"What have I gotten myself into?" Christina wondered out loud to herself on Friday night. She was standing in front of a house that was two stories high, and had music blasting from it. It hadn't mattered that she and Michelle had not been able to find it. They could hear it within a mile of the actual house. It was only nine thirty and already wild. They were late because Michelle had taken half and hour to finally decide on the grunge look. She was wearing ripped jeans, sandals, a band T-shirt, and her short hair was down and wild.

Christina walked in, thanking god she had the appropriate clothing attire on. {not} She had put on a pair on slightly flared dark blue jeans, ripped in the knees, and Michelle had talked her into a tight black t -shirt, old vans, and had her hair in a ponytail. Everyone here had on khakis and polo shirts. She and Michelle stuck out like a sore thumb.

When they entered the house, they saw people dancing, hanging on each other, making out, and groping and touching. It was sick. She wanted to yell out, 'get a room!' but, of course, common sense told her not to do this. She was also given a beer she had been pretending to drink, and had been offered pot by some senior boys. She had acted plastered and mumbled a response they couldn't understand, so the boys had moved on.

A big guy from the football team had come up and talked to her by boring her with his sports scholarship, and he was really big, so she decided to just stay put. Right now he was talking about injuries, and she thought that she had better listen or at least pretend to, so she didn't get one. What she really did not like was when he put his hand on her ass and told her to meet him in the master bedroom in ten minutes, for he needed to get his shit creamin.' she said 'Ok' and walked away calmly until she was out of his sight.

Then she ran like hell to find Michelle. She needed to get out of there, and fast. She threw her beer she hadn't touched in a trashcan and looked behind her to see if he was coming. He wasn't. She heaved a sigh of relief and looked in front of her just in time to smack right into some body.

She got up and started to run again, but the person reached out and grabbed her arm. She let out a yelp, but no one noticed. She was pulled around a corner into a dim hall. There the person let go of her. She ripped her arm away and looked up.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She recognized the voice immediately. It was Taylor.

"No, I'm not. I want to leave. This guy want's me to sleep with him. He's really big and he's scaring me. He won't leave me alone. I can't find Michelle." She then pulled away and looked him in the eye.

"I know where Michelle is. She's talking with my friend David. Don't worry, he's cool. Let's go get her."

The two tried to walk across the dance floor of groping people without being noticed by Christina's 'friend.'

"Dance with me." He said softly in her ear, eyes darting nervously across the room.

"What?" she asked, confused. She thought they had been trying to find Michelle.

"Isn't that your friend? That guy seems to be looking for someone. So I suggest that you dance with me, so he knows that you're with me, and we'll blend in." He stated.

"Like this?" she asked, horrified.

"Just a thought." He said, frowning.

Christina soon found out what he was saying. She looked across the room, and sure enough, saw her 'friend' coming straight for them. She grabbed Taylor around the neck and moved as close to him as possible. He gently put his arms around her waist, pulling her close. He also leaned down and buried his face in her neck to make it look like he was kissing her. The ironic part was, that she kinda wished that he was.

"Is he coming?" she asked.

"I don't know, I can't see him." He said, his voice muffled slightly.

"Oh." She said, and looked over at the door.

The couple was slowly making their way to the patio, where Michelle and David where, when some one grabbed Chris's arm, yanking her away from Taylor.

"I thought I told shou tagitupstars!" the voice said, slurring his words together. Oh boy. Her friend was back. He was also so drunk; she could smell the beer on his breath.

" Hey, pal, she's with me" Taylor said, confidently. Almost too confidently, but it was a little too late to worry about that now, or muchless do anything about it. She just did what all she could do. She stood there, wanting desperately to cover her eyes with her hands like she did when she was little.

"huh?" the guy asked.

"Come on babe!" he said. He pulled her to another corner and they were slowly moving towards the door where Taylor had said his friend was. Just when things were starting to go well, she felt some one grab her ass, in the lower region. She suddenly hauled back and slapped Taylor across the face. No one in the room seemed to notice though, because they were either plastered or too busy making out.

"OW! What was that for?" He said.

"You jerk! I thought you were trying to help me! I guess I was right. All guys are snakes!" Christina yelled, and started to run out the door, but when she turned around, her mouth dropped open.

