"Boyfriend," Peyton smiled when she opened the door.

"Hey, Peyton," I smiled back at her.

"You came to see me?"

"Your brother, actually."

Peyton playfully rolls her eyes before stepping out of the way to let me in, "he's in his room."

I nod and walk past her, "thanks."

"It's too bad, we could've watched another movie," she teases.

I chuckle and shake my head, "you don't want me, Peyton."

And, though I usually don't mind letting her string me along for her entertainment...it's not her birthday.

I knock on Zach's bedroom door.

"GO AWAY!"

"It's Leo..." I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"Oh, come in," he says much calmer.

"Bro," I open the door, "what if it was your mom?"

"Trick question, my mom doesn't knock."

I laugh at his response. I understand where he's coming from, I started locking my door when I got to high school and girls started making at-home visits. My mom complains like crazy, but it's worth it.

"You don't knock either, you just climb through windows," I give him a sly look.

"Shut up," he laughs, "you only care because your girlfriend was there."

"Heather is not my girlfriend."

"What was that?" He asks rhetorically, "it looks better on you anyway, oh, Heather you're so pretty, I love you, I love you," he mocks.

"You know what, Zach?" I glance over at him before grabbing a pillow and quickly putting it over his face, "you can't turn 15 if I kill you first."

Zach snickers as he fights me off and snatches the pillow away. "Okay, okay, you win."

"Good, I didn't come here so we could talk about me. We need to talk about your party." I raise my eyebrows, "we've got enough booze for the big kids, now how much soda do we need for your friends?"

Zach groans and rolls his eyes, "come on, Leo."

"You expect me to just give them alcohol?Now, if they happen to find some at the party, then I'm no longer responsible."

Zach smirks in response, "deal." He looks away, "I don't know who's showing up anyway."

"No Evan?"

"Well...I mean...he's just been..." Zach stumbles over his thoughts. "This girl asked me out, and I told him about it...and he told me I should go out with her," his eyes narrow as he speaks, "and then he's doing whatever he's doing with Annette..."

"Annette? A girl?"

"Yeah, they've gone out a few times and she clings onto him at school...that's probably why he doesn't talk to me anymore," Zach says sadly as he fiddles with his fingernails.

I scoff, "I'll kick his ass."

"No, I can't be mad at him. We were never...anything. Besides, I said 'yes' to Karlie."

"You date girls now, too?"

"She's pretty," I shrug.

I look at him, unconvinced. "She's pretty you'd bang her, or she's pretty like flowers."

"...pretty like...girls?" Zach furrowed his eyebrows at me.

"Did you invite your new girlfriend to the party?" I ask, unamused.

"Yeah— I invited all of them."

"All of them?"

"Karlie, Annette...Evan."

"Jesus," I sigh and shake my head, "and you were worried about my problems."

"You wanted to see me, Ms. Carter?" I stand in her doorway.

"Oh," she smiles, "Yes, Heather, please sit."

I sigh but smile back at her, "Is this going to take long? I was hoping to find someone before the bell rings."

I haven't canceled on Leo yet, and I don't want to do it over the phone. I mean, I already bought a gift for his friend.

"No, this won't be long at all," she assured me. "I was just wondering if you'd be willing to hand in a piece for me to take to my presentation for the upcoming class."

"You want me to write something?"

"A poem, maybe?" Ms. Carter suggests.

"Oh, I don't know. I've never been very good at-"

"Heather, I adore your work," she places her hand over her heart, "it would mean so much to me if you would do this. I only want to inspire enough students to keep the creative writing program alive at Addington. We'll lose so many students when you and your peers graduate-"

"I understand," I give in.

"How wonderful," she sighs in delight. "I need it two weeks before winter break. Is that enough time?"

"Plenty," I press my lips together. "Have a nice weekend, Ms. Carter."

"Likewise," she nods at me.

I rush out of her class and toward the west wing of the school. If Leo's still here, that's where his locker is.

And yet, with every turn I made through the halls, I thought: "Maybe I should just call..."

I only figured I'd sound less shallow in person. "Hey, Leo, I'm going to a fashion show instead of the birthday party...sorry."

