Are you mine?

Chapter 1

I'm already regretting this decision.

I find myself in the midst of what can best be described as a warzone that, for the most part, resembles a bedroom. "Do we really have to go?" I groan, dramatically hanging upside down over the edge of my bed. I'm the farthest I can possibly be from being in a party mood.

"Well, we don't have to," Sydney argues, trudging through the sea of makeup, hair products, and clothes that are scattered all around the floor as a result of my best friend's self-assigned mission to find me the 'perfect outfit' to wear tonight. "But there's this thing people like to do sometimes that's called "having fun". I know, such a wild concept, right?" She mocks, "I just thought you might want to try it out."

"Hardy-har-har." I dead-pan. "You know what else you said would be fun? Ice skating. And I don't know about you, but any activities that result in me taking a trip to the emergency room with a broken ankle, don't fit under my definition of a good time," I retort.

"Are we still on that?" Sydney huffs, "I thought I was forgiven! I admitted that trying to do the dirty dancing jump on skates was a bad idea, and I painted all those cute little dandelions on your cast. Remember how much you loved those?" she pouts innocently.

"They were cute," I mutter, begrudgingly. "Doesn't take away from your terrible decision-making skills."

"Come on, this is different! I can assure you'll make it home tonight with all your bones intact," She says with the smile of a car salesman who's trying to convince you to buy a beat-up Toyota corolla for the price of a Tesla. When I just stare at her without responding Sydney lets out a long sigh. "Mason is gonna be there," She announces.

I perk up. She gives me a knowing look. "Yeah, okay. I'm in."

"Atta girl," Sydney replies with a self-satisfied grin.

I've got to give it to her, though. The girl knows how to talk me into anything. With her charming personality, her vast knowledge of persuasion tactics (at least on the ones that work on me), and her unbreakable determination, you can bet she won't give up until she gets what she wants. Her mission tonight seems to be dragging me out of this house, and it's starting to look like she'll succeed. She must have known that after name-dropping him I wouldn't need much more convincing.

"Mads!" Syd snaps her fingers in my face, "Babe."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You were in a someone-just-mentioned-a-hot-guy daze. Got a little bit of drool right there too." She taunts, pointing at her chin.

"I do not!" I scowl at her, wiping at my jaw discreetly with my sleeve.

"Stop teasing, Syd." Tyler warns as he steps into the room cradling a bowl of chips. He tosses one into his mouth before plopping down on my bed next to me.

"Where did you find those?" I ask, reaching for a chip and frowning when Tyler moves the bowl out of my reach.

"I know where your mom stashes the good snacks." He winks, displaying a mischievous smile. "You two haven't even started getting ready yet," he points at us accusingly with his chip, "I figured if you're going to make me sit here for an eternity, you at least owe me some food."

I wrap my arm around his neck, bringing his head down to my chest and ruffling his hair. He escapes my headlock with ease and we tussle playfully until he unavoidably overpowers me, pushing me back into the mattress and pinning my hands over my head at my sides. I try to wriggle out of his grip to no avail, which earns me a hearty laugh from Tyler. "You better accept defeat if you want to keep your pride," He taunts, his platinum blonde hair tickling my face.