• Carson sat by the bonfire and warmed her hands, trying not to think about Zach. She knew that he was planning on talking to Terri that night. She had even encouraged him to, though it broke her heart. He liked her sister. Every time, it turns out that the guy notices her sister, not her. It wasn't fair. What was wrong with her?

    Suddenly a boy sat down next to her on the log. She looked up in surprise and met two warm brown eyes smiling back at her. She looked away quickly, suddenly self conscious, but he continued to stare at her.

    "Hey," his voice was surprisingly deep.

    "Hi," she replied without looking at him.

    "I'm Cole, you're Carson, right?"

    "Yeah?" She gave him a weird look, wondering what he wanted.

    "I've heard about you, and I've seen you at school, but I hadn't actually met you until now." He smiled.

    "Oh, well, hi." She turned her attention back to the fire, sipping her soda.

    A boy on the other side of Cole handed him a beer and, in her peripheral view, she saw him take a gulp of it. She scrunched up her nose, wondering how he could stand it. "What?" She glanced back at him to see him looking at her with raised eyebrows. "You have something against beer?"

    "It's gross."

    "Don't knock it until you've tried it."

    "I have." She smirked.

    "There's a smile." She stiffened as he scooted next to her, setting his beer down beside him."You looked pretty upset when I came over here, something wrong?"

    "No." She gave him a hard look, warning him to back off.

    "Okay, okay," He raised his hands in surrender. "I was just asking."

    She sighed, chiding herself for being so defensive. "Sorry," she mumbled, looking back into the fire.

    They sat there in silence for a few moments, both staring into the fire. She noticed him glance at her but by the time she looked up, he had already looked away. She took the time to look him over. He had short dark brown hair, spiked up a little in the front like some of the guys she'd seen lately. He was pretty cute. She remembered seeing him at the parties before, sometimes hanging around Zach.

    He glanced at Carson again and she realized that she had been staring at him that whole time.

    "Why'd you come out here?" They both asked at the same time. They each smiled, laughing a little.

    "Honestly? I'm trying to avoid my girlfriend."

    Carson laughed a little, realizing the irony in their similar situations. "I'm trying to avoid my crush." She said a little somberly, but shook it off. "Why are you avoiding your girlfriend?" She asked curiously.

    "I've been trying to break up with her for the past few weeks, but every time I try she starts crying and making me feel all guilty so I stay with her." She watched as his hand ran through his hair like a comb. "I just don't feel like being around her right now. She's inside so I came out here to hide from her."

    "Yikes, that sucks." Carson looked down into her soda for a minute before taking a sip.

    "Why are you trying to avoid your crush?"

    She looked down, thinking back again to that day. "He asked me to meet him at the beach and I went, thinking that he was going to ask me out. He asked me for advice on asking my sister out instead."

    He didn't say anything for a minute. She willed herself not to cry. "I'm sorry, that sucks."

    "Yeah..." Her tears spilled over her cheeks and she looked away quick so he wouldn't see her cry.

    "Carson-"

    "I'm fine." She lied, her voice breaking. Cole put his arm around her shoulder, but she didn't look at him.

    "He's stupid, you know, for choosing your sister over you. I would've chose you."

    She glanced up at him with a look of disbelief, not sure if he had really said that. "You don't even know me." She sniffed.

    He gave her a small smile. "Maybe I want to know you."

    "Cole!" A girl suddenly called his name and Carson looked around him to see a blonde stalking down the hill towards them. Cole let go of her quickly, standing to face the girl. Carson looked around the circle to see the others looking their way.

    "Aiden-" Cole started. Aiden, Carson knew her. She always hung around Terri, always sucking up to her. Terri didn't like her- she called her annoying- but she always pretended as if she did. She was always trying to be nice to people no matter what she thought of them- probably another reason Zach had fallen for her.

    "I've been looking for you everywhere! You were here with her this whole time?" His girlfriend turned her angry eyes to Carson.

    "Aiden-"

    "What? You couldn't find your own boyfriend? So, you decide to take someone else's?" She yelled and Carson rolled her eyes at the girl.

    "Aiden-"

    "God! I hate you!" She shoved him. Carson giggled a little, somehow finding the whole thing very funny. She covered her mouth to keep from being heard."I hate you! We're over!"

    Carson silently laughed into her hands. It seemed like he didn't have to worry about breaking up with her anymore. "It's not funny." Cole said and she looked up to see him smiling.

