*Three*

I woke up grungy, a pain slicing through the back of my neck, due to me sleeping in a not so flattering position, the night before coming back to me in flashes.

I was now lying on the couch in Dave's living room. I sighed and threw my head back on the armrest.

What did I do to get myself in this situation?

Oh I know, just being stupid me.

A crazy thought ran through my head

And my hand shot down to the part between my legs on pure impulse

It felt the same, I mean like it was supposed to pain, if it had happened right?

Well it didn't feel like it happened

What did I know?

I took an uneasy breath, not really remembering that much of the night

Staggering to my feet I tripped over a few cups lying on the ground

Dave came into the kitchen

He looked more displeased than entirely necessary to see me; even though he didn't even know me

''Parties over, out you go'' he snapped, grabbing my arm quite tightly and ushered me out the house

It was at that moment that reality came down to it

What was I doing here?

And how did I get stuck here

Cecily came into view as I stepped out the house

''Emily?'' her voice sounded surprised

Dave stopped and removed his hand that was gripping my arm - ever so tightly

''Your friend?'' he asked shooting another displeasing look at me

''Yeah'' she said and linked her free arm that was not holding a cigarette into mine

''Well, parties over'' Dave grunted and walked back into the house

Cecily saw my face and the unease written clearly all over it

''He is not a morning person'' she whispered and gave me such a bright smile, that not smiling back would've seemed like an offense

She walked down the porch, and I followed in pursuit

''I thought you went home, you pretty much disappeared last.... did you stay the night?'' she asked suddenly alarmed

''Uh yeah, I guess I did''

''Wait, hold up, did F - ''

She didn't have to finish her sentence, for I already knew, her faith in her brother causing me to laugh.

How low to think of your brother, although he had come across as the 'no good type'.

''I honestly don't remember much of what happened last night''

She nodded and seemed to smile sadly

''The punch'' she stated

Dave walked out the house jogging to his Porsche parked outside, he got in and saluted Cecily pulling out the parking space like a nut case, kicking up dirt as his wheels turned

I pulled out my phone, pressing the home button, my battery was dead

Shit

I ran up the steps into the house in search of a clock or something to tell me the time

I found a clock in the kitchen

shit

It was late; I needed to get to school

Cecily came in the house and closed the screen door and glanced at my panicked expression warily

''Can I use your phone'' I asked ''mine is dead'' I added holding up my phone to demonstrate that when I pressed the home button the phone screen did not light up

She nodded, and felt around in her pockets

''Let me just go grab it'' she said almost like she was asking me for permission to go and fetch it

I nodded, and she ran up the stairs

Finn came bounding in the kitchen moments after, shirtless. - He looked almost like a cartoon character, tall, lean and lanky, with tattoos all over his body like a world map

He pulled out orange juice from the fridge, pushing himself up onto the counter, drinking straight from the carton.

He caught me staring at him

Then offered me the carton

''I'm good'' I said slipping onto the couch.

Glancing down at my useless dead phone, I put it on the coffee table in front of me

I felt movement right beside me: someone had sunk onto the couch next to me

I turned my head to see Finn sitting there nonchalantly, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it

I scooted up granting him more room, even though there were many more seating options in the lounge area, he just had to. Typical

Finn stretched out onto the couch, exhaling deep clouds of smoke.

I turned as much away from him as I could, and rested my chin in my hands,

What if I was stuck here?

What if my mom went crazy and I got into trouble

What if she still wasn't home and I was stuck here for another day, and it was just my luck because Amanda wouldn't be coming here today, as there was no party

''You a virgin?'' Finn's voice came unexpectedly, - definitely surprising me

I turned my head to look at him

Was he serious?

I frowned at him carefully

He met my eyes with full intensity, waiting for a response, as if what he had just asked me was as normal as asking someone for the time

I turned my head to look away from him

I didn't have to answer, I after all had a choice, and I chose to simply not answer

Instead I scoffed involuntarily

He ignored this and went on ''have you ever been eaten out?''

I nearly choked on my own spit

I glanced at him humorously

''Do you just go around blurting out things?'' I asked him, now genuinely curious and crossing my arms across my chest

He turned to face me, blowing out the smoke at the corner of his mouth

''Emily is it?'' He knew my name I noted, even though I never told him that, and he was not embarrassed to say it, why should he have been?

I nodded instead

''I'm a very honest guy, and I - ''

''And honesty got you very far I see'' Cecily cut him off, mocking him

He took it as his queue to leave, - got up, winked at me, and went back to the fridge

Cecily rolled her eyes, but smiled regardless.

She handed me the phone

In less than a few seconds I called my mother

Straight to voicemail

Called home; it rang

I held my breath

But it continued ringing

And continued the next few times I called

damnit

I couldn't call Amanda, Amanda was already at school, she was always there more early than necessary, and I couldn't exactly call her parents, that was way out of my place, plus they were at work, and it was inconsiderate, so I left it at that

I raked my hands through my hair

And felt Cecily and Finn's eyes on me burning through my skull

Luckily enough Cecily said something

''Do you need to be somewhere''?

I simply nodded, fighting back fear, whilst reality had begun painfully sinking in; I was just a stupid kid at a party I was never supposed to attend in the first place, with no ride, and an unreliable mother

She accompanied the spot Finn was seated at a few moments ago.

She rested her hand on my shoulder

''Do you need a ride''?

I stayed silent, not sure what to say

''I can give you one, it's no problem'' she said worriedly

Honestly Cecily was nice, in that moment I had never wanted to hug someone so badly than I did then

I thought of the Windel kids and how they were all so different, like they were brought up in three different homes. It was crazy to think that, it kind of made me wonder if it was the same like that for Matt and I.

