Misplaced (COMPLETED)

1. what's he doing here?

Lights dart in haphazard flashes, highlighting dripping sweat in every direction I look. Like a tidal wave of birds swooping a flock of fish, my peers have been caught in a drunken wave of bliss that seems to have missed me altogether. Boom. Boom. Boom. The heavy bass that makes the rest of the crowd scream causes my heart to vibrate in motions that make me squirm uncomfortably. It's a teenage party in the most stereotypical definition and yet I'm acting very differently to what I would describe as someone having a 'good time'.

"Heyy," A guy who's at least five years older than me dips his head too close to me and slurs in my ear, allowing the potent odour of cheap beer to radiate off him and up my nose.

I manage a tight lipped smile before slipping away into a quieter pocket of this overrated joint. At almost seventeen years of age, I should be having the time of my life. What could possibly be better than free booze, loud music and a jam-packed dance floor perfect for grinding against almost anyone I felt like? Yeah, my list of answers is pretty long.

To my left I spot my oldest and possibly bestest friend, Zoe. Long, beach-waved auburn hair and a well-practised flirtatious smile, she was the one who had regretfully convinced me to accompany her to this stuffy, smelly crowd of partying. And judging by the small circle of young men that are pooling around her, she probably is having the time of her life.

"This sucks." It's the voice of my second bestest friend, Lucy. A polar opposite to Zoe with black cropped hair and an emo vibe going for her, the only reason she would waste her time going to place as 'lame' as this is probably for the free beer.

"Yep," I smile back at her, internally suppressing a heavy sigh. That makes two people I'll have to watch tonight to make sure we all come back home alive by the end of the night.

Giving me one final parting nod, Lucy slinks off towards a hub of particularly drunk looking adolescents who, like seagulls at the beach, have greedily flocked around the keg with the intention of drinking until they are physically unable to do so no more. This time, I don't bother to restrain my sigh.

Let's rewind to six weeks ago. School was coming to a long awaited end for the year and the first promises of a scorching summer were being whispered through humid gusts of wind. My life was looking pretty good. A whole Summer to laze around the pool, the television and the endlessly entertaining arcade I had wasted so many hours at with Zoe the previous Summer. I was eagerly preparing to once again live the dream when my ever-so-thoughtful yet mildly neglectful mother decided to whisk our shrinking family of four away to the North Coast for three weeks. In theory it sounded pretty good, especially with my two best friends and their families tagging along. However, I'm not that sort of person and to me, my dream of a paradise summer melted away faster than my little bro's mint choc-chip ice cream.

Taking a small sip of my own warm beer that I carry in my hands, I survey the scene. A table of pizza's to my left, the DJ bouncing like a rabbit up front, a couple making out to his right, green eyes peppered with hazel specks looking at me and an enthusiastic game of beer pong to my immediate right. Wait, go back. The green eyes are still there across the room, staring intently at me. I swallow back a sudden rush of nausea that clogs sickeningly in my throat.

For the first time all night the behemoth black speakers settle on a quieter tune and yet my heart is beating - for the first time that night - faster than a horse galloping down an elite-level race track. What's he doing here? Almost one-hundred kilometres from home and somehow Mum's picked the same holiday destination as the current number one most hated person in my life.

Chugging down the rest of my alcohol, I dip my head from the beam of his gaze - has he even blinked yet? - and skirt over to Zoe. "I'm going outside for a minute," I say once I've made my way through the wave of sweat-stained bodies to her.