A/N: Hi! How are you? Hope you guys are having a wonderful time during this holiday season. So yeah, I decided to upload this already before the year ends. This chapter's a bit different (and a bit longer) compared to the other ones. This probably won't be a regular POV, though. It's still usually going to be April, but chapters with POVs such as this will be written when there is a need to (based on the flow of the plot). I hope you like it though! Read, review, and share! Thank youuu! :)

CHAPTER 22: Stay

[RODRICK'S POV]

"Um, is there something wrong?" she asked. Her smile disappeared.

Oh shit, I think she heard me say oh shit.

I shook my head immediately. "No, no. Nothing's wrong. Uh... It's just that..."

"It's just what?"

"I'm—I'm grounded today," I said coolly (or at least I think I said it coolly).

Not convinced, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Are you making up reasons again?" She stood there, wearing her gray pullover hoodie, plus shorts and sneakers. She brought her small bag—that stupid bag she used once to hit me in the stomach—and her laptop and her book.

"No, it's true. You can ask Greg." I pointed my thumb backwards.

"Oh. So does that mean you can't invite anyone over?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Huh, okay." She started to turn around but she stopped halfway and turned back to me, frowning. "I kinda wish you told me within the week, though. I mean, we were together a bunch of times at school. We could have tried to meet up beforehand or something, or maybe I could have made other plans today or—"

"You know what? Screw it. Come on in." I didn't know why the hell I said that. The easier option would have been to let her leave. I opened the door wider. She asked me twice if it was really okay before she actually went inside. I closed the door and followed behind her.

We headed to the living room where Greg was watching TV. As soon as he saw her, he stood up excitedly and greeted her. "Oh, hi April! You're early! Are you helping?"

"Helping for what?" she asked, looking at Greg then at me. I shrugged.

Greg was about to answer but I shot him a death look. Luckily, he got the signal.

When April didn't get an answer, she said, "I'm actually late." She walked to the couch. "We should have started an hour ago."

"Oh. But I thought—" Greg started.

"But w-we thought you haven't eaten yet!" I butted in, running up to Greg. "We'll get you some food." I pulled the back of his shirt and lead him to the kitchen, away from April.

"Actually, I just had lunch!" Her voice echoed as we walked away.

I let go of Greg's shirt and hit the back of his head like I always do when he does stupid things.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He whispered once we were out of earshot.

"What the heck, dumbo?! You almost blew it!" I replied when we entered the kitchen.

"Blew what?!" He rubbed the back of his head. "Isn't she invited to the party?"

"No... Actually, I don't know. But probably not." I scratched my head and paced around the kitchen.

"How do you not know—?"

"But it's obvious that she doesn't know about it. She would have killed me already if she knew."

"Then why don't you just tell her?" he said, like it's the solution to my problem.

"Hell no. Just... sit there and shut up, okay? Or I'll lock you in your room."

"But you don't even know where the key to my room is."

"I'll get all your mombucks."

"Seriously? I can earn mombucks faster than you," he replied. I glared at him. "Okay, okay. Fine. I'll keep quiet," he said.

I opened the fridge and took the first thing that I could find: an apple. Greg and I then went back to the living room.

The thing is, I realized I've got a huge ass problem here when April appeared at the door. True: I'm grounded. Both Greg and I are. My parents and Manny all went on vacation and left us to rot in this house for 3 days. And Frank told us that we're not allowed to have visitors. But guess what? No adults the entire weekend. Who wouldn't take advantage of that, right? It's my only chance to have the best night ever by hosting the most awesome party.

With all that's happened over the week I completely forgot that we were supposed to have a meeting today. Now I've got to find a way to make April leave before 5pm so we'd have time to prepare. If not, then I'd have to deal with her nagging me all night about that project. And I don't want her to bail out on me again. Or else, stuff will happen.

As we got to the living room, I pushed Greg towards his seat, then tossed the apple to April. "Here you go, Prescott." I then sat beside her.

She glared at me for a moment. "It's Preston. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

I shrugged. I know that her name is April Preston, but it's always hilarious to see her reaction whenever I call her Prescott. "That depends."

She shook her head. Then she held the apple in front of her and looked at it with disgust. "This apple has a bite already."

"And so?"

"I'm not eating a bitten apple that's old and already turning brown!"

"That's not old. It's only been there for 3 weeks."

"Three months," Greg corrected.

"Oh my gosh." She pushed the apple to my hand. "Throw it, please."

I threw it to Greg. "Done!" I said, while Greg shouted, "Hey!" He threw it back to me. Then I threw it back. He groaned and threw it to the nearest trash can himself. He went back to his seat frowning.

April shook her head and sighed. I moved closer to her. "Why am I even working with you..." she mumbled while turning on her laptop. "By the way, why and how did you get grounded?"

"'Cause little Greggy here pooped at the church."

"I did not!" Greg immediately replied. "Rodrick left a chocolate bar on my seat and it stained my pants and everyone thought it was a poop stain!"

"Wow," April said.

"Don't believe him," I whispered to her.

Greg stood up. "I'm going to my room." He walked away.

April looked at me. "You are so immature, Rodrick."

"No, I'm not." I stretched and let my arms fall on the backrest of the couch. "I'm just the king of pranks," I told her.

"Well, let me inform you that I'm not going to be fooled by your stupid pranks."

I chuckled. "We'll see about that."

April fake-laughed. "Ha ha ha. Okay, could we focus now?"

. . . . . . . . . .

After 3 and a half hours of getting drowned in names and characters and events that I absolutely don't give a damn about, I decided it was time for April to leave.

"Oh hey, it's getting late. I think you should start walking home."

"But it's only 4:30... Oh, you have band practice?"

"Not today," I replied mindlessly.

"Oh, okay!" she said. And I thought that she would finally fix her things and get out of my house. But she didn't. "Then let's just continue this, so you won't waste your time."

Shoot. Wrong move. "B-but... I told you I'm not allowed to have visitors," I said, standing up.

"Right." She pointed at me. "But you also told me your parents won't be home for 3 days. And I'm here already. Won't hurt to have a harmless classmate who'd just work on a project with you, right?"

Damn it. Okay, I told myself. Just go with the flow. I scratched my head and then shrugged. "I guess."

"Don't worry," April said. "I'll go home before 7."

"Fine," I replied after a few seconds of thinking. Then I noticed Greg going down the stairs. And just like that, a genius, beyond-brilliant idea popped in my mind. I know, I'm awesome. "Okay. But, uh... Wanna continue this in my room?"

She looked at me, frowning. "Ew, no. Your room stinks. I don't wanna go down there again. I'm fine here, thanks."

