\'\'Oh honey. You have no idea about how our world works.\'\' She leans in closer to me like she\'s about to tell me the code to breaking into Fort Nox. \'\'Scandals, illegal activity and trysts riddle our lives, Mel. Most of the kids you see here, well their parents don\'t have clean hands. I\'ve heard a lot of rumours of them making money off of arms dealing, drug dealing, tax fraud or money laundering. I won\'t put illegal activity past anyone because nothing is ever black and white in the lives of the rich and famous.\'\'

\'\'If Jason is involved in some sort of criminal activity, well I won\'t be surprised. You know Nicole Hardy.\'\' I nod slowly. \'\'The one from AP Biology?\'\'

\'\'Yea, her. Last week, her dad was arrested, something about him defrauding and scamming his clients of millions of dollars. Apparently, it\'s been going on for a while but he got involved with the wrong people and fucked with some pretty nasty individuals who were hell bent on making sure his ass sits in jail. Twenty years max.\'\'

Yikes. \'\'No wonder Nicole hasn\'t shown up at school. I thought she was sick.\'\'

\'\'Emotionally sick? Probably. I heard through the grapevine that she and her mum moved to Iowa to start a new life.\'\' Bridgewood is a small town, and a small town never forgets. It\'s probably for the best that they moved because they\'d probably be ostracized. Not to mention, people like Mariah would drag Nicole through the mud and punish her for her dad\'s crimes.

It\'d be like a permanent scar she wears on her forehead.

I nod vigorously and she gives me a funny look. \'\'If you know something, you\'d tell me, right?\'\'

\'\'Right,\'\' I drag. Paris looks at me one more time before she\'s satisfied. Another lie, Mel. Congratulations, you\'ve secured a special seat in hell. \'\'Well, I\'m heading home. Mum wants me to attend this function for her clothing line and I don\'t want to go,\'\' she groans. \'\'The only interesting thing about those boring functions is the champagne I get to sneak drink.\'\' She gives me a bear hug and fixes my shirt collar and tie with her manicured fingers. \'\'See ya. Don\'t get into any trouble while I\'m gone.\'\'

\'\'Do I ever get into trouble?"\' I joke. She opens her mouth to speak but I cut her off with a smile. \'\'That was a rhetorical question.\'\'

\'\'I know.\'\'

...

I\'m exhausted, mentally and physically. Mr Owen had us working on our vocal chords and hitting high notes, notes that my chords have never hit in all my seventeen years of existence, so not only am I exhausted, I sound like a dying cat. I pushed myself too far and now it feels like I can\'t even speak right. My throat feels itchy and my lungs feel like they need a lot more air than the earth is giving out.

Thank you, Mr Owen.

I get my bag from my locker and exit the double doors of Adelaide, happy to be out of school and into the open air. Luckily, I don\'t have to work tonight which means I can get a couple hours of shuteye before I get started on some homework. The student parking lot is almost empty as I get to my Prius.

\'\'Really need to get these tires pumped.\'\' I make a mental note to visit the mechanic. Discarding my blazer and tie and putting them in the back seat, I give my bag the same treatment and get into the driver\'s side. Sliding on my seat belt, I get out my phone to reply a few messages.

\'\'Nothing important on the timeline, I guess.\'\' With that thought, I bring out a pair of Burlington sunglasses from the glove compartment and put my key into the ignition. Before I back out of the lot, I hear a tap on my window. I turn and come face to face with Ryan who\'s hunched down with a pair of shades on his face. Hitting a button, the window rolls down. \'\'Got a minute?\'\' he asks.

Not really if I\'m being honest.

\'\'Shoot.\'\'

\'\'So, how\'ve you been?\'\' I haven\'t seen Ryan since our field trip. Okay, that\'s a lie, I have seen him, we just haven\'t had the time to talk.

\'\'I\'m doing alright. You?\'\'

He nods. \'\'Great. I wanted to ask you something. Did Jason ever apologize for the switchblade incident?\'\'

Remembering that night, under the stars, and the lake where we swam and got all emotional and shit makes me blush, and Ryan notices that. He gives me a sly smile. \'\'Well, did he?\'\'

I stumble on my words. \'\'H-He, I mean, yea.\'\' His smile grows even wider and I clear my throat. Get a grip. \'\'He did.\'\'

\'\'Did something else happen?\'\' Other than the fact that our lips almost embraced, then no, not really.

