Danny found himself at the Homecoming dance on Saturday night with Payton's friend, Sarah. She was fairly nice, but talked a mile a minute about nothing important. Danny's eyes were glazing over as they sat at a table in the loud hotel ballroom. The only thing getting him through the night was a flask of whiskey in his breast pocket. He watched as Payton and Trevor danced and talked to their circle of friends. And then Payton excused herself and walked toward Danny and Sarah.

"Hey Sarah. Did I not tell you that Danny was a charmer?" Payton said in a syrupy, fake tone.

Danny looked at her with contempt as Sarah responded, "Yeah. We're having a nice time. It would be nice to dance for a song or two…but…"

"Oh come on, Danny. Be a sport. Sarah wants to dance."

"You know what…I'm not feeling that great. So, I may cut out early. I'm sure someone in your contingent can entertain Sarah," he said as he stood up.

"Looks like someone may need a little refill. Sarah, why don't you dance with Trevor? Just tell Trevor that Danny is going to help me replenish the party refreshments. He'll know what I'm talking about."

"Okay," Sarah replied as she left the table. "Sounds good."

"Come with me," ordered Payton.

"Payton…I…"

"Trevor is watching us right now. He doesn't suspect a thing, but if you cause a scene…I will make sure Trevor knows all about us. And believe me, I can make it sound like you're the one taking advantage of me."

Danny felt defeated. He had to get through this year at Brentland to get his college scholarship. He couldn't afford to start trouble with Trevor, the most powerful student at Brentland. So he followed Payton out of the ballroom and onto an elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Payton got close to him, brushing up against him, and trying to kiss him. Danny hesitated at first before she put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled his head down and then fused their lips together. The combination of the alcohol and anger in him pushed him to kiss her back…but not in a tender way. He pushed her against elevator wall and invaded her mouth with his until the elevator doors opened.

Then Payton lead him down the hallway to a hotel room. She opened the door and pulled him inside. They had sex quickly, but passionately. Payton didn't seem to mind that Danny was hurried and almost rough. After they finished, Payton took the flask out of Danny's pocket and refilled it from the room's stocked bar. Then she put several liquor bottles in a brown paper bag.

"There's a limo right outside the lobby. Put this in the back seat of the limo. Trevor and I will be leaving right after the coronation with some friends. We are going to his parent's weekend house in Montauk. You and Sarah are coming, too. After I get Trevor to bed, we can go down to the beach. I would put the bags in the limo myself, but I might look conspicuous carrying paper bags. No one will stop someone like you," she said as she handed Danny the flask.

Danny took it and took a long drink. "You're a bitch. You know that."

Payton laughed. "Ah well…yes…I know. Funny how you don't see to mind that when you're inside of me."

"I didn't know I had a choice," Danny said feeling defeated.

"You don't. It's important you remember that. Now, please give Sarah a couple of turns on the dance floor before you leave. It will make her night, and Trevor will be less suspicious," she said before she walked out of the hotel room.

Danny drained the flask, and then refilled it. He was already fairly drunk. He took the paper bag full of liquor and made his way downstairs. After dropping the bag off in the limo, he walked back into the lobby. As soon as he walked in, he saw Katie standing there waiting for him. She looked different with her hair swept up. She was wearing a pink strapless dress that made her look demurely sexy.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Danny. I didn't even know you even knew Sarah Winters," Katie said in a concerned tone.

"I don't know her. Payton set us up. I'm just here because…"

"Payton wanted you here, right? I saw you go upstairs with her," she responded not understanding why Danny would do such a thing, even though she could tell he was drunk.

"What are you stalking me or something? You know about Payton and me. You watch us at school…you watch us here. Do you get off on it or something? If you do, why don't you just join us the next time we have sex? Payton would probably be in to that. Better yet…why don't you try getting a life of your own? Or is the only life you have in your fantasy literature world?" Danny asked and then immediately regretted it when he saw the hurt look on her face.

"I just feel sorry for you, Danny. You think I live in a fantasy? You're the one who is sleeping with someone who would never been seen in public with you. I'm not the one with the problem, Danny," Katie almost shouted before she walked away crying.

Danny went back to the dance and found Sarah. He felt Payton's eyes on him as he asked Sarah to dance. They danced a couple of songs, and then he excused himself to drink more. When he stumbled back to the table, Sarah asked if he wanted to go out to Montauk to meet up with Payton's group. Danny thought for a moment. He knew Payton would be pissed if he didn't show up, but he was so drunk he didn't care. He told Sarah he was sorry, but he had to go home. So she left without him.