"No, it won't burn your nose, I promise." I took her hand and pulled her up from the couch. "Come on!"

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I told you I'd rather stay here!" she complained while dragging her feet. I kept pulling her anyway. "I'm gonna regret this," she murmured.

When we reached the stairs, Greg peeked from the kitchen, confused. I ignored him and started climbing up.

April looked back down the stairs. "Uh, don't you live in the basement?" she asked.

"Oh. Frank made me move to the attic two weeks ago."

"Why? So he can clean the basement?" She laughed a little. If that was supposed to be a joke, it sucks.

"Ha, ha. No." We landed on the second floor, and I turned, still pulling her to climb the next set of stairs. I looked down at her. "So he can play with his civil war toy whatever."

"What?"

"He doesn't let us see it. But we all know he films his soldier toy statues reenacting the war."

"That's... weird."

"I know... Ha! Finally, we agree on something," I said. April shook her head.

I let go of her hand when we reached the top floor. I opened the door and walked inside. "Welcome to my lil' crib," I said.

She followed slowly and stood beside me. She looked around. "Well, yeah. It doesn't smell like a dead guy's room." But she didn't seem so impressed.

I put my arm around her and sighed. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"But it's still hella dirty."

I took my arm away from her and walked towards my bed. "And you're such a mom." Yeah maybe there's a pile of dirty laundry in front of my closet and some papers scattered here and there and maybe I haven't really cleaned this room since I moved here... But it's not hella dirty.

With her hands on her hips, she said, "Can't we just work downstairs?"

I sat down and had to think of something clever to say. "I can't focus in the living room."

She hesitated. And finally she replied, "Fine." She sat on the bed. "Oh but my things are downstairs."

I stood up. "I'll get them. Stay here."

"Really?" She was kinda surprised.

"But don't touch anything," I added.

I ran downstairs and saw Greg watching TV in the living room. "Dude, help me get ready for the party." I gathered April's things.

"What are you guys doing upstairs?" he asked suspiciously.

"I made her go up there so we can get this place ready!"

"You do realize she'll see everything when she goes down to leave."

"Who said she's going down?" I grinned mischievously. "Now, get the cups and the drinks and the food." He nodded. I went back upstairs.

Halfway through the set of stairs going to the attic, I heard something. A really slow and silent strumming of a guitar. "Damn it," I whispered to myself, and then rushed to my room.

"I told you not to touch anything!" I said loudly.

April seemed a bit startled. "Sorry." But she didn't let go of my guitar.

I dropped her things on the bed and grabbed the guitar from her.

"Hey, slow down!"

I put the guitar back where it's supposed to be. "Touch my things again and I'll kill you."

"Calm down, will you?" she said while taking her laptop. "It's not like I'll cut the strings or anything."

I sighed. "Just. Don't. Touch. My. Stuff."

"Okay, okay. Got it." She pulled her legs up across the bed and leaned on the bed frame with the laptop on her lap. "If you were in my room, I know you'd turn the entire place upside down."

I shook my head. "But I'm not in your room. You're in mine. Move." She scooted and I sat beside her. "My room, my rules."

"We wouldn't be having this argument now if we just worked downstairs," she said while typing something.

I stretched and yawned. "But this is much more comfy, right?"

April rolled her eyes. "Okay... Back to the project. Hmm, where are we?"

"Wait a minute," I interrupted. What happened a few minutes ago just sunk in now. "You play guitar?" I asked, looking at her.

"Kind of."

"No way!" I sat up.

"Well, just a bit. I'm still learning."

"Do you play any other instruments?"

"I know how to play the piano. But I haven't touched one since we moved."

"Woah. Cool. Didn't know you were into music." I leaned back on the bedframe.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Heffley." She gave a small smile. "Okay, going back..."

I pretended that I was interested in what we we're talking about. But I was actually just letting time pass so it's not obvious that I'm bored as hell and up to something else.

"Wait. Uh... I need to go to the bathroom." I got up and left the room, making sure that I closed the door.

"Greg!" I called when I reached the bottom of the stairs. I went to the living room.

"Snacks in the bowl, cups on the table, ice and drinks in the freezer," Greg enumerated.

"Huh. I'm impressed." I gave Greg a high five. I looked around. "Still lacks a bit decoration."

"I was just about to get some of those from the basement."

"Okay, good." I stepped backwards and took a peek in the kitchen. "What drinks do we have?"

"Uh, there are two big bottles of soda in the fridge."

"Yeaah we need more than that." I started walkong towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Getting some drinks. Decorate the house! Keep April busy!"

"Wait, how am I supposed to—"

I shut the door, got in my van, and drove as fast as I can to the nearest grocery.

In about 10 minutes, I was back and carrying an entire cooler of drinks (and by drinks I mean both soft and hard) through the door of my house. The living room already had some decorations when I got in.

"Rodrick! April was looking for you!" Greg whispered. He continued to talk very fast. "She almost went down, but I told her to wait up there. She said, okay. But she might-"

"Rodrick?" she called.

I cursed under my breath. "Bring this to the kitchen," I told Greg. And then ran to the attic.

She was opening the door wider. "Over ten minutes in the bathroom? What took you so long?"

I walked inside and closed the door behind me. "I pooped." First thing that popped in my mind.

"Um, okay." She made a disgusted face and went back to the bed. "I started doing our PowerPoint presentation for this."

"Yeah?" I walked closer.

She sat down. "Yup. I've only put some of the characters' names, though."

"Let me see!" I grabbed the laptop. The slides were almost empty. There weren't any designs at all. "What is this crap? It's all blank and white!"

"That's because I haven't designed the slides yet. And it's not blank, stupid. There are words there. Can't you read?" she said. I took a second look and yeah there were small words. April continued, "I'm putting everything there first, and then add the designs later. It would be nice if you helped instead of just complaining, you know."

"Could we make everything black?" I suggested while handing her the laptop.

She took it, saying, "If we do that, we won't see anything."

"What time is it?" I asked.

"5:52 pm," she replied. "Why?

Some of my friends and guests will be arriving in a while. "Nothing. I'll be right back." I headed to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"My stomach hurts. Have to go to the bathroom again," I explained. Of course it was all fake. She bought it earlier, which means she'll buy it again.

Instead of just nodding, she asked, "Why did you have to ask the time?"

Why did she have to ask so many questions?! "My body has a strict pooping schedule that needs to be followed," I told her.

"That doesn't even make sense. You just pooped a while ago—"

"Do you want me to end up shitting here?!"

"Okay, nevermind. Go... do your business." She shooed me away with her hand.

