Alright guys! Next chapter. I felt a little more inspired as I now have a date to homecoming (who's 14 inches taller than me!) Hope it's alright!

XOXO

-M

When we arrived at Trey's, the party was in full swing. The house was packed with people still dressed in their formal wear carrying plastic cups filled to the brim with beer, rum and Cokes, and other mixed drinks. Those who weren't in the house were either sprawled out on the front lawn (at least of them already passed out) or dancing and partying around the pool in the back. It was like I had been put in the typical party scene in a teen drama.

We walked in and immediately, Adrian put his arm around my shoulders, making sure I stayed close. "I don't want to let you out of my sight tonight. These parties can get wild and I don't want you getting mixed up in any bad situations."

This isn't wild already? I thought to myself as we worked our way towards the kitchen which was in the far back of the sprawling house. We reached the middle of the house when a girl from our class (I think her name was Avery?) stopped in front of us and grabbed Adrian's free arm.

"Adrian!" she squealed, "I was wondering if you'd ever show up! I was telling my college friends that no party is worth anything if you're not here. Wanna come meet them? I have one that is dying to get to know you."

Adrian yanked his arm free from her death grip and shook his head. "I've already got my company here, Avery. Thanks though."

It was then that she actually acknowledged my existence. "Wow, Adrian. Why'd you bring homework help to a party? You do know you're supposed to have fun, right?" She sneered at me, showing she thought her insult was the cleverest thing to have ever been spoken.

I felt Adrian stiffen at her comment while I turned bright red, staring at my shoes, trying to not melt into a puddle.

"Avery, I think we all know how much fun you like to have. You took a surprisingly good mugshot last year. Your mother must have been so proud to have had her daughter get featured in the newspaper! Oh but you must not even think about that. Enough bail money fixed that right up, right? So I think I'm going to stick with spending the party with my girlfriend. Tell your friends I'm sorry and that they should really find better company."

Avery's mouth hung open like a fish's as she turned and stomped away, shoving people angrily out of the way.

"I think I could use a drink now," he mumbled, frustrated.

I was trying to process what just happened when my brain finally caught on to the fact that Adrian had called me his girlfriend.

"I think I need one too," I said, wanting to block out everything that just happened.

We finally make it to the kitchen and Adrian picks up a cup and start filling it with a mix of Coke and rum. "Alright, you said you wanted to drink. What can I make you? You're not exactly the beer type, so I think you should stick with something mixed."

I thought about it for a minute. "I'll have a cosmo," I said confidently.

"Sydney, that's basically vodka with a splash of cranberry juice. That's a stout drink. Are you sure?" he asked.

In response I nudged him out of the way and started mixing the drink the best I could with the little knowledge I had. He raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything else. I took a sip of my drink and made a face at the burning feeling as it slid down my throat. Adrian smirked a bit.

"You sure you can handle that, Sage?" he questioned playfully.

In response, I put on my best poker face and took another sip of my drink. It made me feel unusually warm in a way I had never experienced. We began wandering through the party, drinks in hand until we stumbled across Jill. Actually, Jill was the one stumbling. To say she was intoxicated was an understatement.

"Heeeey guys!" she slurred. "Eddie and I are having so much fun. I'm so glad you're here!" she squealed. She hobbled over to me, wrapping an arm around me, and pointed at Adrian. "Dude. When are you guys finally gonna get together? Because I have been praying that you would since I like met you guys."

I blushed as Eddie strolled up and uncurled Jill from me. "Sorry guys. She got hold of some beer and it turns out our girl here is a lightweight." As he was talking she nuzzled up to Eddie, her arms wrapping around him, her head nuzzling his neck.

"Just make sure she stays out of trouble!" I warned. I didn't want to get in trouble for bringing Jill home completely snockered.

"I got your back, Syd," Eddie said, propping Jill up a bit more.

They wandered off and we went to the back where they were setting up a game of poker.

"Oh man! I could beat all of these jokes," Adrian said excitedly. Truthfully, I had never seen anyone play poker as well as Adrian. He then looked at me. "Would you mind if I played a game or two?"

"Go for it. See how many asses you can beat. I'll sit in the lawn chair over there 'til you're finished."

With that we parted ways. I sat on a reclining lawn chair and drank the rest of my Cosmo. Adrian was right. I was a lightweight. I could feel the alcohol quickly permeating my senses. Suddenly, I was majorly relaxed and felt slower in general. Like time no longer mattered. I had just let my eyelids flicker shut to enjoy the calm that had settled over me when I felt a hand run down the length of my arm. I opened my eyes, expecting it to be Adrian only to see Keith.

"Ya know, you are a lot hotter tonight than you usually do," he said with a strange glint in his eye.

I moved my arm, my movement slower than normal. "Go away, Keith."

"Oh come on, babe. You've been eyeing me all year long. I know you secretly want me." He put his hand on my leg, which I promptly smacked off.

"I said fuck off, Keith." I tried to push him away, but that resulted in him pinning my arms down and almost kissing me. The only thing that stopped him was the hot fury of Adrian.

"Back the fuck off of my girl, Darnell," Adrian growled. He proceeded to grab Keith by the collar and throw him into the pool. He then helped me up out of the chair and took me upstairs to get away from the party.

"Are you okay, Sydney? Please tell me that asshole didn't hurt you." He began running his hands down my arms looking for marks.

"I'm okay. Just a bit shaken."

He hugged me tight then loosened his grip as if he was afraid he would break me. All I could think was how warm I was from the vodka, what an asshole Keith was, how good Adrian smelled. How much I wanted to kiss him right then.

Before I even thought about it I was tilting my face up while pulling Adrian's face down to meet mine. The kiss started out slow then quickly built into a fast and hard kiss. He bit my bottom lip then left my mouth to go to my neck, all the while his hands wandered up and down my back and got tangled in my hair. His hands started to slide a bit further past my lower back when the door suddenly opened to the sound of Jill saying, "Ha! I knew it! Eddie so owes me $20!"

Adrian and I sprang apart and I suddenly felt much more sober than I had before.