I awarded Amanda with another nod

''Okay super! Let me just change and I'll be down in a moment''

I decided to go to the bathroom to check my appearance, as I was going to school like this, no doubt

I stood in front of the mirror, finger combed my hair, and pulled it up into a bun, then washed my face, and rested my hands on the sides of the basin, inhaling and exhaling

I exited the bathroom, to where Finn was standing, with a cigarette and cup of juice in the same hand holding a phone in the other

Cecily came barrelling down the stairs, in high heels

''Shit, shit, shit, shit'' she exclaimed while running down

I looked to her, my heart hammering in my chest with sudden concern

Was something wrong, was I actually stuck here?

''Hun, where do you need to be?'' she asked panting, and I blamed her choice of shoes 100% for this

''School'' my voice sounded very faint, but she heard

Cecily looked to Finn, who had begun walking away

''Finn, take her to school, I need to be somewhere''

He looked at her with what seemed to be humour

He thought she was joking

''Dickhead, just get done and take the girl to school''

His features changed, and then quickly reassembled

He left the room, my heart started to pick up a pace

I was kind of scared of Finn, not in a monster-in-the-dark kind of way, but in a way that I didn't trust him, not that I had to, but his persona literally screamed trouble

''I'm so sorry, I really have to be somewhere, or I'd have driven you to school myself''

I nodded understandingly, and gave her a smile

Smile through the pain

Cecily started packing up cups from the ground, and begun tossing it in a black bag which she had retrieved from the kitchen

I did the same, clearing all the empty cups, and used cigarettes

Clearing all the things away, made me realise that if Dave had these parties so frequently wasn't it kind of a waste? I mean clearly things were being bought, used and discarded frequently, which meant a lot of money was being wasted on the regular, and it wasn't as if we paid to get in, plus there was food and drinks, and you could do whatever you wanted at the place, hell, I slept here unnoticed

''You don't have to do that'' Cecily said gesturing to the cups I just swiped off the coffee table and into a black bag

''No, it's okay; I can stay and help even?'' I said hopeful, even cleaning up someone else's shitty party sounded better than driving alone with him

She chuckled

Finn came into the room, for the first time wearing a shirt

Cecily didn't notice him

''okay tell you what, come around later, and we can finish up here'' she said smiling at me, she said it as if cleaning up brought me joy, I didn't want to clean, I just wanted to get out of riding with Finn

I nodded and gulped

Finn walked past

''Come on princess, haven't got all day''

I followed him slowly, Cecily gave me a sweet smile, I smiled back and walked out.

There was a black rover in the garage

We piled into it, and were out of there in the next five minutes

he was a pretty good driver,- well better than I thought, I had honestly thought I was going to have to hold on to the sides of the seat for dear life; - Basically I thought he'd drive like a maniac

It calmed me that he didn't

''Can I charge my phone?'' I asked

Might as well

He shrugged; I took it as a yes

I plugged my phone in

I didn't have my school bag with me, but I had a few pencils and pens in my locker and a notebook, - and who cares right? All that matters is that I showed up for school.

It wouldn't really matter if i stayed at Dave's house or just ditched, but I needed to go to school so I could get home.

Amanda's mom usually fetched us from school, and my mother dropped us. I didn't even know if my mom had called back or come home, because I had a phone that proved to be of no use.

If you didn't know this; the drive from Dave's place to anywhere was long, - school was no exception.

Finn didn't really say much, he just smoked his cigarette silently, the wind coming in from the window blowing his plain white t-shirt against his body

I put my window down as well, hanging my head out the window, the morning air, cool and fresh blowing against my skin

We came to a stop

I felt Finn's eyes on me

Uncomfortable, I brought my head back in, looking at him questioningly

He smirked, and stepped on the gas, my body jerking; as a result of the unexpected movement

''You have nice lips'' he said

This guy was unbelievable

I scoffed

''Is this your way of starting conversation?'' I asked him instead, I couldn't help but smile, he was so blunt and comfortable with literally saying anything

He took a long drag from his cigarette, exhaling a perfect circle

Impressive

''Do you have a girlfriend?'' the words came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them

He looked at me in pure mischievous humour

''Do you just go around blurting out things?'' he retorted.

I looked at him, smiled and shook my head

''How do you know Cecily?'' he asked

''I don't'' I said curtly

He looked at me a smile playing lightly at his lips

''I just met her last night'' I added, - explaining my previous statement.

Finn cranked up the music in the car, some indie pop song filled the car, as I watched my surroundings whizz past me

I loved the feel of the wind through my hair and fingers, made me feel weightless and content

My mother always scolds me when I did this, telling me to put my head in and roll up the window, and consider others

But Finn looked quite amused

1,

2,

3,

4

Fingers curled around my thigh

I flinched at the fifth finger, as the thumb came down onto my thigh too, and gripped my leg

I was shocked for a moment, maybe even stunned

But not in a way, that I couldn't react, I was just taken back; - no one ever attempted this much with me

I lifted his hand from my leg and planted it on the gear firmly, and patted it down, silently willing his hand to stay there, and that he kept his hand on car parts instead of body parts

He chuckled, at my response to his touch, but said nothing.

Finally, we pulled up in the parking lot

I was so eager and focused, on getting out of the car, that I saw nothing else till I pulled my phone from the cable and shut the rover's door.

And when I hit the ground it felt like a million dozen eyes were fixated on me.

That was the day I wished I could go back to just being: unnoticed