I rushed downstairs to check on the party venue. I looked around and everything seemed ready.

"Drinks in the kitchen!" Greg said.

"Good."

"Your party better be good."

"Our party, lil' bro... Come here," I said. He shuffled towards me. "I need to lock the door upstairs so April can't open it."

"She can open it from the inside, you know."

"Dude, that's why I need suggestions."

We stood there for a short while, thinking of a possible solution. Then Greg said, "Why don't you tie the doorknob to the railing of the stairs?"

"Hmm. Maybe I could tie the doorknob to the railing of the stairs!"

"That's what I just said."

I ignored him. "Quick, go find a string or something."

Greg sighed. And then his eyes widened with a bright idea. "I have a jump rope in my room!"

"Great. Go get it," I said. He ran past me up the stairs. I followed behind him. "Why do you have a jumping rope in your room?"

"Don't ask." He entered his room while I climbed to the attic.

"Tell me you're ready to start working again," April said when I opened the door. She was now lying on her stomach with her laptop in front of her.

"Not yet," I replied.

"I'm starting to get a feeling that something else is going on right now aside from this project." She sat up, eyeing me suspiciously. "You know, you're right. Maybe I can just go home and—"

"No, no!" I interrupted. If she went downstairs she'd see all the party decorations. "Stay. I'll be right back."

"Fine."

I closed the door softly. Greg appeared behind me holding a pink jump rope. I gave him a questioning look and before I could ask he said, "It's Rowley's, okay?" He handed it to me.

I shook my head. "Tie it there," I whispered to Greg, pointing to the stair railing. He did while I tied one end to the doorknob. It wasn't easy because of the freakin' huge rope handle, but I did it anyway.

The doorbell rang.

Greg and I ran downstairs. He headed for the door but I called him out before he could reach it. "Greg, I forgot to tell you that we need chairs from the basement."

"For what?"

"In case we wanna play musical chairs! Duh."

"What? Nobody even plays musical chairs anymore."

"It comes back when you hit high school." I grinned. Somebody rang the doorbell again. "Alright, you go get those chairs. I don't want anyone to be disappointed, okay?"

And he bought it. "Okay," he said. I patted his back as he turned to go to the basement.

I quickly opened the door to welcome my bandmates in, along with other people from my other classes. "Drinks in the kitchen," I said. I left the door open so people could come in, and then I went to the basement door. I pulled the key from my pocket, which has been there since my parents left the house this morning, and locked the door. This door has been jammed since I broke it by accident years ago; so once locked from the outside, he won't be able to open it from inside.

Greg almost immediately called me out when he realized this. "Rodrick, help! The door's closed!

"Yeah, and it's staying closed!" I replied. "I don't need a middle schooler ruining my party."

"You said it was our party!"

"It's my party. Now keep quiet or I'll lock you in the dryer!"

"Rodrick!" He pounded on the door.

"Greeeg," I mocked.

On my way back to the living room, I heard April's faint voice calling my name. I turned up the volume of the music so no one else can hear her.

More visitors came in. I don't even know some of them, but who cares? The party's going great so far. The music was blasting out loud and people are dancing and drinking and talking with each other.

And then I saw Rowley, Greg's friend, making his way through the crowd "So, Rowley," I put my arm around him. He was instantly shaking. "What's up? Looking for Greg?" He tried to shake his head. "What are you doing here, then?"

And since this chubby ball couldn't tell a lie, he stuttered and then spit out the truth. "Greg's locked in the basement and he called me to get him out!"

"Right. This way." I pushed him, leading to the basement door.

"Rowley, you did it!" Greg said when the door opened.

I opened it wider and pushed Rowley inside. "Haha! Sorry, lil' bro. Whatever you're thinking, I already thinked it!" I closed the door and locked it again.

For most part, I hung out with my bandmates at the living room. "When our band's huge, we'll have parties like this every night," I said. "But they'll be backstage parties!"

Ben chuckled, "So we will get to go backstage?!" Well, duh. I just nodded. Not that I'm admitting I'm the stupidest or anything, but if you're going to ask me to name anyone stupider than me, I'd say it's Ben.

Suddenly, the phone rang. And this other doof I don't know was about the answer it. "Don't touch that phone!" I yelled. "Everybody, freeze!"

The music stopped and everyone literally froze. Good. I slowly crossed the room, walking to the phone. "If anyone makes single a sound, I'm dead." Behind me someone stepped on some chips. "Keep quiet!"

I reached the phone and made one last reminder to everyone before answering it, "Everybody shut up."

"Hey mom!" I greeted.

"Hey, Rodrick!" Mom replied from the other end. "What took you so long to answer?"

"I-I was... I was just washing the dishes," I said, hoping she would believe it.

"Oh, okay," she said. Ah thank goodness. "I'm just calling to check in. How's everything there? You and Greg?"

Damn it. She just had to ask a lot of things. "Everything's fine... good. Great, even."

"That's good to hear. Okay, I wanna speak to Greg."

"Uhh.. H-he can't. He's already asleep," I lied.

"Actually, I'm still awake," Greg butted in. What the hell? There's a damn phone down there?

"Greg, honey," Mom said. "I thought you were asleep already."

"No, I'm down in the basement," he replied. Shit.

"The basement?" Mom asked.

I faintly heard dad's voice saying, "What?! Tell them not to touch my figurines!"

"The basement?" I immediately said. "What are you doing down there when you could be up here hangin' with me?"

"Yeah," Greg said to me. "Why don't you come down and get me?" Ugh.

I heard mom whisper from the other end, "I think they're trying to get along!"

I had no choice. "Okay, going there now." I headed to the basement door and opened it. Greg and Rowley rushed up the stairs.

I handed Greg the phone so he could talk to mom. "Yeah, mom... Okay... I have your number if I need you. Okay, bye." He hung up.

The music went on again and everyone went back to their partying business. Meanwhile, I warned Greg and Rowley. "If you do anything that will embarrass me—anything, I will—"

"You'll what?"

"I'll—I... just stay out of my way. Nerds." I glared at them and started walking away.

"You better do something about April up there," Greg said. I turned back to him. "I don't know, her parents might call her soon or something."

"I've got everything under control," I told him. Well, I lied. I swiftly walked away and pushed through waves of people to see if any of April's friends were here.

I went back to where I left my bandmates after looking almost everywhere in the ground floor. Damn, my house was full of people.

Ha. And people used to say I couldn't throw a party. Psshh.

Suddenly, Claire passed by in front of me. She was with this dude. Forgot his name.

"Claire!" I called.

