"we should go see that new horror movie tonight."

adaline rolled her eyes at desmond ross' statement, swatting his head as he sat down at their normal lunch table.

"ow, what was that for?" des demanded, rubbing the spot where adaline had hit him and picking up the apple that had rolled off his plate. "you know i have track today, you can't just go around hitting me."

lizzy rolled her eyes, "you don't need your head to run you dumbass. and about your horror movie, you know you're the only weirdo who likes horror here." she made a face at her school lunch before pushing it out in front of her.

"besides," aria gray interrupted as she sat down across from des, giving him a small smile. "adaline has her party tonight."

des returned her smile, bringing aria's hand up to his mouth to kiss the back of it. she laughs slightly before flipping his hand over and doing the same gesture to des. lizzy gags at the gesture dramatically, causing aria to playfully stick her tongue out at lizzy while des pokes lizzy's sides. the pair have been dating since sophomore year, when des, in true desmond ross fashion, asked her out in the pouring rain during the middle of a track meet. he was on varsity track team by then and forced all of his teammates to take part in "the great asking out of the amazing aria gray" (his name for the plan, it was literally written at the top every planning email) by forcing them to learn and perform a choreographed dance to sucker by the jonas brothers. it was definitely over the top but it was entertaining to watch all the lanky track people awkwardly dance.

"you two make me want to cringe and squeal at the same time," adaline stated. lizzy laughed loudly at adaline's joke, earning a grateful look from the blond girl. aria and des rolled their eyes but released each other's hands before turning their full attention back to addy.

"anyway, even if i didn't have my party tonight, you know i hate horror movies des." adaline stated, shuddering at the thought of the last horror movie des had convinced them to watch. "it creeps me out."

sunny suhye bae let out a giggle, covering his mouth with his free hand as he placed his plate down next to adaline's. "well honestly addy, there isn't a lot that doesn't creep you out."

adaline stared back, wide eyed and lips forming a pout. "that isn't true! there's a lot of things i'm not afraid of."

aria, sunny, and des shared a look before laughing uncontrollably. "addy, honey," aria started, reaching over to pat the blond girl on her arm. "there are many, many things we can name that you're afraid of."

"oh yeah?" adaline challenged, narrowing her eyes. "list them then."

"spiders, heights," lizzy listed, ticking them off on her fingers.

"mickey mouse and the entire clubhouse," sunny said with an attempt at a smirk, but failing miserably.

"hockey, the beach," aria continued, a small smile on her face.

"okay, okay hockey is reasonable!" adaline exclaimed. "the puck can fly into your face at any moment and do you know how many hockey related injuries there are every year?"

desmond rolled his eyes, "addy we live in fucking massachusets, hockey is inevidtable. and besides, you've never even played hockey in your life, let alone been near a hockey game."

"i don't care, it's still a perfectly legitimate fear." addy said with a scowl. "and as for the beaches, have you ever heard of drowning?"

"we live no where near the ocean!" aria exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "just admit it addy, you have plenty of fears. it's okay. we all have them!"

desmond opens his mouth to respond with a smart comment before he's interrupted by ariel bianchi; the tall brunette walking towards the group. he stops in front of their table, his gaze locked on des and des alone. "hey james, we running today?" he asks, throwing a soft smile in adaline's direction before nodding to aria and sunny.

"i have track today but after?" des asks, snatching the apple off ariel's plate. ariel scowls at him before nodding and grabbing his apple back right before desmond takes a bite out of it.

he starts walking away towards his group of friends but pauses, turning back towards adaline. "are we still on for your party tonight dally?"

the blond girl smiles at ariel, "yeah of course. you know you're always welcome."

ariel shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "you never know," he states, glancing to his friends over his shoulder. "i'm still alright to bring indigo and violet right?"

sunny notices adaline's previous bright smile falter but the look it gone so quick that he wonders if he imagined it. adaline replies with a yes to ariel and they chat for a minute more before the brunette walks away, joining his friend group several tables away.

adaline stares wistfully at ariel and his friends for a few seconds before turning back towards her friends with a smile on her face. "so," she asks, a mischievous smile forming. "who's ready to party?"

--------

"remind me why we're here again?" delaney o'brien asks, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she watches a boy outside her car puke into a bush.

"because della," evie steel states, grabbing the blond girl's elbow. "you need to go out and socialize with more of the student population."

"but the student population sucks."

edward beadle snorts at delaney's response, covering his mouth and laughing more at the noise that came out of his mouth. "mom is right, as always," eddie states, twisting to the backseat to look at delaney and evie. "i don't know if you've noticed eves but this isn't exactly della and i's crowd."

evie sighs, "c'mon guys, one party." she makes puppy eyes at both of them, causing them to recoil.

