When I woke up, I felt awful. The immediate throbbing inside my skull made it hard to open my eyes. It felt like my head had been stepped all over a million times.

"Wake up, sleepy head." I felt Avery grab onto the comforter and started pulling it off my body.

I groaned and rolled over, tugging the comforter back over my body.

"You'll be late and then you'll be in even bigger trouble, Tamsin. You gotta get up, girl."

"What the hell happened? My head hurts," I grumbled in pain.

"Welcome to the hangover club. I'd like to give you a crash course, but unfortunately we don't have time. We are going to be late, missy."

I threw the comforter off my head to look at Avery. She was already dressed and ready. Her platinum pixie hair in soft curls down to her chin. She looked like a snow princess.

"Oh shit, you look like a total mess," she said, not knowing if she should laugh or pity me.

"I know. I feel like it too. Please help me," I begged.

Avery sighed. "Alright, let me see what I can do."

She grabbed both of my arms and pulled me out of bed. My headache wasn't going away anytime soon. It was almost painful to open my eyes.

"First, I need some pain relievers." When Avery released me, I swayed slightly on my feet.

A look of sympathy crossed my friend's face before she nodded her head. Lifting one finger, she announced, "I'll be right back."

When she disappeared out of her bedroom door, I walked to her connected bathroom. Inside, I quickly used the bathroom, flushed the toilet, and washed my hands. I leaned over and splashed cold water over my face. I hoped the cold water would feel refreshing and invigorating in comparison to how weak my body feels, but it did nothing. I sighed and propped my elbows on the sink counter and closed my eyes.

A few minutes later, I hear Avery come into the room. She handed me some pills and a bottle of water. I took the medicine quickly. Surprisingly, I finished the entire water bottle. I tossed in the waste bin before turning to look in the long bathroom mirror.

My eyes widened when I saw how ugly I looked. My eyes were sunken. The black eyeliner smudged all over the place. I looked like a panda. My hair was flying in all kinds of places.

"What the hell?"

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Avery questioned as she walked up to me.

"I'm going to need a shower." Immediately, she covered her mouth.

"And you are going to need to brush your teeth. I'm sorry, Tamsin, but your breath stinks."

I laughed, and she laughed along with me. Except laughing made my head hurt, so I groaned while covering my face.

"Ok, hurry. You need to take a shower. We have to leave soon."

I nodded my head and waited for her to leave before stripping out of my clothes and jumping into the shower. I felt like shit. My entire body was aching. I recalled Avery's question.

What really happened last night?

I tried to dig deeper, but nothing was really clear. No picture was coming up in my mind and I really didn't want to waste any more brain cells trying to conjure up images. The only thing I could recall was seeing Dean there and dancing with him...a flash of lips appeared in mind.

And I gasped out loud in the shower while washing my hair. Opening my eyes, the shampoo got into my eye. I winced and groaned out loud.

Kai kissed me.

He kissed me, and I kissed him back.

I didn't even get upset!

After I washed myself clean, I grabbed a clean towel in Avery's bathroom closet and dried myself. Wrapping the towel around me, I walked to the sink and brushed my teeth clean. I usually keep a toothbrush at Avery's house, since I tend to sleep over often.

I didn't bother blow drying my hair. I threw it up into a messy, wet bun and walked out of the bathroom. Avery was already throwing clothes on the bed. I walked over to her and glanced at the clothes on the bed.

They were all very nice clothes, but I didn't want to wear nice clothes today. Honestly, I just wanted to crawl back into bed again. However, I knew I needed to go to church or my parents would be suspicious.

It was Sunday. I needed to go to church. Luckily, Avery's family goes to the same church as mine. I could hitch a ride with her to church.

I picked up a white Sunday dress. Avery tossed my spare bra and underwear that I left over in a drawer in her bedroom. She picked up a pair of high platform heels that matched the outfit, but I shook my head immediately.

"Oh no, I can't wear heels today. I don't trust my head."

"Fine." She dropped the heels and grabbed a pair of wedges before handing them to me. "I'll be downstairs. My makeup is in the bathroom if you need some concealer. Hurry up, Tamsin."

"I know. I know," I mumbled.

When she left, I pulled on the clothes quickly before walking over to the bathroom. To make my messy bun look cleaner, I smoothed my hair back in the bathroom mirror. I noticed the bags beneath my eyes and knew I needed some concealer to hide the bags. I dabbed a little beneath before smoothing it over my skin.

Putting on some blush to hide how pale I looked and then putting on lip gloss. When I put on lip gloss, I recalled Kai hovering over me as he touched my lips with his thumb. It was totally inappropriate and I should scold him for doing that to me, but honestly, I didn't mind at all. In fact, I felt my heart skip a beat.

I grabbed the rest of my items that I brought with me from last night. That included my purse and phone. I left my dirty clothes behind to be picked up from another day. I didn't want the parents to know.

After I looked better than I did this morning, I hurried downstairs to find Avery already standing in the foyer. A few maids were cleaning up the mess from last night. It looked like a million toddlers ran through the house and decided to trash everything. I felt bad for the maids that have to clean this, but then again, Avery always tips them well.

"C'mon. We have to go." Avery hooked her arm through mine and dragged me outside.

We hurried to her black compact car. I got into the passenger seat while she got into the driver's seat. Seconds later, we drove out of the driveway and onto the street.

The church wasn't too far from the house. It was about a fifteen minute drive. When we made it to the church, people were already standing around outside. A few were already getting inside.

My parents were standing by the entrance. They noticed Avery's car immediately. When Avery parked, I got out of the car and walked over to them.

"Hey mom and dad."

"You're late, Tamsin," my dad scolded.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Lee!" Avery chimed in from behind me. My dad's stern look changed into a smile.

"Good morning Avery. How are your parents?"