    "Yeah it was," she grinned, teasingly. "Looks like I solved your little dilemma. You can thank me now." She said smugly.

    "I'm kind of disappointed."

    "Why?" She gave him a puzzled look. Disappointed about what?

    "I thought my first time being dumped would've been a little more upsetting." He looked at her. "But I'm not upset at all."

    Carson stood, laughing as she brushed the sand from her pants. She looked up at him to see him smiling too."Come on, let's go inside."

    He took her hand and she let him lead her up the hill to the house.

    ~

    Aiden glanced around the room, unable to pay much attention to whatever her best friend was saying at that moment, searching for Cole. He said he would meet her there, but she hadn't seen him once since she got here two hours ago. Whenever she asked, people would tell her that they just saw him a while ago. It seemed as if she was the only one who hadn't seen him.

    In front of her, Katelyn just kept going on and on. She made the right noises,but she wasn't really listening at all. The girl was just saying something about the newest addition to her crush list- and, boy, was it a long list! Suddenly, she noticed Terri about to walk past them.

    "Terri!" She interrupted Katelyn to stop Terri."Hi! This is a great party!" She grinned.

    Terri smiled at her a little wearily. She was probably tired, Aiden reasoned. "Hi Aiden, I'm glad you could make it. Excuse me, there's someone I'm trying to catch."

    "Yeah, oka- Wait! Have you seen Cole?" She stopped Terri again before she could walk off.

    "He was one of the the first people here. I haven't seen him for a few hours actually." Terri shrugged sympathetically before walking off.

    Aiden frowned, annoyed by this bit of news. He'd gotten there early, but he couldn't pick her up and take her there? She pushed through the crowd, leaving Katelyn to talk to someone else. She looked around for his friends, but he wasn't with them. They said that they hadn't seen him for a while either. She sent him a text, Where r u?

    He didn't reply. What if he had gone home? Aiden decided to check downstairs where a few guys were playing beer pong. Usually Cole would have been right there with them, but he wasn't there now.

    She made her way into the kitchen and found the band that had just finished playing, plus one pink haired girl. "Hey, any of you seen Cole Harris?" They shrugged their shoulders, the girl sitting on the counter looked up at her as she slid off.

    "Have you checked outside? Or downstairs?" She pushed her pink hair from out of her face.

    "Outside? Thanks!" Aiden nodded once before heading for the back door. She made her way down to a beach but stopped abruptly when she recognized him. Yeah, he was there all right.

    "Cole!" She yelled, stalking over to where he sat by the bonfire. His arm was around another girl.

    "Aiden-" He stood quickly, looking like a deer in headlights. She glared at him, so angry that she didn't know whether she wanted to cuss him out or hit him until she was tired.

    "I've been looking for you everywhere! You were here with her this whole time?" She looked at the girl still sitting down on the log behind him. Her rage grew when she recognized her. It was Carson, Terri's little sister- an eleventh grader. Her boyfriend had chosen Terri's loser sister over her.

    "Aiden-" He said again but she didn't wait to hear what he had to say.

    "What? You couldn't find your own boyfriend? So, you decide to take someone else's?" She yelled at the girl. Carson only rolled her eyes at her and laughed. What? Did she think it was funny?

    "Aiden-" Cole started again and she turned her angry eyes on him. She couldn't believe he had done this to her. He had tried to break up with her before but then they decided that they would try and work it out. Guess, he decided she wasn't good enough.

    "God! I hate you!" She shoved him, her eyes tearing up. "I hate you! We're over!" She ran back up the hill to the house in tears. Why was she always so unlucky with guys?

    ~

    Zach watched Terri as she played hostess, working up the courage to finally tell her how he felt. But, by the way she kept going around greeting people, keeping kids from breaking anything, and making sure that there was enough refreshments, he didn't see her taking a pause any time soon. He chuckled as he watched her talk to Aiden, a girl he knew that she didn't really like, struggling to keep a friendly smile in place.

    He briefly wondered where Carson was. He had seen her around earlier when he first got here, but now it seemed like she had disappeared. She was his support, the one who had encouraged him to finally talk to her sister. She had always been a great friend to him.

    Finally, Terri broke away from Aiden and started towards him with a smile. "Taking a break from hostessing?" He pushed off from the wall, grinning.

    "I'm sorry, there's so much to take care of and deal with. Usually Carson helps, but I don't know where she is." Terri apologized.

    "It's cool, are you sure you can take a break for a few minutes? There's something I want to talk to you about." He shoved his hands in his pockets, swallowing nervously.