"Huh?" She turned around.

"Could you do me a favor?" I asked, walking up to her.

"Oh, hey Rodrick," she said. "What do you want? Wait, have you seen April? I sent her a text."

"You tex—?" I realized it was awkward to talk about this with the dude standing beside her. So I said, "Hey bro, could I talk to her for a minute?"

"I'll look for you right after, Ethan," Claire said.

"Yeah, okay. I'll be by the kitchen," he replied.

While I led Claire to somewhere less noisy, she became more suspicious and started asking me a bunch of questions. "What's going on?" I didn't reply. "Hey did you invite April to this party?" I didn't reply again. And then she gasped. "Where's April?!"

"Can you chill?" I told her. We stopped walking. "I need you to do me a favor. Call Prescott's parents and tell them she's at your house."

"You're asking me to lie?"

"No, no! I'm just—"

"Why should I do that?"

"Because her parents don't know she's here. If they find out, she's dead. I'm dead. You're dead. We're all—"

"Okay, okay," she said, pulling out her phone from her pocket. "I'll... I'll call them."

"Good," I muttered.

"In one condition."

"What?" I asked.

"Tell me where she is."

"After that call," I said.

She nodded and then dialed April's mom's number. "Hi Mrs. Preston! C-Claire here..." She stuttered a bit. Apparently this girl's not used to doing such things. I gave her a thumbs up to keep her going. She continued, "Yeah.. J-Just letting you know that A-April's here... Uh, W-We're doing some homework and sh-she might even stay overnight..."

I watched her. And damn it, at this rate April's mom won't be convinced.

"...Oh she's...she's taking a nap right now so she can't talk to you...Okay, alright... I'l let her know. Thanks, Mrs. Preston." She hung up the phone and then started breathing again. "Woah. That was the hardest thing I've ever done."

Okay, I can't believe April's mom bought that. I patted her shoulder. "You did good. Thanks. Now you can go find your boyfriend." And then I left before she could remember asking where April was. I heard her muffled voice calling me again while I walked away.

I then started going upstairs to check on April.

When I reached the second floor, I heard footsteps rushing down the stairs. I turned and saw her running straight for me.

She was furious.

"How dare you?!" April pushed me and then slapped me hard on the face. Oh shit that hurt. "How dare you lock me up in there, Rodrick Heffley?!" she yelled while continuously hitting me with her fists. Good thing the music was so loud and probably only a few people could hear her downstairs.

I did my best to block every hit. "Hey. Hey! Calm down!" I got ahold of her wrists.

She only yelled louder. "You're telling me to calm down after locking me up in your room?!"

Ah that's it. I led her to one of the rooms—I think it was my parents'. I closed the door and she immediately pulled her wrists away.

"Okay. This is it. I don't even know if I can still work with a person like you—"

"Hey, look..." I started.

She raised her index finger at me. "Don't you even..." She paced around, probably trying to loosen up.

I shut up, leaned on the door, and just watched her. She's definitely not the type of girl you'd want to mess with. All I was hoping at the moment was that she doesn't ditch me again on the project thing. Yeah maybe I should stop pissing her off whenever we meet... A tiny smirk spread across my face. But sometimes you just can't help messing with someone like this.

She stopped and then took a deep breath. "Why didn't you just tell me you're having a party? I could have freaking left if you didn't want me here—"

"Hey, I tried to make you leave but you insisted on staying!"

"—And aren't you grounded?"

"I am!" I scratched my head, thinking of a way to explain this. "Look, I thought that if I told you I was going to have a party instead of doing the project thing, you'd ditch me on that English project."

"You know, that's what exactly I'm thinking of right now." She started to walk towards the door.

"No, no, no, no." I blocked her. "One more chance, okay? One night to party. Then after this, project all the way."

She kept a straight face. It took almost a minute before she said, "Fine." Woah. That was a relief. "But just so you know, I hate you so much."

"I hate you more, don't worry," I retorted.

"Okay. I have to get my things in your roo—oh shoot." She flashed a disgusted face.

"Wait, how did you get out of my room?"

"Two people were able to open the door. They asked me to step out unless I wanted to watch them... you know."

A few seconds passed before it hit me. "What the fff—?!"

I immediately ran upstairs, with April trailing behind me.

I opened the door, and the two teenagers on my bed who making out in their underwear were startled.

"Out!" I yelled at them. They started scrambling out with their clothes. "My room's off-limits, shitheads!" I called out as they ran downstairs.

Meanwhile, April started gathering her things which were on the corner of the bed. "Ew they sat on my laptop!" she complained.

"What are you doing? Why the hell are you packing your stuff?"

"I wasn't invited to your party, remember?"

"But you already crashed it." I spread my arms. "So just stay and party with all of us."

"My parents don't know I'm staying late. And I have other important things to do, which I could have done if somebody in this room just told me we couldn't do the project today," she said while putting more things in her bag.

I shook my head. "Pff. You're such a kill-joy."

"I am not!" She stood up, leaving her open bag on the floor.

"You are! Look at you stressing over that English shit on a great weekend like this!"

"Excuse me?" She walked closer, her arms crossed. "I know how to not stress over school stuff."

"Prove it then! Stay and chill even for one night," I challenged her. She remained silent. "After this, I promise we'll work on that project thing."

She shifted uncomfortably, probably thinking twice of her decision. "Yeah, okay," she said finally. "If all you need is proof that I can forget about schoolwork for a while, then challenge accepted."

I pumped my fist in the air. "Yes! Let's go!" I took her hand, which was warm and soft, as usual. I pulled her as we ran out of the room and down the stairs (of course I made sure my room's door was closed). "Oh and don't worry about your parents. They know you're okay," I said before we reached the ground floor.

I led her through the crowd and to the kitchen where the drinks are.

"No, I'm not drinking tonight," she told me when we got there. "I don't want to."

"What? Come on." I offered her the cup. "You said you can relax and party."

"I can relax and party without alcohol, Heffley."

"Suit yourself." I started drinking from the cup instead. Then I took another cup and filled it with soda. "Here." I offered it to her. "Don't worry this one's just soda."

She took it. "Thanks."

And then there was awkward silence.

"Claire is here," I said, just for conversation.

"I know. And so are the others. They texted me while I was a damsel in distress in your room," she said. I took another sip of my drink and tried not to laugh. She continued, "Speaking of my friends, I'm gonna look for them."

I was about to go look for my friends too when she left. But then this girl came in the kitchen and took a cup from the stack beside me.

She was hot.

"Here, let me help you." I put my cup near the sink first so I could take hers and fill it with coke and rum.

