Well let this go on record as yet another thing I never thought I'd do three months ago. I used to hate the people who went to parties and now here I was, attending one. But I had Nate by my side this time, that just made me excited. I wasn't going to let anyone break my stride after the weekend I'd had.

I'd finally managed to do the one thing I'd set out to do, win my national's competition. On top of that, my boyfriend had won his regional competition today and flew to Boston last night just to see me. Then we had an amazing night together in bed, another night that just filled my mind with happy thoughts.

I didn't wear anything this revealing out of the house usually but I felt oddly powerful. I liked the way the outfit looked, Nate seemed to like it and I wanted to prove to myself that I liked my body the way it was.

"Ready?" Nate asks as we get to the door and I nod.

"I think so." I tease and he laughs, leaning down to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"I meant what I said, alright? If you want to go, just let me know." He says and I nod.

It was a touching gesture that he cared so much about me and if I was comfortable, but I knew that wouldn't really be fair. These were the people he'd won with today and it was important he got to enjoy himself. I'd just tough it out until he wanted to leave.

"Okay." I say quietly and he smiles, pulling me inside.

Instantly I'm hit with a smell that I could only associate with a bar or a gym-bag....or both. It was a musty scent that I'm sure was coming from the numerous sweaty boys and whatever they were drinking or using.

"Sorry, it really smells like weed." He says and I raise my eyebrows now understanding why it smelled this way.

"Whatever." I say and he laughs.

"You did not just 'whatever' me, Sasha Petrov." He teases and I relax.

"I totally did." I say, putting my hands on his chest. "What are you going to do about it?"

He gives me a quick kiss that makes me nearly melt into a puddle. I instantly feel more relaxed in this new situation. It wasn't that I had anything against people who drank or smoked, I just didn't have much experience doing it, especially not in an environment like this.

"Come on, I'll come introduce you to a few people." He says and I nod, following him to the kitchen.

We pass a bunch of people, a few tables littered with empty cups and garbage and the dining room with a speaker larger than a footstool. Rainbow beams coat the celling and the bass is turned up so high I don't have a clue what's playing, all I can hear is the vibrations coming through the floor.

"Alright, this is Damien." Nate says, bringing me to a boy, shorter than Nate and with dark hair. "He's one of our right wings and this is his girlfriend, Rachel." He says and I get a small handshake.

"No shit, you're the girl-" I brace myself for a comment about my 'eating disorder' but what he says instead shocks me. "You just won a national competition, right?" He asks and I sigh, feeling thankful.

"Yeah, that's me." I say and I feel Nate wrap his arm around my waist.

"Very cool, cooler than this game today." He says and she shrugs.

"I don't know about that, I was there for the nail-bitter at the end, could have gone either way and you guys pulled it out." I tell him and he shrugs.

"So what's it like being a figure skater?" His girlfriend, Rachel, asks. She's quite pretty, brown hair and deep features.

"It's busy, hard work but totally worth it." I tell her and she smiles.

"I've always thought it was so pretty, I love watching it on the olympics every year." She says and I smile. "Do you have a video of your routine?"

"It's up actually, online." I tell her and she looks impressed.

"I've got to check it out." She says and I smile.

"Do you play any sports? Or have any hobbies?" I ask and she nods.

"Yeah, I play on the basketball team." She says and I nod.

"That sounds like fun." I say and she shrugs.

"I'm not very good, I just like to play with the other girls. We certainly didn't win anything this year." She says and I laugh a bit. "But it was loads of fun."

"That's the sad part of what I do, there's no teammates." I say and she laughs a bit with a laugh.

When I look around I see Nate and Damien off to the side playing water pong and she sighs with a laugh.

"Boys." I say and she nods.

"Gosh you're fun, why don't I know you?" She asks and I shrug not knowing how to answer the rhetorical question. "Look, we don't talk to or sit with Sabrina anymore, not after everything that's happened recently. I think that's awful and I'm sorry it happened to you." She says and I smile, enjoying hearing that someone else didn't agree with it either.

"Thank you." I say, sounding maybe a bit too happy. "That's nice to hear."

"Who do you sit with at lunch? Who's in your crowd?" She asks and then laughs. "Well aside from Nate." I laugh a bit myself at that.

"Well me, Nate, Adrian, Malcolm....they play on the team. Then there's two girls we met at the rink one night who I think have a real interest in Malcolm and Adrian, Maddie and Brooke. Then their friend Connor, my friends Micheal and Irene. Then a few people come and go, join us every so often." I tell her and she nods.

"That sounds nice, maybe we'll join you tomorrow?" She asks and I smile.

"That'd be great." I tell her and before I know it we're exchanging phone numbers.

"Hey, Rach. Oh, who's this?" Another pretty girl asks, walking up and she smiles.

"Sasha, this is my bestie Mel. She's got a thing with Carlos, that one over there." She says pointing out a guy, chatting with a few other people in the main room.

"A very unofficial thing if you catch my drift." She says and I laugh a bit.

