Chapter One

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    "Describe yourself in one word."
    "Strange." I took a swig from my bottle, grimacing at the taste of the lukewarm beer that I had been drinking for the past twenty minutes. I looked around the circle of misfits surrounding me, the loud music from the party downstairs muted through the closed door of the room that we'd claimed for the night. Sitting directly across from me was one of my boys, Jonathan. A scrawny kid, with baby pink hair and heterochromic eyes. He didn't look like much, but he was insanely good with cars, which made him our 'getaway driver', that is if I wasn't able to. Next to him was his boyfriend, Sergio, a small kid, even smaller than Jonathan, with dark brown hair and matching eyes. The kid was still in school, even though his parents kicked him out when he brought John home to meet him. And next to me was Nate, he was older than the rest of us, making him our 'guardian' even though they all knew he wasn't in charge. His pale skin was littered with tattoos, and his dark purple hair and emerald eyes made the 'bad boy' facade more prominent. Locking eyes with the girl across from me, I smirked, winking at her before I asked the question.
    "Truth or dare, pretty girl?"
    Blushing, she answered with a quiet, "truth", barely heard, even in the enclosed area.
It had been a pretty tame game so far, after all of the kids in the room were still in highschool. All the 'good' kids wanted to see what we were up to, only knowing of Sergio and being curious about what he was doing with us. Knowing all my boys were itching to get the children out of their shells, I started the game over, asking the first 'inappropriate' question, knowing they would follow along.
    "How many guys have you slept with, hun?" I asked her, smiling while reaching across the circle to grab the joint Jonathan was currently holding, and taking a drag as I sat back down. She was blushing, obviously a virgin, but too ashamed to say it, I doubted that she even had her first kiss yet. Instead of answering she opted to take a shot and swallow the embarrassment of the question, or the pet names, I couldn't tell which yet. The boys howled with laughter at her scrunched up nose after the shot of tequila, while I smirked and took another drag, filling the empty shot glass back up.

    Questions, and joints, went around the circle more, all the students picking truth and taking shots when the boys' questions were too personal. And then it got back to me.
    "Alright Leylann, truth or dare." Sergio snickered behind his beer as he asked me, knowing what I was going to answer.
    "Dare." I said looking directly into the eyes of the girl from before.
    "I dare you to kiss someone in the circle that you would take home tonight."
    This was alway how the game went, the question would be asked to either Nate or I when it was time to head home. I pretended to ponder the question, looking at all my potential toys for the night. At this point the circle had gotten smaller, there were eight of us left, meaning I only had four to choose from. To the left of me was a cute blond boy, too innocent for my liking, but he would be perfect for someone. Next to him was another girl,who looked oddly similar to the boy. Probably twins, there's no way you can take only one of them. And that left me with two. Obviously the remaining girls were friends, probably came here together or they knew someone who could give them a ride home. Or hell, I thought, they might live here. It was common for the hosts to join the group if we showed up, guys would flock to me and girls to Nate, with some crossover at times. The brunette looked tempting, her blue eyes and tan skin calling to me, but I could tell that she was already spoken for, seeing as Nate elbowed me when my gaze stayed on her for too long. And then there was one.
    Of course it was the girl from before, her bright amber eyes looking at me like a lost puppy. Her blonde hair pulled to the side in a loose braid, the tail of it ending at the top of her chest, my eyes trailing down to her top. A dark blue tank top that obviously showed more than she was used to, was tucked into a white leather skirt, most likely her friend's. I looked back up at her face, she was looking down at her hands, folded across her lap. I got on my hands and knees, kissing her cheek and leaning towards her ear.
    "Come with me, we don't have to do anything you don't want but I need someone to chill with."
    I leaned back and sat down, my stormy gray eyes burning into hers. She tucked a small piece of hair behind her bright red ear, and looked up at me, nodding. I rocked back on my heels and stood up, clapping my hands once.
    "Alright boys, ready to get out of here?"
    Jonathan and Sergio got up and left, grabbing their things by the door and heading to J's car. The twins were next, stumbling out the door as they left, making it look like this was one of the first times they drank. Then Nate got up, grabbing the hand of the brunette and pulling her out the door with him, a quick, "see you at home," and a nod from me and he was gone. I helped the blonde up and grabbed the alcohol, sticking it in my backpack and turning towards her.
    "What's your name sweetheart? I was running an errand when everyone introduced themselves."
    "Catarina, but you can call me Cat, if you want to, that is." She told me, her meek voice from before gone, being replaced by a slightly more confident one.
    "What happened to being so quiet?" I smirked at her as I asked the question.
    She shrugged, "not used to being surrounded by people like you, not that that's a bad thing, or that you're a bad person!" She added after I raised my eyebrow at her.
    I laughed and put my arm around her, feeling her tense up. "I was only joking Kitten, now come on, I need to do something before we head to my place." She blushed a bright pink and I took my arm off her and headed downstairs, and into the kitchen. The music was much louder once we got outside the room. I snuck past a couple making out in the archway, most likely they would wake up together tomorrow and not remember what happened tonight. The kitchen was mostly empty, a couple of people sipping on their drinks and talking, no one paid attention as I grabbed a couple bottles of alcohol sitting on the counter, slipping them into my bag.
    "Are those yours?" Cat asked me crossing her arms.
    "Well no one had their name on them so they are now," I said shrugging as I grabbed her hand to lead her out the door. She followed along, resisting slightly, but following once I squeezed her hand in mine. Just as we were about to leave I heard an all too familiar, and all too drunk, voice call out my name, making me stop in my tracks. I felt an hand grab my arm and pull me around. I immediately put Cat behind me, keeping her hand in mine.
    "What do you want Kyle?" I questioned the owner of the voice, my own voice sounding sickly sweet, while also somehow venomous. Kyle stood about a half a foot taller than me, at 5'10 while I was 5'3 in my converse. He smirked at me, his bronze eyes looking at my chest instead of my face. I pulled my arm out of his hand and snapped my fingers in front of his face, his eyes darting up to mine.
    "Really? Leaving me for a girl? You're mine remember Leylann?" He winked at me and looked Cat up and down. "Although she is nice to look at."
    "I was never yours," I spit at him and opened the front door, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to." I turned to leave and he grabbed my shoulder again, spinning me around and kissing me. At this point I lost my shit. I let go of Cat's hand and pushed him away, taking a half-step back and punching him in the jaw. He fell to the ground, groaning as he rubbed his jaw. People had started to group around us, and at this point I pushed Cat out the door and slammed it behind me, grabbing her hand again and pulling her down the road to my car. Once we got there I opened the passenger side door of my black '69 Dodge Charger, while Cat just stood in shock.
    "This is yours?" She asked shaking her head in disbelief.
    "Yes, now please get in before we have that asshole and his friends come after us." I sighed as I walked around to the drivers side, opening the door and putting my bag in the middle of us. She slid into my baby cautiously, making sure she didn't touch anything she shouldn't.
    "It's beautiful." She whispered as she closed the door.
    "She." I mumbled, starting her up and rolling down my window. "Cars are girls, cause you gotta treat them nice and spend money on them or else they quit on you." I pulled a cigarette out of my pack and lit it as she nodded.
    "She's beautiful." Cat said, correcting herself and looking over at me. I gave her a curt nod and drove off, towards my apartment.

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