\'\'Not really. Why\'d you ask?\'\'

He rests his head on his arm and pretends to think, his caramel skin glistening in the sunlight. \'\'Well for one thing, you blushed. Then, you stumbled on your words. Should I be worried?\'\'

I shake my head in the negative. \'\'Glad to see that you and Jason are on okay terms now.\'\'

\'\'Yea, well, I gave him shit about how he treated you that night-I\'m still very sorry-and we fought. I said I\'d disown him as a friend if he doesn\'t swallow his pride and apologize to you. He told me he did, but I wanted to confirm it from you, so here we are.\'\'

\'\'Aww, that\'s sweet.\'\' Really, it is. I didn\'t actually believe he\'d go as far as fighting with his best friend because of me. Chivalry isn\'t dead after all. \'\'Jason did mention that you stopped speaking to him.\'\'

\'\'He can be a dick, but he means well. He just needs a reality check every once in a while.\'\'

I remove my glasses and place it on the dashboard. \'\'Well, we haven\'t had any altercations, thus far.\'\' For so many reasons, one of them being he saved my behind, literally. \'\'That should count as going easy on him.\'\'

\'\'I kinda miss your banter,\'\' Ryan pouts, moving a few stray hairs from his forehead. \'\'It\'s nice to see Jason and Mariah lose their shit every once in a while.\'\'

I giggle at that.

Ryan is easy to talk to. He\'s like this friend that you don\'t see every time, but when you do, it\'s always just good vibes and positive energy. I said it the first day I met him, and I\'m a really good judge of character, our chemistry flows really well.

\'\'I\'m not the one who starts shit.\'\'

\'\'I know.\'\'

\'\'Also,\'\' he starts. \'\'I wanted to invite you to this party I\'m throwing on Saturday. Nothing too big, just a little thing I\'m hosting to celebrate our test week being over.\'\' Any excuse for a party, huh?

Booze. Teenagers. Dancing.

No, thank you.

I\'m about to open my mouth to politely decline, but then I remember my promise to Paris. \'\'Sure, I\'d be there. Can I bring a friend?\'\'

\'\'If by friend, you mean Paris, then by all means. I was going to personally invite her, but I couldn\'t find her anywhere.\'\' he blushes lightly. It\'s my turn to give a sly smile and he shoots me a mock glare as if saying \'Don\'t say it.\'

I raise my hand in mock surrender. I guess the feeling is mutual.

\'\'I\'ll tell her. She wouldn\'t miss it for the world.\'\'

He fist pumps the air. \'\'Would Jason be there?\'\' Please say no because I don\'t want to run into him. It would be so awkward and I can do with a little less awkwardness in my life right now. Imagine the conversation: \'Hey, thanks for saving me that day.\' He\'ll nod his head full of chestnut hair and say it\'s no problem, then go and kiss Mariah.

Also, I could do without running into Mariah and dragging her hair because she\'s clinging to my man.

Hold on. My man? Now I\'ve really lost it.

\'\'Actually, yes. He wants you to come.\'\' What? \'\'Not that I didn\'t want to invite you,\'\' he explains. \'\'you were on my priority list, but I was shocked when he actually told me to invite you.\'\'

Oh My God.

My heart does sommersaults, backflips, frontflips and lunges. Jason wants me there. He. Wants. Me. There.

\'\'Wow,\'\' I say, shocked beyond measure. \'\'The only thing I have to say is wow. Would Mariah be there?\'\'

His eyes darken at the mention of her name and I have a feeling he doesn\'t like her at all. \'\'Unfortunately. I don\'t want her there, but she\'s always around Jason acting like a damn leech, so anywhere he goes, she goes.\'\'

I knew there was a reason I liked Ryan.

\'\'I don\'t like them together, Mariah and Jason, and I keep telling him that she\'s no good for him.\'\' Funny, I told Mariah vice versa at the hotel\'s club. \'\'But he\'s so fucking stubborn and they have too much history which is a not easy to dispel.\'\'

History? I didn\'t know they were together for long.

\'\'Can I count on your attendance?\'\'

\'\'Definitely. Plus Paris.\'\'

His lips curve into a wide smile.

Time to be a wingwoman.