I recently got back from a Saturday morning pain session...I mean cheer leading practice and I was lying on the couch still in my practice clothes. Once again, Heather made my life a living hell. This bitch is never going to let me off the hook for what I did. All I did was break up with the most popular boy in school without a reason. Okay, I guess I can see where she is coming from. I had something every girl in school dreamed of and I simply let it go. Elsa would be proud.

Later tonight there was friend throwing a party, but at the moment I was sulking.

"Are you okay?" I hear my mom ask. I mumble in reply. Mom sighs and makes me sit up so she can sit down. "What's wrong, sweetie?" Her voice now sounding worried.

"Nothing, just tired from practice." I answer, playing with my bracelet that has an infinity charm connected by a silver chain.

Mom notices, "Are you really okay?" Only this time she is referring to another subject.

I avoid her gaze, "Yep."

Mom gives me another look that says 'you wanna talk about it' and I simply shake my head no. There is absolutely no way I am talking about that, right now. My mom nods her head in understanding. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?" She asks changing the subject.

I internally sigh when she does, "There is a party tonight, I was thinking about attending."

"You can go. But no drinking and you have a 1am curfew, understood?" Mom commands.

"I do. Thanks mom for, you know..." I say quietly, referring to what she was trying to bring up.

"You are welcome, Taylor, just know whenever you do want to talk about it, I am here to listen." Mom offers with a kind smile. I just give her a slight nod.

I know my mother is just trying to get me to open up about a certain topic, but I clam up every time she asks. The only time I come close to opening up is around the time it happened. This topic is something that I hate reliving and I feel as if I talk about it, then it's like it has just happened. When really its been almost three years. When it did happen, my parents had no idea how to handle the situation. They have been trying to figure out the best way to help me through what happened but they don't know how. I love them for trying but it gets annoying when they start crossing the line from helpful to full on concerned.

I eventually make my way up to my room to shower and get ready for the party. My room is pretty simple, light pink walls with hints of white. When you walk in you see my queen size bed against the back wall near the window and a night stand with a lamp on it beside my bed. I have a book shelf on the left side that has more cheer trophies than books. My make-up vanity is to the right and my closet is a few feet down from it. I have random pictures of me with friends and family on the walls.

After my shower I put my robe on and go back to my room and into my closet to find an outfit for tonight. I choose a fuchsia short sleeve dress that reaches mid thigh. For shoes, I pick out a pair of strappy pink heels. Once I choose my outfit and undergarments I lay them on my bed then head over to my vanity to do my hair and make-up. I go with a straight hair and a light make-up look. During the process of getting ready I received a text from Lacey asking if we were riding together or going separately. I reply back asking what her curfew is and she texts back with 1am, the same as mine. So I tell her we can drive together in my car.

An hour later and one stop to pick up my bestie, we arrive at Clara Stephens house. The outside of the house looks like it hasn't be littered by cups and other trash yet, which means this party is just getting started. Lacey and I park down the street in effort to be able to get out of the party easily and then make our way inside the house. Upon entering, we are immediately hit with the sound of music and the smell of sweat and beer. Typical high school party.

"Hey ladies!" Clara herself greets us once she sees us.

"Hey Clara." Lacey greets back for the both of us.

"You both look gorgeous." Clara comments. "Food and drinks are in the kitchen, dancing in the living room and there is an air hockey table upstairs. Enjoy yourselves!" She informs before going to scold someone for trying to drink a bottle of wine.

For a while Lacey and I dance, talk with friends and eat. We both weren't up for drinking tonight. At some point during the night I lose Lacey to a guy who asked her to join him on the dance floor. I'm sure I will get more details on that whole situation later. I go around talking to a few more people until someone gets my attention.

"Taylor, hey." That would be Phillip, a fellow senior.

"Hey there. Enjoying the party?" I ask looking around.

"Don't worry, Johnny is in the basement." Phillip says when he notices who I was looking out for. Phillip just so happens to be Johnny's best friend.

"Ah, let me guess, he is making out with some girl down there." I say. Phillip gives me a nod and a sad smile. "Its fine, I was the one who ended it. He can make out with whoever he wants." I confess. Even though things between Johnny and I were over, I expected to feel a twinge of jealousy. But I don't.