"Thanks," she said when I handed it to her. She had long and wavy black hair, a slim and sexy built and dark brown skin, and a freaking beautiful face.

I started chatting with her. And maybe I could score a new girl to date tonight. "So... you are?"

"Melissa." She smiled and then took a sip from her cup. "And you?"

"Rodrick Heffley."

"Oh I think I've heard that name at school—"

Wow, I'm famous? "You go to Plainview High too, right?" I asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Aren't you, like, in a band or something?"

"Yeah, Löded Diper," I replied.

She frowned upon hearing the name. "That's... a unique name."

"I started that band actually."

"Wow, that's cool," she said.

I kept talking to her for a while, drinking from our cups from time to time. I asked her if she liked music. She said it depends on the genre. I kept talking to her about the band, which I thought kept her interested. "And we have gigs too. There was this one time... We played at a friend's house. You know, we rocked the house so much. We play so loud, we make people's eardrums bleed. Isn't that awesome?"

She frowned again. "Ew."

"I didn't mean it lit—"

"Greg, I think your brother likes her!" Greg's friend said loudly, making everyone look at him and then at me and Melissa. Shit.

"I'm going to go find my friends," Melissa said, laughing nervously.

Damn it. Everything was going well. "Yeah... haha. See you," I said while she walked away.

And then I shifted my attention to the two middle schoolers who started shuffling away.

"Reminder!" I caught up with them before they even touched the telephone. "You can't call mom if you're dead." I glared at their frightened faces once more before leaving them to find my friends.

"Dude, look at those girls. They're bored as hell," Ben told me when I found him. His tone had that drunk feel. He was probably tipsy already.

"Shit, man. I was talking to Melissa," I said, pointing at her. "So close, dude. Until that stupid potato ruined it."

"Yeah, I heard him." He laughed.

"Not funny, man. Not funny." I drank from the cup.

"But no, seriously. Ask the girls to dance. If you don't, they're gonna leave. And you're gonna be that lame guy who threw a lame party without any girls."

"Why don't you do it? You ask them to dance!" I said.

"No, you!" He laughed.

I chuckled with him. "You. You always knew how to do it!"

"No, you do it! Go ask the girls to dance—"

"Did somebody say dance?!" Rowley excitedly said. Everyone looked at him. "Hit it!"

What the hell. Ben and I stopped laughing. I cursed under my breath. This hippo is ruining my party.

"I won't call mom, but you can kill me now," Greg said to me.

"Damn right, that kid is dead." I was about to make my way towards him when Ben stopped me.

"Dude, not here. When they see you beating up that kid, who knows what they'll do!" he said. "Look! the girls are dancing already."

Rowley was starting to dance with the girls. And they went along with it?

"Congaaaaaa!" Rowley shouted when the music changed.

Everyone started lining up, with hands on each others' waists, and dancing around the house. "What the hell is happening?!" I said.

"Whatever. I'm gonna squeeze in next to Rachel Lewis!" Ben said excitedly and headed for the line.

Greg and I looked at each other. Maybe this wasn't a bad idea after all. Yeah, that Rowley kid's safe for now. We joined and I squeezed in between Melissa and Rachel.

This dance went on until the song ended. But after that, the party was much more alive. People were singing along to the music with their hands up and their fists pumping in the air. Others were dancing to the beat, holding their cups. This made me pretty sure that at least 70% of the crowd was already wasted.

Not me, though. Well, maybe I'm a bit more tipsy than I was earlier. I have this high tolerance level for alcohol so I don't get drunk easily.

And besides, I haven't drunk a lot tonight. I was more busy trying to make a move to Melissa. She seemed to be having fun with everyone else, but I didn't get why she kept avoiding me. The night went on, and I gave up. Let her have fun with the middle-schoolers instead.

I then chatted with Ben and Chris again. Ben was wasted. His arm was hanging over Chris's shoulders for support. He was talking about how Rachel was ignoring him all night; and brownies. He also kept blabbering about brownies.

"Dude, don't puke on the carpet, okay?" I said, laughing along with the two.

"No! Let's take a shot," Ben said.

"Bro you're dying!" Chris told him, laughing.

"I'm not dying! I have no blood all over my body—Do I have blood all over my face? Noooo! Let's take a shot! Rodrick where the hell are your shot glasses?!"

"They're in the kitchen, I think."

"Yeah dude, just get them. He's gonna puke on the carpet if you don't," Chris said while Ben fake-puked.

"Hahaha okay. I'll be right back," I said.

On my way to the kitchen, I bumped into a running girl, which made me almost spill my drink. Almost.

Behind her, another girl caught up. It was Olivia. One of April's friends. Which means this girl giggling and leaning on me was April's friend... or April herself.

"Hey Rodrick," Olivia said while pulling the girl away from me. "Sorry for that. I was trying to stop her from crashing her head on the door."

I almost laughed upon seeing her face. "Prescott?!"

April looked up. She was smiling dreamily and looked like she was trying to keep her eyes open. "Hm? Who's that?"

"She's kinda drunk," Olivia confirmed.

"Olivia, darling." April combed her friend's hair. "I'm not! Don't worry 'bout meee," she said, giggling again.

"Woah. Never thought I'd see a drunk April," I commented.

"I'm not drunk!" April exclaimed. She drank from her plastic cup, and almost fell over when she took a step back. Luckily, Olivia and I caught her. We then held her arms to keep her from falling.

"You said you wouldn't drink alcohol tonight," I said to April, and then I asked Olivia, "What has she been drinking?"

Before Olivia could reply, April said, "I didn't drink tonight, Rodrick!" She raised her cup. "This isn't alcohol! It's iced tea! Really gooood iced tea." Then she drank from it again.

"What? Give me that." I snatched the cup from her hand and took a sip.

"Hey! That's mine!" Aprl tried to reach for it but I blocked her and Olivia pulled her back.

"Long Island," I muttered. "Where the heck did she get this? I didn't buy any of this. Did you give this to her?"

"No. I don't know how or where she got that. But I'm guessing that someone brought their own alcohol. Then maybe April got her drink switched by accident, I don't know." Olivia said. "She's had like 4 full cups of that already."

April grabbed her cup from my hand and drank again. "Aah. This iced tea is waaay better than Coke."

I wanted to laugh out loud at what I was seeing. But to be honest, I was also a bit worried. She said she wouldn't drink. What if she's allergic to alcohol or something? What if she pukes in mom's vase? Or on mom's carpet?!

"Okay, April. I think you've drunk too much," Olivia said.

"She's right," I said. "Come on. Let's get you some water." Olivia and I started pulling her to the kitchen.