    "Sure," she smiled a little. He led her out front to sit on the porch swing. They were both quiet for a moment and Zach tried to calm his nerves. Just say it, he told himself. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Terri asked, he noticed her shivering a little.

    "Sorry," he took off his coat, not even hesitating, and draped it around her shoulders. "You're cold. This was just the quietest place."

    "It's okay," she laughed a little as she put his jacket on right. He smiled, staring at her, and decided that he definitely liked her wearing his clothes. She glanced up at him and blushed a little. "What?"

    "Nothing. Sorry. You just..." He sighed. "You just look really cute." God, that sounds so stupid.

    She blushed even more. "Thanks."

    They were quiet a little longer before he finally decided to say what he had brought her out there to say. "Terri-"

    "Zach-" She started at the exact same time. They both just looked at each other, waiting for the other to go first. Laughing again, they looked away from each other, embarrassed.

    "Um, you first." Terri said as she began to twirl a piece of her hair around her finger- something he knew that she did only when she was nervous.

    "Okay, uh..." Here goes, he told himself. "Terri, we've been friends for a while and I really like hanging out with you. But I... I don't want to be friends anymore, because I like you more than that. I've liked you a lot for a while now. I never wanted to say anything because I was never sure if you liked me like that. And you were with Brian for a while anyway..." Shut up, God, just shut up. He took another breath, realizing just how stupid he sounded, but didn't look up at her. "Terri, will you go out with me?"

    She was silent for a moment and he held his breath waiting for an answer. "Can I say what I wanted to say now?"

    "Uh," he looked up in surprise, feeling a little hurt. "Yeah." He felt his face heat up with embarrassment.

    "I've had a crush on you since forever, Zach. Will you go out with me?" She grinned at him. Zach looked at her in disbelief for a minute before a smile slowly made it's way onto his face.

    "Sure, if you'll go out with me." He teased. Terri laughed.

    "Of course I will." She scooted a little closer to him. He couldn't keep himself from smiling as he took her hand in his.

    "How long did you have a crush on me?" he asked, curious of her answer.

    She blushed, "Kinda since I first met you. I thought you were really cute."

    "Cute, huh?" He smirked. She blushed a deeper red.

    "Shut up, like you didn't think I was cute."

    Zach laughed a little. "True."

    "What about you?" He glanced at her, not sure what she was asking. "I mean, how long have you liked me?"

    He looked up at the starry night sky. "Remember that time- it was summer, five years ago, I think- we were walking to your house and we got caught in the rain? You were freaking out because you had to get home before your mom found out that you had left cause you were grounded, but you didn't want to ruin your new dress."

    "Oh my God, yeah!" Terri laughed. "You ran all the way to my house got my dad's raincoat and an umbrella and ran all the way back. I remember that."

    "Yeah, you kissed me when we got to your house. Remember? It was on my cheek, but I couldn't stop smiling all the way home." He smiled, looking down at her. They both just stared at each other, smiling like idiots.

    Finally, she giggled. "You're so adorable, Zach." Suddenly she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Zach rested his forehead against hers, staring into Terri's eyes unable to help feeling as if that moment had come straight from a chick flick.

    He stood, Terri's hand still intertwined with his. "Come on, don't you have a party to enjoy?" Terri grinned and let him lead her back inside, leaving the porch swing rocking slightly behind them.

    ~

    Cole ducked outside quickly, narrowly avoiding his girlfriend as he made his way down to the bonfire by the lake. It was quieter down there, easier for him to think about how he was going to break up with Aiden. One of the guys called his name, motioning for him to come down and sit with them. There was one girl, sitting by herself with a soda in hand, staring stoically into the flames. He took a seat next to her by the fire, causing her to look up in surprise.

    "Hey," he smiled at her.

    "Hi," she said, looking into the fire, expressionless again.

    "I'm Cole, you're Carson, right?" He asked, recognizing her from school.

    "Yeah?" She gave me a cautious look.

    "I've heard about you, and I've seen you at school, but I hadn't actually met you until now." He smiled, watching her expression.

    "Oh, well, hi." She looked back into the fire.

    "Cole!" A boy, Cole didn't know his name, offered him a beer.

    "Thanks," He grimaced a little, but accepted.

    The liquid burned his throat and he forced himself to swallow it. Looking back at Carson, he saw her scrunch her nose as she watched him through the corner of her eye. "What? You don't like beer?"

