Chapter Three

Mark picked me up at seven on Saturday night to go to Anya's party. When we arrived at her house, no, her mansion, Mark parked across the street and got out. I followed him into the house, a little unsure. Music was blasting from the surround sound speakers and I could barely hear myself think over the din. The air smelled heavily of alcohol and cigarette smoke. I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face as the person next to me exhaled a stream of smoke into my face. It didn't take me long to realize that it wasn't supervised. Either that or her parents were extremely lenient.

"You want a drink," Mark yelled, I nodded. As Mark went over to the refreshment table, I looked around. I spotted Anya on the other side of the room attempting to flirt with James, who wasn't paying her a bit of attention. My eyes scanned the room and I saw people from the table at lunch and other people that I didn't know.

"Hey babe, you wanna dance?" A tall guy with a goatee slurred.

"She's with me," Mark had suddenly appeared by my side. The guy rocked on his feet, obviously drunk.

"Whoa, chill dude," The guy said as he wobbled away. Mark smiled at me and handed me a martini glass filled with a pale green drink.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I got apple," I thanked him and took a sip. I wasn't much of an alcohol drinker. Well actually not at all. I'd had sips of champagne at weddings but that was about it. At first it was a revolting taste, but after a few sips it wasn't so bad. Mark led me over to the corner where Anya and James were hanging out. I greeted them and noticed that James gave me the once over.

"Lily! I'm glad you could make it!" Anya said loudly. She also held a martini glass and I could see that she was slightly tipsy. I sat down on the couch and Mark sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. He downed his shot of straight Vodka and got up to get another. I turned my attention to Anya who was still trying in vain to get James to notice her. James came and sat down next to me.

"Hi," He said to me. I smiled warmly and greeted him.

"Whats up?" I asked. He shrugged indifferently. Mark walked back over and squeezed in between us and his arm resumed its position around my shoulder. James left the vicinity and wandered over to another part of the room, with Anya following him like a puppy. Mark downed his second shot and stood up. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"Let's dance," He said, dragging me to the middle of the floor. I let myself be led to the middle of the room where there were people dancing energetically. I began to move to the upbeat music alongside Mark. He grabbed me by the hips and pulled me closer. I could tell that the alcohol was beginning to get to him. He wouldn't be so loose and open if he were completely sober. He left his hands on their spot on my hips as we danced. I looked around at the other people dancing. Many of them were drunk or at least a little tipsy. Some were so into their dancing that they were practically having sex on the dance floor. I rolled my eyes and continued to dance. After a little while I was a little tired. I told Mark I was going to the kitchen to get some water. I headed into the next room. When I walked in I was surprised. Ava stood there leaning on the counter reading a magazine. She looked up when I walked in. Her blue eyes widened in surprise.

"Lily?" I smiled.

"Hey, I didn't know you were friends with Anya," I said. She laughed lightly.

"I'm not,"

"Then why-"

"She's my sister," I gasped in surprise. She laughed again.

"Yeah we're different. But we look the same. I just dye my hair and dress different. If I wore pink all the time and kept my hair blonde, you would have problems telling us apart," I nodded as I noticed the resemblance. That's why I thought Anya's eyes were so familiar. "So what are you doing here?"

"I'm here with Mark," Ava's eyes narrowed.

"Be careful Lily. Mark is trouble. He has a problem," I frowned. So far I hadn't seen anything wrong with him. But Ava probably knew him better. Him being one of her sister's friends.

"What's wrong with him?" I never got that answer because Mark strode into the kitchen at that moment. It was obvious that he had had more to drink during my time in the kitchen.

"C'mon Lils! Let's dance," He slurred dragging me back into the living room. I never got my drink of water. I danced for a little while longer and then went back to the kitchen to actually get a cup of water. When I went in there this time, Ava was nowhere to be seen. I found a cup in a cupboard above the sink and filled it with water from the filter in the corner. I drank it straight down and headed back into the party. I found Mark sprawled on a couch. He was completely wasted, and passed out on the couch. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was eleven o clock. I had to be home at eleven thirty. I looked at Mark. He was my ride. I sighed. There was no way that he was going to be able to drive within the next ten minutes. I looked around and my eyes fell on the stairs. I pushed my way through the crowd to the stairs and made my way up. I guessed which way to turn at the top of the stairs. I picked left. I was led into a hallway with five doors. Two of the doors were blank. One door was covered with posters and stickers from punk rock bands while the other was covered with posters of pop singers like Hilary Duff and what not. I could guess which one was Ava's. I knocked on the door with the bands on it. There was shuffling from the other side as Ava got up to open the door. She smiled when she saw it was me.

"Hey, come in," Ava said, opening her door wider. I shook my head.

"I can't. I actually have to get home. Do you think you could drive me? Mark was my ride, and he's completely wasted," I explained. Ava rolled her eyes.

"Figures," She muttered. I frowned in confusion and was about to open my mouth to ask what she meant when she interrupted me. "Don't ask, you'll find out for yourself soon enough," I shrugged and followed her downstairs to the four car garage. She lead me to a black convertible sitting next to Anya's volkswagen. The garage opened and Ava backed the car out. We drove to my house in almost complete silence, only broken so I could tell her directions. As I went to get out of the car Ava took something out of the glove compartment. It was a spray bottle. She took off the cap and sprayed me down. I looked at her curiously.

"It takes most of the cigarette and alcohol smell away. So parents don't ask questions. I'm like the designated driver at these things," I chuckled and got out of the car.

"Thank you so much," I said before I closed the door and went into my house.

0000000

Mark called me the next afternoon.

"What happened? You just left!"

"I told you I had to be home at eleven thirty! At eleven you were passed out on the couch,"

"If you had woken me up, I could have brought you home,"

"You were completely wasted. I just had Anya's sister drive me,"

"Anya's sister? Ava? You hang out with her?"

"No, she's in one of my classes. She's nice,"

"Lily, I don't think you should-" Mark began. I interrupted him.

"Mark I have to go, talk to you later!" I hung up. I had the feeling Mark was about to tell me that he didn't think I should talk to Ava. I sighed. I wasn't going to let my boyfriend tell me who I was going to hang out with and who I wasn't. I headed downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a soda out of the refrigerator. The phone rang again as I was heading up the stairs. I ran to answer it before my sister but she got there first.

"Hello?" she said sweetly. "Anya? No there's no Lily here," She said obnoxiously. I grabbed the phone from her.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi, Lily?"

"Yeah, hey Anya what's up?" I said casually.

"Not much. I just wanted to say that I saw you leave with my sister yesterday,"

"Yeah. She's in my homeroom. She's nice. I didn't know you guys were sisters until last night,"

"Not many people know, and I'd like to keep it that way. In case you haven't noticed, she's sort of an outcast. I'm glad we started you out with the cool people, before she got to you. She'd probably get you to wear all black and put red streaks in your hair like her and her friends," Ouch. Harsh.

"Umm," was all I could say.

"Well anyway. Just stay away from her okay? We don't want the populars to get a bad rep kay? Great! See you tomorrow!" She hung up before I could say cat or dog. I sighed. This could get interesting.