Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for all your patience and reviews. It has been a rough couple of months in this household, losing a family member and working very hard at Student Teaching, etc. Anyway, sorry it has taken so long to write! I promise to try and update again soon, it's just tough to get all that work done and all my work done hahaha. Wah. WAH I SAY. Anyway, I will direct you to my tumblr ( evereverafterly . tumblr . com ) and give a shout-out to MELON-GO, LITE-BRITES, and THESHIRTLESSGIBBY at tumblr . com and thank them for reading my little old fic :)

kiralol101 - He really is just like a puppy! That's why Amai will someday begrudgingly admit that it's the perfect name for their pet haha. And thank you, I try to keep him in character as best as possible though sometimes it's tough because he doesn't have a toooon of screen time. A lot of his character is currently being built through insane discussions with theshirtlessgibby, haha.

CrazyCreator33 - Ahhh I dyed my hair a funny color so it looks weird now ;( hahaha but thank you! Good to know people read what I write bahahaa. ALSO YOU'RE THE REASON FOR THIS FIC. In part. I have been wanting write Amai as the typical teenager who goes to parties and hangs with that type of crowd. Obviously not every high schooler has that experience (I sure as heck didn't) so I'm basing it off my sister's ... crazier experience. :) So this ones for you :D Aahaha

middlekertz - AWW SHUCKS. 3 UR CUTE.

This is a reminder that I love reviews and meeting new folks! I know a lot of people have been reading this, so it would be amazing to hear back from you!

PS: This is part 1 of 2, I thought I'd give you something to read while I finish part 2. ps i luv u

HERE WE GO!

"I can't believe you didn't want to come out, Amai!"

Amai tilted her head back and gazed at her best friend, a dizzy grin splitting her face. Amai laughed too loudly. "I knooow, right? But I don' hafta work tomorrow so I thought, why not!"

Her arms waved rather wildly as she talked, peering through her heavily mascara'd eyelashes. The contents of her solo cup spilled over her freshly manicured hands. She laughed, licking the liquid from her fingers as she juggled the plastic cup.

"Hey," Keito bent over haphazardly, leaning over Amai. "Hey. Hey Amai. I fuckin' love you, man. You know that, right? Like, wow. You're like my best friend, but also like my sister or a unicorn."

Amai teared up. "That is the nicest thing anyone's ever said ever."

Keito nodded sagely before swaggering dangerously. A pair of strong arms wrapped around the slight soccer coach's waist. Her boyfriend lifted her up off her feet, growling and laughing. Amai pouted at how darn cute they were.

"Uh oh," Keito intoned, resting her hands on her boyfriend's arms. "Amai looks jealous. Let's go somewhere private."

She was teasing but Amai still flushed pink with embarrassment, "I'm not jealous! Shut up! I'm gonna go get some fresh air."

"Don't let the cops getcha!" Keito warned, waggling a finger as she was carried off by her boyfriend.

Amai rolled her eyes with some difficulty and stood up from her place in the living room of her team mate's home. She'd been sitting on the edge of the fireplace (unlit, mind you) so she brushed the dust from the bottom of her high-waisted jean shorts and began the dangerous walk to the back porch. It was only dangerous because she was yet unused to her wedges and had had quite a bit to drink.

Despite her worries about rolling through the kitchen, where the majority of partygoers surrounded the dining room table whipping ping pong balls at each other, Amai managed to get through the crowd, only being stopped once to accept a congratulatory shot (she wasn't sure who she was congratulating but a shot was a shot).

Before opening the sliding glass door, Amai grabbed her cotton black cardigan from the coat rack by the door. Shrugging it over her shoulders, the end of it hit the ends of her shorts and made the weather more bearable for her flouncy, flowery tank top. One of her pockets was heavier than she remembered and she clumsily stuck her hand in there, fingers recognizing the unknown object as a box of cigarettes. Someone must have mistaken her cardigan for their own and left them in there.

Juggling the carton of cancer sticks, she neatly tumbled out the back door, grabbing tight to the guard railing along the porch before she twisted an ankle. Settling herself, she looked back to see if anyone had seen her graceful trip. They were all invested in a game of beer pong and therefore had not seen her embarrassing moment. Breathing a sigh of relief, she shut the sliding glass door.

Normally the porch would be full of people smoking what-have-you, but it seemed they were all inside for now. Probably distracted by the rowdy drinking games. Still, she could do with people not staring at her as she tried to sober up some. She tentatively walked down the stairs to the backyard, using both hands to grasp the railing and keep herself balanced. She wanted to kick off her heels by the end of the short steps.