"No. I'm fine, you guys! Quit worrying!" She drank the rest of whatever's left in her cup. "Aw, it's empty," she said, making a puppy-dog face.

"I'm getting her water." I said. Olivia nodded.

And so I did.

While walking back, I saw April up the stairs. Olivia was behind her, trying to stop her from jumping.

"No. I'm gonna fly. I'm gonna fly like Buzz Lightyear!" April said groggily while trying to maintain her balance.

"Buzz Lightyear can't fly!" Olivia argued.

"Then fall with style or whatever," April replied. And then she jumped.

Luckily I got there right on time to catch her.

But we still ended up falling on the floor. The water and my drink spilled all over us. I groaned. That hurt like crap. My back freakin' hit the floor.

April kept laughing while still on top of me. "Woo! Haha. Oh my gosh, you're so cute when you're hair's all wet," she told me, ruffling my hair.

Olivia quickly rushed down to help April up.

"She called me cute. So yeah, she's totally drunk," I said to Olivia while I got up. "Ugh. I'm gonna get some water again."

"We'll go with you. She might jump again." She followed behind me, pulling April.

Once we got to the kitchen, I immediately handed a cup of water to Olivia and she handed it to April.

"Why does this iced tea taste like water?" April mumbled while I poured another drink into my cup.

"How did you get to buy all these hard drinks?" Olivia asked me.

"Fake ID, duh," I replied.

"Right."

"Where are your other friends anyway?" I asked, leaning on the counter across her and April.

"I don't know if they went home already or if they're just making out with their guys somewhere in this house."

"Well, good thing you didn't get drunk before April did or her head's probably stuck on the door already."

She nodded. "I didn't drink that much anyway."

We both looked at April who was making bubble sounds with her water. I smirked. This was so not the usual April.

Suddenly, Olivia's phone rang. She took it out from her pocket to see who's calling. "Ah crap," she said before answering. "Hey mom. What? I can't hear you I'm at my friend's house!... Now? Huh?" She left the kitchen for a while.

I watched April do whatever. She does and says so much weird shit when she's drunk. And she keeps laughing and giggling. A lot.
"I want pizza," April told me. "Do you have pizza, Heffley?"

I shook my head. "Haha. No."

"Whyy? Pizza is like the best thing in the entire universe."

"Of course I know that."

"Then why don't you have pizza?" she asked. Then she burped from drinking so much water.

I took some potato chips from the snacks container and then gave it to her. She examined it. "But this isn't pizza."

"No, that's, uh... pizza chips."

"Really?! Awesoome." She opened it and started eating.

Olivia went back to the kitchen, looking annoyed as heck. She sighed. "Mom's gonna ground me if I don't go home now..."

"Oh." Damn it. Don't leave drunk April with me, I thought.

"I'm really sorry. But could you...?" she asked me and pointed to April. "Or should I just walk her home?"

"No, no, no. Walking her home right now is a bad idea. A really bad idea," I said. It's true. She's dead then I'm dead.

"Right. Just watch her please?" she said to me.

I ended up agreeing. "Yeah, okay." What else could I do?

"But don't let her drink again," Olivia reminded. I nodded and she turned to April. "April, gotta go okay? Stay safe."

"Aww. Here take my pizza chips with you." April handed her the bag of chips.

"Pizza chi—what?" Olivia was confused. She looked at me and I just shrugged, trying not to laugh. "Anyway," she continued, "Rodrick's gonna watch you for now. See you on Monday."

"Bye," I said, and then I groaned when she left (she actually took the chips with her).

April laughed again and grinned as she moved right next to me. "OMG, looks like I'm stuck with you tonight. Bondiiing!"

I rolled my eyes and drank from my cup.

"I want more iced tea, Rodrick."

"We're all out," I said.

"What's that you're drinking? Let me taste!" She tried reaching for the cup.

I pulled it away from her. "This is mine! And you're freaking wasted. Next thing you know you'll be puking all over the house."

She stopped reaching for it. "I'm not druunk! Just give me some! Please please please..." And she continued saying please.

She wasn't going to stop. "Shut up, will you?!" I said.

"Ugggghhh you suck. I think I'll go home instead." She started walking away, swaying from time to time since she seemed a bit dizzy and drowsy.

But she shouldn't go home. She couldn't. Not in that state. Her parents will know she came from a party—my party. And then her parents will talk to my parents about the freaking party and my parents will kill me.

"Wait!" I called her.

She yawned. "What?"

"Fine. One cup of beer."

It was as if all the energy she's lost went back to her. "Yay—!"

"But just one." I filled another cup and gave it to her. "I'm not gonna refill that anymore. Make it last."

She nodded. I watched her as she excitedly drinks a bit. I know her friend said I shouldn't let her drink more, and I wouldn't have. But it was the only way to make her stay and not go home drunk. Besides, knowing how careless she is, who knows what could happen to her when she crosses the street in the dead of the night.

For now, I just had to make sure she doesn't puke all over mom's carpet. 'Cause there's no damn way I'm cleaning that shit (because I don't know how).

"Oh my gosh!" she said when Firework started playing. Her eyes widened and she smiled from ear to ear. I had no idea who chose that song but it definitely got April charged up. "Let's go!" She pulled me back to the living room where everyone who's left in the house was dancing.

The next few moments were a bit of a blur, but I was pretty sure that I didn't pass out and I wasn't hallucinating or whatever. I probably got half-drunk, if there's such thing. I don't know, a lot was happening at the same time and everyone was noisy and crazy and livin' the life.

"Dude, where have you been?" Chris asked when he saw us in the living room. "What took you so long? You got the shot glasses?"

I got so distracted with drunk April that I totally forgot why I was going to the kitchen in the first place. "Uh, I couldn't find the glasses, sorry! I don't know where my parents put them," I answered.

Chris just nodded. Good thing he didn't get angry or whatever. He was probably just looking forward to taking shots like Ben. Then beside me he saw April, who was enthusiastically talking to everyone and dancing like crazy. He snickered. "Is she okay?"

"Ha, she's drunk. Where's Ben, by the way? I thought he was with you."

"Yeah, he passed out already. Here let me show you," Chris said.

I then left April for a while to follow Chris across the living room. Slumped on the chair near where we were talking a while ago was a sleeping Ben. "Haha! He's always the first one to pass out," I said.

"I know." Chris shook his head. "Oh, we might have to leave in a while. I still have to drive, and I can take him with me."

"Yeah, okay. He's probably used to waking up in your room without knowing how he got there," I said.

Chris laughed. "Yeah dude, we should prank him sometime."

