I was freaking out.

Big time.

I was about to go to my first high school party in an hour with the school's bad boy and apparently I was incapable of coming to terms with it.

Hence why I escaped over to Isabelle's to sleep over for the night. She had a free house which meant no parents, unlike at mine. My freaking out ultimately also lead to me pacing around her room like a mad man. I had texted her address to the number I had now saved as Nixon so he knew where to get me from, still wondering how on earth he had gotten my number.

I spilled my guts and told Izzy about everything when I arrived earlier.

About our detention together, how Nixon found me at the mall, the whole race thing and then how he ditched me after the angry phone call. I even told her about Ethan. I think it's safe to say that I put the poor girl in shock. I really wished that Kayla was here, but she was away visiting family this weekend. I needed to update her too ASAP.

I don't even know why I agreed to this. But like Izzy said, it's not like I had much choice. When the school bad boy tells you to go to a party, you go to that party.

Now all I could think about what I was going to wear. And how to look 'hot'.

And who in the name of cheese throws a party on a Sunday?!

I still couldn't believe Nixon had said that. What the heck even classes as hot in his eyes? Wait why do I even care about his approval? He just gives me orders and demands that I go with him.

But you didn't say no.

I mentally slapped myself but realised it was true. I never said no and instead blindly listened to his instructions. It's not my fault that he's so hot. And intimidating. And scary. Definitely scary.

"OH MY GOD!" I jumped in surprise at Izzy's sudden outburst and stopped moving.

Before I knew it she bolted out of her room faster than Speedy Gonzales and came back with a red garment bag draped across her arms. On her face she had what I can only describe as a grin wider than the grand canyon.

"So your best friend may or may not have found the perfect dress for tonight! Definitely under the category of hot," My heart started beating faster for some reason.

I couldn't help but smile at her beaming face."Show me,"

Izzy slowly unzipped the long bag, shrugging the dress out and then held it up in front of me. I immediately reached for it. I swear I nearly had a heart attack. It was a short, full sleeved black velvet bodycon dress that was so soft on my fingers. It was classy. It was perfect.

"Wait until you see the back it's the best part,"

Izzy was right. Half of the back was covered with beautiful curling detailing. It was modest, yet sexy. I was in love with it.

"It's so beautiful Izzy. Where did you get this from?"

"It was hanging all alone at the back of my mom's closet,"

I felt my heart drop a little."What?! Izzy I can't wear this it's your mom's,"

"Why not?! She bought it years ago and hasn't touched it once. I'm pretty sure she's forgotten all about it,"

"I-I can't,"

"Mara is this about-"

"No, it's not that. I'll just feel bad," I interrupted her knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"I won't take no for an answer! The least you can do is try it on," Izzy gave me her pleading puppy dog face which always seemed to get me to cave in.

"Fine!" I felt a hint of a smile on my face when she grinned at me.

Izzy turned around giving me some privacy to change. I stripped out of my clothes and put on the dress.

The velvet felt so soft over my skin and as I zipped up the side, I realised that it fit like a glove. My mouth formed an 'o' shape as I stared at myself in the full length mirror. I looked like a different person. It really showed off my curves well. Would it be so bad to wear her mom's dress?

I then heard a shriek.

"You look so beautiful Mara! It's perfect!" Izzy had her mouth covered with both hands. Probably to contain her excitement.

"Are you sure I can borrow it? Your mom won't definitely mind will she?" I was then greeted with a punch on my arm.

"Ow! Isabelle that hurt," I started to rub the pain away.

"Mara Eleanor Ellsworth you are going to this party with this dress on whether you like it or not," Izzy stood with her arms on either side of her hips and a frown on her face. I smiled at how cute she was being but cringed internally at the use of my full name.

"Thank you Izzy. I love you so much," I went to hug her but she slapped both my arms away. Talk about violence. Sheesh.

"Thank me after I've done your hair and make-up,"

After what seemed like a very long forty five minutes later, I was ready.

I gasped a little when I finally had a look at myself in the mirror. Izzy curled my hair putting them in a side sweep, covering my face with natural make-up.

A light pink blush, eyeliner and a deep purple lipstick. She paired the dress with pointed black heels and gave me a cute black clutch. Everything was perfect. More than perfect. I couldn't help but smile at my reflection.

Isabelle Martin was a genius.

"I know, I'm a genius." Izzy sighed and I laughed. This is why she was one of my best friends.

"Thank you Izzy," She chuckled in response and hugged me tight. Just what I needed before I go to this party. I really didn't know what to expect as I've never been to one. Especially one with a bad boy. Should I expect the worst?

"Don't come back too late and just be careful. Nixon isn't labelled our school's bad boy for no reason,"

My cell phone then started to ring, breaking up our hug and my thoughts over what Izzy had just said. I sauntered over to the bed to grab it being faced with Nixon's name on the screen. Cue the butterflies.

