Hello. New chapter! Okay, well… enjoy!

Chapter 3: Party Time

"You remember Miriam, Salima, and Queen from lunch." I nodded as Aya led me over to a group of 3 girls near the back of the classroom. "Guys, you remember Casey."

"Hi!" Miriam had long, indigo-colored hair pulled up into a ponytail and wore flared blue-jeans, a red tank-top, and a jean-jacket. She seemed to be more of the tough girl. Everything about her radiated a 'mess with me and your ass is roadkill.' She definitely looked to be someone I could get along with. I gave a small wave back to her.

"Nice to meet you." Salima had spiky red hair, the same color as Tala's. She wore black shorts, a lavender t-shirt, and a silver necklace with a tiger on it. She seemed nice enough but also looked quite stubborn. I had the feeling that once she made up her mind, nobody could change it. I shook her outstretched hand.

"Hey." Queen just looked bored. She had shoulder-length raven hair, and onyx eyes (I really don't know what color her eyes are. Please review and tell me). She wore long black pants and a thigh-length white shirt with a black, sleeveless jacket over it. This was, quite obviously, the bad girl of the group with a glare that could freeze a tornado in it's tracks.

"So, what's up?" Aya demanded. "You guys are excited about something. Well... most of you are."

"You haven't heard yet?" Miriam asked. "Lee's throwing a party." She thought it over before restating it. "The Wongs are having a party. Lee invited us and Mariah will be inviting her friends." All of them grimaced.

"Mariah?" I asked curiously.

"She's in Tala's group," Aya exclaimed. "She isn't so bad but if she invites her friends... Well it's going to be quite a party." She shifted uneasily and I could guess why. The groups in general didn't seem to get along very well. 'Quite the party' meant 'violence galore.'

"You should come," Salima suggested, looking at me.

"Yeah," Queen smirked, "it'll be a good show." Mariam hit her behind the head. Queen glared in response but the dark-haired girl was unaffected.

Aya and Salima rolled their eyes in exasperation and I couldn't help but laugh a bit. "When is it?" Aya asked.

"Saturday," they all replied simultaneously. I laughed a bit more. Hey, Mariam joined me! That means I'm not completely mental... right?

Saturday: (I know I skipped 3 days. I need to do this before I can work in some of my other ideas)

"Thanks for the ride," Mariam said as she ducked into the passenger seat.

"No problem. Besides, it's not exactly a limo."

She shrugged. "It's better than nothing."

I let my foot off the clutch slowly and pressed on the gas to get moving. Mariam gave me directions to the Wong's house. We had gotten to be pretty good friends over the last few days, though Aya is still my best friend. I'd also met Lee. He was pretty cool. I'd also seen Mariah once. She was a bit talkative and girly but tolerable.

We pulled up to a large house. Okay, a HUGE house. The paved driveway was surrounded by trees. Up ahead, I could see cars pulled off into the grass. What, no parking lot? I pulled up behind a sleek black convertible. The seats were a tan leather and I have to admit, I was a bit jealous. Who could afford a car like that? Certainly not me. Mariam led the way to the back of the house. Not that I couldn't have found the party on my own. The music screaming from the deck by the pool was loud enough to be heard from 5 miles away.

"It's a pool party?" I asked Mariam.

"Would you have put on a swimsuit if I had told you was?" That was a good point. I wouldn't have wanted to swim even if I did have a swimsuit and had known that they had a pool. Mariam, however, had no qualms. She pulled off the clothes she had been wearing to reveal a navy bikini.

I backed away as she canon-balled in, sending a large splash over the edge of the pool. "Casey, there you are!" I turned to see Aya running in my direction. "I was beginning to wonder if you would show up."

"Here I am. Now what?" She rolled her eyes at my sense of being out of place.

"Now we go sit on that bench over there and listen to the music 'til our eardrums burst."

"Isn't that painful?" Never-the-less, we sat on the bench. I listened carefully and began to sing along with the music. I always had been pretty good at that kind of thing. Besides, nobody could hear me anyways. Aya started singing too when it came to a song she knew.

After a while she stood. "Let's go get something to eat. My throat's getting dry." I nodded and followed her into the house. The large room contained many tables covered heavily with snacks. The rest of the walls were lined with couches, most of them occupied by couples. It was at least a bit quieter in here but that made my ears ring like they were trying to replace it.

I grabbed a paper plate and started working my way down the table. "Why aren't you swimming?" I asked.

She blushed. "I... I can't swim," she whispered.

"Oh. I'm not the best either. I guess we can just sit and not swim together for another few hours." I selected a treat from one of the many trays. Back at home we called them no-bake cookies. Lame right? Yeah, I thought so too. I wonder what they call them here. It's got to be better than no-bake cookie. We located an unoccupied couch and sat down to enjoy our snacks. When my plate was empty I left to go to the bathroom. Aya stayed on the couch. She seemed to be vulnerable sitting their all alone so I made up my mind to hurry.

I wasn't fast enough.