Danny made his way outside to head toward the subway. He was feeling extremely disoriented. When he turned the corner, he lost his balance and tried to brace himself against the wall. Before he fell down, he felt a hand grasp his arm. He turned around to find Katie looking at him with concern. He laughed lightly and shook his head. "You don't give up, do you?"

"Danny, you're going in the opposite direction that you should be. Let me help you get home."

"Why are you so nice to me? I don't understand," he said as he slurred his words.

"I honestly don't know anymore," she said in exasperation.

Katie hailed a cab and got in with Danny. After she gave the cabbie Danny's address, she looked at him sadly. He was emptying the remains of the flask. Danny caught her watching him. "Don't…don't look at me like that. You'd get drunk too if you spent the evening with Sarah the girl who doesn't shut up."

"Maybe you're right," Katie responded quietly.

"So who did you ditch to come home with me? Hot date?"

Katie shook her head. "No, I went with a group of girlfriends."

"Good for you. Dating sucks…or rather getting involved with anicy bitch sucks," Danny said as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"Payton's an idiot," Katie whispered, but Danny didn't hear.

When the cab stopped, Katie asked the cabbie to wait for her. Then she helped Danny out of the cab. He leaned against her to keep from falling down. Then he directed her to the back door. Before they went in, he leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear. "If my foster parents catch me drunk, they'll throw me out."

Katie nodded and then quietly put his key in the door. Luckily, the door to the basement was right inside the door. She quickly helped him down the stairs. When she tried to guide him over to the bed, she stumbled and he fell on top of her on the bed. For a few moments, she was pinned beneath the weight of his body, but she didn't rush to push him off. Danny looked at her beneath him. She looked up at him with wide eyes and had to catch her breath. Suddenly, they heard a noise from the kitchen upstairs. Danny quickly rolled off of her when he heard the door to the basement open.

"Here…put this over you," Katie whispered as tossed the blanket to him. "Pretend to be sleeping."

Danny did as she told him. And then Katie headed toward the stairs. "Mrs. Taylor?"

"Yes…who's there?"

Katie met her halfway up the staircase to try and keep Danny out of sight. "My name is Katie Mason. I…um…I'm a friend of Danny's. You won't believe what happened. There was a batch of bad shrimp at the dance. Several kids, including Danny, got terribly ill. Thank goodness, I don't eat shellfish," Katie said quickly.

"Oh dear. Is Danny OK? Does he need anything?"

"No ma'am. He's fine. He got sick at the hotel, so I think now he just needs sleep."

"Is that your cab outside, dear?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll head home now."

"Do you need money for the ride home?" Mrs. Taylor asked.

"No, thank you. I'm fine. I hope Danny is feeling better tomorrow."

"So do I. Poor lamb. He's lucky to have such a sweet friend."

"I'm glad to help. Good night, Mrs. Taylor," Katie said as she walked out the door.

"Good night, dear."

Danny only heard part of the exchange before he passed out. But he was confident that Katie wouldn't let him down.

Danny woke up the morning after Homecoming with a pounding headache. He couldn't remember much except that he drank more than he had in a long time. He had to get into the shower and cleaned up before he encountered the Taylor's, so he did his best to pull himself out of bed. As he stood in the shower, bits and pieces of the night before came back to him including his encounter with Payton in the hotel room. He remembered feeling humiliated by the way she treated him. He realized that part of his problem was the alcohol. If he could just get his drinking under control, he wouldn't feel so weak. But the drinking had been a problem for Danny since he was twelve years old. He used to rationalize that at least he didn't do smack like Raffi, but now his drinking was causing him major problems.

Danny finished his shower, dressed and went upstairs in search of coffee. He saw his foster mother in the kitchen. "Morning, Sandy," he said softly.

"You're up. I thought you would still be in bed. I'll make you some tea and dry toast."

Danny felt very confused. He wasn't sure what to think. "Um…coffee's fine…if that's OK."

Sandy Taylor shook her head. "You may think you are up for coffee, but I know how tough food poisoning is on a stomach. Tea and toast will keep your stomach settled. Your friend said it was from bad shrimp."

Danny racked his brain for a moment. And then he remembered…Katie helped him get home. Sweet Katie, he thought. He shouldn't have subjected her to all of that. She helped him even though he said mean things to her. She truly was his only friend. "Right…bad shrimp. I'll never eat that again. Sorry I got home so late."

"I wouldn't have noticed if we didn't hear the cab out front. Your friend seems like a nice girl. It's nice that you went to the dance with her. You spend so much time studying…everyone needs to have fun once in a while."

