It's like my brain has blown a fuse.

Nothing can process properly.

I can't move. I can't think.

All I can do is stand like a dumbfounded idiot and watch as my best friend plays tonsil hockey in a hot tub with someone who promised to make my life miserable, while a pissed-off bad guy with a knife is somewhere in this crowd waiting to gut me.

You said you wanted this year to be different—congratulations, it's worse!

Hayden's hand is cupped around the back of Gabby's neck and he cradles her against his chest, moving his head to deepen the connection of their lips. His eyes flutter open when she wraps her free arm around his neck, and once he's got a glimpse of me gawking at them from across the hot tub, his molten eyes are right on me. Staring into mine, glittering in surprise. Then amusement.

Look what I've done.

It thickens the boil in my blood until every ounce of alcohol in my system has evaporated into fury-filled sobriety. The mind-warping buzz of alcohol I had felt moments before vanishes almost instantly.

"Gabriella!"

Feeling my body coming back into my control, I march forward and push past a few guys reeking of booze. They don't seem to hear me.

"Get a room!" someone shouts from behind me.

"Let me watch!" another pig hollers.

I grit my teeth and let the comment slide. If this were any other day, I would turn around and gladly rip the face off of whoever said that.

Right now, I want to rip Hayden's off.

"Cross!" I scream, shoving my arms between them to pry Hayden and Gabby apart. My stomach rolls seeing Gabriella's cast completely submerged in water and the fact that the tent in Hayden's pants is so clearly visible through the water. I grab my confused best friend and yank her to her feet. "Gabby, get up!"

She looks at me and gives me a lopsided smile, eyes fluttering as she sinks neck deep into the hot water. I'll have to figure out a way to get her out after I rip Hayden a new one.

"Emmy!" she slurs.

"Gabby, what are you doing?"

"I'm just—" her gaze swings to Hayden and she stops, expression growing confused. She looks from me to Hayden and I can see her brain begin to register her previous actions. The crowd around us hushes into barely a whisper, greedy for whatever drama is about to unfold. And when the realization finally hits her, Gabby rips her arm out of my grasp, horrified, and the student council president takes a wobbly step back before she stumbles and crashes into the water with a giant splash. Everyone bursts into laughter.

Hastily swinging a leg over the edge of the in-ground hot tub, I help Gabriella to her feet. "What the fuck, Cross!"

"We would've gotten there if you didn't interrupt." Hayden points out.

That earns a few howls from the guys. I glare at a few with as much hatred as I possibly can and the satisfaction of seeing fear in their eyes makes heat swell in my chest.

"You stupid arrogant asshole," I spit, gripping the edge of the hot tub once Gabby is safely behind me. I'm shaking with each word. As much as I want to blow up and raise all hell, I can't lose my temper. It would only make things worse. It's what Hayden wants to do because he knows how easily he can get me if I'm blinded by rage. And besides, there's still another psycho maniac in this house who wants to get me. "Why did you have to do this? Gabby did nothing wrong! What comes out of humiliating her? This is a fight between you and me, that's it!"

Hayden stands up and moves to stand directly in front of me, steam rising in long tendrils of white off of his skin. He cocks his head to the side and looks down at me, water dripping from his hair and onto my chest, and his eyes follow the little drops of water as they rush down my skin and disappear into my shirt.

"It was her idea, Emmy. Not mine." A few people nod, supporting his ridiculous claim. "Who are you to dictate who she is and isn't allowed to be attracted to?" He leans forward so that we're eye to eye.

"She's not attracted to you," I hiss. "You and I both know why you're doing this. Leave my friends out of this."

He narrows his eyes and asks with a devilish smile, "Or what, you'll make me?"

"Yes."

And that's when he does it. In the blink of an eye, Hayden Cross has an arm wrapped tight around my waist. He yanks me forward and I tense, waiting for the hot water to envelop me. He's going to try to drown me. He's going to do something horrible.

But he doesn't drown me.

No, that would've been too easy.

Instead, Hayden Cross kisses me.

It's done and over within the matter of seconds, and when he pulls away and looks at me—infuriating arrogance painted alL over his face—I can already feel the heat of embarrassment travel up to my face, turning my pale skin bright red in shock.

What just happened? one part of my brain asks while another part screams to drown him.

That smug look on his face has me contemplating such a thought.

With one last hurrah to save my dignity in front of half the student body, I cross my arms over my chest and pull out a mask of pristine calm. He kissed me, so what? Does smashing your mouth against one else's like that even count as a kiss?

