One word could describe my birthday party: chaotic. The music for one was loud to the point that it had the house vibrating.

This did not seem to bother anyone, though.

There where people everywhere; the bas.e.m.e.nt had people loitering in groups, some were playing pool in the corner and bursting out in booming fits of laughter now and then. There were others cl.u.s.tered in various parts of the room; one group was pa.s.sing around joints that filled the room with a misty cloud of silliness and mischief, another was playing beer pong on the floor, half of them already in deep drunken states.

The middle floor, however, was where the main party was going on, and where the music thundered the loudest. The kitchen was filled with ma.s.ses of drunk or stoned teenagers snacking on whatever they could find, some of them sitting on the counters and others on barstools; I was pretty sure there was a pa.s.sed out kid under the kitchen island. In the living room, people were grinding greedily on each other; boys that usually got zero action took advantage of wasted girls that had now taken off their s.h.i.+rts, or most of their clothes, to feel more 'comfortable'. Some couples or singles grabbed anyone they could find to feel better about themselves, sucking each other's faces off desperately.

With the number of provocative shenanigans taking place on the main floor, I didn't even want to think of what could be happening upstairs, where the bedrooms were.

"Happy Birthday" Heaven said with a huge smile, before pulling me into a crus.h.i.+ng hug. Heaven Ca.s.sidy was a pet.i.te, strawberry-blonde haired girl, with wide segreen colored eyes, a tiny, stubby nose, and pouting lips, as well as a cheerful and completely adventurous personality.

She was also Lolita's best friend.

I laughed, letting out a puff of air as she squeezed my abdomen a tad bit too excitedly. She released me almost immediately, planting a ma.s.sive, sloppy kiss on my cheek before I could swat her away.

"Heaven," I laughed, feigning annoyance as I swiped her gob off of my cheek "have you been drinking?

Heaven giggled, before running her hand through her hair and shaking her head slowly. I raised my brow, not completely believing that alcohol had nothing to do with her sudden affectionate behavior. Before I could question her further, she smiled cheekily at me, then disappeared into the crowd of sweaty bodies. I shook my head amusingly, a smirk dancing on my lips as I grabbed the couple of beers that had brought me to the kitchen in the first place, and then made my way back to my friends who were hanging out on a sofa in the living room.

"Happy Birthday Shay!"

"Hey, Shay!"

"Great party Shay!"

I chuckled to myself, not bothering to respond. They had all probably turned back to their dance partners, their bottles of alcohol, and bowls of chips or burnt-out joints. The last comment, however, was meant for Justin. Being the expert at throwing parties, since he threw one almost every fortnight, Justin was the one who had put the whole party together for me; all the rest of us had had to do was just show up.

"Here," I handed the bottles of chilled beers to the guys on the football team, who had been waiting impatiently for them. They received them eagerly, popping the caps off with their teeth and downing half under ten seconds. I laughed and sat next to Rain, who was still sipping ginger ale delicately from a plastic bottle. She smiled at me and leaned into my hair.

"Angel went off with Justin," she yelled, leaning back to smirk at me. I laughed and shook my head, before popping open my can of root beer. I wiggled my eyebrows as she shrugged, leaning toward me again "he said he needed her help with the cake"

"Why Angel?" I asked, taking a sip out of my pop. Rain smiled knowingly, before re-adjusting the goofy Minnie mouse headband on her head.

"Do you have to ask?"

I laughed, before taking a huge gulp out of my drink; Lolita popped up out of nowhere then, dropping herself heavily into my lap. She smiled evilly at me, before reaching over and ruffling my curls vigorously.

"Loosen up Shay" she said, taking the half-empty can of root beer out of my hands – completely ignoring my protests as she did so – and downed the rest of its contents. I looked in shock at her, before rolling my eyes and shoving her off of me; she squeezed herself beside me and hooked her arm through mine.

I glanced at her skeptically.

"What have you been drinking?"

She widened her eyes innocently and shook her head at me; that was the same reply Heaven had given me.

"Nothing, I swear"

"Where's Heaven?"

"Somewhere," Lolita replied with a shrug, reaching for a bottle of beer and completely snubbing my piercing gaze "I don't know, with a guy probably"

The doorbell rang then, causing me to sigh as I pushed myself off of the couch. I pushed my way through the crowd, muttering "excuse me" and "move to please". At some point when they refused to move, I shoved past them anyway, earning a couple of shocked glances, some profanities, and a couple who just ignored me.

When I eventually reached the door and yanked it open, Lolita came up to stand next to me then. She smiled at two of the three boys that stood there, before eagerly thrusting herself forward to greet them.

I stared curiously at her.

"Shawn! Drew!" Lolita hugged each boy separately and tightly, as though she knew who they were; I, on the other hand, had never seen these boys before

"You came!"

"Of course we did," a boy with sugary white blonde hair said, smiling widely at her. He ran his hands through his hair and glanced at the boy standing next to him; a boy that was so obviously his brother. They looked completely alike, both with blonde hair, grey eyes, and dimples on one cheek.

Twins, maybe.

I dragged my gaze from them to stare at the last boy; this boy stood there with a small smile on his face. He was not related to the twins; instead of the white blonde surfer type look, he was rocking the quiet nerdy look. His brown hair flowed down in curly locks, to the base of his cheek and his eyes were a chocolaty brown shade. Slowly, he scratched the back of his neck nervously and glanced from Lolita to look at me.

I stared back at him, a small smile threatening to pull at my lips.

"Hi," he smiled, extending a hand to shake mine.

I scanned the boy then, from his face, trailing my eyes down to the hands that were awkwardly hanging in the air. After a couple of seconds, I let the smile overtake my lips as I grasped his hands.

"Hi"

He smiled then, discreetly hanging on to my hand a lot longer than he should have. I blushed and glanced away, before pulling my hand slowly out of his. He cleared his throat again, and I looked up to stare at the mysterious boy standing before me.

"I'm Avian"