"Yes!" I said, giving him a high five. "We'll think of something." I turned around and tried to look for April. "Hey Chris, I'll get back to you, alright?"

"Sure. I'll let you know when we're going," he replied before I started walking through the partying crowd.

Soon enough April bumped into me while she was dancing. "Where the hell did you go?!" she asked. Her hair was messed up all over her face, which was already red and a bit sweaty. When the last chorus of the song played, she took my hand and jumped up and down. Her other hand which was holding the cup was raised up while she screamed the lyrics at the top of her lungs. I couldn't help but smile and sing along.

The song ended. She almost lost her balance after jumping but she cling on to me for support. "That..." she started, but stopped for a moment to catch her breath, "was so fun!"

"Heck yeah." I panted, and then laughed. "You're so damn wild."

She raised her cup and said, "Cheers!"

"Cheers," I replied, and then we both drank.

Right at that moment, someone yelled, "Truth or Daaare!"

"OMG!" April almost spit out her drink on my clothes. "Let's play!"

Everyone made space in the middle of the living room. Meanwhile, others started leaving already, so probably less than 25 people were left in my house. About half of those formed a circle and sat down the floor. Of course, April and I squeezed in. I hate playing this game. But April already pulled me in so I had no choice.

I recognized some of those who were about to play the game with us. Two of them I've seen in some of my classes, but I forgot their names. Aside from them, there was that guy who always had the stupidest hairstyles; and that other weirdo kid who's like the Fregley of our batch. Fregley is Greg's weird classmate, if you don't know. Ben and Chris were also seated in the circle. Chris explained that Ben woke up when he heard someone shout "Truth or Dare". Don't even ask me how that happened because I don't know. Melissa, Rachel, Greg, Rowley (who was apparently the one who yelled "Truth or Dare"), and Mae and her varsity boyfriend, were also there. The others, I have no idea who they were.

"Oh, hey April," Mae greeted when she realized April was next to her. She was also seated beside her boyfriend.

April waved her hand while she drank from her cup. After that, she burped a "Hello" and giggled. She then leaned on my shoulder and her eyes looked somewhat drowsy. Mae gave me a questioning look.

"Yeah, she's drunk," I confirmed.

"Knew it." She smiled and shook her head, turning her attention back to her boyfriend.

Ben cleared his throat and groggily announced, "Let's play Truth or Dare, without the truth!"

"So that's like Dare or Dare, right?" the guy with the stupid hairstyle asked.

"Why don't we make it Drink or Dare?" Mae's varsity boyfriend suggested. "You have to do the dare. If you suck at it, you failed, you drink."

"But we don't drink," Rowley said.

"Yeah. We're not allowed," Greg agreed and then looked at me.

"So you better beat it or or deal with it, kids," Mae's boyfriend told them.

"Matt!" Mae slapped his shoulder. "Don't scare the kids."

"Yeah," I said. They all looked at me. "If they have to drink, just let them sip a little. That won't hurt."

Everyone agreed. One of the players took out an empty beer bottle and placed it in the middle of the circle. The game officially started when Ben volunteered to spin. We all watched as the bottle spun round and round. Beside me, April sat up straight as she yawned. Then she drank two big gulps from her cup. After that she started pulling her hoodie over her head, but she realized her shirt was underneath was being pulled up as well. I could see her belly button already.

"Rodrick?" she called. Her voice was muffled since half of hoodie was already covering her head. "Could you pull my shirt down?" I did so until she took the entire pullover off. "Thanks," she said. She then clapped her hands together, and muttered, "Let's do this."

The bottle stopped spinning and thank goodness I wasn't the first to play the dare. It was the weirdo kid.

"I'll give the dare!" Ben said before anyone else could. He pointed at weirdo kid and spoke in his heavily drunk voice. "I dare you to... pick your nose in front of us, and then lick the finger you used to pick your nose with!"

"What?! That's disgusting, dude! Do I have to do it in front of all of you?" weirdo kid complained.

"This is truth or dare—or drink or dare, whatever. You have to do it," Chris explained.

"Ugghh, okay," weirdo kid said. He then proceeded to pick his nose. He got a huge ass booger. And since he had to lick his finger, he had no choice but to lick the booger too. He slowly licked his finger. Everyone chuckled at the look on his face. "I'm done," he said with his tongue sticking out. And everyone burst out laughter. "Ew, I have to rinse this." He spun the bottle and then left the group for a while, rushing to the bathroom.

The next one was April. "Alright! Bring it on!" she said loudly when the bottle stopped spinning.

One of the players I don't know spoke before anyone else, "I dare you... to pour out your drink all over you while shouting like Tarzan." The others nodded in approval and couldn't wait if April would actually do it.

April had that challenge accepted look on her face. "Do I empty it?"

"Yeah, empty it!" another player said.

She smirked. "Easy." She asked the group to count from 3 to 1. We all did and then, while screaming like Tarzan, she emptied her cup above her head, the beer spilling all over her. Everyone else cheered her, including me, and she yelled, "Wooo!" after accomplishing the dare.

Everyone clapped their hands, and laughed out loud. I gave April a high five. "Good one!"

"I know." She chuckled and then spun the bottle.

"You want a towel or something?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, no. I'm good."

"You sure? You're not cold or anything?"

"Nah..." she said.

I took her hoodie and handed it to her. "Here. If ever you get cold... or if you wanna wipe the dripping beer off your hair."

She grinned as a sign of thanks. And then she wiped her hair and face while another player was doing the dare given to him.

The game went on. A lot of weird and hilarious stuff happened, but so far no one was forced to drink. There was one guy who danced in his underwear, while two other dudes had to exchange shirts. One girl had to dance in the middle until she was told to stop, while another had to go outside and shout "I'm gonna rob your houses!". Greg had to give Rowley a piggyback ride while singing A Whole New World (and it was funny as crap!). Mae had to recite some lines from Hamlet (I have no idea what the heck Hamlet is) with her tongue out. Rachel was dared to kiss Ben, who afterwards leaped with joy. Melissa had to lick mayonnaise off weirdo kid's nose. Stupid hairstyle guy kissed this girl from Chemistry class. Another kid had to lick someone's toe. Etcetera, etcetera.

I was completely enjoying the game, laughing out loud with everyone, giving dares here and there and watching others do the stupidest things ever... Until it was my turn.

"Rodrick! Ha!" Ben said like he won a bingo game.

I was already feeling the game so I finished up the rest of my drink and said, "Come on. Hit me!"

Before Ben could continue, Matt started talking, "I dare you... to kiss April."

Everyone went, "Ooooooohhh."