"Heather— what are you still doing here? Go home, get ready," Audrey practically screams at me. "And, don't wear red, that's what I'm wearing."

"...okay-"

"And don't wear gold, silver, or black...and no shiny jewelry...and don't wear your hair up...and no pink because it will clash with my dress."

"Could we maybe make a stop before we leave?"

"Heather, no!" She huffs. "I need you to get there early to check us in."

"I thought we were going together..."

"Don't be silly, hon. I have to make an appearance with a date for the cameras. I can't be seen alone or with you," she laughs and then pats me on my head, "see you tonight, sweetie."

"This is a lot of people, Leo..." I say as we stand in the middle of the living room, people pushing past us.

"Are you kidding? These are just the early birds."

"Whoa," I sighed and looked around at everyone who has already made themselves comfortable...making drinks, making out, and making a mess.

"Yeah...are any of your friends here yet?"

I shrug, "I haven't seen them."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it. They'll show," he nudges me and hands me a beer before walking off to where some people are hanging out in the backyard.

If my "friends" were coming...they'd be here by now.

I crack open the lukewarm beer and make my way through the hall to the room that clearly says "Keep Out." I'll just assume Jordan put that there for everyone else.

"Oh-" I say in surprise when I find people on the other side of the door anyway, "I'm sorry," I try to shut it.

"No, wait-" someone calls for me. I peer in and see a guy with shaggy brown hair packing a bong along with four of his friends. "Do you smoke?"

"...sure," I say casually and walk into the room. Truth is: I've smoked twice with Danny, and he only seems to pass it to me so he can laugh when I have a coughing fit.

"Yeah, come sit with us, man," the only girl in the room smiled and patted the spot next to where she was laying on the bed.

I nod, "thanks..."

"It's Hannah," she responded. "This is Bruce," Hannah pointed to the shaggy-haired guy, "Jer," she pointed to the guy on the verge of passing out, "and Micah," she pointed to the last guy, who happened to be wearing sunglasses indoors...in the fall. "He doesn't smoke bud, but he sells it...and he's really cool," she laughs.

"I get my high from profits," Micah smirks, and they all laugh a little harder than they should've.

"I'm Zach," I say, just to put it out there. No one asked, after all.

Hannah gasps, "this is your party."

"Sort of."

"Happy birthday," Micah clasps his hands together and motions toward me.

"It's your birthday?" Bruce questions.

Seriously, how much have you guys smoked? "If it is...you've gotta take the first hit...clear the bowl, dude, I just filled it," he hands me the bong.

"Yeah...okay," I talk myself into it. "Why not, right?"

Hannah smiles and flicks the lighter, "go in," she instructs, and I do what she says, inhaling as she brought down the flame.

"Keep going," Bruce urged me on, despite my lungs' desperate need to breathe in something other than smoke.

"You got it-" Hannah added in, but I pulled away before she could fully finish her sentence.

"Fuck," I coughed and gasped for air.

"You got half," Hannah shrugged before lighting up and taking the rest of the hit herself.

She made it look easy.

"Are you all this good at-" I start to say but am interrupted by the creaking of the door.

"Zach?" Evan called out, his face cloudy in the smoke.

"You're here!" I say happily, on impulse. "I mean-" I clear my throat, "what's up?"

"What's up?" He chuckles, "happy birthday."

Now, it is.

"You came alone?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I came to see you..." Evan smirks, "can you meet me out here?" He nods toward the hall, "you know...when you're done getting stoned."

"Yeah, I'll— okay," I get off of the bed and follow him out. I hear him laughing to himself as we walk further away from the room. "What's so funny?"

"Since when do you smoke weed?" He says in amusement.

"Since I wasn't having any fun here."

"Can I change that?" He steps closer to me.

"How?" I say lowly as he leans in and smirks again before sealing the space between our lips. I kiss him back, but only for a second before pulling away. "No," I shake my head, "I'm too high for you to be this confusing."

"What?"

"You only do this when we're alone in the dark or behind a locked door...you don't want people to know you like me."

"And you do?" Evan furrows his eyebrows, "Zach— I have to stop people from pushing you around just because they think you might like guys."

