→ I think you look beautiful

→ Seeing you makes my day worth it

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"MARCO," I holler from the three feet end of the swimming pool, holding onto my floaty toy. The soft cloth of daddy's kerchief served as a blindfold in the game. It blocked me from seeing anything besides blackness but the pool water around me provided sense for my swimming.

"Polo!" A distance voice screamed out. I lunged in the direction of the voice but ended up splashing the water. I splutter water out of my mouth and tug my blindfold off a tiny pit so I could peek through the silky cloth. About five feet away from me, daddy stood on the deck out of the pool, dripping in water.

"Daddy, that's cheating!" He had broken the rules of the game to stay in the water, how dare he? I climb out of the pool using the tiny ladder, embedded into the wall of the pool. Slipping a bit because of the water, I regain balance before jumping onto my daddy's shoulder. He grabs my legs last minute, almost falling over from the sudden weight. "Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater," I sing loudly making several heads turn in our direction. Daddy just waves his hand at them and chuckles.

The blindfold falls to the ground by then, all the jumping making it slowly slip off my tiny forehead through the top. Daddy leans down to pick it up, my legs still wrapped around his torso. He struggles a bit to get up so I jump off his back and pick it up and hand it to him before he could reach it. He smiles at me, a gentle smile that was enough to make my world even at five years old.

"And taking off the blindfold isn't cheating, miss princess? Don't think I didn't notice." I cross my arms and glare, knowing I couldn't deny the statement. He chuckles, unaffected by my unwavering stare. "Come on bumblebee, let's get home should we?"

The sun was starting to set at six, a pallet of colors lining the sky. The pink blended perfectly with the orange and the blue with the purple. The dim sun rays made the place around us the perfect shade of yellow and the reflecting blue of the pool glistened like diamonds.

"Let's go," I scream, jumping up in a flash and running over to the gate. One of my hands stretches up like superman and I bend down running, the water droplets on me jumping out as I run. Daddy chuckled again and followed after picking up our pool bags.

"Hey, come take this before you run off." He calls me back and hands me my water gun with an extended hand. I take it from him before running back to the gate in the same position, except this time with my water gun facing up. "You had fun?" Daddy asks as I take his hand when we cross the street/

"I always have fun playing with my daddy."

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"I can not believe I agreed to this," I grumble from my seat near the dresser. Alex pays no attention to my complaints as she surfs through my closet, mumbling to herself every few seconds.

Alex had appeared at my doorstep today carrying two large bags filled with who knows what. My brothers had let her in with matching confused expressions but she had paid no attention to them, dragging me off to my room. She had declared then that we were going to sneak off to a party. When I asked her why we couldn't just ask the boys to go, she looked at me like I was crazy before rolling her eyes. Her simple reply being, 'I hope you are kidding.' At first, I was skeptical. This was breaking my brothers rules by a lot and would probably ruin our newly formed relationship if I was caught. Alex had assured me we wouldn't be caught and that she would take all the blame if we were.

"Aha!" She finally announces. Pulling an emerald green dress out of my closet, she holds it up and admires it for a few seconds before putting it down next to the beige dress she chose for herself. "Jess, oh Jess. We only have thirty minutes to get ready since you took so damn long to convince. Go, go put it on," She practically shoves the dress in my hands and pushes me towards the bathroom.

I groan and follow her instructions. Slipping the dress on, I think back to the last time I had worn a dress. At least ten years ago it was. Before walking out of the room with my old clothes bundled up in my hands, my eyes catch onto the mirror.

The emerald dress hugged my body perfectly at the top and flowed near the bottom. It was simple and plain but made dad's necklace shine by the tinted rays of the window. I kept my black leggings on, folded up slightly so it didn't interfere with the dress's design but enough to keep me warm. A cropped black cardigan went along with it that I was thankful for.

"Open up," Alex called, impatiently knocking her fist on the door. I cracked the door open slightly to make sure it wouldn't hit her, only to find that she had run back to her spot on the bed. When she saw me standing there, self consciously hugging my hands to my body, she gasped. "Oh my goodness! You look so pretty," she fanned herself while spinning me around by the elbows like a doll. "Now time for the make up!"

Her exclamation made me immediately come to a defense. I don't wear makeup. I didn't want to look like one of those cake faced girls at school and most definitely didn't want to turn into one of them. "Alex, wait. No makeup because-" I pause, struggling to come up with an excuse at the top of my head. Alex turned back to look at me, a hand on her hip tapping her foot gently. "I don't know how to put on makeup?"

"Exactly why I'm going to do your makeup, silly." Without leaving any room for argument, she grabbed me by my arm towards the spinny chair and emptied her huge bags. Piles of makeup flew onto the bed. My eyes widened at the sight of the makeup and I tried to back away. "Please, please, please Jess! I wanna do my best friend's makeup." My heart warmed when she called me her 'best friend' and I gave in at that point but I wasn't about to tell her. "I'll make you look super pretty. You're already so pretty so you'll look a million times more pretty with makeup. Please," she stretched the last letter.

"Fine," I groaned, knowing I was not going to get out of this the moment she started tugging my arm.

She gave a short cheer before grabbing a brush from the palette and started painting my face.

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Lots of groans, complaints, and poking later, Alex finished. She had made me close my eyes in order to, in her words, 'surprise me on my beautiful face later.' I preferred making me look 'cake faced' but either term worked.

"Okay, one last final touch," she claimed as what felt like a feather rubbed against my cheek bones. "And, finished!" She announced a second later. My eyes shot open as she said those words and a new reflection stared at me in the mirror.

