"Well, I take it you're the infamous Ruby Farnsworth. Hey, Connor."

I smiled at the cute, tall boy bracing the door of his house. "Well, you're the first one to recognize me, I'll give you that. You must be Aaron." I warily glanced with distaste at the burning cigarette hanging from his lips. "Hey, what's with the accent?"

"His dad's got business here, but he's from England. Duh," Connor supplied quickly. "Hey, where's your sister?"

"Nowhere you'll find her. Piss off, Farnsworth," Aaron replied, glaring at my twin. He threw his cigarette on the ground in annoyance, snuffing it out with the toe of his shoe.

"Is your sister the Sabrina I keep hearing about?" I pressed, as Connor left to search for the girl.

"Yeah. We call her Bean. Why, Connor mentioned her?"

"So much, actually. My brother's got good intentions, try not to worry. He really likes her," I informed Aaron.

Ashton barrelled toward the concrete porch, shoving a red solo cup into my hand. "Hey, Air. We going in or what, Ru?"

"Pushy, pushy!" I whined, grinning apologetically. "It was nice to meet you, Aaron!" Ash shuttled me not-so-gently across the threshold and into the party.

It wasn't very crowded in Aaron's house. Not to say it wasn't loud, even with only about fifty people around. Red solo cups dotted the coffee tables and counters, and the majority of what I called "The Crew" lounged around a coffee table.

MEET: THE CREW

On the far side of Aaron's sectional couch sat Ethan and Hannah Dawson. Ethan and Hannah had been Connor and my respective best friends since forever. The set of twins were arguing in hushed tones, as per usual, probably about dating and ditching and who would be the designated driver (every night, they ended up calling an Über, anyway). Ethan always jumped in with Gabe when it came time to pick on me, and Hannah always had my back.

Next to them, the epitome of cool and collected, was Alex Vasquez. Though he acted like a jerk around his friends, Alex gave the best advice when you really needed it. He always had the best counsel for not shoving Gabe Eaton's head in a blender. And he wasn't the same chubby Mexican kid he'd been in early middle school. Nope. He had gotten hotter every year, it seemed.

Seeing Joey Sharpova peeping over Alex to glance furtively at unknowing Hannah made my heart squeeze simply for the familiarity of it. Though, as the kid brother of the group, everybody had kind of a soft spot for him, he'd gone along blindly with bullying me, even trying to out-do the others in how mean he could be.

Speaking animatedly next to little lovesick Joey was Carter Harmon, who I nicknamed "the social networker". He was forever planning something. Back in the day, he was always getting my brother and his cool friends into parties, clubs and crazy adventures. Basically, Carter Harmon was the coolest guy anybody knew.

My brother arrived hand-in-hand with a doe-eyed brunette I assumed to be Sabrina. "Hey, guys, Ruby's back!" he informed them, pointing at me behind the tan couch as he sat down with the girl in his lap. Everyone turned around in their seats to look at me.

Suddenly, a quiet was cast over the whole group. "Holy cow, that can't be her," someone breathed.

"Wow."

"When'd she hit puberty?"

"What's in the water in Paris?"

"She's...hot," said Ethan (if I didn't tell you before, Ethan was as much a womanizing pig as Gabe Eaton).

I pretended not to hear all that, amd launched myself at Hannah, planting myself firmly on her lap and wrapping my arms around her. "Hann!" I screeched.

"Hi, beeb," she laughed, hugging me back. "Look at you, Ruby! You look gorgeous."

"Got that right," Ethan muttered, earning a glare from Hannah.

"Oh, Ethan," I sighed, "I so haven't missed you."

"Can't say the same for you," he murmured, blatantly looking me up and down. He passed a hand over the stubble on his sharp jawline and actually winked at me. Can you say barf?

"Dude. Gross," Ashton commented, tossing himself on the couch next to Carter.

"Um, hi...uh, Ruby," Joey said nervously. I wondered if he was the only one who actually remembered the torture they all put me through before Paris.

"Hey," Carter said coolly before turning his attention back to the rest of the group. "I'm telling you, the cabin is sick."

"What's he talking about?"

"A camping trip we're all going on. Hey, you should totally come!" Hannah exclaimed, looking toward Carter for approval.

"Sure," he said, shrugging lightly. "How about it, Little Farnsworth? You down?"

I nodded. It felt weird, actually being talked to within this group of friends, save for Ashton and Hann. I wasn't quite used to being included in things. "Sure. I'd love to."

"I don't know about that," Connor interjected protectively. "Weird stuff happened at the cabin last year."

My cheeks reddened as I glared at my twin. "Connor, come on," I hissed. "I'm not your little Baby Ru anymore. I can take care of myself, alright?"

"Yeah, man, she'll be fine," Ash assured him. Connor's brow only seemed to furrow deeper, and I rolled my eyes, turning back to Carter and Hannah.

"He's worrying for nothing. I'm coming on this camping trip, whether he likes it or not. I'm a big girl now."

"In more ways than one," I heard someone snicker. Gabe Eaton.

"Do me a favor and keep your mouth shut for five seconds, Gabe?" I stood up in my chair, challenging him with a deathly stare.

Gabe stayed put, a smirk overtaking his dumb, pretty-boy face. "Come on, babe. It was a joke."

Stomping over to him, I poured my untouched beer all over his head, a silence falling over the party.

"I'm not your babe," I told him, throwing in a tight smile before yanking Ash off the couch. "We're leaving."

Gabe stood up, sputtering as beer dribbled off his bangs and into his face. "She's freakin' crazy..." he muttered angrily.

Yeah, I was. And I didn't care. I was the new, crazy, cool girl Ruby Farnsworth, and this time around, I wasn't letting any boys mess with me.

a.n. emilia clarke aka hannah on the side