"I don't like guys, I like you," I say defensively. "And so what? I'd rather get pushed around by them than have you hold hands with Annette while you're staring at me."

He sighs and looks away, "I don't know what you want me to do, Zach."

"If you like her, be with her. If you don't..." I trail off.

"If I don't...what? Kiss you in front of the school? Get punched in the face too?"

"No...just stop messing with my head."

"No, who the fuck assigns a paper right after spring break? I was still nursing a hangover," Damien continues, "I thought he was lucky I even showed up to class, but he called me down all: Damien, I don't see your essay in my files. Do you want to repeat my class? So, you know what I said? I said you know what, Professor Greene, and I reached into my pocket, pulled out a Trojan, looked him right in the eyes and said here's a condom, now get fucked."

Everyone laughed, it might have been more from the alcohol than the story, but even I chuckled a bit and I'm hardly buzzed.

Damien Weston is one of the only guys I know from the lower east side who went to college (that might have more to do with who I hang out with, but still). He dropped out after the first semester. He did more partying than anything else and failed every class except psychology.

"Man, how much trouble did you get into?" Jordan asked him.

"None!" Damien said enthusiastically. "He didn't report me. He just referred me to the counselor on campus."

"Hey," Danny nudged me, "you think we could get away with that at school?"

"Hell no," I smirk and take another swig of my beer.

"Prep school boys," Damien says, "can't believe they haven't thrown your asses out yet."

"Me neither," I say honestly.

"What's it like wearing a tux to school?" Damien says smugly as he looks at the three of us.

"Wouldn't know. We don't wear the uniforms," Jordan shrugs with a smile.

"Besides...they're not tuxedos...they're more like suits, makes the rich kids feel all special with their pretty little ties and shiny shoes," Danny laughs and Jordan joins him. But, I can tell where this is going. I guess it's a good thing Heather didn't show up to hear the bashing of all her friends.

"Even with the girls," Jordan adds, "why does everyone's shirt have to have a fucking collar?" He's got a point... "the skirts are nice, though...not that I'm looking, but-"

"Not into prep school chicks?" Damien raised an eyebrow.

"You'd be nuts if you were," Danny replied, glancing at me a bit as he said it.

I nodded and backed away, "I'm gonna head inside, see if Zach wants to do the cake thing now."

"You got him a cake?" Danny asked before I was too far gone.

"Of course I did, it's his birthday," I say only loud enough for me to hear as I emerge through the door.

I don't see him in the living room anymore, and I hope that means his friends came through after all.

"Hey, Jordan still outside?" Angela asks as I join her in the kitchen.

"Mhm," I nod and open the fridge. "Where the fuck is the cake?" I sigh.

"Zach's sharing it with some stoners in the room. He said he saved you a piece," She shrugged.

"Yeah?" I say surprised, "okay."

"Oh, and your friend's been with Amanda for almost an hour," Angela says nonchalantly as she takes a bottle of Jameson out of the cabinet.

"What?"

"I dunno," she mumbles and walks away.

I shake my head in confusion. I think Jordan likes her because she can't hold a conversation. The last girl he was with talked so much, you got tired and annoyed as soon as she walked into the room.

"No, you've got to try it. Your drinks not strong enough."

My head turned at the sound of Amanda's voice and laughter. She strolled in from where she was in the back, smiling with her arm around...my friend?

Heather laughed with her but paused and smiled when she saw me.

Wow.

"You made it," I smirked as I leaned against the counters.

"Yeah," she said softly, "I couldn't find you."

"She looked so innocent and lost. It was adorable," Amanda teased. "I grabbed her and got her a cup," she said proudly, "Oh, and speaking of drinks..." Mandy maneuvered through the kitchen, picking up shot glasses and then taking a bottle of vodka out of the freezer. She twisted off the top and moved to pour some in Heather's cup.

"Whoa, hold on-" I stop her and grab the drink from Heather's hand, taking a sip and then glaring at Amanda, "her drink is plenty strong already."

"What are you? A cop?"

"She's a lightweight," I protest.

"Can she at least take a shot, officer?"

