Josh wrapped his arms around my waist as he stared into the long mirror in front of us. I could hear the music blaring downstairs, my friends from work already yelling and hollering. The silhouette in the mirror looked back at me, the girl was, well, beautiful. More than I'd really ever felt. I cared about appearance and did try to put at least SOME kind of effort into it. But it just never really worked out as I'd wanted it to. Except today. Today was my day.

Josh hugged me, his chin on my shoulder, the side of his head fitting perfectly into the crook of my neck. I found myself smiling back at him, his ocean blue eyes peering into my hazel ones. Josh's dark brown hair against pale skin made his eyes pop. Even in poor lighting I could see the brightness in them.

Today was the big day. My birthday.

Mia promised me that only about ten people would come total, a couple work friends, some of my best mates from college and then Josh. It would be a small get together and since there wasn't enough space in my tiny apartment, my parents let me use their house instead. I smiled, remembering Mia's fit when she discovered that she wouldn't be allowed to stay at my party. Mum and dad took her to the movies with her friends instead. They'd be staying over at my Grams house for the night, just in case there would be any stragglers left at the house or if the party ran late.

Josh trailed his fingers across the length of my dress. He hugged my curves that the dress emphasized perfectly. My heart warmed inside, the way he stared at me, I knew he liked it without him even having to say a word. Mum had a good eye for stuff like this, much better than I was. She made me go to a salon to get my hair and makeup done, and also bought brand new six inch heels especially for today. I didn't get it, it was just a party.

I turned and looked up at Josh, my eyes catching the glint of his dark brown waves sleeked over his head. I turned away from the mirror and gave my full attention to Josh, my boyfriend.

We'd been together for just about three years. We'd never fought or argued about anything, everything came naturally for us and our personalities just clicked. It wasn't like neither of us had any faults, we just got along easily, which is why being in a relationship wasn't demanding with him. There never really was any work or effort involved with him.

Josh's lips came down to mine. He was taller than me, in fact, just about everyone was. It was hard to live in a 5'5'' body and have anyone shorter than you.

I opened my own mouth to greet him, his lips fit in mine and his tongue sunk in. He pulled me into him, but kept enough distance from me that our bodies didn't touch. He was always gentle, and handled me with care. I felt my cheeks warm, my heart fluttering with happiness.

Suddenly, a slow clap errupted from our left. Josh shoved me away, startled by the noise.

Leaning against the doorway was a tall, lean, brunette. Her dress was low cut, like really low, so much that half her boobs were falling out. Her perfect legs were crossed and glistened in the short dress she wore as she rested against the wall. Her dress was amazing.

It was fully white and had only one shoulder to it. The tight fabric was sucked to her body. In the middle lay a transparent sash of material that showed off her stomach and was covered in glittering sequins. It ended just a little less than half way to her thigh. Her silver heels crisscrossed around her feet, toes were painted white, and ended in a band around her ankle.

The smirking, clapping, rude, but completely beautiful girl was none other than Evelyn Reed.

Evelyn was the kind of girl who a lot of people tolerated but never liked. I wasn't like them. I didn't tolerate or like her. It was exactly like Evelyn to try to show me up at my own party.

Over the years we'd had a lot of bad blood. It started back in kindergarten when I'd pushed her into a mud puddle on the very first day because she took my favorite bracelet. Fast forward to fifth grade, I was feeling pretty sick and ended up throwing up on her, at the time, favorite dress. Skip to grade eight when she'd spread a rumor in class that I'd tried to tipi her house. Then in the tenth grade when she wanted to date my brother and he flat out rejected her. She was convinced I'd concocted a plan to make that happen which, is absolutely ridiculous. And then in senior year when I'd dated the same guy she dated, or as she claims, how I 'stole him from her'. Present day, I was currently dating the guy that she wanted.

Evelyn walked towards me, her heels clicking loudly against the wooden floors.

CLACK, CLACK, CLACK.

She gave me the once over and shrugged her shoulders as if I was only mediocre in comparison to her, which I was. Her dress was better then my classic little black dress with a flowy bottom. My heels were black, open toed, and clasped neatly around my ankles.

"Happy birthday." She said as she pulled out a gift bag and handed it to me.

I opened it immediately, I pulled out a sweater. My mouth gaped in shock. It was actually something nice, I never would have expected this from someone I loathed, least of all Evelyn.

"Close your mouth honey, this is more than you'll ever be able to afford." She sneered.

Scratch that, the bitch is back.

Josh's eyes widened, taken aback by her statement.

She turned to the right, her attention switched to Josh. He looked at her wearily, knowing full well the type of person she was. I exchanged a look with him, and he nodded back understanding that she was going to try to hit on him.

She widened her eyes and flashed a dazzling smile at him. I almost laughed, it was like looking at a baby mesmerized by TV.

