Ridgeton High School parents were the only ones gullible enough to believe that their kids actually went over to each other's homes for parties. It was a harsh reality check when they found out that that wasn't the case. The weird thing was, although this lie had been the rite of passage for students for years now, the parents who eventually found out the truth never failed to express shock.

   Or maybe they knew about what students did all along. Parents may just have assumed that their children weren't dumb enough to have alcohol, drug-infested parties at the banks of the most infamous river in Ridgeton, Clearwater River.

   Oh, but they were.

   This wasn't even my first rodeo. I knew the drill by heart. The party thrower would tell her parents that she was going to a party being thrown by a trusted friend who'd then vouch as the party thrower instead.

   Everyone else then gets stuck with the easy part; telling their parents they were going to their friend's house to just hang out.

   Having their respective alibis and whatnot, Ridgeton High students met up at Clearwater River for a night of good drugs (the irony, right?), drunken fun, hook up mistakes, among others. And of course, who could forget the killer hangovers the following morning?.

"Okay." I wiggled out of the passenger's seat to get a better look at the road ahead. "This is the last road that leads to Clearwater. We'll have to walk from here."

"This must be some party." Camila said, as the cab slowed down to a stop.

   Sitting between me and Dorian in the car, she looked like could jump out of her skin any second at the unexpected burst of bass beats from the ear splitting music presumed to be traced to the areas near the river.

   Dorian and I followed suit as she stepped out of the car. Rav had already gotten out of the front seat. His gleaming eyes matched with the sorry excuse of his attempt to remain calm.

   Camila, on the other hand, was visibly shrinking back at the light that blared from the venue. That would have been funny if she didn't keep bumping into me as we inched closer to Esi's party.

   The party was in full view a few minutes after we walked ahead. In a typical Ridgeton High fashion, there were teenagers everywhere.

  The wasted ones who weren't passed out on the grassy land leading to the river were dancing around a DJ booth, the source of booming sounds everyone else was drunk enough to believe was music. Others had formed little groups under the trees around.

"How about this?" I stopped, trying not to let out a yell of frustration when Camila bumped into me for the tenth time. "I think it'll be for the best if you guys maybe stay beside me. Just so I can see everyone and no one gets lost."

"Speak for yourself!" Rav, already a few feet forward, replied, walking faster.

   Camila didn't think twice to cling onto my back.

   I felt her stiffening when some people under one of the trees came into view. They were teenagers I recognized as former schoolmates from Ridgeton High. The air that surrounded was visible with smoke but they didn't seem to mind.

"Whoa." Camila's whisper was between shock and horror.

   I would have seriously been concerned with why a sixteen year old was in awe of a typical high school party if I had let it slip my mind that the students that were with me were Zavolonians. Whatever Rav had planned for Liberation Week was probably not as crazy as I had first imagined.

   Or maybe she was just a buzzkill who wouldn't have gone to his thing either.

   As we got closer to the river, the music got louder, the crowd thicker, the heat and smells stronger. I pushed through the cluster of people, hoping I didn't get any sweaty bodies thrown my way.

"Hey guys," I called out since the crowd made it difficult to face Cami and Dorian trailing behind me. "I think we should move to the less choked spots. Tali won't hang out with these many people anyway. Let's start at the right side of the river bank, got it?"

   I frowned when I realised my back felt, my anxiety confirmed when I swirled to find no one familiar in sight. Bloody hell.

   Losing three people at the same time, that's got to be a record. The crowd began to feel even more congested as I searched frantically for Ella, Rav and Dorian. It was useless to yell out their names.

   After a while, I proceeded to the riverbank like I'd mentioned earlier. Who knew, maybe they could be there.

   The freshness of the night's air finally came my way to clear up all the fuzziness in my head when I reached my destination. The people in the river bank area were shallow-numbered so it wasn't a struggle to begin my search for, at this point, everyone.

   No one I needed to find was in the portable pool set up in the open, there were no known faces at the tennis table next to it and Tali wouldn't be caught dead taking selfies with those girls close to the shrubs.

   I winced as cheers erupted around some genius who thought it would be a good idea to climb a tree and use one of its branches as a springboard into the river. I waited long enough to see him dive head first into the ground when the treacherous branch snapped like a twig under his weight.

   Well, he was dead.

   I decided not to traumatise my vision any longer by turning my gaze. Unfortunately, it only got worse when I glimpsed right in the direction of a couple who saw no other means fit to express their enthusiasm than with the never ending air-tight proximity of their moving mouths.

   In simple terms, they were making out. Hard.

   I sought to turn away in silence when I caught sight of a familiar figure right next to them.

"Why did you run off?!" I hissed as I stalked over to grab Camila by the arm. "I told you guys to stay behind—"

"Sshh!" She giggled, swatting my arm away. Her eyes never left the mouths of the couple who were still focused on themselves. "Never in my life have I witnessed or experienced this level of making out...in my life! This is insane!"

   All this was said with us standing two feet away from the couple. I heard a collective sigh erupt from them while they broke away and stared our way.

"Do you mind?" The boy quipped, annoyance on every inch of his lipstick stained face.

"Not at all." Cami laughed with a hand wave. "By all means, carry on. I'll just analyse the science behind your intricate make out session from here."

"That's it." I dragged her arm. "I'm so sorry, guys."

"Continue to break the laws of dynamics with your mouths!" She giggled again at her last comment before the mortified couple disappeared out of sight.

"Dude, how did you get drunk so quickly?" I caught the stench of alcohol on her when she stumbled toward me.

"I'm so not the one you need to be worried about," she muttered.

   I followed the glazed look she cast over my shoulder to find Dorian and Rav amongst a small group standing a few seconds away. Dorian had a red solo cup in hand.

   I didn't suppress the frustrated groan that arose within me this time. It was like dealing with children. The deliberately bitchy kind. I broke into a run when he raised the cup to his lips.

"Don't drink that!" I exclaimed, slapping the cup from Dorian's hold and cringed when the colourless liquid sloshed onto his clothes and shoes.

"Really, Beth?" Dorian fumed. His glance was anything if not murderous. "I think I can tell the difference between alcohol and water."

"Not in Ridgeton you don't."

"Oh, come on." He rolled his eyes. "Rav had some and he's fi... Rav?"

   This would have been the most gloating victory if I wasn't genuinely concerned at the straight-faced, motionless stance Rav had assumed behind Dorian.

   He'll be out of whatever it was soon. Hopefully.

"Guys, let's split up," I said, trying to keep my shaky voice under control. "Keep an eye out for Tali if any of you still recognize her. Dorian, keep Rav next to you. We can't afford any distr—"

"Uh, Beth?"

"Oh my God, what Dorian?!"

   I was not in the mood to argue. Who did he think he was? I didn't withhold my venomous glare toward him.

"Rav took three." Dorian wore an uneasy expression. "He drank three cups of the 'water'."

   I didn't have time to register the horror that claimed Dorian's features when I glimpsed Rav's seat. It was empty.

"Where is he?" I asked. My stomach twisted into terrified knots. "Dorian, where did Rav go?"

"That's what I wanted to—"

   The voice that suddenly rippled through the air and interrupted Dorian's answer went straight to my thumping heart.

"HE'S GONNA JUMP!"

A/N: Fridays are the best🥳🎉.

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