She had just turned twenty-three last week, yet she had a curfew. The perks of living with your dad! All those twenty three years of her life, she followed rules. She was the 'goody two-shoes' as her friends put it. She had never touched alcohol ever, not even when she was dared to. No! She was a good girl, one of the sweetest, most friendly girls out there, one who everyone looked up to, one who hardly had any enemies except maybe, ONE…

But today, no, no one would stop her from staying up late. Her curfew was 10pm but she would stay away till 12 at least.

Ha! Take that haters! She was Ally Dawson, attending her first party, other than back-to-school party of course and she was not going to back down.

She hardly even knew whose party it was, some guy named Jace Dillion, her best friend, Trish was currently dating. He had recently visited France and loved it, so in his excitement, he thought, 'Why not throw a party? Yay!'

And Ally's face, when Trish told her about the party looked as if she had swallowed a sour slice of lemon. 'What a stupid reason to throw a party?!' Ally had thought. But, Trish had assured her that adults don't need a reason to party. In fact, just last week she had gotten wasted at celebrity, Cassidy Pearson's place because she had a good hair day!

Though she was reluctant, Ally agreed. Her tarnishing image of a mature adult was ruining her and she couldn't take it anymore! She was going to let loose and live a little. She was going to that darn party! But, she would never wear make-up...it was against her ideals and she knew she'd never wear those hideous coloured things on her face.

Dressed in a crisp plaid shirt and neat modest jeans with her hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, Ally met Trish at her door. She had chosen to wear her favourite pearl bracelet, that was once her mom's. Trish squealed in shock at her classy dressed friend, complaining that she was not going to her office. Dragging her into her room, the curly-haired latina replaced the modest outfit with a cute red mini-dress that rested right above her knees and a black belt to emphasise her petite frame. Her canvas shoes soon changed into black knee boots and her ponytail messed up into it's natural wavy brunette form. Despite her persuasive nature, however, Trish was unable to paint Ally's face with the fine shades of blush or eye shadow.

Overall, Ally looked like an angel. The final ornament on her outfit was her beautiful smile, that she hardly ever wore, over her sarcastic and sweet personality. Can you believe it? A friendly person, who hardly smiles? That's Ally for you! Watching her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't contain her slight smile and gratitude to Trish.

Once she proudly wore her majestic grin and grabbed her jacket and purse, she realized that she was the perfect picture of an angel's smile from a magazine.

The party had started at 8 and by the time they reached it was almost 9:30. Ally felt terrible for being late and apologized to Jace a million times. He laughed it off stating, 'Most of the idiots aren't even here yet!'

To Ally, the next one hour felt like she was trapped. She felt like an inhabitant of the Lotus Hotel, as if time had slowed down. Apart from being offered drinks, getting hit on by random guys and searching for Trish in the crowd, her night was eventless till the entry of a few people, around 11.

The door was pushed open, revealing an arrogant blonde walking in, wearing his famous smirk, which Ally despised. She did not hate him, but he was her supposed-enemy. There was not a time, they were nice to each other, not in the five years they had known each other. He was always rude to her and she always opened her sly and sarcastic side to him. Five years ago, they had competed for the same internship post, but ended up sharing. Now, they were both journalists working for the same firm but against each other, in what others termed a 'healthy' competition. Healthy...her foot! He had messed her articles up several times on purpose, so that she got scolded at, and she would in return, spill coffee on his documents as revenge. This enemy thing was their 'thing'. They didn't hate each other, they hardly even talked to each other, but for some apparent reason, they could read each other. One wouldn't mess with the other, if they were having a bad day or one may make coffee for the other to silently console them. Yet, they were enemies.

He walked towards her with his signature smirk etched on his face, "Hey there,cutie!" he flirted, "Your first time to a party?".

She gagged before replying, "Moonboy, quit flirting, will you?"

His smirk didn't even wither, as he gushed annoyingly, "I know, Dawson,but, you just look so adorable! Like a puppy!"

And with that he walked away, as she played with the pearls of her bracelet. She had no idea how he knew about this party being her first, but for some reason he did.

He was popular, not just for his looks, but for his passion for writing. Unlike her, he was more outgoing and social and people loved him. She was a passionate writer too, but she worked under the alias of ALPHA, the idea of an anonymous writer, impressed her company, but due to her secret she never got recognition and fame. Not even her co-workers knew about her writings. To them ALPHA was just a column written by the general public.

The rest of the time, she kept thinking about her life, sitting silently on a couch in the corner and at exactly 12, she looked around for her best friend who was supposed to take her home. Dialing the number, she realized that Trish had texted her to go home some other way and that she 'was busy tonight'.

Ally sighed furiously, at her best friend, who had ditched her at her first party. Irritated, she looked around, hoping to find an acquaintance, who would be sober enough to drive her home. There was only one person, who she could ask and she bumped into the boy with the blonde hair and a signature smirk.

"Austin, would you take me home, please?" she asked in the sweetest possible voice.

"And why would I do that?" he retorted with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Because you wouldn't want a poor girl to walk all the way home at this time?" she tried.

He shook his head, "I am the life of this party, you better give me an offer that's worth making such a sacrifice for," with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows.

At this point, she would have fallen on my knees, begging him to take me home from this horrendous place, she regretted going to, but her ego got the best of her and she shoved him by his shoulder and walked away grumbling, "Fine."

She had no choice, but to resort to her last solution; walking all the way home in the dark.

It was a chilly night and home was only fifteen minutes away on foot. Clutching onto her jacket, which she brought along, she started walking towards her street.

Jace's place was on Street 26 in Fred's Bay or what we locals liked to call Rich Guys County.

He works as a Recording Studio Owner, ofcourse, he's rich!

Ally and her dad live on Street 36 in Furrow Lane, while Trish lived all the way across town in Welkings, where she was unfortunate enough to leave my car. The brunette looked up at the sky, admiring the Miami night sky, it sure was beautiful. As she walked towards the familiar blue house, she couldn't help, but thank the Gods for her safe arrival. She knew that her dad would be home, but right now, she could argue that she wasn't a kid anymore.

Determined to get away from being grounded, Ally unlocked her main door and entered the house, with the fiercest arguments prepared, her eyes shining with hope. She closed the door, without locking it yet, half-expecting to see her father in the room, staring angrily at her.

But, as she turned from the door to turn on the lights of the room, all she saw was her father lying on the couch, with a knife stabbed into his chest and blood everywhere, before her vision clouded with tears and an ear-piercing scream left her throat.