I leaned further into by bed as music continued to blast through my headphones, drowning out the outside world. It was only seven o'clock, but I had already called it a night, deciding not to go to the bon fire-especially if Liam was going to be there. 

A warm tear fell from my eye and I quickly reached up to brush it from my face. Was I really crying over him?

I closed my eyes, the events from earlier today running through my mind once again. Although I claimed Liam and I were only friends, it didn't mean that this hurt any less. 

When I finally reopened my eyes, they were met with that of green ones staring back at me. I let out a scream as I jumped back, pulling the headphones from my ears in the process. 

Sophia watched me from where she stood beside my bed, an amused smile on her face. 

"What the hell are you doing?" I snapped, placing a hand over my heart which was rapidly beating in my chest.

Sophia rose a brow, "What the hell are you doing?" she countered, "I tried ringing the doorbell but no one answered," she reached over to turn down my music which was still blaring through the headphones, "I can see why now."

I shot her a glare, "What are you doing here?"

Sitting down on my bed, Sophia shoved me over so she had more room, "You left so quickly after school today," she explained, "I asked Liam if he knew where you were but-"

I looked over at her, demeanour instantly changing, "Why would you ask him?" I snapped, more harshly than I intended. 

Sophia ignored my tone, "Because, Sydney," she began, "Unlike you, I can see that you and Liam are actually friends...if not something more."

I scoffed, playing with the ends of my blanket as I looked down, "We're not." I answered coldly, "We're not anything."

My best friend sent me a curious glance before continuing, "Anyway, I was going to ask you if you were coming tonight, but," she drawled, "Since I couldn't find you, I'm here now." she chirped, sending me a large grin.

" I have a phone you know?" I shot back, holding up the small device. 

Sophia rolled her eyes as she stood up, "Yes, but if I had simply texted you, you would have said no."

I nodded, laying back down in my bed, "You're right I would have...just like I'm saying no now."

Sophia scoffed as she pulled my covers off of me, "Get up and get dressed," she ordered, already making for my closet.

"No," I argued, pulling the blankets back over my body, "I'm not going."

Sophia threw a sweater from my closet in my direction, "Yes," she argued, "You are."

"I'm not." I shot back, sending the sweater back in her direction. 

"Yes." she now threw a pair of jeans onto my bed.

I sat up, huffing as I pulled the blankets back, "Fine." I muttered, pulling myself to my feet, "But we're leaving the minute I want to, and we are not, I mean not hanging out with Liam."

Sophia scrunched up her face as she shook her head with a small laugh, "Okay," she promised, "No Liam."

Thirty minutes later we arrived at the bon fire. I felt nerves build inside of me as we moved into the crowd, the prospect of seeing Liam making me feel sick.

"You look amazing," Sophia promised, "Liam will like it." she teased, a sly grin coming to her face.

I shot her a warning glare, "You promised no Liam." I pointed out, "I could not care less what he would like, he had his chance." I sniped, muttering the last part so only I could hear. 

Sophia ignored my dramatics as her eyes landed on a table filled with beverages, "Ooh!" she chimed, "There's the drinks!"

"I'll wait here." I announced, not wanting to shove through the crowds of people just for a lukewarm, disgusting drink. 

"You don't want anything?" my best friend questioned, her face falling slightly.

I gave her a small smile, "Maybe later." I offered. With that, Sophia gave me a quick smile before beginning to make her way to the drink table. 

As she left, I took in the scene around me. Kids, a majority of them already drunk, danced to the loud music that was blasting from the speakers, the bon fire roaring in the centre of the party, illuminating the night. As I scanned the crowd, my eyes landed on Malia who was dancing by herself, pausing to take a sip of her drink every so often. I checked to see where Sophia was, seeing she was at the drink table in mid conversation with a lacrosse player, before I made my way to Malia.

"Hey, Syd!" she greeted swinging her hips around, "Scott said you weren't coming."

I let out a small laugh, "Changed my mind." I answered, watching her curiously, "What are you doing?"

She held up the flask in her hand, a sloppy smile coming to her face, "Getting drunk!" she slurred over the music. 

"You can't get drunk" a voice announced from behind us. I spun around to see my older brother approaching. "It has something to do with our healing," he explained to Malia, "You're not going to feel anything.

Malia continued bouncing to the music as she motioned behind her, "Maybe you should tell him that." 

Mine and Scott's eyes followed to where she was pointing, landing on none other than Liam. He sat on a picnic table with Mason at his side. I watched as he poured alcohol into a bottle of pop, clearly trying to get drunk. 

Liam must have noticed our stares, as he glanced up, his eyes landing on me before he took another drink of his mixture, soon standing up. 

My eyes widened slightly as I turned back to my brother, facing away from Liam in the hopes that he was not about to come over here. I contemplated going to look for Sophia, but I instantly spotted her, now dancing with the lacrosse player. 

I pursed my lips as I leaned further into Scott, somehow thinking that could hide me from Liam. My brother looked down at me in confusion, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Syd!" Malia cheered, "Come dance with me." she pleaded, beginning to move further into the crowd. But as she took her first step, she went stumbling backward, causing Scott to rush forward to catch her.

He looked at her incredulously, clearly not understanding how she had managed to get so wasted. "You are drunk..." he commented, his eyes darting around. 

I found my own travelling toward Liam, he hadn't made it very far in approaching us, as he was now stumbling around similar to Malia. 

Scott took the flask from Malia, bringing it to his nose as he questioned her on what she had had to drink. "Syd," he called, beckoning me toward them, "Help Malia," he instructed, passing her flailing body to me. 

