The room we first entered was full of smoke, guys, and liquor. 'Wow, what a party!' I told Rachel as she led me into the kitchen. I still didn't want to trust her, but the only way to escape this party was to be nice.

She turned to me and smiled as she filled a red solo cup with a blue liquid. 'Thanks!' 

She handed me the cup and I was hesitant to drink it, and I'm sure she realized this. 'I didn't poison it, Rachel. The worst thing in that drink is the sugar!' she told me.

I took a sip, and immediately I made a sour face. The taste of whatever she had produced was more bitter than her attitude had been toward me just this morning. The after taste, though, was reasonable. Not reasonable for me to take another drink. 

'I can sense you didn't enjoy it.' she told me.

I nodded in agreement, and at that moment we split. Instead of leaving right away, I decided to explore the house a little bit, but before I knew it I was already lost. I went down one hallway and I ended up in another. It was like a maze. The only thing that stayed consistently the same was the amount of smoke. But, how could Juliet make friends here so quick? And to think, she's what double my age?

'You seem lost,' a soft voice said from behind. I could feel her words down my back as she spoke. I turned around as she began to add, 'Need help?'

The girl had short blue hair and a black nose ring. The shirt she was wearing was a teal tye-dye that only went to her bellybutton, and she had on a dark pair of jeans. 

'I'm Evie Monroe if you're wondering. You actually don't know me at all but I saw how that one girl treated you today I just wanted you to know if you need anything I'll be there for-'

I cut her off. 'I'm sorry,' I told her, 'But I'm fine. Thanks for asking, though.' Wow, that was a bitchy move for me to pull.

She stopped me again, this time standing in front of me, making me stagnant. 'I'm new here, and I need a friend or two. Do you want to hang out sometime?' 

'I don't even know you!'

'That doesn't matter!' she testified. She fixed both her shirt and blue hair before she finished her thought. 'I'm sure we have something in common. We could ditch this party and go hang out somewhere.'

I thought for a moment. I did want to leave this party, but did I want to leave with a complete stranger? Yeah, she seemed trustworthy enough but was she? 

'You know what, it's totally fine. We don't have to do anything. I'll see you around!' she told me. She turned her back and started to depart from me when I stopped her.

'Wait! What do you have in mind?'

Her face lit up like a Christmas Tree in December. 'Oh, I knew you'd want to hang out. We could go to the bar down the road, or we could just go to my dorm and watch some Netflix movies. You have any ideas?'

'I'm down for watching Netflix. Anything to get me out of this party.' I told her. She smiled, and I did too. Cheek to cheek. We both left the party, and I could tell Juliet was too intoxicated to notice. 

As we exited the house from the blue door, I could finally catch my breath. I coughed a few time, each time my lungs felt like they were clearing of some sort of substance. Leaving that party was the best idea at the time, but if only I knew what I was getting myself into.

'I'm Rachel, by the way.'I told her as we paced the North Garden of campus.

'I know,' she answered, 'Rachel Mendez. The one who "slept with her brother". That was a load of bullshit!' 

No, it wasn't.

'Yeah, I've been confused all day as to why Juliet would say that about me. I mean, over the Summer, we were on the same flight to Bejing, but... long story short we don't have a great history.'

She smiled again. What was it with her and smiling? 'I can tell.'

We walked most of the way to her dorm without talking. There wasn't a breeze, and the humidity was beginning to mess with my hair. I watched a few leaves blow through the hair, their hue of green my favorite color. I liked to notice the little things.

'So, what do you like to do? Everyone has their thing, you know? Mine is writing. Every chance I'm not busy I write."

'Well, last year I had this big motive to explore the world in one Summer. I had thirty-two postcards on the wall in my dorm and I was to go to each place, Bejing being first. I met Juliet on the flight and she reminded me a lot of my mother who sadly passed away.'

'I'm so sorry!'

I wiped a tear away, but not of sadness but of bravery. 'Well, we had a layover in Paris, so I took that to be the opportunity to explore. I met this cute guy and we hit things off. Well, Juliet didn't make it onto the plane and I grew worried so I went to find her. Instead of finding Juliet, I found the guy dead in his own apartment.'

She had a look of shock. We had made it her dorm this time, which was located in the honor's building. 'What a mess of a Summer you had.'

I nodded in agreement as we scanned our cards and went toward the elevator. 'What floor?' I asked.

'Twelve.'

'That sucks,' I told her as I pressed the metal button, which was cold.

She let out a small chuckle. 'It is.' The elevator shook as it went up. 'It took me and my family three hours to get all my stuff moved in. I swear we took at least seventeen trips on this elevator in that one day.'

Her dorm was small, but it was only because she was the only one it. 

'My dorm mate never showed up so they gave me a different room. I was supposed to get a new roommate but the switched things up, and I'm glad they did because I now have a room to myself.'

She turned on her TV, and then pulled up Netflix. We decided to watch Heathers, and before I knew it she was handing me a drink, and not even half way through the movie I was asleep.

***

'Dad, it's been two weeks. Mom is not coming back she's either dead or doesn't want to deal with us anymore.' I told my father as him, Robert, and I stood in the kitchen nervous about where she could be.

He slammed his hands on to the table, making Robert and I jump. 'Don't you fucking say that Rachel. We'll find your mom. She wouldn't just leave us!'

'You sure nothing was happening between you two?' Robert asked.

My father left the room.

I looked at Robert. 'You didn't have to say that!'

He fired back. 'You didn't have to say mom isn't coming back!' I gave no response. 'That's what I thought.'

Later that day I went out with a few friends, but little did I know the things that I were about to find would change my life entirely.