" I ask.

"Of course!" He runs a hand through his dark hair and jogs over to where my sister is sitting.

I stand there, awkwardly sipping my beer, too nervous to say anything.

"Would you like to sit down?" Steve asks, gesturing to the chair across from him.

"Oh, sure!" I climb into the high chair, setting my drink on the table. I stare at the bottle filled with the golden liquid, not wanting to make eye contact.

"Are you okay? You're shaking!" Steve points out.

"What?" I exclaim. "What? No, I'm fine! I'm just…"

"… Nervous?"

I exhale loudly. "Yes, I'm sorry."

Steve puts his hand on my arm and my heart about jumps out of my chest. "There's no need to apologize… and there's no reason to be nervous. We're all nice people, and we're very happy to have to you aboard."

My eyes finally creep up to meet his underneath his hat. "Okay… and thanks." I smile weakly.

"You do look really nice, by the way."

I can feel my face grow hot as I think of something to say. "And I'm glad to see that you dressed up for the party." I gesture to his black jeans, Nike sneakers, and plain black shirt with a sweatshirt.

"Well, then…" he says humorously.

I laugh, finally feeling comfortable. I take a few more sips of my beer until it's drained. "I better go get another one…"

"No, I'll get it," Steve says, getting up. "What did you have?"

"Corona Light with a squirt of lime," I reply, suppressing a girlish grin.

Steve returns with our drinks and we get to talking about different things. He tells me about the craziest cases he has been on and what it's like to be on the police force. I explain what exactly I do at the bakery and how I got started into paranormal investigation.

Suddenly, I hear commotion. I look behind me to find Jay and Grant dragging Brian out of the bar. "What's that about?" I ask.

"Brian's a hot head. Jay and Grant are probably going to take him home. He can be such a dick…" Steve explains.

"Really? I had no idea!" I say with fake wonderment.

Steve smiles as he takes a gulp of his beer.

We get back to our conversation and before I know it, the bar is almost completely empty, leaving only Selene, Tango, Dustin, Steve and me.

"Whoa!" I hear along with a crash. I turn around to find Selene on the floor, trying to get herself up. She must be trashed. I get up and Steve follows.

"Selene!" I call over.

"It's all right, Raven, I've got her," Tango says, kneeling down to help my inebriated sister up.

"Are you sure?" I ask, feeling uncomfortable with this whole situation.

"Yeah, I'll just take her home. Where are your keys?"

I think about it for a moment. I trust Tango, right? He seems like a decent guy. There is no reason to fear that something would happen to Selene. I sigh and pull the keys out of my purse. "Here," I say flatly. "I'll text her address to you." I pull out my cellphone.

I shake my head as I watch Tango help Selene out of the bar and get into her car. I feel tears well in my eyes.

"You okay?" Steve asks solemnly.

I put my finger up to my eyeball to remove the water from it. "No," I sniffle.

"C'mon, let me take you home." Steve takes my hand and leads me out of the bar and to his car.

I climb into the passenger seat and I buckle my seatbelt, feeling a headache coming on. I close my eyes and Steve starts the car up. Then I feel a hand on mine.

"Raven, you're going to need to stay awake if I'm going to take you to your place," Steve says with a chuckle.

I giggle. "I guess." I direct him to my apartment building. I would be snooping around his car because I'm a creeper like that but it was too dark.

"Is this it?" Steve asks, pointing to the building on the left.

"Yes, that's it. You can just park in one of the spaces."

Steve does so and I slump down in my seat. Oh, Selene, why do you do these things, especially in front of our new coworkers? At least Jay and Grant weren't there. We would have gotten fired on the spot. I just hope the TAPS witnesses keep it under wraps.

"None of us are going to say anything, you know," Steve says, his voice cracking.

I turn my head to look at him. "How do you know?"

He looks at me. "Because all of us have gotten sloshed and fallen in a bar before. Trust me; no one is going to say anything to Jay and Grant."

I sit up and do something I never thought I would have the balls to do. I lean over toward Steve and kiss his cheek. When I pull away a few inches, our eyes meet and our lips press together. I put my hand on his cheek as our mouths open. He tastes likes beer, and I imagine I do too. Steve puts his hand on my shoulder but then slides it down to my hands and down to my hip.

The moment finally catches up with me and I immediately pull away, putting my hands to my forehead. "Oh my God, I am so sorry."

There is a look of panic on Steve's face. "No, I'm sorry! I went to too far!"

"No… no, you didn't. I was the one out of line. I'm sorry. I just… I need to go." I grab my purse and open the car door, sprinting to my apartment building.