The grin on my face probably disappeared. I went silent for a moment, just like everyone around me who was waiting. Damn it! Kiss April? Hell no. Why the heck should I do that? I looked at her—at April. She flashed her drunk smile. And I turned to Matt and asked, "Are you serious?"

"You gotta do it, man," he said.

"She's wasted, bro." I said. "Maybe—"

"Oh come on! Everyone's here wasted in different levels." He spread his arms.

Everyone agreed with him and began to cheer, "Kiss her, Kiss her!"

"Okay, okay!" I said so they could all shut up. The damn pressure was everywhere. Hey, don't blame me! Everyone was staring at us. I tried to hide my nervousness as I looked at April again. Well maybe I started sweating a bit. I don't freaking know if anyone noticed that. Ugh. That's why I hate this shitty game.

"Rodrick," April whispered, "Don't tell me you're afraid of doing a little dare." She smiled. Her eyes looked just as heavy as they did when the game started. The look on her face said all sorts of things and one of them was I'm ready.

"I'm not scared!" I whispered back. I then took a deep breath and said, "Okay. Let's get this over with."

I turned my whole body to face her. I was so uncomfortable and it all felt awkward until I just stared at her eyes.

Everything went slower. Time freaking slowed down for this. We moved closer to each other.

At that moment my view was just her. Her cheeks were a bit red, probably from all the alcohol she's drank and all the dancing she's done. Her hair looked sticky and she did smell like beer. But she's pretty—can't deny that. Every part of her face was beautiful, I could say, even though she usually doesn't wear much make up (just like now). She pressed her lips, forming a smile. After that, her expression turned into something like mine—serious, probably nervous too (but I couldn't tell because she's drunk. Drunk April is unpredictable). Then she closed her eyes. My heart started beating faster (Shit, I sound like a teenage girl, don't I?). Different emotions filled me as I closed my eyes too.

Our faces were moving closer to each other. I could smell the beer from her hair and skin. It kind of stunk, but it wasn't the right time to complain about that. And closer, and closer. Soon I began to feel her breath on my skin, my lips. I was ready. Closer and closer...

Then I felt a forehead slump on my shoulder.

I opened my eyes and realized that I was about to kiss the air. I cursed under my breath and rolled my eyes. Everyone around us was laughing hysterically.

Not that I eagerly wanted to kiss her already, but damn it. I was ready! It was so close! My lips were about to land on hers (or hers on mine, whatever). But April passed out. Her head lay heavy on my shoulder. Perfect timing right?

"Epic fail!" Ben cried, in between his dying laughter.

I fake-laughed. "Ha, ha... Great. Yeah, maybe I should take her upstairs," I said.

"Wait a second," Matt called my attention. "Dare failed, bro. Drink this!" He raised a cup half-full of alcohol, which I should finish.

"Right. Pass it on, dude," I said.

He gave it to Mae, and Mae handed it to me. It took at least 15 seconds for me to gulp everything down. They all cheered when I finished.

"Alright!" I put the cup down on the floor. "Now, if you'll excuse me... Gotta carry the princess back to her room."

I gently pushed her head away from my shoulder, careful not to let it hit the floor. Mae helped me reposition April's body so she was like lying down. I slowly got up, carrying April like she was a corpse bride or something (she's not dead, don't worry).

"Careful!" Mae reminded before she shifted her attention back to the game.

We were so into the Drink or Dare thing that I didn't notice that more people have left, and the rest who didn't join the game were just watching us. So apparently, that part where I almost made out with the air happened not just in front of the players in the circle but in front of everyone left in the party.

As I turned my back at them, I caught a glimpse of Anne. She was one of those who sat on the couch and watched us play. As usual, she had that dark glare at me whenever we saw each other. I actually wanted to ask her what the hell she was doing at my party; but there were more important things to take care of at the moment. I walked away and headed for the stairs.

Halfway up, April moved slightly. She frowned while opening her eyes. And then then she started coughing.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She made some gagging noises and covered her mouth with her hands. I didn't want vomit all over my face so I brought her upstairs to the bathroom as fast as I could.

When we got there, she sunk to the floor and started puking into the toilet bowl. Meanwhile I was forced to listen to the disgusting sounds she made while I stayed beside her, rubbing her back.

In the middle of what was happening, she started sobbing for some reason.

When she finished, I flushed the toilet and helped her get up. I saw her face. It was red, and tears were forming in her eyes. She went to the faucet and washed her face and mouth with water.

"Are you okay now?" I asked. My hand was on her shoulder.

And then she started to cry—real hard. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head.

A few moments ago she was energetic and happy and all; and then suddenly her mood shifted to the complete opposite of that. Oh the things people do when they're drunk. I pulled her in for a hug, hoping it would comfort her in some way. She cried harder than ever, to the point that I could feel my shirt getting wet with tears already.

"Why are you crying?" I asked.

"I miss him so much," she whimpered.

"Who?"

She didn't answer me, but she just kept crying. I didn't even bother asking her again, because she obviously wasn't in the right condition to be interrogated... But I wondered, who's him? Who was she referring to?

Soon she gagged and felt like vomiting again so I let go of her and she went back to the toilet bowl. That seemed to have stopped her from crying even more. After that, she gargled and washed her face again.

"You know, I think you should get some rest," I told her. She just nodded her head.

I helped her and put her arm around my shoulders so she wouldn't fall over. We headed to the stairs, but then she became heavier while walking. It seemed like I was just dragging her and she was pulling me down. She was probably going to pass out again anytime while we climb the stairs, so I just carried her again the same way I did earlier.

We got to my room, and I gently lay her down on my bed. She was asleep already.

I sat down on the floor to rest for a while. I had no idea what time it was. But one thing's for sure: this was one crazy night.

I looked at April. Some of her sticky hair covered her face, so I brushed it away and tucked it behind her ear. Right there, when I saw her face again, I wondered what could have happened if she didn't get drunk at all tonight or if she didn't pass out during the dare. This party would have turned out way differently.

Her cheeks and her nose were still somewhat red not just from the alcohol but also from the puking and crying. Near her eyes I could see what was left of her tears. I wiped it away slowly. My thumb brushed her soft face. I drew closer and planted a kiss her forehead.

She stirred a bit. I thought she would wake up so I quickly took my hand away from her face, and then I just leaned on the side of my bed.

But she didn't wake up. I sighed in relief. I know I don't think a lot, but so many thoughts flooded my mind at that moment.

What the hell, Rodrick? Stop. I cursed under my breath.

I got up and headed back downstairs, while trying to shrug off those thoughts.