There was Taylor, tackling the guy that had been harassing Chris, and was trying to keep him from punching him. He finally let go, and stood up. So did the other guy.

"hey, I found her first, buddy! She washhhagonnago upstaarrsirs with meeey!" the guy yelled.

"No, I think I should take her home tonight."

"Whyyistaht?" he slurred.

"Because I know how to treat her like a lady, and I'm her boyfriend." He lied about the last part, nervously.

"Oh, yeah?

' "yeah"

" She looked like little slut anyway. God knows where she's been."

That was the last straw. Taylor's fist then connected squarely with the guy's jaw, sending him flying to the ground, yelping in pain, where he stayed.

Taylor slowly walked over to a gaping Christine, where he put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Told ya I didn't do anything! Why did you think that I would do that?" He asked, frowning.

"Well I don't really know you, so it's kinda hard to trust people these days, I mean nothing against you, but I just didn't know."

"Oh. I thought we were friends." He said with a pout.

"Ok. I hereby consider you a friend. Happy?" She asked smiling.

"Yeah, and I also want to tell you, you have one hell of a right arm." He said with a laugh, rubbing his cheek.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that! Do you want to go get some ice?"

"Nah, I think I'll live." He said, shaking his hand.

"Dang, I think that hurt me more than it hurt him!" He said, looking at his red knuckles.

"Well, I am sorry, and I really did not mean to do it. I also must say, I really was upset when I though that you did it. I really valued your friendship."

"Valued?"

"Value."

"Ok, that's more like it!"

"yeah, it sure is." She said, liking arms with him.

They walked out onto the back porch, where the loud music was almost subdued a little, but not much. There were a few couples out there, mostly talking or making out. Christina looked up at Taylor and smiled, and he smiled back. He looked so good tonight. His hair was down, which was a rarity, and he was wearing jeans, a tee shirt, a button down navy blue shirt, and black boots. He looked great.

He noticed her looking at him, and he smiled again, his eyes sparkling in the faint light from the house. He leaned down to kiss her when she grabbed his arm.

"We really should find them." She said, pushing up her glasses.

"Wait, wait, She's with David, he's cool. Just a minute…they'll still be there…" he said, leaning down again.

"Too many people!" She said quickly, dodging him.

He frowned, and the two continued their search.

I should have done it, she thought. But, hopefully, there would be another chance later.

They soon found Michelle out back talking with Taylor's friend David. The two had really hit it off.

"Michelle, I want to go to the other party. I think we'll have a better time there."

"Yeah, I think so to. Every one is plastered here and it's only eleven." She said.

"Where are you guys headed to? And what happened to you?" David asked, looking at Taylor's red left cheek.

"It's a long story." He said blushing.

"Well now they match now. Have you ever seen a guy blush so much? He only does it when he's really embarrassed." David said.

"I'm not embarrassed." Taylor said back."

"oh, it must be you, Christina. I swear, if you guys are gonna have a relationship, you've gotta see each other at your worst."

"Uh, we're not having a relationship." Christina piped up.

"you could've fooled me." David said, looking pointedly at their linked arms.

The two quickly yanked their arms apart, and were both blushing then. All the way to the car they kept stealing glances at each other, but the other one caught the one looking at him, but they still kept up the little game.

"Um, anyway, this party really close to our house, and it's also for another fraternity. I don't know what the name is." Michelle stated.

"Really? We got invited to that one too! Do you guys want a ride?" Tayor asked.

"Um, no, we drove here, and I just don't feel safe leaving my car here, if you know what I mean." Christina said as they stood on the front lawn.

"Yeah, I don't blame you guys. Why don't you just meet us there?" Taylor asked.

"Sure!" Michelle said, wanting to talk more with David.

"ok, see ya there!" The guys said, and got into their car.

"oh, Chris, I think I am really starting to like David!" Michelle squealed.

" That's good." Christina said, buckling her seat belt.

"You should really get to know Taylor better. They both seem so nice. I think we should take advantage of the situation, if you know what I'm saying." Michelle said, elbowing Christina with a sly grin.

"Yeah, I'm afraid I do know what you mean, and I don't like it. I don't think." Christina said under her breath.

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