Who I Was Before Asher Caine.

Chapter Seven.

Before I know it, Friday has arrived. I've stayed in the last few days, except for school, of course. I did not need to get grounded before the party tonight. I throw a change of clothes in my bag and head downstairs to let my family know that I am leaving. They think I am staying the night with Anastasia at her parent's cabin on the lake. I would have said Nova, however, my mom has taken to blaming her for my skipping school, as if she forced me to.

Ana and I drive to Nova's house to get ready, and when we walk in, she has music blaring throughout the hall and alcohol already out for 'pregaming'.

"Sup bitches! Goody, I have the perfect outfit for you! It's on the bed, go put it on!"

I walk to her bedroom to find a black, sparkly bralette laid out with a pair of matching bell bottoms. The bottoms feel as if they are made of legging material, which is good because I will feel a little more comfortable. I change into the outfit, and she finishes it with a light washed jean jacket that is slightly cropped and a pair of chunky heels.

"This looks even better than I imagined!" Ana squeals with excitement as she curls my hair.

Another hour goes by and I am finally able to see how I look. When I say I am stunned, I don't even recognize myself. I look like the girls I would stare at when I was little. They were so pretty, and they held themselves with such confidence. I didn't think I had the capability to be one of them.

Nova is wearing a mesh top with a hot pink bra that matches her hair; I didn't expect anything less.

"We have to take a picture for Instagram!" She holds up her phone as we all pose. I still can't believe I am looking at myself.

After twenty thousand selfies later; we finally head to the party, which is bigger than the last. it's only ten o'clock and people are already passed out in the yard while others are either, laughing, dancing, or puking.

We enter the house and join the others who are playing beer pong.

"Holy.." Isaac pauses

"Shit." Ian finishes his sentence.

This is when I realize they are staring at me. I smile and inch my way to hug them.

"Alright down boys, lets get RECKED." Nova shouts, throwing herself into the beer pong game, replacing Ian.

Ian is still staring at me as if he has seen a ghost. His skin is pale, and he seems nervous. He begins to ramble, but my eyes focus behind him, on Caine, who is staring from across the table. Cameron, standing next to him, nudges his shoulder to pay attention to the game.

I decide to just ignore the both of them and dance in a group with Isaac, Ana, and Ian. I thought I would feel insanely uncomfortable; however, I am having so much fun.

"Yo, Goody. How about you come see if your pong is as good as your mouth?" Cameron shouts over the music, tossing me the ball.

I shrug and walk over to my assigned side of the table; Ian decides to play along with me. Within seconds of the game starting, Her and Caine score the ball in two cups.

"Bottoms up, bitch."

I go to chug the cup, but I smell the vodka. I thought BEER pong was played with BEER.

"Are.. we good? Are you still mad about what I said because if you are Im-" I nervously ramble.

"I. said. bottoms. up." Her smirk drops into an emotionless stare.

Her and Caine probably get along well because they've both seemed to master that.

I take a deep breath before throwing the cup back. I try to chug before the taste gets to me, but I keep gagging. Ian quickly takes my cup and chugs the rest for me.

"You said bottoms up! Not who was playing for who." He let a loud burp escape.

This means that I no longer drink the cups Cameron makes, but now I'm in the hands of Caine's throw. Somehow I feel as if that is worse.

After a couple missed throws, I finally make a cup, and Caine quickly chugs. Ian makes a couple on Cameron, and she chugs them faster each time. Before we know it, we are winning and the alcohol is going down easier; however, the burn does not go away. As the game finishes, me and Ian win and celebrate, but the room begins to get blurred. I can't stop laughing.

Ian excuses himself to go talk to some friends from another group, and I'm left to dance with Nova. I follow the beat of the music, swaying my hips.

In my blurred vision, I see Caine approaching.

"Want another drink, Goody?" He hands me a cup full of dark liquor.

"Only my friends call me Goody. We are not friends, you, you, you waste of a good-looking boy." I hiccup in between some of my words. "But I will accept your drink."

I finish the cup and grab his hand, leading him into the large crowd of people. He follows my lead, watching me dance around him. He begins to laugh and join in, placing his hands on my hips and pulling me closer.

"You look fucking hot!" He shouts over the music, sending chills down my spine.

The moment doesn't last too long before Ian is standing in between us, staring Caine down.

"Really bro? Like, does what I say not mean shit to you?" He is now inches away from his face, and the tension is thick.

"It's not that serious, Ian. Back up before this becomes something you don't want." Caine barks back.

"I fucking told you she was off limits to your fucking game."

I don't have time to process before they both begin pushing and get way more intense than needed. I try to break it up, but Ian swings towards him, knocking me to the ground in the process. Caine doesn't fight back, right away. Everyone is either cheering or begging for them to stop. The cameras are out and recording the whole thing. Ian swings one more time, but Caine cocks his fist back and retaliates. Isaac and Valentino jump in and break the two apart.

Ian pulls himself off the floor, dripping blood from his nose.

"I told you to back up Ian." Caine pulls away from Valentino's grip.

"Fuck you, Ash. We were bros once, consider it fucking done. Don't you ever fucking need me again." Ian storms out.

Who is Ash? what?

I try to chase after him, stumbling my way and yelling for him to stop. He stops dead in his tracks and turns to face me, causing me to crash into him.

"Like, what even just happened? You told him I'm off limits? Who are you even?" My drunken words catch up.

"Who am I? That's funny coming from someone who wouldn't touch an ounce of alcohol a week ago. Now you look like a fool. Tell me you didn't enjoy having us fight over you. It's happened with every girl."

I feel my body temperature rise, and my stomach becomes queasy. I feel it coming up. I start to gag and Ian just stares at me.

"You said you wouldn't change, and here the fuck you are. Changing. You want to get your heart broken? Have fun with that. Go chase the bad boy, Katalina. I'm done trying to protect you." He walks off to his car and drives away.

I still have no clue what's going on or what even happened leading up to this point. I'm so drunk. I can't feel my feet, and my head is spinning.

It's coming; yep, it's coming. puke.

I violently puke into a nearby bush, where Anastasia finds me. She helps clean me up before having Isaac carry me to the car.

I drunkenly keep trying to call Ian, but he declines every call, eventually turning his phone off.