Aya's POV:

I sat patiently, waiting for Casey to return. When I was finished with my plate I threw it away in the waste basket a few feet away. I was only alone for a moment. A red-head claimed the seat right next to me, draping an arm over my shoulder. "Tala?" I tried to move further away but I was already pressed up against the arm of the chair.

"Hey." He was so close. I felt my heart begin to beat so hard I swear he could hear it over the deafening music and my face burned. He leaned really close, lips brushing my ear. He smelled of cinnamon. It was light, but noticeable. "I've been looking for you."

I shivered and stood up. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pushed me up against the wall. My head told me it was wrong but it felt right. "W-what are you doing?" I stuttered.

"Come on now. Don't be rude. I just wanted to see you. I've taken quite a liking to you." I shivered again as he leaned closer. My thoughts were whirling about in my brain and I couldn't stop myself from looking up into his icy blue eyes.

Confusion was replaced immediately by anger. How dare he! I pushed him away roughly. "You're just using me to get to Casey! You just want revenge for her making a fool of you!" I accused. He allowed a moment's surprise before letting irritation flash across his features and settle in to stay. "Are you that desperate?"

He snapped. Grabbing my wrist, he pulled me up and growled in my face. "Don't you ever call me desperate!"

I tried to escape his grip but it wasn't working. He was too strong. That didn't mean I wasn't going to have the last word. "You're desperate!" I snarled. This time he dragged me out of the sliding doors, across the dance floor, and to the edge of the pool. I guess he saw the fear written all over my face because he smirked triumphantly before shoving me into the 8 feet of water.

Return to Casey's POV:

I saw it as if in slow motion. Aya fell, the water splashing up before surging over her body. "I... I can't swim."

"Aya!" I shouted. Without thinking, I dove in, forcing my eyes to open and praying my contacts would stay in. She was thrashing about with her eyes closed tightly. I swam over as fast as I could, my clothes slowing me down. I roughly grabbed her around the waist and pushed off of the bottom of the pool.

We both erupted form the surface, sputtering, in time to see Queen deck Tala. Mariam was calling out to us as we struggled to the edge of the pool. I could already feel Aya trembling, not entirely from the temperature. The blue-haired girl grabbed Aya under the arms and hauled her out of the pool. I just clung to the pool's edge and panted. After regaining my breath, I pulled myself up onto hard cement. When I had gotten my feet underneath me I began to wring out my clothing. The others were taking good care of the still-frightened Aya.

My contacts hadn't obeyed me and were currently lying beneath several feet of water. Mariah to the rescue. She rushed out with a towel for each of us. By now, we were both shivering. I took a seat next to Aya. She hugged my neck and refused to let go.

She didn't have to say a word. I just hugged her back protectively. Mariam may have had the 'mess with me and your ass is roadkill' attitude, but I had a 'mess with my friends and I'm gonna rearrange your face' attitude. The best part: I didn't even have to do that. Queen had certainly proved that bad-girl image came from more than just a glare.

Fortunately for Tala, King (her twin brother) had stopped her before she drew blood.

After a while I began to wonder how I was going to get home. I couldn't drive in the dark without my contacts and I didn't think that Mariam could drive a stick. This night was getting better and better. And I had only been here 2 hours! Eventually, Lee agreed to drive me home and then pick me up tomorrow morning so that I could return for my truck. The down side? I had to stay for the rest of the party.

Everyone was tense when around another person they weren't perfectly good friends with. I at least took pleasure in watching Tala nurse a black eye on the other side of the pool. I'd have to thank Queen later. Aya and I sat and shivered for another half hour until our clothes had dried.

After listening to the music for a while Aya finally perked up. "This is my favorite song!" she told me. She sang to it happily. It was good to see her smile again.

Tala's POV:

I saw her lips moving perfectly to the song. How could she be the one smiling and laughing while I sat here with ice covering my left eye to keep the swelling down? How could she be the one enjoying herself when I was supposed to be running the show? And why couldn't I stop thinking about it?

Simple.

Out of all of the girls I'd dated, all the girls I'd used, she was the only one that had ever pushed me away. Sure, some of them had figured it out after a while, but they had always held on in the hopes that I would change my mind. Or maybe they had just wanted it, just once more.

Whatever the case, I felt... I don't know. Something. Like there was a rock in my chest. I remember feeling something like this before. It had happened when Bryan had gotten hurt really bad. He had been in their gang, helping them hold their territory. Then, in a more violent scuffle, one of the opposing gang members had pulled a gun. He remembered seeing as if in slow motion as the bullet ripped through the silver-haired boy's shoulder. His parents had made him move after that. They'd taken him away from the gangs, the drugs, the street fighting.

We had been high the night that Bryan got shot. That's when we swore out of the drugs. I remembered being sick for the next month after laying off of it but we had pulled through. All of us.

And yet, I still felt that rock- the guilt- about not being able to protect Bryan. We were friends. I should have been able to do something more. But that was different. Why was I felling guilty now?

I swiped a hand through my hair. What was she doing to me?