"never again with the puppy dog eyes eves." eddie whines, peeking at the brunette through his fingers. "we told you they were too powerful."

this makes evie giggle and delaney smile, which makes eddie smile. "fine eves," delaney says with a huff, even though she's smiling. "but we're not staying any longer than an hour."

evie pinky promises before cheering, dragging the blond girl out of edward's old honda. "this is gonna be great!"

eddie scoffs as he follows the two girls, throwing an arm around delaney's shoulders. "yeah becaue definatly nothing will go wrong at a high school party where there's underage drinking going on."

delaney laughs while evie rolls her eyes. "you're being overdramatic eddie, it's not that bad."

"oh we'll see about that."

--------

adaline's house is decorated outlandishly, with colorful streamers coming down from the towering ceiling, flashing strobe lights in almost every corner, and glow in the dark tape everywhere. glow in the dark bracelets are handed to everyone who walks in the door, violet taking a purple one to match the one ariel currently has around his wrist. she taps him on the shoulder to show him their matching bracelets and ariel smiles at her, making butterflies form in her stomach.

cj makes a gagging motion from behind the pair, earning a loud snort from nikolas cohen. "you're an idiot cj." nikos states, rolling his eyes at the blond. "just let them be, they're in looooove."

violet turns back to the dark haired boy, shooting him a glare. "shut up nikos."

he winks at her, "only if you can make me v."

violet groans in response, walking away from the two boys before they can tease her about ariel any more. ariel follows her, a triumphant smile on the brunette's face as the pair walks towards the kitchen.

cyrillo turns back toward nikos with a scowl, lightly shoving the taller boy's shoulder. "i'm feeling very left out that you flirted with violet before me."

nikos rolls his eyes at the blond's childish actions before wrapping a tight arm around their shoudlers. "don't be like that cy," nikos whispers, sending unexpected jolts down cj's spine. "you know you're the treasure of my heart."

"would you two just fucking grow a pair and ask each other out already?" indigo asks, shoving past the pair. "or get a room at least?"

cyrillo smirks, ducking out from nikos' arm. "pretty boy wishes he could get me in a room."

"baby, you wouldn't be able to handle me in a room." nikos replies, leaning his weight against an arch.

cj winks at him, "i bet i could a lot more than just handle you."

indigo rolls their eyes before walking away, their eyes already searching for someone. "you're the driver cj, don't forget."

without waiting for cj's response, indigo disappears into the crowd of people. cj laughs, turning back towards nikos. they pat him on the cheek before turning away, heading in the same direction as indi.

"message me if you need anything!" nikos calls after cj's retreating back, laughing as cj flashes him the middle finger. he turns back around, catching the eye of a brunette standing in the corner. she waves at nikos, giggling as her friends whisper to her. nikos smirks, before heading over to her, snatching an unopened drink off a table on his way there.

this was going to be a fun night.

--------

desmond leans against the kitchen counter, a cold beer clutched in his hand. he scans the crowd, looking for aria before checking his phone. it's unusual of her to be late, especially to one of adaline's parties. speaking of adaline...

he hadn't seen the blond all night which was odd, considering adaline loved to be noticed. des wandered outside to the pool, treasuring the fresh autumn air that hit his face. desmond walked to the edge of the pool before leaning down to touch the water. it was quite warm, considering it was the middle of the night in october. he rolled up his pants before sitting at the edge of the pool, the bottom half of his legs in the heated pool. des stared at the water for a while before looking up, watching the people around him. desmond notices a light blond girl crying in one corner, a brown haired girl comforting her. he furrows his eyebrows, thinking that the blond looks familiar but before he can place her, des is tapped on the shoulder.

he turns around, smiling as he sees aria. "hi oreo," he greets, pressing a kiss to the girl's forehead as she sits down next to him. "why are you late?"

aria sighs, leaning her head on des' shoulder, savoring the familiar scent of eucalyptus because of his mom's essential oils. "i argued with my mom again and then adaline needed me so i rushed over here but when i got upstairs she was nowhere to be found." desmond squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, before she continued. "and now she's not answering her phone."

"i'm sorry oreo," desmond says. he looks sadly over at the dark haired girl before poking her shoulder. "just forget about addy, you know she's been weird that last couple of months. she'll probably see you tomorrow and not remember any of it. did you eat?"

aria shakes her head and desmond gasps. "that's just not acceptable oreo. c'mon," he stands up, offering his hand to aria. "let's go get you something to eat."

"addy is going to kill us if she finds out we left her party." aria says, accepting desmond's hand.

desmond waves his hand, intertwining their fingers with his other hand. "she'll forgive us, she loves me." aria laughs and des smiles at her adoringly, pressing another kiss to her forehead. "let's blow this popsicle stand!"

"you sound like your dad," aria deadpans but she's fighting a smile. god, how did she get so lucky with this boy?

"you love me," desmond teases, bopping aria on the nose. "let's get you something to eat oreo."

