The party was relatively close to Stacy's. We didn't have far to walk, so I didn't have to endure Stacy's driving again. That by itself got the evening off to a good start. We giggled and gossiped the entire walk to the party, the topic of the conversation being boys. They were giving me the rundown of most of the guys who were going to be at the party. Other than Jared and Andrew, I hadn't really taken note of the boys in our school.

It was getting a little cooler as we made our way over, so I put my jacket on. I hugged it tightly around myself, glad I had an item of clothing I could hide behind. I wouldn't be able to hide in it for long, but for the time being, I felt protected from prying eyes. Stacy was dressed in a black mini skirt with knee-high boots and a red halter-neck top. Kennedy was dressed a little more conservatively in a thin, strapped, blue top with a sequence design on the front, matched with a dark blue skirt and matching sandals.

The closer we got to the house where the party was, the louder the music got. As we got into the party, music vibrated through the house and the partygoers were scattered around the front as well as talking and dancing outside on the front porch.

It was only eight, but the party seemed to be in full swing. A couple of guys looked a little unsteady on their feet as they continued to sip liquid from red plastic cups. They had clearly been drinking for a while already. There was even a girl hunched over the bushes, which bordered the front garden, throwing up. I scrunched up my nose in disgust.

Stacy pulled my hand and we followed Kennedy into the house. For a quiet little town, these kids sure can throw a party, I thought. I looked around and saw that most of the house's furniture had been moved to make room for a makeshift dance floor in the living room. It was really packed. I wasn't going to stress about it now. I decided I was going to relax and try and enjoy myself. We continued through the house until we got to the kitchen.

A few guys were pouring a mysterious liquid into plastic red cups—liquid that I was positive was alcoholic.

"Hey, David," Stacy greeted one of the guys who was pouring the drinks. I recognized him as the same David who Andrew had introduced me to and I wondered if Andrew was at the party as well.

"Hi, Stacy, glad you made it," he greeted back with a twinkle in his eye. Stacy smiled, obviously loving the attention she was getting from him.

"Drinks?" he offered us. We all accepted and I took a tentative sip of the mysterious contents of the cup. It was definitely alcoholic, although I didn't have enough experience in drinking alcohol to be able to distinguish what kind of alcohol it was. It didn't really matter, I supposed. Looking around the room, it seemed to have the desired effect. People were letting loose and enjoying themselves.

"See you later." Stacy winked at David and then led Kennedy and me out of the kitchen to the living room.

We stood on the outskirts of the dance floor, sipping our drinks and watching people dancing. After a while the alcohol loosened us up and we all joined with the rest of the crowd on the dance floor. That was the thing about alcohol: it made me feel more carefree. The three of us lost ourselves to the music. Once our drinks were finished, Stacy went back to the kitchen for refills while Kennedy and I remained on the dance floor.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Andrew standing next to me.

"Hi," I greeted him, giving him a friendly smile.

"Hey," he greeted back, watching me with his big, expressive eyes. "Are you having fun?"

"Yes," I said, feeling the warmth of the alcohol in my veins.

I realized then that I was enjoying myself. It was nice to be young and carefree, to not care about the problems that I had to face on a daily basis.

"You look beautiful," Andrew said as he eyed me up and down.

"Thanks," I said, not quite sure how to take the compliment. I wasn't used to getting them.

Kennedy exchanged greetings with Andrew, and Stacy returned with our drinks. With a red cup in my hand again, we continued to dance. I was dancing with Andrew when I felt a warm shiver run down my spine, like someone was watching me. I scanned the room and didn't see anybody watching me, so I shrugged it off and continued to dance.

Another red cup later and I was looking for the bathroom. I left my friends and Andrew on the dance floor and went looking for it. The guest toilet downstairs was being used, so I went upstairs in search of another. I found it all the way down at the end of the hallway. Once I was finished and had washed my hands, I checked out my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed from the alcohol—I was definitely feeling a little tipsy.

Lost in my thoughts when I finally opened the bathroom door, I walked straight into something hard. Hands caught my upper arms and I looked up into Jared's hard, green eyes. Fear made me try to pull free, but he maneuvered me firmly out of the bathroom and into an empty bedroom across the hallway.

The click of the door closing behind us made me panic and I felt my heart thump in my chest. With his back to the closed bedroom door, he let me go, but I was trapped. He was blocking the only exit out of the room. I backed away from him slowly. The room was dark, but the light from the moon streamed in through the windows. I could see the silhouette of him as he stood guard in front of the door.

"What do you want?" I managed to get out hoarsely, going with my initial decision to pretend I hadn't seen anything.

"Don't play dumb with me, Ava," he warned. He crossed his arms and remained in front of the door. He wasn't going to let me out.

I clasped my hands together nervously.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, continuing to pretend.

He stood there quietly for a few minutes before he whispered, "I saw you."

I was in trouble.

Any hope I'd held on to evaporated at that moment. There was no more pretending. He had seen me in the clearing and I was scared what that meant for me.

He walked slowly toward me. I was still in shock, so instead of trying to get around him and out of the bedroom door, I just stood as he approached me. I raised my hands to ward him off as he stepped right in front of me. My hands came into contact with his chest and I could feel the warmth of his body beneath his thin white T-shirt as he leaned closer.

"Don't make a scene," he warned softly into my ear. I felt his breath on my neck. Then with a seductive smile, he took my hand and gently led me out of the bedroom and down the hallway.

I started to panic as we made our way down the stairs and he purposefully led me toward the front door. I glanced back over my shoulder and saw Stacy and Kennedy watching us. They were smiling and giving me the thumbs-up. If only they knew. Andrew stood behind them, watching me, his expression unreadable.

For a moment I was tempted to pull free from him and try to escape, but I had no idea what he would do so I pushed the thought from my mind and followed him. My hand trembled in Jared's tight grip. He held tighter so that I couldn't try and get loose and make a run for it. I swallowed a hysterical laugh. Did he really think I was stupid enough to try and run? I'd seen what he was capable of.

He pulled me along the path. He took long, purposeful steps while I stumbled behind him, trying to keep up. He pulled me into the passenger seat of a black Jeep. Jared quickly got into the driver's seat and started up the car.

"Where are we going?" I asked nervously as I fidgeted with my hands. Maybe he was going to take me back to the clearing. He could kill me and hide my body there and nobody would ever find me. Maybe if they had those dogs that could smell dead bodies, the cops might find my charred remains buried deep under the trees bordering the clearing.

"We need to talk," was all he threw back at me. He pulled into the road and drove away from the party, keeping his eyes glued to the road in front of him.