A/N

Hi again! Three chapters in one hour. I'm on a roll. Enjoy!

After school, I wait by the bleachers for Maren. A few minutes later, I hear voices.

"Yeah, but now's not really a great time..."

"What? Why? Because of 'personal' stuff, yeah? My guess is, you're still not over Stanley." My ears perk up. Pathetic, yes. I know. But they still did.

"Sam, that's-"

"Hey, Els!" Stanley calls. I suppress a groan. What was Sam talking about with the girl? Stanley jogs up.

"So, I'm sorry about before, but I was thinking we could go get ice cream, or something?" He asks, smirking. Knowing I've forgiven him.

"Stanley, you can't just apologize then ask me out. That's not how it works, " I sigh. Stanley looks confused.

"I didn't mean-"

" I know what you're like, Stanley," I interrupt, then remember the plan. Dang it!

"Ella, I know my reputation and I know what Maren said earlier was true, but...please? You're an actual friend, and that sounded real bad, huh?" He scratches his neck awkwardly.

"Kinda. I'm supposed to be meeting Maren, but after?" I ask.

"Well, I think Maren's a bit busy," Stanley points to where I heard the conversation before. Turns out it was Maren talking to Sam.

"Ya know what? Sure. Let's go," I smile. Stanley grins.

"Malady?" he holds out his arm. I give him a look. His grin widens and he gestures to his arm again. I roll my eyes and take it.

"What do you wanna order?" Stanley asks when we arrive. I look at the cashier.

"Uh, two scoop cookies and cream and mint choc chip in a cone, please," I say.

"I'll take a double chocolate two scoop cone, chocolate dipped, please. And I'm paying for both of them," Stanley says.

"You must really like chocolate," I grin. "Wait...you're not paying for me!" I protest as Stanley hands over the money.

"It would ruin my manliness if I didn't, so just let me," Stanley says. I scoff.

"What ma-"

"Ella?" I spin and see Maren at the entrance to the shop.

"Hi," I smile.

"You weren't at the field," she frowns.

"Neither were you," I point out.

"You're here with him," she looks at Stanley.

"And you were talking to Sam. Sorry, Maren, it looked like you were gonna be a while," I reply.

"It's cool. But him? I thought you had higher standards."

"Oh, it's not like that," we say in sync.

"Alright. Practice tomorrow?"

"How about tonight? Field at seven?" I ask.

"Sure. See you then," Maren replies, and orders her ice cream, then leaves.

"So," I deadpan.

"So. Do you like narwhals?" Stanley asks me. I give him a wtf face. "I mean, I do, they're my second to favourite animal," he continues.

"What's your first?" I ask, seriously amused.

"Sloths," Stanley says. I burst out laughing.

"What? Sloths are awesome. And fluffy, and calm..." Stanley looks hurt. I just laugh harder. My ice cream falls off my cone, and splatters onto the footpath. I can barely breathe, I'm laughing so hard, I'm not even making any noise. I faintly hear Stanley talking to me, when it all becomes so overwhelming, and I pass out.

I open my eyes, and try to speak, but no sound comes out.

"Has she been through anything traumatic lately? High stress levels?" A woman asks. My eyes close again as I listen.

"Um, she did tell me about these really bad nightmares she's been having, and there's some other stuff at school that I think might've been stressing her out," I recognize Adam's voice explaining.

"That would've done it. Your friend has had a laughing attack. Commonly caused by pressure or stress, where the victim wants to let out any feelings they've kept bottled up in one go. It's a very dangerous condition. If it happens again, bring her straight here and ask for Nurse Conan, okay?"

"Sure thing, ma'am. Could we have a minute with Ella?" I don't recognize that voice.

"Sure. Call me if anything happens," the nurse leaves.

"Ella? This isn't funny, you know," Adam says.

"If you don't snap outta this, I'm gonna forever avoid ice cream. And never pay for anyone else's' ever again. You really want that to happen to me?" Stanley questions.

