Zac stood in the corner drinking his punch even though he knew it was spiked. With what he wasn’t sure. Diane, the girl holding the party, slid up to him.

“Hi, Zac,” she said, smiling up at the blonde boy.

“Hey. Great party.”

“Thanks, glad you think so. But you know what would be even better?”

“What?”

Diane smiled seductively. “A little party of our own.” Noting that his cup was now empty, she took his hand. “Come on, let’s get you some more punch.” She led him to the punch bowl and spooned some more of the red liquid into his clear, plastic cup.

Zac took a big drink. He knew that he shouldn’t even be near the stuff, much less drinking it, but it was sort of good and he was thirsty. Within seconds, his cup was once again empty. “Now, what were you saying about a party of our own?” he asked, sitting down the cup.

Diane giggled and took his hand again. “That’s the spirit. Let’s go to my room.”

Zac’s head swam as she pulled him through the crowds of people. He struggled to focus his eyes. How much punch had he had? He couldn’t remember. He hoped he could keep his balance as Diane led him up the stairs.

“This is my bedroom,” she said after pulling him in. She shut the door behind him and motioned toward the bed. “Make yourself comfortable. I’m going to put on some music.”

Zac stumbled over to the bed. He sat down, almost missing the bed and landing on the floor, but managed to land on the edge. He giggled and scooted back. He watched Diane pick up a CD and put it in her stereo.

Diane adjusted the volume and turned to Zac, smiling. “Don’t you want it?” she sang as the song by Five began. She walked over to him and put her hands on his arms. She brought her face close to his, their lips almost touching. “Well?” she said huskily.

Zac responded by grabbing her by the waist, pulling her to him, and kissing her hard.

Zac slowly opened his eyes and found himself face to face with Diane. Diane? What was she doing in his bed? He lifted his head and looked around, realizing that she wasn’t in his bed; he was in hers. Why?

Part of the night came rushing back to him: the party, the punch, the kiss…had it gone any further?

He lifted his arm off of the sleeping girl. Diane moaned softly and rolled over onto her side.

Zac pushed himself up with shaking arms. He sat on the edge of the bed, struggling to remember the events of the night after the kiss, but the memory evaded his brain. He glanced down. Well, he was still wearing his boxers. He was pretty sure that was a good sign.

He stood up fast and immediately sat back down as he became dizzy. He took a few deep breaths, waiting for it to pass. When he was sure it had, he stood back up.

What time was it? Zac glanced around the room, looking for a clock before remembering he was wearing his watch. Two-sixteen. “Crap,” he muttered, and began to search for his clothes.

On the bed, Diane rolled over onto her back. She propped herself up on her elbows. “Zac?” she asked groggily.

“Yeah, it’s me. A-ha!” he exclaimed, locating his jeans and shirt. He quickly stepped into the jeans.

Diane watched him for a moment before falling back onto the bed. “What time is it?”

Zac pulled on his shirt. “Two-twenty. Where are my shoes?” he mumbled. He spied them under Diane’s shirt and went back to the bed to pull them on. He cleared his throat. “Diane, did we…?”

“No. No, I don’t think so.”

“Good.” Zac finished tying the laces and stood up, running a hand through his tangled blonde hair. “Okay, I gotta go.”

Diane just sighed as she fell back asleep.

Zac crept quietly down the stairs and out of the house. As he ran toward his house, he hoped desperately that his brothers weren’t still up.

Zac bit his lip and stared at the window. He sighed, knowing he couldn’t stall anymore. He crept out of the shadows and over to the window.

He landed quietly. He looked around the room, but it was too dark to tell if anyone was still up or not. He strained his ears, listening for any noises that would tell him if Tay and Ike were awake. He didn’t hear anything, so he slowly and cautiously made his way over to his bed. He sat down and nearly screamed when he landed in someone’s lap.

“Hey, Zac, where ya been?”

Zac switched on a light, his heart pounding. Isaac was lying on his side, propped up on one elbow. Taylor, whose lap he had sat in, was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking slightly amused.

“Well, where ya been?” Taylor repeated.

“I, I, uh…uh, nowhere.”

“Whew! Brush your teeth, boy! I can smell your breath way over here!” Isaac exclaimed.

Zac looked guiltily at the floor.

“Nowhere, huh?” Taylor asked, not ready to give up so easily. “Is that why you came sneaking in the window at three in the morning?”

Zac didn’t reply.

“Come on, Zac. Tell us where you were,” Isaac said.

Zac looked up at his oldest brother. “I was at Diane’s party, you both know that. You promised to cover for me.”

“Yeah, until eleven! Not until three in the freaking morning! And you weren’t supposed to be drinking and you did anyway.”

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I got sidetracked. And all I had was punch.”

“Sidetracked with what?”

“What the hell do you care anyway?”

“Watch your mouth!”

Zac crossed his arms. “Why? You and Tay both say worse things than that.”

“Taylor and I aren’t fourteen anymore, either. We can say whatever we please. Now answer the question.”

“What question?”

“Sidetracked with what?”

“None of your damn business!” Zac said, turning to the nightstand and picking up a brush. He pulled it through his hair.

“It is our business since we’re your brothers and the ones covering your ass.”

“What’s the matter, Ike?” Zac asked, getting right in Isaac’s face. “Afraid that your little brother is getting more than you?”

“No, I’m just afraid that my little brother is being a dumb ass,” Isaac answered, sitting up.

“No, that’s your job,” Zac snorted. Suddenly his tone changed. “Oh, the poor Ikey-pooh! Second to his little brother! No, wait. Second to anything that’s breathing and has four legs. All he has is his right hand, and even he don’t want to touch it. That is, when he finds it.”

Isaac hit him in the jaw.

Zac stood there in shock a minute, his hand going up to his face, before recovering. He lunged at his brother. He had the advantage since Isaac was still sitting on the bed.

Taylor jumped out of the way, then concentrated on pulling Zac off of Isaac. Finally he succeeded. “Alright! That’s enough! Isaac, clean yourself up and go to bed. Zac, I don’t know where you were, or what the hell you were doing, but it better not happen again. Now, go take a shower and then go to bed.”

Zac glared at Isaac before stalking off to the bathroom. Taylor help Isaac clean up his bloody nose, then both boys climbed into bed. They both pretended to be asleep when Zac came back from his shower.