--------

violet stands with ariel in the living room, chatting with eddie. they had talked at school a bit but never fully had a conversation, which they were doing now. they were talking about baking, violet searching her camera roll for the cheesecake her and cj had made last weekend. when she finds it eddie gasps, clutching violet's phone in his hands.

"violet it's incredible!" he exclaims, admiring the image on the screen. "we have to bake together sometime."

"v is an excellent baker," ariel states. he wraps a loose arm around the girl's waist, smiling down at her proudly. "she's been baking my birthday cake for me ever since i moved here."

violet laughed, rolling her eyes. "i bake for fun and you know it's mainly cj who's the baker."

"you're being modest v, we both know cj can't bake for the life of him." ariel replies, making eddie laugh.

the curly haired girl opens her mouth to reply before someone else steps into their circle, cutting off violet's thoughts. "adaline," she greets, focusing her eyes on the blond girl in front of her.

"violet," adaline returns. she glances at eddie and ariel before continuing, "i need to talk to you."

"i'm in the middle of a conversation." violet replies coldly, clenching her jaw. "maybe later."

adaline rolls her eyes, twisting the bracelet on her wrist. "you know i wouldn't be asking if it weren't important." she eyed ariel before continuing, "and i'm sure you wouldn't want me to open my mouth."

"fine," violet scowled. "let's talk."

--------

adaline leads violet outside by the pool, sitting on a pool chair before motioning for violet to join her. the two girls sit in silence for a little while; the only sounds hitting their ears are the muffled sound of music and the pool water lapping against the walls.

"i think i'm in trouble v." adaline starts, wringing her fingers back and forth.

"what do you mean?" violet asks, turning her full attention to the blond beside her.

"i made some mistakes after our... fling." adaline admits.

violet furrows her eyebrows, gently tracing the tattoo on adaline's shoulder. "what kind of mistakes?"

"if i tell you, you can't do that thing where you judge me." adaline states, pointedly staring at the other girl. "i'm serious, i need your full support and judge free help."

"fine fine," violet states. "i promise, now tell me."

adaline bites her lip, making eye contact with violet. she takes a deep breath before stating, "i may have been in a... forbi-"

adaline's sentence is cut off by the bright blue flashing lights that fall over both girls. they snap their heads up to see two cop cars in the front of the house, one cop speaking through a megaphone. students are scattering and the music has been shut off, the loud pounding on the door filling adaline and violet's ears.

"fuck," violet breathes. she stands up quickly, gathering her coat around herself. "shit, addy i have to go i'm so sorry."

adaline laughs, "don't be silly violet, it's important that you don't get charged for underaged drinking." she hands violet her phone before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. "we'll talk tomorrow, promise."

"thanks addy." violet replies, hugging the blond girl. "stop avoiding me, okay? we can be friends you know."

"i know," adaline smiles. she turns towards the house, "i better go take care of that."

"i'll see you tomorrow."

"see you."

--------

the party had ended hours ago.

adaline sat on the edge of the pool, the edges of her white dress dipping into the warm water. she watched the blue water lapse back and forth, the color contrasting the warm oranges and yellows of the fall leaves around her.

after the cops had left (adaline may have bribed them but money can buy out anyone, especially in their town), she went outside, craving the cool fall air and hoping it would untangle her thoughts.

what was she going to do? going to police wasn't an option, especially after tonight. additionally, the director of the department she needed to go to had it out for her and her family. having money didn't always solve all your problems.

adaline sighed before lifting herself up and standing, dusting off the back of her dress. she was heading towards the glass sliding door when she heard a soft creak, the same exact sound her side gate made if you didn't open it properly.

had it been anyone else, they would've brushed it off or not heard it all together. the noise was so soft that you could only really hear it if you were listening for it or if it was completely silent. but adaline had lived in her house her entire life, her ears attuned to normal sounds and not normal. that sound was definitely not normal.

the hairs on the back of adaline's neck stood up as she slowly turned towards the gate. "hello?" she called out uneasily. "if anyone's there i want you to know that i have a knife in my pock-"

adaline abruptly stops, spinning on her heel. she heard something behind her, she knows she did. when she turns, her eyes widen, her mouth widening into a scream. however, before the blond can even get a sound out a loud thwack fills the once silent autumn night. adaline crumples to the floor and heavy breathing is the only sound in the walkers' backyard.

i'm sorry violet, she thinks, before the world around her fades to black.

lya speaks!

hey guys, i'm sorry it's been so long. it's been about a year since i've been on the app, mainly because of family matters and moving! sadly not states but into a much nicer place that has better wifi.

i really missed everyone and writing! i'm so happy to be writing about adaline's story again. i lost a lot of followers and readers while i was gone so i'm grateful to everyone who's still here.

if you have anyone you know that might want to read this story or a story like this, send them to dgitp please! your girl need clout.

i can make no promises about the next chapter but i promise i won't disappear for a year again so there's that at least!

i hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you for reading!