"Ella, you have to wake up, please. We last talked on a bad note, but I'd like to apologize if I did anything to upset you," was that..Marina? Oh thank God, she doesn't hate me!

"You're our teams best midfield, Ella. You can't let us down now," Maren urges. Why the heck are there so many people here?

"Come on, Els! You gotta wake up to sort out your unrequited love!" Drake whisper-yells.

"You better hope no one else heard that, Drake Kent, or you're dead meat," I say loudly, my eyes still closed.

"Only Adam," Drake says happily. I open my eyes, and raise my brows.

"Wait, you're awake! Agh! Guys, she's alive!" He yells. Everyone shakes their heads. I grin at them. I have the dumbest friends, honestly.

"That is the last time I buy you ice cream. Next time, you pay for your own double scoop," Stanley tells me.

"You're implying there'll be another time?" I ask slyly.

"You know it," he winks back. I see Drake and Adam exchange a glance, whisper something, and then nod. They both look back to me.

"Oh no you don't, don't you even dare!" I yell at them. Everyone else looks confused.

"We weren't doing anything," they say innocently, raising their hands. My eyes narrow.

"Ella, what the heck happened?" Myra demands.

"Uh, well.." I let out a small snicker. They look at me, concerned. I roll my eyes and wave my hand.

"What, I'm not allowed to laugh now? Anyway, Stanley was telling me his favourite animal was a sloth, and my ice cream fell off the cone, and...narwhals," I choke out, laughing.

"Sloths. Really, man?" John asks. Stanley scowls.

"They're cool, okay?" He defends. Soon, Stanley's the only one not laughing.

"Meanies," he pouts. Pouts? Wtf? But hey, five of the nine are here, and they're all laughing together, and maybe it'll be alright after all.

"So, I'm thinking, we could throw a party."

"What kind of party?" I ask.

"A fun one! Duh," Drake explains.

"Get them all there, dancing together, play a cliched truth or dare and do 'random generated' ideas," Adam adds.

"It's foolproof," Drake finishes. "Yeah, okay, but where? Cause we don't want the cops, or to trash one of our houses," I say. Drake and Adam look at me like I'm stupid.

"The beach, silly. No ones lives anywhere near it. No cops, no trashed houses," Adam says.

"How we gonna invite them all?" I ask.

"Tell them to call every highschool kid on their contact lists, duh," Drake says.

"You've got us to take care of John's group, you have Maren, Myra, Marina and Stanley's numbers, you text them. They'll text their cliques, and bam, you've got the rebels, scenes, the people with no cliques from both John and Marina's groups, plus all the popular crowd. And they'll be sure to spread the word around," Adam tells me.

"Wait...how do you know I've got all their numbers?" I ask suspiciously. They grin.

"Well, you're like, bffs with Marina, apart from us two, obviously, and you and Myra are pretty friendly, and you always have soccer with Maren, and we heard the day you had that laughing attack, you were out with Stanley..." Drake wiggles his eyebrows. I look at him repulsively.

"So we assume you have his number, too," Adam finishes Drake's thought.

"Okay, cool. So, when is this party gonna happen?" I ask.

"This Saturday," Drake says.

"Why not Friday?" Adam questions.

"Everyone has parties on Friday's. May as well set a new trend," he shrugs.

"So, we'll get food sorted during the afternoon, and we'll go to the privater area so there won't be anyone there. Party starts officially at seven, so we can just stay at the beach until then. Also, at the beach, people can swim and whatnot, so it may be more popular than normal parties. I mean, free food, right? What's not to love?" Drake says. That was...long.

"Cool. So, lets go back to our actual table, cause they're looking at us weirdly," Adam says. We head back to Meredith, as Drake would say.

"What are you guys up to? Starting a threesome?" We all send Daniela a WTF look and sit down, deliberately not next to each other. Drake ends up beside Daniela and Sarah. I laugh at his trapped expression. Suddenly, everyone goes silent. They're looking over my shoulder.

