“So, how did things go with Josh?” Mom asked as she put the last dirty plate in the dishwasher.

   I put away a cereal box, “Fine,” I answered.

   She wiped her forehead with a rag, and walked over to the fridge. “What did you two talk about?”

   “There was nothing to talk about. We had already made our opinions clear over the phone. It was just him apologizing most of the time.” I couldn’t lie, he did say sorry a lot. I liked it.

   “Well, it’s good that you two aren’t trying to be together any more.”

   “Yeah,” I looked down at my fingers, “it is.”

   “Well, I’m going to bed. I think you should call Candy, and talk things out with her. She didn’t seem too happy when she came over to tell me.”

   I nodded, “I think so too…”

   “Good night. She’s welcome to come over and spend the night.” She ran up the stairs to her room.

   I sighed, and looked at the phone in my hand. I wasn’t proud of lying to my mom about the relationship between Josh andI. I loved him, though, and I didn’t want to hear how weird it was to be in love with my step brother. He wasn’t blood related, so it didn’t matter, and that was that.

   “What do you want, Sam?” Candy answered the phone, exasperated.

   “I wanted to apologize.”

   “What do you need to apologize for?”

   “I want to apologize for gluing your hair to the table in first grade. I’m sorry for that time in seventh grade when I stole your unicorn eraser, and I’m sorry for last week when things got crazy between us.”

   “You already apologized for all of the other things, Sam. Why are you apologizing again?”

   “Because, I want you to see that I’m never going to be able to apologize enough for all of the mean things I did to you. Whether they weren’t as bad or completely terrible, I love you, Candy. I don’t want to lose my best friend.” It was silent on her end. “Candy, are you there?”

   “Yeah,” she replied, “I’m sorry too.”

   “I forgive. Do you want to come over? Mom said it’s alright.”

   “Let me pack a bag. I’ll be over in ten.”

   “I love you, best friend.”

   “I love you more, bestest friend.”

   “Bestest isn’t a word.”

   “Neither is shnageldorf.”

   I laughed. “See you soon.”

   She hung up. I finally had my best friend back. I grinned, and ran upstairs to tidy up my room. I threw a whole bunch of dirty clothes into my hamper, and then tossed some trash into my small trash bin by my bed. I grabbed my phone, and ran downstairs. Before I could call her, Candy was already knocking at the door.

   “Hey!” She whispered excitedly.

   I wrapped her in a tight hug, and wouldn’t let go. I could’ve lost my best friend that I cared so much about, and I didn’t. I was so excited to have her back.

   “So,” I started after we let go, “what do you want to do?”

   “Whatever…” She looked around.

   “Let’s go up to my room, and do our nails or something?”

   “Sure,” she smiled.

   We ran up to my room, trying to trip one another on the way up. I almost got her at one point, but she hopped over my leg, and tripped me with her leg. I fell, and started giggling uncontrollably. I remembered Mom was sleeping, and held up a finger to my lips as I tried to hold in the giggles. She started giggling quietly, and nodded. We walked into my room, and I pulled out my make-up bag. I had tons of eyeliner, mascara, blush, foundation, nail polish, and eye shadow. She dug into the bag, and pulled out some black eyeliner, mascara, foundation, black nail polish, and dark purple eye shadow.

   “Are you going dark again?” I asked concerned.

   She shrugged, “I don’t see it as going dark. I see it as…just trying something new.” She started applying eyeliner to her water line.

   I smirked, “You can’t try something new if you’ve already done it before.”

   She rolled her eyes, “Whatever…we’re going to a party. Get some make-up and some nice clothes on.”

   “But my mom is in the other room. What if she comes in to check in on us?”

   “She won’t…you know she never does that anyways.” A weird look appeared on her face, and she started rubbing foundation all over.

   “I don’t know…I don’t want to get in trouble.”

   “Listen, we’re just going to the house!” If anyone ever said the house, they always meant the abandoned house.

   “Well,” I really was up for a party, “alright.”

   She grinned, and tossed me the black eyeliner. I started putting some all over my eye, and then put on some mascara. I applied some clear lip gloss, and then went over to my closet to find a cute outfit to wear to the party. I found a tank top with candy logos all over it, and a pair of black skinny jeans.

