Stand By Me

Chapter 2

Later that evening, Phoebe, Rachel, Catie and I were in my room getting ready for Carah's party. Possible outfits were strewn about the room, and music was playing loudly.

Rachel and Catie weren't as close to me as they use to be, but considering we all went to Young Arts together, I decided to invite them over before the party. Things had been awkward lately. And now that it was our senior year, things needed to be back to how they were before what happened last year.

"Girls,"

Catie said as she wrapped a piece of her long brown hair around the curling wand.

"I have a secret to tell you all!" She giggled and turned away from the mirror to face the bed where the rest of us were sitting.

"What is it?" Rachel asked with no interest whatsoever.

"Well, remember last week when a bunch of us went to the movies after rehearsal?" She continued, not noticing the boredom coming from Rachel.

"Yeah..." Phoebe said.

"Well after everyone left, it was just me and Ryan."

At the mention of Ryan I suddenly became more interested. I didn't like him exactly, so I didn't know why when I thought of him my heart sped up.

"So we were just walking around the mall because we didn't have anything else to do because my car wasn't working. So we took pictures in the photobooth, and when we were sitting in the little box waiting for them to print, he kissed me." She blushed and expected a cheerful reaction from all of us.

The other girls gasped and pretended like they cared. But Catie kissed a guy like every day, so it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Sky? Hello?" Phoebe waved her hand in front of my face. Crap. I had drifted off.

"Oh sorry I was just thinking about something. But that's, um, really cool about you and Ryan!" I said with a fake smile.

Catie just nodded and proceeded to curl her hair. She told another story about how he looked at her at rehearsal and she could tell it meant something.

Ugh was there any person on the planet more annoying than Catie?

~~~

When we rolled up to the party in my white SUV with trap music blaring, I didn't notice that I was probably being a total buzz kill. I hadn't been talking the whole time we were getting ready.

So what if Ryan and Catie were a thing? I didn't like him anyways. He was just a friend. We were fine. Everything was fine.

As soon as we walked up Carahs front steps, the door swung open. Carah was grinning from ear to ear. She was obviously wasted.

Carah's house was perfect for a party. I had been to a couple parties there before, and each one had gotten crazier.

The house had a big front room, and upstairs had a couple bedrooms for couples to have sex in.

I finally loosened up, and started relaxing. I saw chase and Rachel talking and drinking in the corner. And who knows where Phoebe was.

I glanced down at my phone. 10:02. When had it gotten so late?

I wandered around talking to random people, and taking shots.

I needed to losen up. Get wild. I haven't been to a party like this forever, and now that it was the summer going into my senior year, I deserved to get crazy.

"Hey Sky!" I knew that voice in a heartbeat. It was Ryan.

"Heyyyyy!" Shit. I was drunker than I thought.

"Someone's been drinking tonight." Ryan said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah and you haven't been?" I shot back.

"Chill. I have been but I do this often so I know how to handle myself." He said and patted me on the back.

"Oh shut up. What makes you think I'm not handling myself?"

"Mmm I don't know. You just seem... Different." Ryan responded and opened the door for me to head out to the back patio where the pool was. It was windy, but it felt good against my hot skin.

"I see different? I'm not the one practically having sex with people in photo booths." Fuck that was not supposed to happen. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand.

Ryan just started laughing.

"Who told you that?" He said still grinning.

"Catie." Why was I doing this? I knew I would regret it in the morning. If I remembered.

The rest of the conversation with Ryan went awkwardly to say the least. He totally denied kissing Catie and he seemed legit about it.

Just then, Phoebe and some guys pushed open the door to the outside. Phoebe seemed to be completely wasted, she was only wearing a bra and jean shorts.

Ryan just shook his head and pulled me over to the pool.

"What do you want?" I slurred.

"I just.. I.." He said. Then out of no where, he shoved me into the pool.

"You shit head!" I screeched, grabbing his leg and pulling it into the pool.

My body rushed with the cool water, and my tank top sticked to me.

"Just take it off." Ryan said.

"What? Just take it off. I am." He said pulling his shirt off. His chest was slightly tanned, and his muscles more defined than I pictured. I pulled it off.

I swung my head around to see a bottle of vodka sitting on the side of the pool.

I swam over to grab it, to feel Ryan right behind me. His body was warm and I turned around, holding the bottle.

"Ill do the honors." He said and took the first drink.

After we had took a couple more shots, Ryan grabbed my head and pulled it towards me. His lips met mine. My whole body was buzzing and it felt like slow motion.

Take this Catie.