Josh was pretty amazing looking though, even in his plain baseball shirt and sweats with loafers, he looked modelesque. His biceps naturally poked through the shirt in resting position even when he casually shoved his hands in his pockets.

I grinned, Josh was quite the catch and was quite well off in his successful family business. His father created a clothing line for exercise wear using new material he created that was light weight, absorbent, and durable. After he patented the material, his success and fame created a name for the family, also bringing in massive paychecks per month.

Evelyn has a gleaming smile on her face.

A resounding crash beckons me from downstairs. Panic floods through me, my parents would literally kill me if anything happened to their house, especially because I didn't live there anymore.

I ran downstairs leaving Josh to fend for himself. He could handle it.

The scene before me was outrageous. Firstly, there were a hell of a lot MORE than 10 people in the house. Red cups filled with beer, my mother's best wine, and just about every other drink in the house was out on the dining room table. A game of beer pong was being played on the floor. Others were making out on the couch, half naked and incoherently moaning. My best friend from high school, Cassandra, was dancing on top of the coffee table in the living room and singing along horribly to the new Adele song, 'Hello'. The crash that I'd heard was from the opposite side of the room. Two guys were holding our dinner plates and throwing them against the wall, seeing how many they could break.

I ran down the stairs and over to Cassandra, pulling her down from the table. She fell on me and laughed.

"Cass!" I hissed, gesturing to the hoards of people in my parents' living room, "Did you do this?"

She laughed again, her eyes unable to focus on me.

"Do what baaabe?"

I shook my head at her, there was no way I'd get an answer from her drunk as hell. I let go of her arm and shoved my way past the mass of people to the two guys breaking my plates. Right before one of them threw another one, I grabbed it quickly and collected the rest of them. I glared up at them, their smiles quickly changed to gulps and they dispersed into the crowd.

My attention turned towards my poor wall, it was riddled with holes and dents from the plates. I cleaned up the mess as best as I could , picking out some porcelain parts from the wall too.

A sharp pain in my hand made me retract it back quickly. I had cut it, the red of my blood flowed quickly and smoothly down my arm and into the floor. Again, I shoved people aside and went to the bathroom in the basement. The staircase down was filled with lovers and other people making out and touching each other in some inappropriate way. I remember calling out a bunch of times, 'Stop!' and, "Not in my house!".

Of course, no one wanted to listen.

When I'd cleaned my arm, I noticed that the basement was just as chaotic as the main floor. Someone was trying to light a cigarette but epically failing. I knew I should be having fun but this party was out of control.

A table with a bowl of punch on it caught my eye, I grabbed a cup and downed a couple of glasses until I'd felt a lot better. There was a slight buzzing in my head. I snatched the lighter from the cigarette girl and chucked it in the trash. She called me something but I didn't care, making my way back to the punch table and downing many more glasses. I was thirsty and just couldn't quench it. Other people were at the table with me, doing the same.

Eventually I'd stopped when I saw some guys trying to flip the pool table. My head buzzed and I could barely focus.

"Hey!" I called out, my voice sounded ten times louder than it should have. I waved off the concern. "Don' break ma table!"

Whilst shoving dancing bodies aside, I ended up tripping on someone and fell onto them.

"Oi! Watch where you're going!"

The deep voice resonated in my ears, the slight familiarity caught my attention.

I looked up and locked eyes with electric green. Derek Carter. Rage filled my insides. Him? In my own house? He hadn't been anywhere near here since, since-

He snapped his fingers in my face.

"Katie?"

Fury built up within me.

"Don' call me zat." I stuttered. As I tried to pull away from him my legs gave out underneath me.

Derek's strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me to safety. My face felt hot all of the sudden, Derek's fingers on my exposed skin felt like fire on ice.

I clutched onto his fitting baseball shirt for support.My fingers curled around the material and held on, the fabric crinkled and would definitely have wrinkles in it later.

Derek's eyes peered into mine again. The shocking green of them gazed into my eyes. His jawline was more defined than it was ten years ago. His teeth were white and straight, the small stubble brushing his chin enhanced his masculinity. The smooth skin of his face was slightly tanned, more than it had been the last time I'd seen him.

Suddenly, his eyes widened as if he'd just understood an important detail.

"Your drunk." He realized.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, " That, I am not."

He chuckled slightly, the vibrations rumbled through his chest and I could feel them through his shirt.

"You didn't drink the punch did you? There was a guy lurking around spiking just about everything."

My mouth gaped open in shock.

Derek chuckled again, the sound of his voice calmed me down.

He pulled me over to the couch and sat down beside me.

He grabbed some unopened beer cans from the punch table and popped out open. The air burst out of it and he brought it to his lips, drinking slowly. My eyes wandered to his throat, the slow gulping noise he made and the way his skin moved captured my attention. My cheeks felt hot and I turned away.

What was I doing with Derek Carter?

An evident thought popped into my head. Where was Josh? Why wasn't he here yet? Why hadn't he found me?

