The following Monday had rolled around significantly fast, maybe it was because we were all unexcited to hear what Ava would have to say, or maybe it was because for the following two days after the incident at Bradin's I'd decided to stay firmly placed in my house, fearing I'd run into Callie or Tanner, neither of which I wanted to see. It was easy to avoid Tanner, I'd never seen or heard much about him other than the fact that he was a trouble maker, and I'd surprisingly found it was just as easy to avoid Callie. Odd, seeing as we're best friends, but she still made no effort to talk to me or call me after getting out of Ava's car on Saturday morning. Oh well, nothing that I should worry about. I figured I'd had enough to think about.

I waited outside with my Herve Chaplier bag slung over my shoulder, cupping my hand over my forehead to shade my eyes from the blinding sunlight. A hand pushed mine aside and slipped me into darkness. "Guess who?" They cooed in my ear. I thought for a moment. The smell was familiar, salty but sweet with cologne, "Bradin?" I gave it a shot.

"Damnit, how'd you know?" He threw his hands up in defeat.

I shrugged my shoulders, "You smell like surfer."

"Dave," He slugged me in the shoulder playfully, "Everyone at Playa Linda High smells like a surfer."

"I don't." I gave him a sly smile.

"Yeah, well, besides you. You're just weird." He gave me one the infamous half smiles that I'd grown to love over the short 3 days that I'd known him. It fit him, though, the way that his lip pulled back a little more on the left than it did on the right, revealing his perfectly straight ivory teeth. I stood, rocking myself back and forth on my heels, and twirling a stray piece of hair from my ponytail around my finger.

"Where's Cal?" I looked around, squinting at the reflection of the sunlight off the cars, "I haven't seen her all day." I bit my lip, suddenly realizing that Brae and I hadn't even bothered to remember that we didn't spend lunch with her on the beach, either. "Brae, where could she be?" I twirled my hair in a rapid motion, clearly getting nervous.

"Daveigh, Daveigh. Chill out. I'm sure she's just home sick or something. Maybe she's still hung over from my house, she seemed pretty beaten up for the amount of alcohol she drank. You know…" He trailed off, his thinking getting the best of him.

"What?" I asked, proceeding to twirl my hair, but at a much slower pace now that Bradin had calmed my nerves. I watched him intensely with my dark chocolate eyes, "Bradin, what are you thinking?" I could see his brow furrowed in consternation as he eased himself out of his deep thinking process.

"Oh, sorry, did you say something?" He shook his head in a dazed manner, rubbing fiercely at his temples, "I zoned out or something."

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know." I stammered through my sentences, once again getting worried that there was some shady action going on that I didn't know about. I blew it off the moment I saw Ava's red Corvette pull around the corner and into the parking lot of the school.

Bradin hastily jogged ahead of me, and I let him. All the while knowing that just a few slim paces and I could out run him easily, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, nonetheless. He bent down and undid the latch of the seat, letting me climb to the back of the car with ease before he got in.

"Thanks," I smiled brightly at him; adjusting my ponytail for the wind blown ride and watching the trees and scenery around us speed up as Ava hit the accelerator. A song was on the radio that I'd never heard, but from the back I couldn't hear much. I tried to listen to the chords of it, wondering if it was something that Bradin liked or whether it was just on the radio, but gave up when we pulled up to the Gregory house and it was shut off.

The three of us walked into the house like a family, I rather liked the feeling of it, I definitely hadn't felt it in a long time. My family wasn't close like the Gregory/Westerly family and part of me didn't really understand it. Where are Bradin's parents? I knew it would be something that was hard to discuss for Brae, so I didn't push it, instead I placed my heavy bag down and took a seat between Bradin and Ava. I smiled at both of them and interlaced my fingers, placing my hands on my lap.

"Sooo…" I raised my eyebrows, rather excited to get my car back, it was my life.

"Well, first, let's start with where's Callie?" Bradin and I exchanged glances at Ava's question; quite honestly we both had no idea. Bradin chose to answer first, "Well, she wasn't in school today so we're assuming that she's sick." I nodded my head in agreement, pursing my lips until they were white from the pressure.

Ava took a moment to contemplate this, "Understandable. Now did you and Callie work out a plan to tell your parents, about where the car was?" This time the question was directed at me, I had no choice but to answer it.