I let out a small grunt as she crashed into me, wrapping her arms around me. I placed mine around her waist, following after Scott who was making way for Liam. It took me a minute or two to actually get Malia walking, but soon enough we arrived at the picnic table where Mason and Liam were seated. 

"Here you go," I whispered, gently sitting Malia on one of the benches. She bobbed around, almost nodding off various times. 

"How much has he had to drink?" Scott demanded, his eyes focused on Liam who looked in just about as bad of shape as Malia.

Mason shook his head, "Not enough to be this drunk."

"Something's happening to them," Scott explained, "We have to...we have to-" he cut himself off, his voice becoming slurred as he placed his hand out in front of him.

"Scott," I asked, arriving at the side of my brother, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"How much have you had to drink?" Mason asked, watching Scott with curious eyes. 

My brother shook his head, "Nothing," he answered, "Not even a sip."

He leaned into me before almost collapsing onto the picnic table. I placed my hand on his back, "Scott," I prodded, trying to get him back to his feet. 

He remained silent for a moment as he squeezed his eyes shut, seemingly trying to stop whatever was happening. Suddenly, his eyes sprung open and he looked like he had come to some sort of revelation, "It's not the drinks," he exclaimed, "...It's the music."

Scott began taking a step toward the DJ stand, though it was clear that he was disoriented, "I have to-"

I stepped in front of my brother, placing my hand on his chest to stop him, "I'll go." I announced, directing him back to the bench, "Don't let them out of your sight." I instructed, turning to Mason who just gave me a wide-eyed nod. 

I wasted no time in trying to push my way to the front. Dozens of dancing bodies bumped into me as I weaved through the crowd, my eyes set on the DJ stand. The music seemed to get louder, and not just because I was getting closer, the DJ was cranking the volume. My head pounded from the noise the closer I got. 

I was only a few feet from the stand when a security guard stepped in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest. I looked up at him, my eyes pleading, "I need the music turned off!" I explained, my voice strained.

He didn't say anything at first, but instead grabbed a hold of my arm. I tried to wiggle from his grip but his grasp was too strong as he yanked me through the crowd, back to my friends. "Let me go!" I snapped.

As we arrived back at the picnic tables, I could now see that two other guards had taken a hold of Liam and Malia. The one holding me soon dropped his grip on me, focusing on my brother instead. 

Mason looked to me with wide eyes before looking back to the guards, "What are you doing?" he questioned, "These are our friends."

The guard who had previously been holding me, put his hand on Mason's chest, holding him back, "Your friends are overly intoxicated...they need to be escorted out."

"Okay!" I announced, trying to follow after them, "We'll go with them!" 

The guard shook his head, his angry eyes falling on me, "That won't be necessary."

Mason took another step forward, "I said, they're our friends!" he snapped.

The guard didn't blink twice as he shoved Mason harshly to the ground. I scoffed as I took a step forward, "Hey! What the hell is your-" he didn't hesitate once again as he shoved me back as well, causing me to land on the ground beside Mason.

I watched as the three guards and my brother and friends disappeared toward the school. 

"Are you okay?" A couple of boys asked, rushing to help Mason and I up. I nodded, quickly thanking them before turning toward the school.

Mason grabbed my arm, "What are you doing?" he questioned.

"I'm going after them," I announced, before giving him a forced smile, "It's okay, just stay here and let Sophia know where I went." I pleaded.

He maintained eye contact for a moment before dropping my arm, giving me a small nod, "Okay," he conceded, "Be careful."

I gave him a grateful smile before taking off toward the school in search of my friends...I had a bad feeling these men were not regular security guards. 

As I burst through the doors, my eyes landed on Scott, Malia and Liam basically piled on the floor in the hallway, the man who had pushed Mason and I just minutes earlier, dousing them in gasoline. 

"Hey!" I spat, already marching toward him, "What the hell are you doing?" 

The man looked toward me, and exasperated look covering his face, "You again." he growled with a shake of his head.

I clenched my fist at my side, my anger rising, "Let them go." I spat, now having almost reached them.

"Back up," he warned, his eyes dark, "Or you'll be burned with them."

I had now reached them, and without hesitation I pushed myself forward, into the man, "I said, let them go!" I yelled, trying to tackle him to the ground. My efforts were essentially useless as I was half the size of this man. In a split second he had regained his composure, bringing the back of his hand harshly across my cheek.

I let out a gasp of pain as I stumbled to the ground, warm blood beginning to trickle from my lip. I clenched my eyes shut for a moment, trying to fight the pain before attempting to push myself back to my feet. The guard now stood in front of Scott, a lighter lit in his hand as he hovered it in front of my brother.

Just as I managed to get up, the music from outside ceased, silence taking over the hallways. With the music stopped, Scott seemed the regain his composure, his eyes instantly flashing red as he grabbed the hand of the guard containing the lighter, effectively snuffing the light and breaking the man's hand in the process.

Seemingly out of no where, Braeden and Derek appeared, each of them taking on the remaining guards. I didn't waste anytime in kneeling beside my brother, ensuring he was okay. Once I knew Scott was okay, I pulled myself to my feet once again, turning to the other two. "Are you guys okay?" I breathed, my eyes meeting with Liams.

"Yeah," Malia choked, attempting to push herself to her feet, "We're okay." 

I rushed to help her, allowing her to lean on me as Braeden finished off the last guard with a crack. 

I let out a small laugh as they approached us, "Wow, badass couple of the year award goes to..."

Derek laughed as he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me in to inspect the wound on my face, "You okay?" he questioned.

I grinned, giving him a small nod, "Great."