Pepper never meant to lose her best friend. Lucas never meant to fall in love.
Yet the aftermath of broken hearts leads them to blur the lines of their friendship forever. When Pepper is dumped by her boyfriend and Lucas is led on by his crush, they...
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THE PURSUIT of solving the formula to who is Mason Hyeong Rhee has led to a series of trials and embarrassments. I've researched job after job, finding myself bored and uninterested in fields that career tests suggest. I asked Mom what she thought I should be, and her only answer besides inheriting their startup was becoming a chef and opening my own restaurant. To which Dad reaffirmed his stance on how helping out with dinner meant nothing about my qualifications to become a chef. I chose to ignore him that time.
I thought about learning how to play an instrument, but that'd probably lead to a swift disowning if I even uttered the idea of focusing on music and not something stable.
I don't know who the hell I am besides a guy who's friends find him blander than vanilla flavors. Which is why I'm currently entering a party with Jaden and two of my other friends, Philip and Carter, with my head held high and palms sweaty as ever. I'm not a party guy. I don't dance. I don't eat junk food. I'm bad at mingling. I'm really scared of running into Pepper. Not to mention, I'm a complete chicken when it comes to daring party games, but I'm throwing all of those insecurities aside to be here.
I can have fun. I am fun.
Carter and Philip enter the party first and take one good look around before turning to me and Jaden with complacent expressions. "Normally, I'd be turned off of going to a party full of theatre kids, but this doesn't look too bad." Carter's freckled and blemished face brightens with glee. "What are the odds of us getting laid?"
I roll my eyes. "Not why we're here."
Philip gives me a doubtful shrug before shoving his hands in his pockets and turning around. "I don't know. I think I saw some people making out by the stairs. There are opportunities."
"Again," Jaden emphasizes while strolling up next to me, "not why we're here. We're not here for girls. We're here to have fun."
Carter gives Jaden a pursed-lip look. "Easy for you to say. You don't even like girls."
Jaden sucks in his mouth in a mischievous manner like he hadn't realized he'd been confidently gay since the day we met him. "Not my problem."
I follow them deeper into the house with its blaring music, apologizing to every person I bump into and brush up against. Is it a shame that my first party experience is making me nervous as hell when it probably shouldn't? Apparently, it's drug-free. Not even alcohol will touch this place, and my parents approved of my attendance, but I still feel like I'm breaking rules.
Philip finds a table of people playing card games with snacks as the betting prizes, and we all gather around. Dominic and Elliot are playing with his sister Tiffany and their friend Rebekah. When Tiffany sees Philip, she releases an overdramatic groan and throws her head back. "Finally, another black person at this party," she declares. "Was beginning to think Dom and I would be the only ones."
