Elite

VI

Lennon's POV:

The smell of firewood blazing and marshmallows being roasted made me feel so warm inside, physically and emotionally. I absolutely loved bonfires. Honestly, being with your friends, just sitting there telling stories and laughing... that was one of my favorite things to do. Not to mention bonfires on the beach made the experience 100x better.

I was in the middle of roasting a marshmallow when I heard a large group of girls squeal. I looked over to see the cause of the noise, Jared Vanderbilt. He was talking to a bunch of guys and had an entire group of girls swooning over him. It made me feel disgruntled seeing him. Seeing him and knowing what he did to Sienna made me go into complete best friend mode. I had to find Sienna. I know he wasn't invited but I had a feeling he would show up tonight. Not many people from Vandy DIDN'T show up.

I looked around and finally spotted Sienna, she was walking to the table full of alcohol. I pushed through the sea of bodies and yelled her name, but she didn't hear me. Finally, when I got close enough to her, I grabbed her shoulder. She jumped away not realizing at first who I was. When she turned to me a big smile broke out across her face.

"Hi sunshine!"

"Jared's here." part of me hoped she didn't hear me but I know she did. Her reaction seconds after that was surprising though. She downed a few shots and abruptly walked away.

I knew she needed space. So, I walked back over to the fire where Austin, his cousin, Matt, and a few other people were sitting. I noticed Matt was actually pretty cute. At least I could keep some cute company while I let Sienna cool off. When I walked up, Austin seemed off and I wondered why. That made me think of Celene... Where was she?

"Hey, Austin, where's Celene?" I asked him as I roasted another marshmallow

"Don't know, don't care. She walked off before you got here." He seemed pissed

I didn't wanna stir the pot and ask questions so I just let it go. I figured I would get the details from Celene later. He got up to get another drink and his cousin turned to me.

"I don't think we've ever met. I'm Matt." He held out his hand for me to shake and I could smell the liquor on his breath.

"Matt, we've met before. Don't you remember?" I laughed while he looked so confused.

"I don't know. My memory is a little foggy right now. But, I'm going to get a refill, do you want something?"

"Yeah, sure. Can you get me a rum and coke?" He nodded and walked back the direction I had just come from toward the alcohol table.

I met Matt at another party and I could only think that would be the reason he couldn't remember. He was pretty wasted the last time I had seen him. I felt kind of bummed he didn't remember though. He was super cute and would be a good way to waste time. I smiled at him as he made his way back over to me.

"Rum and coke." he said with a smile. He handed me my drink and our hands so happened to brush. I bit my lip as his smile grew wider.

"So, you wanna get out of this crowd? It's a little dense." he asked as he took a few steps back.

I followed him as he made his way through the massive amount of bodies. More people than i thought had showed up. Of course, Sienna was hosting and not many people turned down a chance to come to one of her parties, she's very well known in Los Angeles.

We walked along the shore, the water hitting our feet as it swayed back and forth. He kept looking at me which made me feel awkward, because I hate being looked at sometimes. It made me feel vulnerable.

"Your eyes are so beautiful." His words were a little slurred but they still made my heart drop into my stomach.

"Thank you." I smiled and noticed him looking at me again

Trying to make conversation, I asked him where he went to school because I knew he didn't go to Vandy.

"I go to a school in Pomona. You go to Vanderbilt Prep, right?"

"Yeah, I do. Mainly everyone at this party goes to Vanderbilt." I laughed under my breathe not knowing how snarky that sounded

"Except me." He smirked

"Do you ever surf?" I asked him while looking out into the vast water

"Yeah. I love to surf, it clears my head. Sometimes it makes me feel like I can get through life...does that sound weird?" We stopped walking and he was looking down at the ground.

"Not at all. I know exactly what you mean. We should go surfing someti-" my words were cut off by his lips crashing into mine.

I was completely shocked but I couldn't stop kissing him. His lips felt like butter and they made their way down my neck and onto my collarbone. I moaned and picked his chin up so that his lips were on mine again. I couldn't get enough...until, we heard screaming from where the party was. We both looked at each other and sprinted over to see if everything was okay. That's when I saw Sienna walking into the brush.

"I'll be back. I have to see if she's okay." I smiled at Matt and reciprocated.

"Sienna, wait. Stop walking. What happened?" She looked at me like I was an alien.

Her eyes were all over the place and her forehead was furrowed, meaning she was in deep thought. Next thing I know, she's on the ground. I started freaking out. I reached in my phone to call Celene but I had no cell service. Are you kidding me!? Of all times, my phone decides to crap out on me.

I put my fingers to the side of her neck to make sure she had a pulse. Luckily, she did. I kept saying her name and remembered I had lemongrass hand sanitizer in my fanny back. I opened it and put it directly under her nose, hoping her senses would kick in and she would wake up. A few minutes later, her eyes opened wide and she sat up. I felt so relieved but I was still worried because I had no idea what was going on.

"Sienna, are you okay?" As soon as I said those words she barfed right on the ground.

Lovely. I was trying to avoid this mess, but I cut her some slack because seeing Jared was probably the main reason she got so drunk in the first place.

"I'm going to go find Celene. Don't move." I said reassuring her that everything was gonna be okay. But I had no idea where Celene was. This was not going to be fun, especially since the party wasn't dying down at all.