    "It's gross." She shrugged, looking at me with cold eyes.

    "Don't knock it until you've tried it."

    I have." She smirked.

    "There's a smile." He smiled a little, setting his beer down next to the log. He scooted closer to her and noticed her stiffen. "You looked pretty upset when I came over here, something wrong?"

    "No." She said defensively.

    "Okay, okay," He raised his hands in surrender. "I was just asking."

    She sighed. "Sorry," she mumbled.

    They sat there in silence for a few moments, both staring into the fire. He glanced at her. She wasn't as hot as her sister, but she was cuter. She had soft blue eyes, though they had a hard look in them, and curly brown hair that blew every which way in the night breeze. He had always noticed that she wasn't like the other girls at school. She looked good in whatever she wore without looking as if she was trying too hard. She didn't wear her make up caked on like Aiden did. She was so down to earth. There were many times when he'd see her get up from the table she usually sat at to sit with someone who was at a table alone.

    She seemed like his kind of girl. You have a girlfriend, Cole, his conscious chided him. He thought again about Aiden. How in the world was he going to break up with her without her crying and making him feel guilty like last time? He glanced at Carson again and realized that she was staring at him.

    "Why'd you come out here?" They both asked at the same time. They each smiled, laughing a little.

    "Honestly? I'm trying to avoid my girlfriend."

    Carson gave a short laugh. "I'm trying to avoid my crush." A sad look crossed her face but disappeared quickly. "Why are you avoiding your girlfriend?"

    Cole sighed. "I've been trying to break up with her for the past few weeks, but every time I try she'll start crying and making me feel all guilty so I stay with her." He ran a hand through his hair. "I just don't feel like being around her right now. She's inside so I came out here to hide from her."

    "Yikes, that sucks." Carson lifted her soda to her lips.

    "Why are you trying to avoid your crush?"

    The sad look was back. She looked down at her shoes. "He asked me to meet him at the beach and I went, thinking that he was going to ask me out. He asked me for advice on asking my sister out instead."

    Cole was silent for a moment, feeling for her. "I'm sorry, that sucks."

    "Yeah..." He watched a tear escape her eye, but she looked away quickly.

    "Carson-"

    "I'm fine." She cut him off. If going out with Aiden had taught him anything, it was that, when a girl says 'I'm fine,' she was lying. He pulled Carson closer to him and wrapped his arms around her but she still didn't look at him.

    "He's stupid, you know, for choosing your sister over you." He said softly, comforting her. "I would've chose you."

    She looked up at him then, and he wiped the tears from her cheek with the sleeve of his jacket. "You don't even know me." She said quietly.

    "Maybe I want to know you." He smiled a little.

    "Cole!" He suddenly heard Aiden coming up to the bonfire. Letting go of Carson, he stood quickly and turned to meet Aiden's angry gaze. The other kids around the fire stopped talking.

    "Aiden-"

    "I've been looking for you everywhere! You were here with her this whole time?" His girlfriend turned her angry eyes to Carson.

    "Aiden-" He tried to put himself between the two girls.

    "What? You couldn't find your own boyfriend? So, you decide to take someone else's?" She yelled at Carson.

    "Aiden-" He approached her.

    "God! I hate you!" She shoved him. "I hate you! We're over!" She ran back up the hill, though he called after her.

    Cole turned back around to see Carson silently laughing into her hands. "It's not funny." He smiled.

    "Yeah it was," she grinned. "Looks like I solved your little dilemma. You can thank me now."

    He chuckled. "I'm kind of disappointed."

    "Why?"

    "I thought my first time being dumped would've been a little more upsetting." He looked at her. "But I'm not upset at all."

    She laughed before standing. "Come on, let's go inside."

    He took her hand and led her up the hill and back to the house.

    ~

    Sage leaned against the wall, trying to calm her nerves. In five more minutes, it would be time for her to sing- in front of everyone. Her boyfriend, Chaney, was on stage playing guitar to the song he and his band, Sky Shards, had wrote a week ago while sitting in his garage. He looked pretty hot up there, rocking out to the song. He looked as if he was having the time of his life. He probably was.

    She grinned at him when he glanced at her. He winked before turning his attention back to the crowd that had gathered in front of the stage. Terri's house was packed with kids from school. Most of which were jocks or cheerleaders or other kids from Terri and Carson's circle of friends- and they each had more than quite a few friends. She could barely contain her excitement all day at the fact that she was going to be at one of their famous parties.