"Yes, ma'am…you're right. And Katie is really nice," Danny replied not wanting to explain that she actually wasn't his date the night before.

While Danny and Sandy were still talking, they heard a knock at the door. Sandy excused herself to answer the door. Danny took the opportunity to down a glass of water and an aspirin to re-hydrate his brain.

"Danny, you have a guest at the door," Sandy called out.

Danny's first thought was that it was Katie checking on him after last night. He walked out to the front foyer and felt dread as he saw Payton talking to Sandy.

"Hey," Danny said hesitantly.

"Morning, Danny. I was just telling Mrs. Taylor that I wanted to check on you after your rough night. She told me it was food poisoning. That's funny. I thought…"

"It was food poisoning," Danny interrupted quickly. "Lucky you didn't eat the shrimp."

"Yes, it sounds like you are very lucky," Mrs. Taylor said. "I'll let you two talk. Danny, remember you promised James you would help him clean the gutters today."

"Yes, ma'am. I remember. I'll do it right away," Danny said as Sandy walked away. And then he addressed Payton, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? Where the hell were you last night? Sarah said you ditched her. And you left me alone in Montauk," Payton said in a loud voice. So Danny grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the front porch while closing the front door.

"I told you last night. I felt like shit, so I wanted to go."

"And I told you that wasn't an option."

"Screw you, Payton. I'm not playing this game anymore," Danny said tired of feeling backed into a corner.

"Tell me something, Danny. Does Mrs. Taylor know about your extracurricular activities? I bet foster parents don't put up with a lot, do they? She seems very proper. I wonder what she would think of a foster son who takes advantage of a sweet, young girl like me? She might be able to forgive you if you were her real son…but you aren't. Maybe I should talk to her…" Payton said as she reached for the front door.

Danny grabbed her again and pushed her against the door. "What do you want, Payton?"

"Invite me inside. I want to see your room," she said smiling almost enjoying Danny's show of force.

Danny shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He wanted to tell her to go to hell, but he had too much to lose. He didn't respond. He just opened the front door and guided her down to his bedroom.

As he watched Payton look at his room with disdain, Danny regretted ever agreeing to go out with her. She played him from the first moment she spoke to him. He vowed at that moment never to be that vulnerable to someone again. He thought he learned his lesson with his first foster mother, Kim Wellman. He didn't expect someone his own age to be so manipulative and evil.

"This is cozy, Danny. Are you sure these foster parents give a rat's ass about you? You might as well be living in a hole."

"If it doesn't meet your standard, feel free to get the hell out." Payton just smiled at him and then walked toward him. She started touching him and tried to kiss him, but he pulled away. "You've got to be kidding, right? Not here," he said as he looked around the room.

"What? Are you afraid they'll hear us? We've had to be quiet when we hook up during school. We can do it here, too," she said as she started to run her hands under his t-shirt.

"She could come down at any time, Payton. She knows you're still here."

"Afraid of getting caught?" she asked as she nibbled at his ear.

"You know… you have a major problem. I don't understand how someone who has everything that you have can be so screwed up. What? Does your Daddy not love you enough or something?"

Payton pushed away from him, and then slapped him hard. Danny could tell he obviously hit a nerve. "Shut up, Danny. At least I have parents. And they do love me. They give me anything I want. I always get what I want."

"That's it, isn't it?" he asked as she rubbed the stinging on his cheek. "You don't feel like you have any control at home…so you want to control me."

"Don't be an asshole, Danny. And don't try to figure me out. You aren't smart enough. You act like I forced you into this, but you made choices. And you knew the score, but you didn't care…because you liked being with me…Brentland's queen."

"Maybe I did in the beginning, but not anymore. This is wrong, Payton. And I won't let you use me anymore."

"You're making a mistake. I could make your life miserable here and at school."

"Actually, knowing what I know now…I don't think you will. You wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize how your father feels about you. And if he knew you were screwing someone like me…well…I bet it wouldn't go over well. So you won't tell Trevor, and you won't tell my foster parents. You wouldn't want to tarnish your reputation, princess," he said finally feeling like he had Payton figured out.

"You're a loser, Danny. You always will be. The only way you'll get anywhere is if you screw your way there. It's the only thing you are good at," she said as she turned and ran up the stairs.

Danny didn't say another word to her. He didn't have to. Payton's words hurt him. They made him feel small, but at least he was free. He had to start making the right choices…the rest of his life depended on it. And he would never let someone get to him like Payton did…ever again.