Amai blinked slowly, looking around the backyard in search of a lawn chair or something. She tapped the cigarette box against her head and finally sat down where she was (read: fell backwards dramatically with a loud thud onto the grass). Stretching out her legs in front of her, she breathed in deep the chilled air and toyed with the box.

She was jealous of Keito, who could bring her boyfriend to parties and make out with him in other people's bedrooms. Meanwhile, she and Jin were still in secrecy.

"Jiiiin," she sang (read: croaked), leaning her head back and closing her eyes. Her mouth stretched into a wry grin. "Jin Jin Jin Jin, where'd ya go to, Jin. If Jin was here, we'd be kissin' and Keito'd be like 'Who that boooyyy' and I'd say Jiiin~"

"Watcha doin' sittin' all by yer lonesome, callin' mah name?"

Amai answered casually, her eyes still closed.

"Well," she drawled amiably, "If you weren't an imaginary boyfriend I wouldn't have to be sitting all by my lonesome calling your name."

"Hmm. That's mighty odd of ya, lass. An' last I checked, Ah'm not so imaginary."

Amai's eyes snapped open. She tilted her head at the floating ginger demon before her. His eyebrows were quirked in curiosity as he hovered a few feet off the ground, legs cross and about as chill as can be. He was within striking distance, not that Amai had the coordination or desire to hit him at the moment.

"Are ye drunk, lass?" now Jin seemed to be suppressing laughter as he inspected her closely, floating a few inches towards her and leaning in. Chuckling, he answered his own question, "Aye, ye are. No wonder yer sittin' out in the grass. Doncha know ye shouldna wander aroun' when yer three sheets to the wind?"

Amai stared at him, trying her best to focus on one of the two Jin's wobbling in front of her. She blinked stupidly. "Wassat mean? Three shits in the wind?"

Jin laughed, "Means yer right drunk, lass."

"I prefer smashed. Or hammered. Or snookered." She laughed at the last one, the pitch just a bit off. "Snookered."

Jin laughed with her. "Snookered, then." He agreed, looking up at the glowing windows above them. "Is it a human thing then ta go to a party an' get, ah, snookered?"

Jin saying the word 'snookered' made Amai laugh so hard she fell over onto her side. Then she laughed a little more, clutching her stomach. Looking up at him from the grass she made a face.

"Don't say snookered any more, it sounds really silly." She told him, wagging one of her fingers at him warningly.

She let her arm fall back down onto the ground before rolling onto her back and looking at the windows. She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I don't like to do it very often, but drinking's fun."

Amai turned her head to look at him and held a finger to her lips, looking worried. "But don't tell anyone 'cause it's also illegal so shhh!"

Jin set to laughing again before reaching down to help Amai stand up. It was a tedious task that required him to land on the ground to steady her. Amai's hands grasped at his arms, bare despite the slight chill. Closing her eyes for a moment as she attempted to focus, Amai (with much effort) then blinked them open and stared at Jin. There was a long silence as she fought for words.

"Jin do you like me?" her head lolled to one side and she pursed her lips as if considering a particularly difficult math problem.

Jin rolled his eyes before smiling down at her. "Aye, lass. I do."

"Okay, thas' a good start." Amai nodded to herself. "But do ya like me more than just kissin' me?"

He thought for a moment, his brows arched high in surprise. Amai had never mentioned being anything more than make-out buddies, though he'd wondered if she'd ever talk to him about, well about the kind of relationship Keiko and Yusuke had. Jin liked being free, liked being not tied down by anything, but envied Yusuke something awful. It must be nice to have someone to return to and worry over you and ask about your day and whatever else Keiko did that made Yusuke so eager to return to her.

"Yoooou been quiet forareallylongtime." Amai poked his nose (or the general direction of his nose), too drunk to be worried about his silence. "For someone who never shuts up, ya sure don't have anything' to say now huh, Jin-chan?"

Jin decided to tease her, laughing lightly. "Oh, I've lots ta say, lass. Jus' not sure you'll be rememberin' it tomorrow,"

Amai nodded sagely. The cool air was helping her sort through her thoughts with more ease, although her mouth was still working miles ahead of her brain.

"Ya, okay, but what's that even supposed to mean, huh?" Amai grumbled.

"It means," Jin patted Amai's coat pockets for her keys. "I'm takin' ya home, luv."

Stick around for part 2! :) See you all soon!