chapter one

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"3 new friend requests!" my phone beeped as i walked along the beach. it's my day off, no manuscripts to read and revise, just me, the beach, and aly.

"balee piper has sent you a friend request!" facebook informs me. i had met balee at a frozen yogurt place in downtown LA on my lunch break a few weeks ago. we started texting and became friends. i click on the accept friend request button.

the next request was from someone named michael clifford. i didn't recognize him from his profile picture, it was a picture of a cat, so i clicked on his profile to see more pictures. his hair was a bright red. i recognized him from somewhere, but i couldn't recall where exactly. i pressed accept because why not? everyone warms you about being safe online but i recognize him so what's the harm?

the last friend request caught my eye. it was from luke hemmings. man, i havent seen him since my sophomore year of high school.

luke went to the public school across town while i went to Prez Academy, an all girls school on the opposite side of town. i first met luke at a crazy party I was drug to my freshman year.

"come on, it'll be fun!" my bestfriend grace promised.

"grace, i hate parties and you know that," i shook my head, emphasizing that i wasn't going. grace, however, wouldn't budge.

"pleeeaaase adds?" she made a puppy dog face. i snorted. "what are you, five?"

"ya, five inches deep in your mom, now please come to the party with me."

"what?"

"nothing let's go," she said before i finally gave in. "fine but we are back by midnight. i don't want to get in trouble, and no alcohol."

"oh addie," grace began. "you're such a good girl, but guess what? they say that good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught." she winked at me.

"im not a good girl! i do plenty of bad things."

"oh ya, like what?"

i tried to come up with something. "sometimes when im really thirsty, ill drink the milk right out of the carton."

grace burst into laughter. "omg you're so badass!"

"i also text you in class and sometimes and i never read the terms and conditions when i get new apps."

"ok addie, you're like such a bad girl, so let's go get something to wear to this party."

long story short, i met luke and we talked for hours, occasionally taking a drink of our apple juice, which was the only nonalcoholic beverage we could find. he wasn't like the other horny guys there, he wasn't after sex or anything. he just wanted to talk. after that night, we only saw each other at three more parties before he moved away.

i click confirm before setting my bag down on the sand and slipping my phone into my bag. i step out of my swimsuit coverup just as my roommate, aly is spreading on tanning lotion. i lather on sunscreen so my fair skin doesn't burn.

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once we got back to our apartment, i realized i lost my keys. "crap on a cracker!" i looked at aly and she seemed confused. "what's wrong?"

"i lost my keys somewhere at the beach. what am i going to do?" i ran my fingers through my beachy hair.

"relax, bro," aly said dangling my keys in front of my face. "i gotchu." i sighed, grateful that she had them before proceeding to open our door.

"dibs on bathroom!" i call throwing my bag on my bed before running to the bathroom. i need to rinse the beach water out of my hair. i hop in the shower, turning on fall out boy's new album "american beauty/ american psycho" on. after i get out of the shower, i put on comfy pajamas and get onto my laptop. i log onto facebook and check any recent activity. i was going to message my friend from work, kenna, but i got distracted and started watching a video about cats and dogs that desperately need sleep. i was in the middle of watching a husky pup with its eyes closed bc he needed sleep (he was dog tired lmao i had to) when i received a message notification from luke.

luke hemmings: heyyy ;)

addie stump: helloo :)

luke hemmings: what's cookin good lookin?

addie stump: luke, are you drunk?

luke hemmings: nah man, never had even a sip of alcohol, i just saw you in my suggested friends list and thought i might catch up, it's been a while

addie stump: it has, hemmings, it has

luke hemmings: so what's up?

addie stump: nothing really, just getting ready to go to bed wbu?

luke hemmings: ok then, a beautiful girl like you needs her sleep. get some rest and just text me back tomorrow. goodnight, love

addie stump: goodnight luke

i log off of facebook before brushing my teeth and getting in bed, not wanting to return to work tomorrow.

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