It wasn't like the ones the barbie girls always had on. It was natural, and highlighted parts of my best features. Alex had made my skin look shinier and my eyes pop out more. My hair was down in curls just at the bottoms and my eyelashes long with mascara. Overall, I would use a word to describe me that I never expected to use on myself: beautiful.

"Thank you Alex, this looks-" I felt myself tearing up a bit and my voice cracking slightly.

"Hey, hey don't cry. You'll ruin your makeup," she wagged a finger at me before pulling me into a bone crushing hug. "Now, stay here and don't ruin anything. Let me get ready."

I nod, listening to my best friends' instructions.

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The party consisted of loads of sweaty bodies squished together and loud music. The music itself felt like enough to burst my eardrums but everyone's screaming added made it feel traumatic. Everyone had red cups in their hands, filled with what I only could assume was alcohol.

Alex and I had snuck out through the window of my room using an escape ladder that was conveniently placed right outside. All the boys were out, making our task much easier. Caden was at work, Eli at a friend's house, and Mason with Aiden. We met up with Jack, Ryan, and Tyler outside Matt, the party host's house. Ryan had frozen for a second when he had seen us, only snapping out of it when Tyler waved his hand in front of his face. Everyone gave up questioning after a bit but I hadn't forgotten the dazed expression on his face.

Jack took the lead, leading us over to the dining table in the kitchen. The kitchen matched the theme of the rest of the house, light cream walls bare of any pictures or furniture. He picked up a new bottle of wine, pouring a little in an arranged row of red cups. He handed one to each of us until he got to Ryan. Ryan shook his head, surprising me. I would have thought the party boy would have drank at least a bit of alcohol.

Jack gave him an understanding smile, making me wonder the story behind that. If dad had taught me multiple things, the one that stood out at the moment was that there was always a story behind everything. He used to tell me never to judge a book by its cover. I noticed now that I had been judging Ryan by his cover all along.

Jack moved on, passing a cup to Alex that she gracefully accepted and then to me. I shook my head, pushing the drink back towards him with the palm of my hand.

"Come on, let loose Jess." Alex urged, already having drowned half of the liquid in her cup.

I shook my head again, grimacing. I refused to drink- especially after that drunk driver took my dad's life and I had been surrounded by my mother's drinking- taking my life in a different sense. It was a drunk teenager, much like all the ones here, that had been in the other car. The boy had been driving home from a club after ditching school and had swerved his car the wrong way. Alcohol in the midst of daylight could damage a person's life forever and I didn't want to know what it could do at night.

Alex ditched me as soon as the alcohol started to take effect, following the crowd to a game of beer pong. Tyler and Jack did the same, both with girls hooked onto their arms. I stood awkwardly, leaning on the kitchen table when another couple waltzed into the room.

Ryan seemed to notice my discomfort and chuckled gently. "You wanna go somewhere else?"

I nodded gratefully. I followed him through the crowds of people and to an empty hallway, hidden somewhere in the large house. Ryan leans on one side of the hallway, resting his foot on the wall while I find myself on the other. "Thanks," I say, truly meaning it for the getaway from the chaos.

"Who said I did it for you," he asks with a smirk and I roll my eyes.

"Oh no, of course you did it for your invisible friend Bob over there." I point over to the wall besides him, making him chuckle before we rest back in a comfortable silence.

"Have I told you that you look beautiful today?" He asks a minute later. My heart does a strangle flutter at his words. It suddenly felt as if a herd of butterflies invaded my stomach and the heat turned up a notch.

"Not so bad yourself." I reply in an attempt to seem casual. He saw past my exterior though and smirked, finally meeting my eye.

He stepped forward. I had never felt the way I felt now before I met Ryan. "Do I look good enough to get a kiss from princess here?" His voice sounds low and husky as he encloses on me. He places his hands on both sides of the wall around me, tilting my chin with his pointer so I'm meeting his eye. I nod against his hand and gulp, the butterflies increasing speed.

That's all the confirmation he needs as he leans in and places a gentle kiss on my lips. I freeze from a mix of excitement and shock but recover quickly, kissing him back. It was a soft butterfly of a kiss, not matching the rampaging ones in my stomach. The delicate kiss had so much passion and meaning put into it. He doesn't pull back and neither do I as our lips stay interlocked.

Suddenly, his lips left mine etting air fly between us, but he wasn't the one who broke off the kiss. "What do you think you're doing?" A voice rumbles from behind me, making me freeze with fear.

Aiden. I had heard him mad before but it was nothing compared to his tone now. I finally took the courage to look up to see Mason holding Ryan by the collar, looking confused. Mason looked nothing like the friendly boy who made everyone laugh at that time. He looked mad, no, raging.

"I never want to see you within one foot of my sister again, you understand?" If I wasn't in this situation, then I would have smiled when Mason called me his sister.

Ryan nodded slowly, clear fear visible in his eyes. I didn't blame him though. Mason and Aiden were both older than him and had much more power over him, especially at the position he was in. A sudden rush of guilt went through me for putting him in the position.

"Don't hurt him," I say weakly.

Aiden put his hand on my shoulder from behind. "Not your worry at the moment. You, young lady, are coming with us." With that statement, Mason let go of Ryan and took my elbow, as if he was scared I would try and escape.

It was then I noticed that we had gathered a crowd. People stood recording the scene play out in front of them. "Nothing to see here," Aiden growled, making everyone turn back in a flash and the music started up again.

With one last look at Ryan, now on the floor being helped up by Tyler, I let Aiden and Mason guide me towards the car. Whatever was in store for me, I could only wait and see. I had dug my grave and now I had to lay in it.

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