"Sasha's Nathan Carter's girlfriend." Rachel says and Mel's eyes widen. Mel was a name that fit her, she had curly and unruly blonde hair, freckles all over her cheeks and had a ring on every finger. She seemed relaxed and really friendly.

"You're that national figure skater?" She asks and I nod, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Yeah....as of yesterday. Word spreads fast huh?" I ask and she laughs.

"How could it not! That's a huge deal!" She says, giving my shoulders a shake. "You know every so often I catch a glimpse of you and Nate eating lunch together and it's honestly one of the sweetest things, it makes my day."

"Well I was going to join Sasha for lunch tomorrow, if you'd care to join?" Rachel suggests.

"Totally, the more the merrier." I tell her and she nods.

"Sounds great." She gushes. "So Sabrina, talk about a bitch huh?" She whispers and I laugh.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly starting her fan club. I don't hate many people, but she's right at the top of my shit-list." I say and she nods.

"She's too high-maintenance for me. I don't know how anyone gets along with her, I stopped being her friend when she declared I couldn't sit near her anymore because I was drawing attention from other people."

"Are you serious?" I ask, not even believing it myself.

"Yeah, she brought zero joy to my life so I cut her out. A few months later I found out she was a cheating, slimey, cold-hearted bitch, I was just ahead on that one I think."

"Do you think she'll come tonight?" Rachel asks and I laugh.

"I hope she does, I think she'd be in for a rude awakening." I say and they both nod with a devious look in their eyes.

"Well I think we should grab a drink!" Mel says. "Do you drink?"

"Not often....okay, maybe never." I admit and she smiles pulling me over to a bunch of things set up on the table.

"How do you feel about a shot? Or is that too much?" She asks and I shrug.

"Let's do it." I say and swallow my fears. I wanted to have fun and fit in, this was the way to do it. I'd just do one, I did know about hangovers and I had to go to school tomorrow after missing two days last week.

I watch as three shot glasses get filled up with vodka. I sigh a bit seeing it's something I'm decently familiar with. In traditional meals growing up, we'd drink a shot of vodka between courses.

"Ready?" Rachel asks and I nod.

"Cheers!" Mel says and I pick up the glass, tapping the small plastic cup against the other ones. I then drink it down without hesitation and blink a bit. The first one was always the absolute worst, but anything after that tasted like water. I watch the two of them cough and shake their heads around, clearly trying to get used to it.

Then my eyes fall on Nate's, he's frozen on the spot giving me a look like I've grown a third arm. He makes his way over to me and I furrow my eyebrows wondering why he looks so concerned.

"Are you in trouble?" Mel teases and I laugh.

"No, just give me a minute." I say excusing myself. He just laughs shaking his head at me and I smile, walking into his arms.

"So I take it you're enjoying yourself." He says and I laugh with a small nod. "I turn away and suddenly you're shooting vodka? You didn't even blink!"

"I'm Russian." I tell him and he laughs. "Vodka's our thing, I've been drinking it at fancy meals since I was twelve."

"What?" He asks and I nod with a laugh.

"Not my first rodeo, if I get a few more in me then my accent starts to come out." I warn and he laughs.

"Well I'll have to see that." He says and I shrug.

"Maybe another day, we have school tomorrow." I say, pushing my hands through his hair and he laughs.

"Stop reminding me." He whines and I smile.

"Sasha!" I hear Rachel say behind me and I turn quickly. "Come dance with us!"

"Do you think-"

"Go." Nate says quietly and I smile. I push up onto my toes and give him a quick kiss before ditching him for the dark room and spinning rainbow lights.

"What did he say?" Mel asks and I shake my head.

"Nothing really, he was just checking in because he know's I don't drink often." I say and she pouts out her bottom lip.

"That's so cute." She says and I nod. "Between you and me, I'm glad he's not with Sabrina anymore, he only tolerated her. He never did anything sweet like that and never went above and beyond for her."

"He likes you a whole lot more." Rachel chimes in and I'm thankful the room is dark enough to hide the heat that rushes to my cheeks.

I actually found myself enjoying this, I was worried I'd cling onto Nate all night and look really clingy. But instead I'd made new friends, no one was harassing me about the rumours at school and I was having real fun.

"Sasha?" I hear someone say and I feel a hand close around my shoulder. I turn and see Alex standing behind me. "What are you doing here?" He asks and I shrug.

"I came with Nate." I say and turn back to the other girls. But he pulls me back towards him again. "What is it?" I ask and he furrows his eyebrows.

"Mom and dad let you leave the house like that?" He asks and I nod.

"Yeah, I guess." I tell him. Not a total lie, they didn't say no.

"How are you getting home from here? You have school tomorrow-"

"Alex please stop worrying about me." I beg. "Please, Nate's not drinking, he's taking me home. I'm not staying up all night and I'll be more than fine to go to school tomorrow."

"Hey little sis." Nik says and I groan. Whenever Alex and Nik were together like this it meant bad news.

"Nik, leave her alone and let her dance with her friends." Grace says suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "You too Alex, stop embarrassing her." She scolds and I give her an appreciative smile. She winks at me and pulls Nik away, Alex hesitates and I sigh.