    Now she was there and she was nervous out of her mind. She still couldn't believe that she had let Chaney talk her into singing there. It was her first senior party and she just knew that she was going to make a fool of herself. She'd probably throw up all over the stage.

    "God, not helping." She groaned aloud. Walking away from the stage and to the kitchen, Sage poured herself some ginger ale hoping that it would help her queasy stomach a little. A group of guys stood at the island, but most kids were in the main room or outside on the patio.

    "Hey!" One of the boys caught her attention. "Nice hair." He smirked.

    "Thanks, did it myself." She nodded. Her hair was pink with a strand dyed in a purple cheetah pattern. She had gotten pretty good over the years at dying it despite her parent's objections.

    "Looks good." Another boy remarked. "Want one?" He offered a beer to her but she shook her head in decline, raising her cup. He just shrugged and set the bottle back down on the counter.

    "I'm Damion," the first boy introduced himself. "This is Hayden-" he motioned to the boy who had offered the beer- "and Shane." The third boy, who leaning against the counter a few steps away next to her, had been quiet the entire time, sipping his beer, staring at her with dark eyes hidden behind blond hair.

    "I'm Sage," she replied, smiling briefly.

    Lane moved down a little so that he was standing right next to her. "Have you been to one of these before? I don't think I've seen you around."

    "This is my first time." She didn't look up at him.

    "It's all overrated anyway. Just a bunch of kids." He scoffed before leaning close to her. Sage cringed at the smell of the alcohol on his breath. "If you want, we can show you where the real fun is, if you're up for it."

    "Back off!" A pair of hands suddenly pushed him back and Sage looked up to see Chaney glaring at Lane. She hadn't even realized that they had stopped playing. The other two members of his band joined them in the kitchen, sending wary looks their way.

    "Whoa," Lane moved away from her, holding his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, didn't know she was taken."

    "Should have asked her." Her boyfriend took a step towards him as if he was about to start something. Sage put a hand on his shoulder and he slid his arm around her waist.

    "Sorry, won't happen again." Lane said before leaving the kitchen with Hayden and Damion in tow.

    "I could have dealt with that." Sage said, kind of embarrassed at the scene he had made, but glad that only the band had seen anyway.

    "You sure about that?" He gave her a disbelieving look.

    "No." She muttered, pulling away to sit on top of the counter. "Chaney, I can't do this."

    "Yeah you can," He looked up at her with soft eyes.

    "It won't be that bad, Sage." Riley, their drummer, spoke up.

    "Yeah, just imagine you're singing in front of us." Kendall, their bassist, added.

    "Yeah, you guys and a hundred other people." She snorted.

    "Come on, baby, what are you afraid of?" Chaney touched his forehead to hers.

    "What if I'm not any good?" She asks quietly.

    "You're an amazing singer. I swear to God, you're better than me. Seriously, you should be our lead singer." Chaney kissed her. "Everyone's going to love you. You're going to blow their minds and they won't be able to get enough of you." He grinned.

    She took a deep breath, still nervous. "Okay," she whispered, still not feeling too confident.

    "Hey, have any of you seen Cole Harris?" Sage looked up to see that a familiar looking girl had joined them.

    She slid down from the counter, "Have you checked outside? Or downstairs?" She pushed her pink hair from out of her face.

    "Outside? Thanks!" The girl hurried outside and Sage shrugged, briefly wondering who she was.

    "You ready?" Chaney took her hand. She nodded, swallowing nervously. He took her hand and led her through the crowd to the stage. More people began to come inside and crowd in front of the stage. Chaney set up two stools in front two microphones and picked up his guitar. Riley and Kendall gave her thumbs up and encouraging smiles from their spot next to the stage. She smiled nervously back before scanning the room.

    There were so many people, every single one of them looking her way. She had never felt as nervous as she did then- not even when she asked Chaney out. Her boyfriend thumped her microphone, making sure that it worked. God, she wished it didn't. Anything to postpone it all.

    The crowd got quiet as Chaney talked into her microphone. "Hey guys, this is my girl, Sage. She's going to sing for you guys." Chaney glanced at her, smiling. "She's really nervous, this is her first time, but I don't think you'll be disappointed."

    He pointed the microphone back in her direction and she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. She could feel butterflies trying to come from her stomach up her throat. "Hey," Chaney whispered and she looked over to see him give her a look that said, you can do this. She gave him a thumbs up and he started to play. Taking a deep breath she lifted her head and sang her heart out.

    And she rocked it.