Tahlia Meyers had been fairly successful at avoiding parties at all costs, throughout her high school years.

Since she mostly kept to herself, she was barely ever invited to any. Not like it mattered, she'd been more than happy to be the loner who stayed home to do their homework on a Friday night, than go out to those teenage raves and watch strangers dry hump and grope each other, only to call it dancing.

But this Friday night was different.

She was being expected by a psychopath.

When she heard Jace talking about a party at the frat house, several miles away from Westerly, her subconscious had been quick to say yes.

She knew it well, if she was anywhere nearby Westerly, a part of her may have been tempted to explore the dangerous territories of her curiosity.

Tahlia hated herself with every ounce of energy she had, for the fact that her mind could even consider going back.

Only people who were bonkers would think twice before considering going back to the man who'd almost choked them to death with his bare two hands.

But then, maybe Tahlia Meyers had in fact completely lost her mind, the key that rested in her pockets- the evidence.

Tahlia tore her gaze away from down her lap, to the windows, her intertwined fingers continuing to twitch in unease and anticipation.

"You know, I'd never thought I'd live to see the day when Tahlia Meyers would actually go out to socialize with people her age."

Her gaze met Jace's in the rear view mirror, "Very funny, now can you please concentrate on the driving?"

The sound of his smug chuckle was followed by the sound of the engine being turned off, as the car came to a smooth halt. "Welp grandma, we're here."

The ride to the frat house was shorter than what she'd hoped for, not leaving any extra time for her to calm her nerves down. Looking at it then, the 'several miles away from westerly' part may have been an exaggeration, a defense mechanism of sorts.

She straightened her blue blouse as she stepped out of the car.

The first thing that caught Tahlia's gaze was the huge steel gate with 'Delta Kappa Beta' embellished in metallic letters.

She stopped in her tracks for a second, taking her surroundings in as she stepped into the courtyard.

Tahlia had been able to make out the profile of a huge fountain from behind the gates, but never had she expected the frat house to be as majestic as her eyes were comprehending it to be.

She had presumed that it was just some cabin on the hills, but really, it turned out to be a two storey house with a well done lush landscape all around.

"Close your mouth Tal."

She snapped her head to the side, gazing at Jace with stunned eyes.

"This place is huge!" She pointed to the array of cars that were parked outside,"How many people exactly are gonna be here?"

He shrugged, "Looks like a full house."

By the looks of it, it surely was.

Tahlia only glanced at the bunch of people hanging in the courtyard as Jace and her walked to the front door, the blaring music becoming louder with each step. The bass of a mainstream rap song reverberated around the room, making the windows vibrate loudly.

"Look," Jace peered at her, "Stay near me, don't wander into empty rooms, and sure as hell don't accept drinks from anybody. Comprende?"

She nodded sharply.

"Other than that, loosen up, you'll have fun." He nudged her playfully.

Tahlia doubted it, but she didn't say anything.

As they entered the house, her eyes nearly bulged out at the sight of the jam packed space in front of her.

The red solo cups stood out in the crowd, either in someone's hands or lining the wooden floor like a rug almost.

And of course, the heaps of sweaty bodies, tightly pressed against each other, dancing.

Just as she started weighing the possibility of her turning back around and going back to her dorm, Jace took her by the arm, pushing forward through the crowd of crammed bodies.

Before she even had the chance to protest, she found herself standing in front of a group of unfamiliar people.

She could only watch as they high fived and shook hands with Jace, with her awkwardly standing by.

"Everybody, this is Tahlia."

They all mumbled a greeting as she offered a small smile.

She could already tell they were all varsity jocks.

As Jace broke into a conversation with them, Tahlia glimpsed around, trying to take in the provocative vibe of every person she saw. Every single person letting go on the dance floor, every single person hammered out of their brains.

One thing was very clear to Tahlia- She was way out of her league here.

She wasn't paying attention to what the group was talking about in the first place, but as soon as she heard something about 'scoring pussy', she knew she wasn't staying with them for another second.

She turned on her heels, praying to find at least one person she knew, sober, in the house. But then, the only friend she had at all was Jace.

Everywhere Tahlia went, it was a melange of sticky bodies pressed together, couples going at it like there was no tomorrow.

Dean, she suddenly remembered.

Now, they weren't exactly friends, but at least he was nice to her.

Then there's the fact that he witnessed her having a literal panic attack all in their second meeting.

She gave the place a quick once over, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. He seemed like a guy who would come to these parties, and Tahlia most definitely had her fingers crossed.

Out of nowhere, someone handed her a can of beer before she even had the chance to acknowledge it.

It was only the beginning of the night, and she already regretted coming.

She whipped out her phone in hopes of getting her roommate Wynn to pick her up, but just as luck would have it, the signal was crap.

Suddenly, a weight as if, was lifted from Tahlia's shoulder when she spotted Celine Wu from her Biology class. They hadn't ever talked really, but at that moment, to Tahlia it was as if a drought had come to an end.

Celine smiled as her eyes met Tahlia's. She sauntered over, a little too animatedly.

"Taloola."