"You know, just because you and Johnny are over doesn't mean we have to stop talking." Phillip speaks.

"Phillip-" I start.

"I know. Things between us haven't been the same since.." He trails off.

"No, they haven't. How are your parents?" I hesitantly ask while fidgeting with my bracelet again.

"They are hanging in there." He sighs sadly. I nod in understanding. "What about you?"

I tense up for a second but shake it off, "I'm okay. Just okay. And you?"

Phillip's brown eyes go dark with sadness, "I'm still here." I once again nod. Phillip takes a deep breath to rid his mind of certain thoughts. "Where is Lacey?" he asks changing the topic to a lighter one.

"She met a guy." I say and Phillip laughs lightly. It is nice how we can change the conversation so quickly and be our normal happy selves, because that previous conversation was anything but light.

A guy walking by us stops dead in his tracks and backs up to stop in front of us. "Hey, you are the girl I spilled my beer on at Tyson's."

"I will leave you to handle this one. Talk to you later, Taylor." Phillip says then leaves.

"Hello there." The guy says with a wide smile on his face.

I back up a few inches because he is creeping me out, "Um...hi."

"I did not think I would ever see you again, yet here you are at the same party I am attending, WOW!." It's like he is a fangirl or something.

I laugh nervously, "Yeah, here I am."

"Come on, my friend is not going to believe this!' He exclaims then grabs my hand and drags me off to God knows where. The guy basically runs up the stairs with me trying to keep up and we end up in the room Clara was telling Lacey and I about when we first arrived. This room was what I assume as her dads man cave because there are bean bag chairs, a giant t.v with several gaming systems and a fridge. Yep one hundred percent man cave.

"Yo Nick, I found her!" He shouts over the crowd in the room and we make our to the far left side of the room. My head perks up when he says Nick. There is no way it is the same Nick from my school and Tyson's. Nick is a common name, so many people have it, like Nick Jonas. "Nick, man, I found her."

We find Nick playing air hockey against some guy. It is definitely the same Nick. " I am trying to concentrate." Nick grits out.

Mere seconds later the game is over and Nick comes out victorious. "I lost again." His opponent mumbles. "Play again?" He asks hopeful.

Nick chuckles, " That was our fifth game, you have lost all five and one hundred dollars. I think you are finished." The guy sighs and walks away mumbling something about how was he going to explain to his parents how he lost so much money.

"You won a hundred bucks? Nice." The guy says. The three of us stand there in silence, until the guy with no name speaks up again, "Nick, I found the girl from Wednesday. The one I spilled beer on, remember?"

"Awesome." He mutters.

"I never got your name." He says.

" I never got yours either." I counter.

The guy smirks, "I'm Jason but everyone calls me Jay."

"Taylor." I introduce back.

"Nick, this is Taylor." Jay informs his friend. Nick doesn't reply but I am sure I heard him mumble an 'I don't care' under his breath.

"Jay?" I ask and he hums, "If you are old enough to buy beer then why are you hanging out at a high school party? And don't tell me that you have an amazing fake I.D. Tyson can tell." I ask confused. I hear Nick laugh under his breath.

Jay shoots him a glare before answering, "I am twenty-one and I am here because that doofus over there asked me to tag along." He nods his head towards Nick.

"No. I told you I was going to a party and you begged me until I said you could attend. Said something about wanting to get laid. Ring a bell." Nick corrects his friend. I know I am no longer a part of the conversation but I try to stifle a laugh.

"You are aware that half of the girls here are under the age of eighteen, right?" I say.

Jay's eyes go wide, "You said they were all eighteen!" He exclaims to Nick who just shrugs. Jay finishes the beer in his hand in one gulp, "I need another. You anything Taylor?"

"I'm good with my water." I respond holding up a bottle of water.

"Nick, want anything?"

Nick shakes his head and holds up his bottle of Gatorade. Jay leaves in search of another alcoholic beverage. Now it is just Nick and I...awesome.