The corners of my lips turn up and I let out a low whistle. "Wow, Hayden. With a reputation for being such a ladies man, you sure do kiss horribly." I swallow the dry feeling from deep in my throat. "No wonder you need to get girls wasted if you want them to kiss you. I've gotta say, that's pretty pathetic."

Hayden's eyes widen a fraction of an inch and I can see the hard set in his jaw when our audience begins to chuckle.

Hayden slicks his hair back with both hands. "Yeah, nice try," he snorts. "You kissed back and I think you enjoyed it."

There's still a creepy guy with a knife here, Ember. You need to scram. NOW.

Right. Enough chit-chat.

Cracking a grin, I toss a curling strand of hair over my shoulder. "Please, Hayden. I think you might want to lay off the liquor. I think you're starting to hallucinate." I don't give the bad boy a chance to speak and pull a random hoodie from one of the many chairs around me. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and disinfect my mouth." I turn to Gabby and put the hooded sweatshirt up in front of her. She quakes more than a Chihuahua and my heart clenches painfully at how hopeless my best friend looks. We make our way through the parting crowd and I take one last look over my shoulder. "I would say it was nice seeing you but my momma taught me never to lie."

I don't hear his response over the loud bass of the music inside. Everyone is sill grinding and dancing the night away, completely oblivious to the activities that are occurring outside. I don't see Abigail or her friend. I didn't get to see Nate either.

"Em?" Gabby hiccups from beside me, wrapping her fingers tightly around my wrist.

I look over at her and nod for her to continue.

"You're n-not mad, right?" she asks with worry. I study my best friend through the dim lights in the living room: the way her hair is a complete mess, the way her makeup runs in black and purple rivers down her cheeks, and the bruises on her neck. She looks so different. Gabriella Hansen wouldn't be caught dead like this ever in a million, billion years.

"What did you have to drink? How much?"

Gabby runs a hand across her stomach and frowns. "More than I have ever had in my entire life," she whines, "and then some."

"Jelly shots?" I ask, thinking back to the shots I had with Abigail.

A low gurgling sound comes from Gabby's stomach and she begins to turn an alarming shade of green. "I don't feel so good."

"Do you think you'll be able to make it to my house?" I ask her, flipping through a taxi-service app on my phone. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle when something cold brushes my arm.

"Nope," Gabby heaves.

"Crap. Let's get you to the bathroom."

A bathroom downstairs. One with a window just in case we need to jump out.

It feels like ages when we finally find one that doesn't have a huge line in front of it. When I throw the door open, I'm welcomed to the sight of two half-naked people I don't recognize in a very interesting position against the sink. The blonde girl looks annoyed and opens her mouth to send me away but I hold up a hand.

"I don't want to hear it," I growl, my patience rapidly waning the more Gabby heaves behind me. "Go fuck in a coat closet or something."

When the two don't move I take a step forward and square my shoulders in the most intimidating way possible. "Get. Out."

Gabby lets out a whimper and rushes to the toilet, falling to her knees and bending over the porcelain pot, hurling her guts out. I twitch at the disgusting sound, feeling a gut-burning nausea myself.

"Oh look at you," I sigh, stepping over the tangle of Gabby's legs to lean on the wall beside her and hold her hair up. She whimpers and stifles a sob. I rub small circles on her back, "You're okay."

Am I going to be okay? I wonder when my stomach does another flip.

"Look at us," she laughs into the toilet. Another heave racks her body and she grips the seat tightly. "I can't believe this!"

"Believe what?" I ask. "Me getting wasted out of my freaking mind, Abigail being back, or the fact that you got so hammered you started making out with my arch nemesis?"

The lack of humor in my voice makes her look up at me. I cringe and hand her a piece of toilet paper. She wipes her mouth, flushing the toilet and standing up.

"Abby's back? Since when?"

I try to shake the dizziness out of my head. "I have no idea."

"I'm sorry," she frowns, bending down to rinse her mouth. I stand behind her, staring at my reflection in the mirror. Gabby lifts her head up and we both stare at our reflections together. My hair is back to its mass of curls and my eyeliner and mascara is smeared across my face. Some even ended on my neck and forehead. The red lipstick I had on is long gone. My entire face and neck has a tinge of deep scarlet. Gabby's hair sits in thick, wet ropes on her shoulders and it looks like a clown has done her makeup.

"Look at us," I say with disbelief. We burst out laughing. "Thank God Gianna and Corry aren't here to see this."

They would murder us.

"I am never drinking alcohol again," Gabby swears through hiccups of hysterical laughter and glares at her cast. "My parents are going to kill me."

"I'm so with you on that."

And with a loud guffaw of laughter, everything goes black.

* * *