   “Are you really going to wear that?” She asked, looking dumbstruck.

   I shrugged, “Well, yeah?”

   “No,” she shook her head. She walked over to my closet, and pulled out an armful of clothes.

   She tossed a v-neck, long-sleeved, green and blue striped shirt, a black vest, a lime green tutu, black tights with holes in them, and a pair of neon blue heels.

   “I don’t even remember getting these.” I said, shocked at how high my heels were.

   “I got them for you last year for your birthday.” Candy said as she looked back into the mirror to finish her make-up.

   I nodded, and started putting on the outfit she picked out for me. After I put it all on, I tapped her shoulder, and posed for her. She gasped, and smiled as she pulled me into a hug.

   “Do I know what I’m doing, or do I know what I’m doing?” She said proudly.

   I giggled, “Hey, I can just tell my mom that you forgot something at home, and we can just take our time at the party.”

   “That’s a great idea.” She put away the make-up, and started her way downstairs as I walked over to my mom’s door.

   I tapped lightly, and entered. “Hey Mom,” I whispered, “we’re going over to Candy’s house. She forgot some stuff that we want to get.”

   Mom moaned sleepily, and turned onto her side. I smiled, and shut the door. I ran downstairs, and danced in place with a grin on my face to show that we could go. She giggled quietly, and we snuck out and headed for the party.

************************************************************************

JOSH’S POV

   “Man, you’re so lucky she took you back.” Andrew said to me as we sat on my bed playing Call of Duty.

   I nodded, and looked down at my phone. She hadn’t texted me at all today. I thought she would’ve, considering we were now together again. I sighed, and tried to keep my attention on the game. What if she was with someone else though? Should I call her, and not listen to her, but just the background to make sure? No, I was acting crazy. I was being stupid. Why would she cheat on me? I knew how she felt about me, and I knew there was no competition. I chuckled to myself, and then thought about what would be happening if I was over there. We’d probably be cuddling in her bed, legs entangled. I’d hold her face with both of my hands, and kiss her all over. I wondered if she’d let me kiss her from her lips to her neck down to her collarbone, and then those beautiful…

   “Josh!” Andrew shouted as he smacked me on the back of the head.

   “What was that for bro?” I held the back of my head, and threw the remote on my bed.

   He pointed to the screen, and I saw that I had just lost us a lot of life. “I’m sorry, dude. I was…thinking about…stuff.”

   “Stuff like Sam?” He raised an eyebrow.

   “How do you always know?” I was so shocked. He always knew what was happening with me.

   “Must be psychic,” he laughed, and turned to the screen again.

   “I’m getting tired of video games. Want to just chill out now? Order some pizza maybe?”

   Andrew rolled his eyes back, and yawned as he fell onto his back. “Yeah.”

   My phone vibrated, and I checked instantly to see if it was Sam. It wasn’t, which disappointed me, but it was from Candy. I opened the message. It was a picture of Sam holding a huge bottle of Jack Daniels. My jaw dropped, and I knew what we were doing next.

   “Bro, get some clothes on,” I said to Andrew as I got up to put on a jacket, “we’re going to a party.”

************************************************************************

   SAM’S POV

   “Chug, chug, chug, chug!” Everyone chanted in the background as I chugged down my third can of beer. They all cheered as I threw the empty container on the ground and crushed it.

   I raised my arms in victory, and wrapped them around the nearest guy I could pull in for a kiss. All I could see was that he was tall and skinny with jet black hair and deep green eyes. I didn’t pay attention to his facial features or anything else. I kissed him, and then shoved him away as I went to find another bottle of Jack Daniels. Candy had hogged the whole bottle, and gave everyone else a glass except for me. Hunter had said that there was another bottle somewhere in the kitchen though, so that’s exactly where I was heading.

   As I walked into the kitchen, I smelled the smoke, and ran over to the sink to puke. I hated the smell of cigarettes, and I had had a lot to drink tonight. I looked on top of the fridge, and saw it. I reached but couldn’t touch it. I looked over to some random guy, and asked him to get it down for me. I pouted, and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself close to him.