I got to my feet, not wanting to sit with Derek for another minute. He followed me and eventually grabbed my arm and whirled me around.

"Leggo of me arm!" I muttered, stumbling over my feet. My breath stank of alcohol and we both staggered forward to the pool table.

He made me look at him, "Just listen to me okay?"

"No."

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and looked around the room in annoyance, his gaze caught on something and he let out a gleaming smile. My heart leapt in my throat, the same way it had years ago.

"Play a game of pool with me. If I win, you'll have to talk to me. If I lose, I'll leave." He offered.

I thought about for a minute before I said yes.

He shot me another killer smile and leaned down to my ear.

"You're gonna lose."

I found myself grinning back at him, "Bring it."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"New boy looks hot. " Cass whispered to me. She pointed to the sandy brown haired boy who walked into English.

I looked up at him and froze. Shit. That kid who I'd been staring at on Saturday was now in my class. Great.

Mr. Brown, our English teacher, was speaking to him seriously and giving him worksheet after worksheet. I fought the urge to laugh. Mr. Brown was the type of teacher that gave out so many worksheets every class, they could make up a book. The new boy was quickly nodding his head, focusing more on not letting any of the sheets fall than on Mr. Brown's useless speech.

"Kate!"

Cass' loud voice shook me back to her. I hadn't noticed her trying to get my attention.

"Huh?" I said, turning to Cass.

She smirked at me giving me a knowing look, "Someone's got the hots for him. "

My eyes widened as I quickly shook my head, "No way Cass. "

Mr. Brown clapped his hands loudly, signaling that he wanted to start.

"Good morning students! Today we have a new student. His name is Derek Carter. He'll sit at the back beside.... Kate. "

I sunk down in my seat as Mr. Brown continued to speak trying to be as invisible as possible. Derek's eyes searched the room, looking for the empty seat.

Please don't let him see me.

Please don't let him see me.

Please don't let him-

His gaze landed on the vacant chair, then the girl next to it. Me. The first thing I noticed were the vivid colours in his green eyes and the way his mouth curved up slowly into this amazing smile.

I knew it. He recognized me.

He walked slowly towards me. My stomach clenched, as he stared me down. I didn't look at him. I couldn't. My cheeks flamed in embarrassment.

I could feel Cass' eyes on me. I knew she was smirking and giving me that look again. I cursed her inwardly.

For the rest of the period I made sure to carefully keep my eyes glued to the front, not wavering from Mr. Brown's cheerful demeanor or the way he was explaining the soliloquy that Hamlet had said in Shakespeare's play. I was barely listening, my attention on Cass furiously scribbling something down in the corner of my eye.

Cass threw a scrap of paper onto my desk. I reluctantly looked down and immediately knew that I didn't want to read it.

Before she passed it to me she had folded the scrap and drew a big, red heart on it. I covered it quickly with my hand, I prayed to God that Derek hadn't seen.

My fingers curled around the paper, opening it slowly. In big curved letters was:

'You totally like new boy.'

I glanced sideways at Derek, he was facing the front. He hadn't seen. Thank God.

My hand grabbed the blue pen on my desk and quickly tried to scribble back,

' I so don't'

Unfortunately for me, halfway through writing the last word, I heard my name being called.

A girl with a voice slightly higher than the rest called out to Mr. Brown.

"Sir! Cass just passed a note to Kate."

I looked over at the owner of the voice. Evelyn Reed. My mouth twisted into a frown. Of course.

My eyes turned to Mr. Brown who looked at me with disapproval. My stomach clenched.

Oh no.

Mr. Brown wasn't a bad guy. He was always happy and smiling. He'd been here at Eastoak High for a year. The old man was generally known for his good nature and was lenient with deadlines. But everybody knew him for his note policy. If he caught someone passing notes in class, he'd pick someone to read it in front of everyone.

"Evelyn you may read whatever has kept Kate so occupied instead of listening. " I heard Mr. Brown saying.

A slow feeling of dread crept up in my stomach. Everyone had their eyes on me now, including Derek. I exchanged a glance with Cass her eyes were wide with guilt and she went white as a sheet.

Evelyn pushed herself out of her chair and slowly walked over to my desk in her new designer boots.

Oh God no.

CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP.

The room was dead silent when she paused at my desk and pried the note away from my defeated fingers. I watched her slowly open the note and read it over in her head. Her eyes glittered when she finished, I glared at her knowing that she enjoyed how miserable she was about to make me feel.

She turned to the class with a big smile, "it says:

' You totally like new boy.'

And the reply is:

' I so do.'"

After the last word the class burst into laughter. Mr. Brown shot me another look and Evelyn just smiled as she walked gracefully back to her seat.

I sunk down into my chair and kept my eyes down. My cheeks burned even brighter with embarrassment. I felt Derek's eyes boring into my skull as Cass repeatedly apologized to me.

I prayed to God that I'd never see Derek's face again.