"If I'm not home by one you can call the police, sound fair?" I ask and he laughs a bit.

"Be careful." He says and walks away into the kitchen. I just shake my head and turn back to see Rachel and Mel standing with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry, my brothers are kind of overprotective-"

"Alex and Nik are your brothers?" Mel asks and I nod.

"Yeah." I say and her jaw falls open.

"Ooh, they're so cute." She says and I laugh. "I know Nik's taken, bummer. Would you say Alex is into sophomores?-" She's cut off by Rachel smacking her in the arm.

"Those are her brothers!" She scolds. "Mel, that's nasty."

"Sorry." She says with an apologetic shrug.

"I don't think he sees anyone outside his grade, he hasn't talked to anyone in a few months." I admit and she shrugs.

"Well there's always Carlos." Mel sighs and I laugh.

"To Carlos!" Rachel says and we all laugh, cheering.

The loud party atmosphere and joy in the house suddenly seem to stop. Then I realize why, I look around the corner and see Jake and Sabrina making their entrance. I knew this night was going too well.

"I bet she was going for 'fashionably late'." Mel says and I laugh. "Look what she's wearing, I can't believe her sometimes."

Sabrina's outfit was a tight cocktail dress, with spaghetti straps, a thigh slit and an open lace up back. It was over the top in the style all on its own, the worst part was it was covered in iridescent sequins. The dress gave me a headache and she'd topped it off with higher heels than I'd ever dare to wear. It was an outfit I couldn't even see myself wearing to a nightclub, it was so flashy and over the top.

She moves into the kitchen and I can feel the shift in the air now, everyone seems so tense. I personally never understood the hype around Sabrina, she was pretty enough but she wasn't outstanding. She wasn't a good friend clearly, and she was an awful person. That only meant everyone was either afraid of her, or they just wanted the things she had.

"You'd think if she was going to wear heels like that she'd at least be able to walk in them." I whisper and the three of us laugh.

Then I feel eyes practically shooting lasers at me. I turn and my eyes meet hers, she just puffs out her cheeks and I flip my hair over my shoulder and turn back to my friends. She starts to walk closer, I can hear her heels clicking on the floor. In the blink of an eye I suddenly had more people around me than I knew what to do with. Nate, Damien, Malcolm and Adrian quickly joined our little group. I could see my brothers off to the side of the room, waiting for things to get out of control so they could step in.

She steps back a bit but holds her ground. She gives me a smug look and then narrows her eyes.

"So ice queen-"

"Stop." I say, moving away from Nate's side. He reaches out again, clearly wanting to keep me safe. "Just stop, not tonight Sabrina. Fuck off and leave me alone."

"That's so sweet that you think it's that easy." She says and I roll my eyes.

"It is that easy." I say dryly. "This isn't the time for this, I'd like you to leave me alone." I say even more quietly, I take another step closer not fearing anything. "You're not going to run my life anymore or anyone else's, no matter what you do to me, it won't change what kind of person you are."

"This is so pathetic." She says shaking her head. "You wish half the people in this room would talk to you, freak."

"I'd talk to her." Nate says, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Me too." Mel says, standing next to me. "Fuck you Sabrina, get a life and leave Sasha alone. Don't forget I know your secret."

"You wouldn't do that Melody, then I'd tell everyone your secret." She says and Mel snorts.

"I'll save you the trouble, everybody!" Mel says clapping her hands together. "Last year I slept with one of the linebackers under the bleachers in the school gym. Anything else you think you have over me?" She asks and I hear a few hoots and cheers around the room.

Sabrina huffs and turns back toward the kitchen, storming away. Mel gives my shoulder a squeeze and I laugh a bit.

"Good for you Sasha." She says. "Save me a seat for lunch tomorrow!"

"You bet." I tell her and she smiles.

Nate then grabs my hands and pulls me out onto the back deck, away from the noise and all the drama. I smile, feeling him run his hands up my arms.

"Are you alright?" He asks and I nod.

"I'm fine." I assure him, running my hands up his chest. "I figured she'd be here, you know with Jake and all."

"He shouldn't be here, coach benched him from the final game." He says and my eyes widen. "There's more people on your side than you think Sash." I smile and wrap my arms around him, feeling the cool spring air on my shoulders and back. "Come on, let's go home." He says and I frown.

"You don't want to stay?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"No, we've been here for long enough. I seriously doubt it'll be much fun now that they're here." He says and I shrug. "I'd like to bring you home, spend a quiet night together."

"I'd like that too." I whisper and he smiles.

Slowly he leans down and presses his lips to mine, I sigh and wrap my arms around the back of his neck. We didn't have anything to do this week, no practices or training. Just me and Nate getting to catch up on the two of us.

"I really like this outfit." He mumbles and I smile, running my hand along the side of his face.

"Thanks for bringing me here." I tell him and he nods. "I love you."

"I love you more." He whispers and gives me another mind-blowing kiss. It was a moment that felt like it wouldn't end, just him and me outside on the deck. This was absolutely perfect.