"Hello?"

"I'm outside,"

****

Giving me a thumbs up and a last good luck Izzy opened the front door letting me out.

I stepped outside, which was now getting dark and made my way to Nixon. He was stood leaning against his beautiful Porsche on the passenger side, looking down at the sidewalk whilst smoking a cigarette. How did he look?

Gorgeous.

My breath hitched as I took him in fully. In his navy full sleeved jumper with a shirt underneath and cream pants folded up from the bottom, he looked like a model. He definitely knew how to dress well. His hair was in its usual messy way, suiting him perfectly.

As I got a little closer, Nixon looked up and I swear his eyes got bigger and his mouth went ajar. Slightly.

This only lasted for a couple of seconds as his signature smirk then appeared on his face. He took one last long drag from the cigarette and threw it away before standing up straight.

"So you listened to me," I felt my cheeks getting warmer in an instant knowing exactly what Nixon was referring to. He thought I looked hot. I felt a sense of relief wash over me, though I wasn't sure why.

"Well I was afraid you would have murdered me if I didn't," I was met with Nixon's amused face.

It almost looked like he was trying to fight a smile which was something I had only seen once. Why did he find this funny? I was being serious, especially after seeing his angry side. Though this amused look definitely suited him better. Either my imagination was playing tricks on me, or there was a hint of a dimple.

I'm a sucker for dimples.

"You really shouldn't smoke by the way," I added.

Ignoring me he opened the passenger door and nodded his head towards it telling me to get in. I took a few more steps reaching the door but was suddenly stopped by a gentle touch to my arm. Nixon's warmth from his hand was radiating in that one spot and it felt electric. I audibly gasped, my breath hitching.

I looked up to make eye contact and was faced with something I thought I'd never see. A dazed Nixon. Unfortunately for me, he seemed to snap out of it as quickly as it appeared.

Bending his head lower, he whispered into my ear.

"You look gorgeous Mara," I had to stop myself from hyperventilating.

Just those four simple words made my insides turn to mush and that truly baffled me. He then smirked at me and walked over to the driver's seat. The stupid jerk knew I was going to give a reaction.

Then why did you give him one?

Whilst shutting the door and buckling in, I mentally slapped myself. Again.

We had been driving for fifteen minutes but fell into a comfortable silence. During the journey, I realised how much I actually missed listening to the sound of the engine. Memories of the race started to fill my mind and I ached to ask Nixon something, who was fiddling with some buttons. After a few minutes of debating with myself I decided that I had nothing to lose and there was no need to be scared.

"Why did you leave me at the race?" I immediately looked down at my lap where I was twiddling with my fingers. There was an eerie silence which felt like it lasted for an hour. I slowly looked up to see that Nixon had a hard grip on the wheel with both his hands. Shortly after he sighed deeply and visibly relaxed.

"I had a problem which needed to be solved," His voice was so deep and smooth, I don't think I'd ever get used to hearing it. But it also sent shivers down my spine.

The way he spoke made it sound like there was a double meaning to his answer. I shrugged it off though, as we turned and eventually reached the most beautiful house I had ever seen in my life.

It was a stone country house that reminded me of a castle and boy was it huge, definitely bigger than ours. We drove into the very full drive and I could hear thumping music in the distance. I noticed that the front of the house was surrounded by a very neatly cut grass hedge. Whoever lived here definitely liked to keep up appearances. Though the handiwork was covered by groups of people that were scattered.

"Who lives here?" I asked not taking my eyes off the house in front of me.

"Some very rich people. Are you gonna keep gawking or shall we make our way inside?" I looked over at Nixon who looked amused again.

It really wasn't anything to laugh at. But I just nodded and got out of the car when Nixon did. I was itching to go inside and not only because this was my first ever party. If the outside was this beautiful then I could only imagine the inside. After taking a few steps forward I suddenly felt my hand being enveloped with something warm. Another hand.

More specifically, Nixon's hand.

The electric feel I got when he touched my arm earlier was nothing in comparison to this. I didn't have time to react as when I looked up Nixon had his back to me, tugging me along with him as he maneuvered through the groups of people outside.

The thumping music got louder as we got closer and the wide front door was opened with people entering and leaving. I was surprised at how busy this huge house was. It was literally covered with people, mostly holding red solo cups in their hands. As we reached the bustling foyer my eyes automatically went up to the high ceiling and I was in awe.

That chandelier was mesmerising.

I turned my head forwards again when I felt Nixon tugging on my hand like a leash to keep up. When I finally started to concentrate, I realised that a Chris Brown song was playing. I couldn't help but grin as this was one of my favourite throwbacks. The bass and loud volume made the song sound even more amazing and it was reverberating throughout the whole house. That in itself was an accomplishment.

After pushing ourselves through many bodies, Nixon entered the massive marble kitchen which wasn't as busy with people. Thank the lord of nuggets.