I narrow my eyes at her instead of feeding in. She pours three shots and gives one to Heather before taking the other two herself. Heather cringes but still gives Amanda a smile. "Okay, I'll let you go now. Good luck with him," Amanda said lowly to Heather, "he used to be more fun at parties."

"Fuck you," I scowled, and she stuck up both middle fingers as she walked off to bother someone else.

"Don't be mean," Heather laughs, "she's so sweet."

I scoff, "yeah, you clearly don't know her that well." Heather playfully rolls her eyes as she takes another drink of that rust remover Amanda made for her.

"I like her."

I ignore her comment, and instead start to eye her appearance. "Nice," I say as I glance over her clothes. Always the prettiest person in the room...

She sighs, "it's Chanel...I know I'm a little overdressed...there was this fashion show I was supposed to go to. Audrey is going to kill me."

"You bailed on Audrey?" I question, "For Zach?"

She nods and shrugs, "yeah...for Zach."

I smile and nod too. "Come on," I motion for her to follow me. I wanted to take her hand, but I shook the thought out of my head. I wanted to see her tonight...I'm glad she came...but her picking this over Audrey is not going to help me stop liking her.

Because now I want to know why.

"AH!" Amanda says happily, "that's Heather, I love her," she says aloud. "Over here, babe, come meet my friends."

"Oh, okay," Heather laughs a bit as Amanda pulls her away.

I huff and trudge after them, grabbing Amanda and pulling her to the side while Heather talks to her friends. "You're so annoying.'

"What's the problem, Mr. This is temporary, I can get over her?" She jeers.

"Blow me, Amanda," I scoff.

"Can Heather watch?" Mandy smirks, "she might fall for you when she hears how you sound when you c-"

"Fuck off, Mandy," I roll my eyes and put a cigarette between my lips.

She blows me a kiss and then turns away to rejoin her friends.

I shake my head and pull a lighter out of my pocket, burning the end of my cigarette and wandering far into the backyard as I smoke.

It's probably somewhere around 10. Zach has an 11:30 curfew that I'll stretch to 12...45 if he wants.

I used to hate my birthdays, and I guess that's why I wanted Zach to have a good one. Until I was 13, I would just have homemade cake with my mom and pretend like my dad was actually gonna show up like he said. Then, I would go outside and maybe throw a football with Danny and Matt and some neighborhood kids. Other than cake, it was just a regular day...

"You shouldn't smoke, it's bad for you."

I look behind me and see Heather walking up.

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't stand near me while I smoke...it's bad for you," I say in response. Heather smirks at me. I almost question her, but before I can, she takes the cigarette out of my hand and puts it between her fingers, instead. "Heather- don't even think about it," I warn her as she playfully brings the cigarette to her lips, "I'm not joking, Heather. Don't do it." She laughs at me and backs away as I approach her.

"Why not?" She says with a sly smile.

"Because," I continue walking up as she walks backward until she's pressed against the gate, "it's bad for you." I take the cigarette from her and take one last drag before tossing it to the ground and stomping it out.

She laughs and moves closer to me, the way we were before, "If you don't care, why should I?"

"I do care," I look down at her, "just more about you." She gives me a smug, pleased expression. "What?" I question her.

"Nothing," she says unconvincingly.

"A bit drunk, are we, butterfly?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Maybe," she laughs, and I try to hide my smile.

Fucking Amanda. If she drank that whole cup, then she's not nearly as drunk as she will be when it really hits her.

"I should get you home."

Heather pouts, "but I'm having fun with you."

And as much as I love to hear that..."you're having fun with tequila," I correct her.

"Fine," she puts her head against my chest, "take me home."

I chuckle and use my hand to smooth down her hair while she's on me, "let's go." I put my arm around her and let her lean on me so she won't stagger. She hums tiredly, and I see her eyes flutter closed. Now, I know why she didn't put up much of a fight about leaving. "Danny," I call once I spot him, "I need to borrow your van."

"No. No one drives my van but me," he shakes his head.

"Okay, then come take Heather home."

"No, why can't she call a cab...or limo...or a fucking private jet?" Danny says harshly.

"Because I want to take her home," I say sternly.