Tahlia opened her mouth to correct her, when Celine was suddenly bent over to a side, puking the contents of her stomach all over the wooden floor.

Perfect. Just, perfect.

A few girls stumbled over to Celine, helping her get up.

Sighing deeply, she decided to find Jace. As she was about to swerve around to head back in there, she spotted a little makeshift bar with various cups and bottles spread out on top.

All this loud music was making her head hurt, so decided to get herself some water first.

"Um, hey excuse me?" She called out to the boy behind the counter. As Tahlia got a good glance of his face, she recognized the boy, she'd seen him on campus before, but she didn't know his name.

"Hey." He said back, "So, whatcha gonna have princess? We got Patron, Jägerbombs, Buckshots."

"Oh, uh.." She shook her head, "I just want some water, that's all."

He scoffed, "Water? What, you hungover already?"

Tahlia contemplated whether or not to tell the boy that she'd never had as much a sip of alcohol in her entire life; but then decided otherwise. "Something like that."

She swerved to see if she could spot Jace anywhere, her fingers more fidgety than ever. Nope.

That was precisely the point where Tahlia had firmly decided that she'd rather freeze to death in the cold than ever attend a party full of drunk teenagers ever again.

"There you go." The guy handed her a solo cup. She mumbled a small thanks and brought the cup to her lips, taking a big greedy gulp in order to soothe her parched mouth.

The moment the liquid hit her taste buds and burnt it's way down her throat, her eyes widened and she tore her hand away from her mouth frantically.

She peeked inside the cup, praying to god it wasn't what she thought it was.

The moment her sight met the bubbly topaz tinted liquid, Tahlia knew she'd had it.

"This isn't water." She turned back to him, her tone as icy and bitter as it could possibly get.

"It's a broke student version of Long Island iced tea. Kinda the same thing princess."

Her lips parted in distaste, "Are you kidding me?" She huffed in vexation, as she walked away to find the nearest washroom. The drink had left an awful bitter aftertaste in her mouth, and she needed it off her immediately.

Fortunately for Tahlia, there was a bathroom not that far away, and even better, no line.

She made her way to it, and slammed the door open, treading on her last nerve.

There were three girls in there, talking about something in hushed tones, while all the stalls were occupied.

The girls paid no attention to her as she went over to a wash basin, turning on the faucet. She was sure to rinse her mouth in a bid to get rid of any trace of the revolting drink.

As she looked up in the mirror, a heavy exhale left her mouth.

This night was a mistake. She would have been much better by herself at the dorm, finishing up on school work or perhaps watching some movie. Anything, but this.

She shook her head.

But just as she turned to leave, suddenly she missed a step, almost falling on her face.

She grabbed hold of the door knob to steady herself. Her head, all of a sudden as if, started producing an ear piercing ringing sound.

She brought her fingers to the temples.

It couldn't be the alcohol, could it?

It was only a sip, a generous sip yes, but not enough to get anyone possibly disoriented. Not this quickly too, it simply wasn't possible.

Steadying herself, she exited the bathroom quickly.

The music was louder than ever, with so many people screaming along with the lyrics adding to the noise. It was as if the bass was pounding in her brain.

Jace... I need to find Jace.

With every step she took, her head started spinning a little more.

Someone passed by her, brushing their shoulders with hers rather roughly, making her lose her balance a little.

She felt sick. She felt a familiar bone chilling feeling of anxiety starting to cave down her chest.

Her breathing became heavier.

Air, air, her mind pleaded to her.

In an automatic manner, she began pushing through the strenuous crowd, trying to find her way out.

She had to get out. She had to.

But there she saw it, in the midst of her hazing vision, she saw the door. She rushed to it, jiggling the handle till it turned, opening the door with force.

She stepped outside, holding the door for support with head hung and her palms clamped down by her knees as she inhaled the fresh air with unease.

'Remember to take deep breaths;

'1, 2, 3

In, then out.'

She repeated the chant that had gotten her by all these years, feeling the angst subduing from her body, little by little.

With a last deep breath, she opened her eyes, straightening her back and composing herself.

Her head still continued to throb, her mind full of obscure thoughts.

But if there was one thing that she knew for sure, it was that there was no way in hell that she was going back to the party.

She glanced behind her shoulder once, why, she didn't know.

It was then that her eyes finally landed on the sight right in front of her, the steel gate coming into the vicinity of her view.

She continued to observe it wordlessly for a minute or two.

It wasn't the gate itself that had suddenly piqued her interest though, it was what was behind it.

Her fingers instinctually brushed over her jeans' pocket, feeling the outline of a certain stern object through the fabric.

Something was drawing her to that. Beckoning her to do things only the craziest of the crazy would do...

Could she blame it on a single sip of alcohol?

But who cared.

The girl was gone.

Her mind was reckless.

Her thoughts were mingled up, distorted. And they were taking over her body.

Her legs worked on their own accord, as she started to walk.

Her state was that of confusion, but even then, a part of her knew exactly where she was headed to.

Even inebriated, Tahlia Meyers was striding straight into the arms of doom.

And she loved every second of it.

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