"Yes and no. I mean, I told my parents that I hit a curb last night and that I put it into the shop to get it checked out because it sounded like the ABS was letting out air. But I never agreed to tell the same thing to Callie's parents. It's not like my parents called hers, so I'm pretty sure we're in the clear."

"Thank God you know so much about cars." Bradin thankfully sighed. "Wait, how do you know so much about cars?"

I laughed at him, "Brae, woodshop isn't the only elective I've taken at Playa Linda High."

"I find out more about you everyday, and you never cease to surprise me." I laughed at his statement, playfully punching him. "Thanks Brae, that's real nice. You've only known me for something like 4 days and you're already telling me I'm out of my mind."

"Alright, kids, we need to get one thing straightened out before I let you go on a flirting rampage." Ava broke into Bradin and my conversation. I turned bright red at her comment; I wasn't flirting with him, was I? Is that was Cal saw when she came into the room? He's a boy. I don't like boys. Before I could even think of a reason for my actions Ava was off on another topic. "So now, these pills that you had, Daveigh. Who gave them to you?"

I gave her a blank stare, "No offense, Mrs. Gregory, but I was on LSDs. I wasn't really paying attention to who gave them to me when I figured out I was tripping on drugs." I gave her an apologetic look.

She gave me a stern look, "Obviously, Dave, you can remember something about him. Do you think it was Tanner, from the evidence that it was clearly in Lucas's bottle of pills and such?"

I thought for a moment, closing my eye and biting my lip. "Yeah, it could've been Tanner. I mean, it could've been anyone that was Tanner's build and looked even remotely like him, but I heard his voice and yeah, I think it was him."

Ava sighed, pulling a bottle out of her purse and looking down at it. It took a moment for me to realize it was the one from the party, the one that had made me so incredibly screwed up in the mind; I almost wanted to throw them across the room and scream. "I'm sorry, guys, if we don't have enough evidence to accuse Tanner, I can't do anything or press any charges."

"Well, you couldn't have even if we knew for a fact that it was Tanner because you left a minor in a house by himself." Bradin had a look of consternation on his face as he went over the facts one more time.

"Ah, but I left Jay here. He just approved of the party, which wasn't something that I particularly approved of, but I should've known that would happen the moment I left you in Jay's custody." Ava chuckled for a moment, shaking her head at her own stupidity before getting serious again, "Alright, Dave, I'll go get the keys to your car. Thank you so much for coming over here to talk this out with me. Now guys, I just want you to remember to stay away from Tanner. He's obviously trying to start something with Bradin and this whole family, to say the least, just keep away from him and I doubt he'll be able to do anything serious."

Both Bradin and I nodded our heads in agreement before Ava exited the room and left the two of us on the couch.

I glanced at Bradin sternly, "I hope you know we're not staying away from Tanner, not in the slightest. I'm going to catch that kid in the act." It was a Monday; the only people that would have enough guts to throw a party on the beach on a Monday (when the majority of the cops in Playa Linda were patrolling it) would be Tanners group.

"Dave, you're out of your mind, but you're right. We definitely aren't." He whispered the last part back to me just as Ava walked into the room with my keychain dangling in front of her. I could tell it was mine from the yellow and black Playa Linda High lanyard that it hung out, clad with a little bumble bee key chain, a miniature mase can (courtesy of my loving father) and a few other odds and ends.

I squealed and hopped off the couch, "Thank you sooo much Ms. Gregory. It's awesome of you." I gave her a quick hug, already feeling like she was a second mother to me and picked up my bag, "Just remember, if you need help with anything I owe you my life."

"And one designer dress." Bradin chuckled.

"Thanks for being a jerk a reminding me." I socked him in the arm and gave him a menacing glare. "Gooodbye Bradin Westerly."

"Gooodbyyye Daveigh Weatherfield." Bradin mocked my words.

"I'll call you tonight, right after I call Callie and see where the hell she was tonight. Alright?" I gave him a wink, hoping he understood what I meant. Tonight we would go to the beach. Tonight would be the night we'd catch Tanner in the act. And we had to do it all before 11:00PM, Bradin's new curfew. Courtsey of the grounding. He returned the wink which let me know he understood as I walked out the front door of his house, clicking the unlock button two times and smiling at the familiar beep of my car.