WEBBER

Part 1

"Why the hell are you dragging me here again?" I groaned.

"It's your first weekend in L.A.," Amanda answered, "I thought it would be a good idea for you to get acquainted with some of the locals".

She quickly winked at me and grabbed me by my wrist. Before I knew it, I was being drug through the front gate of a mansion. I could hear music coming from the house as people flooded in through the front door. As Amanda and I walked in, we were greeted by the smell of weed and alcohol.

"Amanda!" someone called over the loud music. I look over and see a tall, blonde-haired boy walking over towards us. "Glad you could make it," he yelled, raising the red solo cup in his left hand.

"Wouldn't miss it," Amanda replied," Aaron, this is my friend Ivy. She just moved to L.A!"

"Nice to meet you, Ivy," Aaron smiled and extended his hand. I returned the handshake.

"Where can I get a drink?" I asked, the music so loud it was hard to hear myself.

Aaron chuckled, "Just go through that door and the kitchen will be on your left".

I left Amanda to chat with Aaron and walked towards the kitchen. There were several people littered about the kitchen, chatting with each other, not really paying much attention to the party going on around them. I slowly walked over to the island in the middle of the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of Bicardi off of the counter. As I was pouring myself a drink, someone bumped into me, causing me to spill rum all over the counter.

"Whoa I am so sorry," someone apologized, quickly grabbing some paper towels and wiping up the spill.

"Wasted a perfectly good drink," I replied, looking up at the tall, brown-haired boy who had run into me. He looked at me shocked for a second before he replied, "It's all good, I paid for the booze anyways".

"So you're the one throwing the party then, huh?"

"Me and my roommates," he replied, still wiping up the spill.

"So you must know my friend Amanda," I questioned, taking a sip of my drink. He nodded and smiled.

"You must be Ivy," he implied. I nodded and sipped my drink.

"I'm Colby," he stated, extending his hand. I quickly shook his hand and grabbed the bottle of Bicardi once again.

"Now don't make me spill this again, Colby," I threatened. He chuckled and backed away from the counter as I poured another drink. "Wanna introduce me to the rest of these infamous roommates I've heard so much about?"

Colby guided me through the sea of people, slowly walking down the hallway to another large room. In the middle of the room was a ping-pong table that was currently being used for beer pong. A couple people were sitting on the sofa in the corner of the room, while most people were crowded around the beer pong table. Cheers erupted throughout the room as someone had sunk their ball into the opponents cup. A boy, around my age, ran around the room, high-fiving all of the guests. He quickly made his way over to Colby and I.

"Good shot dude," Colby congratulated him with a high-five.

I looked up at the tall boy, taking him in. His cheeks were flushed, a rosy pink color staining his cheeks. He was wearing a white t-shirt and plaid pants that were much skinnier than the jeans I was currently wearing. His hair looked like cotton candy, with blue and pink strands covering his brown roots.

"Jake, this is Ivy. She's Amanda's friend," Colby stated, interrupting my thoughts.

I quickly glanced over at Jake and smiled. He smirked back at me. A small dimple formed at the corner of his mouth. This boy was intriguing; he was much more different than the typical L.A. boy.

"Nice to meet you, Ivy," he replied, moving closer to me.

"Need a pong partner?" I smirked, taking a sip of my drink.

Jake quickly grabbed the cup out of my hand chugged what was left. He chewed on the rim of the cup as he looked at me.

"Hope you know how to handle some balls".

"Don't worry, I'm a pro," I smirked, walking over to the beer pong table. I quickly glanced back to see Jake and Colby standing by the doorway in shock. "Are we gonna play some beer pong or what?" I yelled over the music.

Three rounds of beer pong later and Jake and I are leaning on each other, trying to stay standing.

"I thought you said you had good aim," Jake joked, his words slurring slightly.

"I said I was good with balls, buddy. I never said anything about aim," I reminded him.

Jake smirked again, his hand resting on the small of my back. I jumped slightly at his touch as he pulled me closer to him.

"If you ever need help with your aim, let me know," he whispered in my ear. He slowly removed his hand from my back and walked toward the hallway.

I couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or the tension between the two of us, but my head began spinning. I stumbled through the crowd of people, trying my best to stay on two feet. As I walked into the hallway, I bumped into Colby, causing him to spill his beer all over his shirt.

"Karma's a bitch, huh?" I giggle, leaning into him for support.

"Jesus Ivy," he groaned, trying to hold me up, "how much did you drink?"

That was a good question and, honestly, I didn't have an answer.

"Colby, the r-room is spinning," I whisper, closing my eyes, hoping my head would stop spinning.

"Shit Ivy, you better not throw up," he cried. He huffed as he held me up and began to walk down the hallway. "Jake!" he yelled, trying to get Jake's attention.

Jake's head shot up as he saw Colby and I getting closer. He quickly walked over to us and lifted my arm over his shoulder.

"Dude take her to your room and lay her down before she throws up everywhere," Colby insisted.

I laid my head on Jake's shoulder, barely able to hold it up myself. Jake swiftly wrapped both my arms around his neck and scooped me up in his arms.

"I'll take care of her bro," he yelled to Colby and made his way over to the stairs.

Once we made it upstairs, Jake quietly made his way down the hallway towards his room. He gently laid me on his bed and hovered over me, beside the bed. A second later, he walked out of his room. I slowly turned over on my side, trying my best to keep the contents of my stomach from coming up. I heard footsteps get closer to the room. Jake walked back in his room with a glass of water in his hand.

"Here," Jake stated, handing me the glass of water. He carefully helped me sit up as I drank the glass of water.

"Whoa slow down, you'll upchuck if you chug it," he warned.

I handed him the glass of water and laid my head back down on the pillow behind me. Suddenly, I felt the bed shift.

"You're a handful," Jake said, laying on his back and resting one arm on his chest, the other behind his head.

"Well I'm offended," I replied, rolling over on to my other side so I was facing Jake.

"Don't worry, it's a compliment babe," he whispered, looking over at me.

I slowly shifted closer to him. I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, but Jake made me feel different. He made my heart beat faster, something that I hadn't felt in a long time. I felt so nervous, yet so comfortable around him. Amidst my thoughts, I hadn't noticed that our faces were now inches apart. I glanced at his lips and then shifted my gaze to meet his stare.

"Kiss me," I whispered.