"Good, but they aren't home this weekend. They are off spending the weekend together. So, it is just me today."

"You are more than welcome to join us when we go inside."

"Well, I-" I jabbed her and her tone changed. "I'll love to."

We walked inside and I wrapped my arm around hers. Leaning close to her, I watched my parents' back while I whispered in her ear.

"Do you think they know? My dad looks upset."

"They don't know if you don't show it on your face. Could you at least look like you aren't sick to your stomach?"

"I am. I am not feeling well at all."

"They are going to know that you have a hangover. You are rigid as a board. They are going to read you like an open book. Can you not act guilty?"

"I am guilty. The guilty never gets away. I'll forever be locked away. Stuck inside a castle and forced to study academics forever."

Avery broke into a smile. "Can you quit it?"

I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders just as my parents turned down an aisle and sat on the bench. I didn't completely relax until I saw my parents leaning over and talking to some people they know. Dropping back into the seat. I crossed my arms and leaned closer to Avery.

"What the hell happened last night?" I repeated what I asked this morning.

"Girl, you didn't even make it through the first quarter. You didn't even get to see the intermission or the finale."

I rolled my eyes at her. She turned her body to block my parents from seeing us or reading our lips. Our eyes connected and she told me what happened.

When she stopped, I was horrified.

I drank too many shots. I didn't even get to have fun, but when Avery told me about Ava and Dean. Then how Kai came swooping in to save me like I'm some damsel in distress before carrying upstairs like some princess. I just couldn't handle it. I covered my face and couldn't breathe.

Kai must think I'm an idiot. Some crazy girl who wanted something wild while she wasn't wild. I didn't know what to think. The Sunday session began, and I completely zoned them out.

I used my brain cells to recall everything that happened that night.

I remembered talking to Kai. He was in the bedroom with me. The images and conversations were a blur as I was completely wasted at the time. However, I remember seeing him so vividly close. The way his eyes looked at me with no judgment. How he tucked me in and I held his hand. I remember feeling safe.

After this, I'm going to need to go and see him. I just don't know where and how. It was then I remembered I could text him. Secretly, I pulled out my phone and began texting.

Me: Can we talk?

I waited and waited.

No response.

I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up from my phone to see my mom looking in my direction. She pointed at my phone. I gave her an apologetic look before slipping my phone away.

The hours seemed to slip by slowly. When the service was over, I stood up and walked out as fast I could, but was stopped by my mom.

"Where are you going, Tamsin?" My mom asked.

"I was going to make a phone call."

"Well, your father wanted to have lunch today. Is the phone call important?" I paused for a second before I shook my head.

"Do you want to invite Avery to join us?"

I nodded my head before walking to Avery.

Lunch took another two hours. By the time my parents let me off to hang out with Avery, it was around three in the afternoon. They wanted me home early tonight to watch some movies since I've been avoiding them the last couple of days and we haven't really spent time together. I agreed because if I didn't, they would restrict me in all kinds of ways.

When I got the chance to check my phone, I noticed there were no missing messages. I couldn't help but feel slightly upset or disappointed. Kai didn't bother reading my messages, either. Was he mad?

Did I say something to offend him?

I really wanted to know what happened when he brought me upstairs to Avery's room last night. Not that I didn't trust him. I did trust him, oddly enough. I just didn't trust my mouth.

I went back to Avery's house to do my laundry. We hung out for a bit before my phone beeped. I grabbed it quickly to check who had texted.

Kai had texted. He agreed and asked if I needed him to pick me up. I sent him a message telling him I was still over at Avery's house. After an hour, I heard his loud engine outside.

I said my goodbyes to Avery and thanked her for covering for me. Curious, Avery looked out the window and, without looking at me, she asked a question.

"So, do you like Dean, or do you like Kai?"

"What? What kind of question is that?" I asked as I reached the front door.

She shrugged and glanced in my direction. "I'm just curious. You seem awfully close to Kai."

I shrugged my shoulders too.

"He and I are friends."

She snorted. "Ok, missy. You keep telling yourself that. You go and have fun. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye!" I waved before exiting her house. I half ran up in my wedges up to him. He took one look at my short dress and then at me. I couldn't see him that well. He had his helmet down. So all I could see was the movement of his head.

"Your dress is going to fly all over the place."

"It was the only thing I had... I forgot you ride a bike..."

He sighed before stripping off his sweatshirt. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him. With both arms, he pulled the sleeves around my waist and tied the knot at the back. It covered me up to my knees now.

"Get on," he ordered.

I threw my legs over the back of his bike and wrapped my arms around his stomach. I felt him start his bike back up and revved back onto the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Somewhere no one would see us."

I wonder where.

He drove for a good 45 minutes before he turned onto a dirt path. There we went into a thick mass of long skinny trees that were almost aligned with each other. As if they were planted purposefully. I read the sign as we turned in. It was a park. He drove deeper until we neared a lake. He stopped a good hundred yards away from the lake.

I got off the bike first before he did. When he took off his helmet, he had his back to me. I reached behind me to take off the sweatshirt to hand to him.

By this time, the sun was setting, and the sky was orange with a mix of purple. Kai took off his helmet and shook out his hair before hooking his helmet back on the bike handle.

When he turned around, I handed him his sweatshirt, but stopped halfway when I saw how badly hurt he was. I dropped the sweatshirt and moved closer to him. Touching his face gently, I looked him over.

"What the hell happened to you?" I asked with concern.

He chuckled. "I got into a few good fights at the bar."

"Are you serious?" I glared in his direction. "You aren't even twenty-one yet. You shouldn't have been at the bar last night."

He touched his lips and then his cheek. "I'm fine. What did you want to talk about?"

I noticed how quickly he wanted to change the subject, but he looked badly injured. I don't know why but that worried me.