   “Please?” I giggled idiotically, and hiccupped.

   He chuckled. “I think you’ve had enough to drink tonight.” That voice sounded familiar.

   I came out of my drunken trance, and looked at him as clearly as I could. It was Josh. I pulled him in for a kiss, and didn’t let go. I tangled my fingers in his hair, and rubbed his back.

   “Will you get me a drink now?” I smiled up at him.

   “Only if it’s a water bottle or juice.” He chuckled again.

   I pouted up at him, and hopped onto the counter by the fridge. I stood up, and grabbed the Jack Daniels with ease. I got down, and waved it teasingly in front of his face before downing a little less than a quarter of the bottle in one drink. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, shoved the bottle into some girl’s arms, and wrapped my arms around Josh’s neck, and pulled myself into another strong kiss. I was feeling pretty happy, and I was ready to get this party started.

   “Where does your mom think you are?” He asked as I pulled away and started dancing to the beat of the music in the background.

   “Candy’s place,” I said drunkenly.

   “I didn’t know you were so bad.” He sounded shocked.

   “You’d be surprised,” I raised my eyebrows, dropped it low, and brought myself slowly back up, keeping eye contact with him the whole time.

    “Okay,” his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head, “we need to get you home. Where’s Candy?” He started to look around.

   “Who cares? I’m not ready to go home. I’m ready to party.” I grabbed him by his wrist, and dragged him up the stairs.

   “No, Sam, we’re not going to the master.”

   “We are if I say we are.” I pulled him harder now, yearning to sneak my way into the master bedroom.

   “No,” he stopped, “I promised myself our first time wouldn’t be like this.”

   “Like what?” I giggled.

   “Like you being so wasted, you’re not even going to remember anything that happens.”

   “Stop being such a prude, babe. Have a little fun!” I waved my arms in the air, and laughed uncontrollably.

   He shook his head, “Where’s Candy?”

   “Stop!” I screamed at him. “I want to party and drink and have a good time! I’m not going home!”

   “Your mom’s going to worry, Sam.”

   “She thinks I’m safe at Candy’s house! I’m fine!” I screamed even louder. I sounded like a three year old that just wanted the stupid lollipop already.

   “Sam, stop,” he held up a hand, “just stop.”

   I pouted, and fell on my butt. I crossed my arms and legs, and looked at the burnt carpet.

   “Yeah, we’re getting you home.” He said, looking around again.

   “No!” I screamed as I ran away from him, down the stairs, and into the kitchen.

   I looked for my bottle of Jack Daniels, and asked some random skater guy for a cigarette. He handed me a lit one, and I sucked in a mouthful of smoke before blowing it out like a pro. I had done this before; I just stopped because I knew it wasn’t good. I shrugged, and took a swig of Jack Daniels. I handed the kid his cigarette back, and walked around, looking for Candy.

   “Hey there, Sam,” I looked up to see Andrew, Josh’s friend from the other party.

   “Hey,” I smiled and waved my bottle in his face, “want a drink?”

   He laughed, “I think I’ll pass. Where’s Josh.”

   I shrugged, “Probably looking for Candy. He wants me to go home, but I just want to party.” I put on a puppy dog face, and looked up at him.

   “I’ll party with you,” he winked.

   “Woo-hoo!” I shouted excitedly.

   I grabbed him by the wrist, and ran out into the backyard where everyone else was dancing. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and swayed my hips to the beat. I pulled him close, and danced all around him. I could tell he was enjoying this, but I didn’t really care. I was just doing it because I knew Josh wasn’t going to let me dance with him. I used the same move I did with Josh in the kitchen, dropping it low, bringing myself back up looking into his eyes the whole time. I reached my hands up his shirt, and started rubbing his chest. He bit his lip and smiled before stopping, and grabbing my arms. He pulled my hands out of his shirt, and shook his head.

   “I’m not doing this to him after he just got you back.” He walked away, and started looking for Josh.

   I rolled my eyes, and started to climb into the bottom of the pool around the bonfire where there was about ten other people. I sat on some random guy’s lap, and handed him my bottle. I closed my eyes, and blacked out right there.