I take this time to assess Nick's outfit. He's wearing a light blue t-shirt that fits snugly against his chest. His jeans are a dark wash and he is wearing some black Nikes. His brown hair is all messed up in the way that looks effortlessly but we all know it took him a good twenty to thirty minutes to get it that way. I won't even try to deny the fact that he looks incredibly good right now. And last of all his scowl is present. Does he not have any other facial expressions?

I decide to be bold and break the silence, "Are you looking for someone to play?" I gesture to the air hockey table.

Nick snaps his head towards me and narrows his eyes, he grunts, "Why do you know someone?"

This time I wince, "I was going to suggest I play but never mind."

"I don't think it's a good idea for you and I to be playing, sweetheart." He says in a low voice. "We wouldn't want your ex finding out."

Now it is my turn to narrow my eyes at him, he can be a dick. "Forget I asked." I scoff and start to walk away, but get stopped by Jay.

"Where you going?" He asks.

"I was going to head downstairs but the look on your face tells me you have a completely different idea ." I say in a bitchy tone.

"You are correct. They are playing Spin the Bottle and I signed us up to play." He smiles. Oh you have got to be kidding me. Spin the Bottle? What are we twelve?

"I am not playing that game." I state.

"Oh come on, it will be fun. The bottle might even land on me." He winks then waggles his eyebrows. My stomachs churns at the thought of kissing this guy.

"Taylor! There you are. This guy said you are playing with us. Lets go, we are starting." Clara says excitedly. I groan and make a mental note to kill Jay later.

Two hours later and three kisses from three different guys, I am completely over Spin the Bottle. And yes, one of those guys was Jay. The idiot got his wish. At least it wasn't seven minutes in heaven or I would have ran far away. Johnny was among the crowd watching us play and when he saw me kiss each guy, he was furious. That was the only fun part. Nick was no where near the game, he was probably hustling more people at air hockey.

I was still talking to Jay when I looked at my phone and realized that it was almost 1am. Curfew...shit. I started looking around for Lacey and when I didn't see her I texted her to meet me in the man cave. Fifteen minutes later my lovely friend finally emerges with the guy I saw her with earlier.

"Lacey." I say.

"Logan?" I hear Nick say.

Oh you have got to be kidding me.

"Tay, what's up?" Lacey asks worried.

"Oh you know, not much, except we missed our curfew!" I shout.

Lacey's green eyes widen, "Shit!"

"Yeah, shit. We gotta go now. Tell your friend bye." I say.

"Hey dude, I made out with her." Jay tells Logan.

"Sweet!" Logan says and high fives Jay.

Oh my God, we need to leave.

"Bye Logan." Lacey giggles and plants a kiss right on Logan's lips. I gag, Jay whoops, and Nick shudders.
"Lacey!" I hiss.

"Okay, I am coming, jeez!" She laughs and waves to Logan once more.

Lacey and I run to my car and quickly get in to make our way to her house so I can drop her off. On the way Lacey yaps about her night with Logan, she told me he was an amazing kisser but a terrible dancer. He also thinks he is the funniest person ever, Lacey did not deny that either, so he must be hilarious when he isn't making out with my best friend. I hinted out to Lacey that I talked to Phillip and she shut up. Yep, the situation affected her the same it had us.

I drop Lacey off at her house and her mom warned me that my parents called there and asked if I was sleeping there because I wasn't home yet. Her mom said we weren't home yet and I was to expect to be in trouble once I arrived home. True to her word, my parents were waiting up for me when I got home. Needless to say I was now grounded for a week for breaking curfew.

Fantastic.

While I was lying in bed that night, I couldn't keep myself from thinking about my small conversation with Nick. I don't know why but ever since he saved me from Johnny, I had this image built up in my head. I thought he was a kind guy, someone who would talk to you or even play a round of air hockey. He was sort of nice outside of Tyson's when he asked if I was okay. Maybe he puts on the rotten attitude while around his friends. Speaking of, Nick has friends. The Logan guy I had never seen before so I am sure he doesn't attend our school. And Jay, well I have no idea how those two know each other.

Mr.Mysterious has friends and he attends parties. Who would of thought.