"What's there? A three nosed shark eating pelican tacos?" I ask, turning around. A tall guy who looks partly African stands there.

"Hey, you're Ella, right?" He asks.

"Yeah," I reply.

"Mrs Meese asked me to give you this. It's the homework you missed while you were sick yesterday," he hands a piece of paper to me.

"Thanks...?" I trail off.

"Hannu. And you're welcome," Hannu walks back to his table, bouncing a basketball I didn't realize he'd been holding. The others glared at his retreating back.

"Um...am I missing something here?" I ask stupidly.

"He's one of the nine," Sam whispers dramatically.

"Don't call us that," John says absentmindedly.

"Ah. So, guys, Adam, Drake and I have something to tell you," I say.

"You're having a threesome?" Daniela asks again. Sarah, John and Sam snicker.

"Shut up with that already, Daniela. We're having a party at the beach, Saturday. Be there at seven. Or else," Adam says.

"Text ev- wait, no, that's my role. Nevermind," I say awkwardly.

"Your connections are the only reason we keep you around, I swear," Drake tsks. I scowl.

"I have four peoples numbers. You call that connected?" I retort as I type out a text. Daniela snickers.

"If you think that's connected, what's unconnected? A rock?" She snorts.

"I'll have you know that rocks are very into their duties, thank you very much," Drake defends stubbornly. Then he looks taken aback. "Not that I know that, I mean, cause, uh, its complicated," he scratches his nose.

"That's nearly worse than the that's what she said thing," I snicker. The table glances at me questioningly. Not the actual table, obviously, but the people. Yeah.

"What happened then?" Sarah asks.

"I'll let Drake explain that," I reply. Drake explains the story grudgingly, glaring at me every minute or so. I just smile.

"Well, Myra thought I was someone's boyfriend, so I told her that she wasn't my girlfriend. I might've yelled. Then Ella told her I was in denial, which was partly why we were in the office waiting room, then Myra said that acceptance is just around the corner, and Ella said that earlier, so I told her that's what she said. Amazing story, huh?" Drake finishes sarcastically. The others are all cracking up.

"Who's boyfriend did she think you were?" Daniela asks boredly. That does it. I start laughing even harder, clutching the table for support. Drake gives me a sour look. That, obviously, as you have learnt from my last laughing session, just makes my laughs louder and more maniacal, causing me to roll off of the seat. I crack up on the floor, everyone staring at me.

"Okay," began Sarah, "did anyone else understand any of that?" Everyone shakes their heads except for Drake, who raises his hand and smirks dryly.

"Yeah, I do. And I'm no way explaining it," he says.

"Sorry guys. Anyway, I sent the text, so...yeah," I finish awkwardly.

"I'll see you guys later. I'm out," Drake says, stands up, and walks out of the cafeteria. Since people are still staring at us because of before, everyones eyes are on Drake as he walks out. I hear a few murmurs.

"Hey! Its Daniela's boyfriend!"

"I wish he was single, he's cute!"

"Not to mention smokin' hot!" I skip to the next table, suppressing a shudder at the fangirls.

"What the heck was that psycho girl doing before?"

"Ella? She's cool. Nice and all that."

"Pretty, too." Okayyyy, moving on.

"I dare you to put a chili in your mouth and eat it for ten seconds."

"You're on." Meh, boring. Next table.

"Why isn't Daniela going after her boyfriend?"

"She's such a bitch." I can tell that Daniela hears this comment too, because she stands up, steps onto the bench, and coughs loudly.

"Okay, people. I heard one of you asking why I didn't go after my boyfriend. Three things," she wiggles three of her fingers, "firstly, how is it any of your business? If I have a reason, I have a reason. Secondly, I don't have a boyfriend! Thirdly, even if I did, the last person I would EVER date, in the world, would be Drake Kent! So stop assuming we're together a d get on with your own lives!" Daniela jumps off the seat and sits back down.

"People, jeez," she mutters. She looks up and sees all of us staring at her. "What? I'm sick of people saying we're together when we're clearly not. It's dumb." Still, we stare. "Screw this." Daniela dumps her tray and storms out of the cafeteria.