"Mara!" I let go of Nixon's hand as I was startled by someone shouting my name.

I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and Nixon seemed to have an irritated expression for some reason. I turned round to see what he was looking at and there stood Ethan with his dimpled grin. I immediately had a goofy smile on my face. He was wearing a fitted white t shirt and a leather jacket. Very handsome indeed.

"Hey Ethan," He took a stride towards me and engulfed me in a bear hug which didn't last long as he immediately let go shouting 'ow' and rubbed his arm.

It seemed like Nixon punched him, which was weird. Ethan quickly recovered as his grin was back on and took a step back, giving me a wolf whistle as he blatantly checked me out. I was pretty sure that my face resembled a tomato.

"Damn girl you look sexy as hell," Before I turned even more red in embarrassment (if that was even possible), I decided to reply back.

"If anyone looks sexy Ethan it's you," I gave him a genuine smile because I meant it.

"Tell me something I don't know," Ethan gave me a seductive wink which made me burst out laughing.

"Ethan. I have something to do. Can I trust you to keep your flirting to yourself and stay with Mara?" We both suddenly stopped as Nixon snapped.

This sounded worse than shouting. His voice was low and stern which was ten times scarier. I'm so glad my back was to him, I didn't have the nerve to see his face. I wonder what made him so angry at Ethan though. And why he had to leave again.

"Chill dude of course," Ethan's grin never faltered. I guess with being his best friend he was used to this. I let out a deep breath I didn't realise I was holding as I heard Nixon's footsteps getting fainter.

"He doesn't handle jealousy very well. Come on Mara let's dance, I wanna give you a night you'll never forget,"

Before I could respond to what Ethan said I was being dragged by the hand out of the kitchen and eventually to an immensely large room that had been transformed into a dance floor.

The room was lit up with multi-coloured lights, similar to a club. I also noticed that when me and Ethan held hands I didn't get an electric feeling when we touched, but his hand was still warm around mine.

The song that was playing changed to the starting of DNCE 'Cake By The Ocean' and I involuntarily shrieked in glee. This was my current new obsession. And apparently I wasn't the only one as the whole room shouted in excitement. Ethan looked at me with so much amusement and laughed when I started my so-not rehearsed dance routine.

"Dance with me then you cheese stick!" He laughed harder and joined me. I didn't object when Ethan suddenly put both his hands on either side of my waist, moving in sync with me. He was surprisingly really good.

"Let's lose our minds and go fucking crazy!" The whole room, me and Ethan included, sang our hearts out along with the song.

By the time it ended I was on a high. I couldn't stop giggling and during the dance I must have taken my shoes off and placed my bag down as I was now bare foot and bag less. My makeup was probably all smudged too as I felt all sweaty from the jumping.

"Who knew the quiet, yet feisty Mara Ellsworth had moves huh? Whilst being sober too. I know the perfect song that you can show them off even more," Ethan winked and smiled at me, heading for the DJ's table. A few moments later 'Work' by Rihanna was booming on the speakers. The whole room erupted.

He joined me again, placing his hands on my waist as I automatically started to sing the words. Half way through the song I looked up to see that me and Ethan were at the centre of the room and everyone had formed a circle around us cheering us on.

Normally I would be so embarrassed to have loads of people staring at me, but in this moment I was enjoying myself too much to care. I giggled when Ethan was rapping Drake's part letting him take centre stage.

"Now you need to forward and give me all the work work work work work work," He gestured me to come forward imitating Drake, and I found myself practically twerking on him like Rihanna does.

How is one not supposed to shake their butt to this song?!

The song ended and I felt like a celebrity with the way these people were cheering and clapping for us. It was now that I realised that some had their phones out. Were we being filmed? I wasn't aware we were that good, I mean we just improvised.

I decided to get a cold drink as my throat was getting awfully dry. Ethan seemed to be occupied with a really hot girl who seemed to be flirting with him about the dance, so I didn't want to disturb him.

Still bare foot I made my way back to the kitchen, surprisingly not getting lost and went to the fridge to grab a water bottle. As I opened the door I was met with cool air which made me sigh in pleasure as I was also really sweaty.

"Hey babe you looking for something?" I squealed in surprise as someone put their hands on my waist and I turned around to the unfamiliar voice.

The guy looked to be a little older than me with black jelled hair. As I looked at him, I realised that I recognised this guy. He was the one who lost against Nixon in the race.

He seemed to be really drunk.

"J-just some water,"

"You're that girl who was in Ford's car," He slurred.

The next thing I knew, one of his hands grabbed both of my cheeks holding me in place, whilst his leg pinned me against the fridge. I struggled and squirmed to move away but he made it impossible for me to. The thumping music in the background seemed to fade away and tears were threatening to fall from my eyes.

He then started to slowly lean forward with his eyes closed.

This guy was about to take my first kiss.