"Going after her boyfriend?" Sam mutters. Sarah gives him a look.

"I know I normally make fun of them too, but I think this times different," she tells him. Sarah's good like that. She can have fun, but knows when to call it quits, too.

"I sorta started this," I say guiltily.

"It's not your fault, Els. They were bound to explode one day," John says.

"Yeah, but I pushed it too far," I insist.

"Ella Ra, it was not your fault, just leave it at that. He wouldn't be mad at you, anyway. Us three are besties for life, remember?" Adam says sternly.

"Yeah," I say, unconvinced.

"You know what? If you're really so upset about it, then lets go find him," Adam grabs my arm, hauls me off the bench, and drags me out of the cafeteria. The hallways are deserted, and it reminds me of my nightmare. Adam's dark hair and eyes look too much like Cody's. Suddenly, I feel tired, and scared, and I drop to my knees. I'm aware of Adam, talking to me, shaking me, and my last thought before I pass out is 'oh no, not again.'

I feel something like electricity running through my veins. My eyes snap open, and I look around frantically. Adam appears in my line of sight.

"Hey, Els. You feeling okay?" He asks.

"Like I've just hugged the third rail," I reply. He nods.

"Yeah, that's understandable."

"Is anyone else here?"

"No. I didn't want everyone worrying since you got lucky last time..." Adam trails off.

"Was it another laughing attack?" I ask.

"Sort of, but without the laughing. Was it the nightmare again?" He asks. I nod.

"Well, you only missed a half hour of school, and the nurse says you have to go back," Adam grimaces.

"But she did give you this note. If the teachers are hard on you, give them this," he passes a slip of paper to me.

"So its a guaranteed use, then?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, Els. Yeah it is." He walks me back to my class, and I take a seat.

"Ella, right?" The guy next to me asks.

"Yeah. I'm guessing you know that from my laughing episode?" I ask sourly.

"Yeah. Pretty hard to miss. I'm Joseph, by the way," he extends his hand, and I shake it. Joseph was one of the nine!

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but my friends and I are having this party at the beach on Saturday at seven. You wanna come? You can bring all your friends and whatever," I say.

"Yeah, sure. I'm guessing you mean the privater part of Crystal Bay?" He asks. I nod.

"Cool. See you then, Ella," he says.

"See ya, Joseph." After class, I rethought my options. I only had to invite Maggie, Hannu and Cody. Damn, I shoulda asked Hannu before. I look up, and spot him in the hallway. I'm getting really lucky with this.

"Hey, Hannu!" I call. He turns around.

"Hi, Ella. How you doing?" He asks.

"Good. You wanna come to this party on Saturday at Crystal Bay? It starts at seven, by the privater part. Tell your friends," I tell him, smiling.

"Sure. Bye, Ella!" He calls after me. I wave back. Just Maggie and Cody. The hardest ones yet. Suddenly Adam comes running down the hall. He skids to a stop in front of me.

"I just asked Maggie and Cody. They're coming!" He says.

"Awesome! I've asked the others, so we're all done," I grin.

"Well, that was quick," Adam holds up his hand for a high five. A girl walks up to me.

"Ella, right? Quick question, who are you going out with? And do your guy friends have girlfriends?" She had pulled me away from Adam. I look at her face. She has black hair, a mole above her lip, which is circled in ink with an arrow pointing to a scarlet birth mark.

"Uh, nobody? And as far as I'm aware, none of them are dating at the moment apart from John, who's with Sarah," I tell her, confused. She looks relieved.

"Sorry, one of my friends likes one of your friends, and she wanted to know if he goes out with anyone. Thanks," she says gratefully.

"No problem," I reply.

"I'm Teev. Nice to meet you," I shake her hand.

"Bye, Teev," I shout after her. She yells a farewell back. I go back to Adam.

"Quite the popular one, eh?" He asks. I snort.

"If only you knew," I say, shaking my head.