an hour or so into it, the party was going well. or at least, it seemed to be going well. kids from their high school, plus some from neighboring schools, were crowded in jamie's house. some were in the living room, where she was, while others were in the kitchen or the backyard. some even sat on the stairs, talking (jamie made sure to lock all bedroom doors before she let people in).  jamie was sitting by herslef on the couch, sulking. she was absolutely miserable. she had a cup of apple juice in her hand. as shitty as she felt, she did not feel like drinking her feelings away. 

"you okay?" isaiah sat down next to her. "i feel like that's been the first thing i ask you every time since we met." jamie attempted to laugh. 

"sorry, zay. i know i've been a mess. i'll be sure to act happy whenever you see me." she joked, but isaiah didn't buy it. 

"you don't have to act happy when you're not, james." he told her. "crying is healthy. you should cry more, in fact."

"i should've known you'd be the fucking therapist friend." jamie grumbled. "i'd been missing one of those."

"well now you have one!" isaiah put an arm around her neck. "you can come to me with anything, i promise." 

"i know that." jamie smiled at him. "thank you, zay."

"it's my job. now, you didn't hear this from me, but matt is extremely worried about you."

"matt?" jamie asked, confused. "why would matt be worried about me?"

"no idea. he just said that you've been quiet since he saw you with chris today. he thinks that him and paris are what's making you so upset right now."

"oh." jamie looked around the crowded living room. she spotted paris and chris in the corner and frowned. "well, now they're making me upset."

"they weren't before?" isaiah questioned. jamie shrugged. 

"i don't know. i guess paris made me upset before, but i was completely fine with chris. this whole situation is really fucking me up. i should be mad a chris, but i don't know."

"i get it." isaiah replied. "i really do. you can never hate someone that you loved so much."

"i loved paris, though." jamie pointed out. "and i hate her now."

"well that was different. you loved paris, but you were in love with chris. or, rather, you're still in love with chris?" 

"i don't know!" jamie groaned, putting her head in her hands. "i'm so confused and conflicted. i don't know whether to be mad at him or make jabs at him. i should be mad at him, and i guess i was at first, but now? i think deep down i've accepted the fact that he won't come back to me. no matter how hard i try."

"jamie, look at me." isaiah lifted her head up. "don't beat yourself up over this right now. it's a halloween party. it's your halloween party. you're supposed to be the one having the most fun right now."

"i know." jamie sighed, looking over at chris and paris again. "i can't let them decide whether or not i enjoy myself tonight." she decided. "thank you, zay. again"

"wow, third thank you in the same conversation? i'm on a roll tonight."

"shut the fuck up."

+ + +

jamie was enjoying herself now. she let isaiah's words sink in and decided that she was not going to let chris or paris get in the way of a fun evening. she didn't drink, but she spectated and cheered on caroline as she played beer pong, asked the dj (which was nick) if he could cue up some taylor swift, and continued to stuff her face with snacks. 

"there you are!" a voice said behind her. "i should've known you'd be at the snack table." jamie turned around and smiled when she saw matt. 

"matt!" she beamed at him. "you will not believe the time i'm having. and i didn't drink once!"

"good for you!" matt congratulated her. "you're my sober buddy now."

"no." jamie shook her head. "that's lame, don't say that."

"it's never lame to be responsible." matt said, feigning seriousness. jamie laughed at him. 

"you make me laugh, matt." jamie said. "this is why you are my number one."

"well, i'm a funny guy." matt smiled at her. "it's nice to see you laughing after how you've been the last few months."

"what do you mean?" jamie furrowed her eyebrows. 

"nothing bad..." matt replied. "it's just...since the whole chris and paris thing, you've been really down. you barely hang out with us as a group, and for a valid reason, but you just don't seem like yourself. it's like you're always faking it. it's nice seeing you genuinely see you enjoying yourself right now."

"aw, matt." jamie engulfed him in a hug. "you're so sweet. do you know who i am?"

"of course!" matt exclaimed. "you're rory! guess who i am?"

"count dracula?" jamie guessed, looking him up and down.

"count matt-cula." matt corrected her. "i'm the matt version of dracula."

"hey, party people!" caroline approached them, stumbling over her feet. "this party is lit! got any more drinks?"

"actually, yeah!" jamie took out a can of sparkling water from the cooler and poured it into caroline's empty cup. "here's some more vodka for you."

"it's bubbly..." caroline eyed the cup suspiciously. jamie rolled her eyes. 

"it's sparkling, carol. now go, drink it."

"sparkling vodka. that's nice." caroline smiled giddily as she sipped the cup. "it tastes like watermelon."

"did you eat watermelon earlier, caroline?" matt asked, realizing what jamie was doing. caroline thought for a moment. 

"i think so. maybe like, two minutes ago." she pointed to an empty plate on the counter that had some watermelon juice on it. 

"that's why you taste watermelon." jamie explained. 

"oh!" caroline replied. "for a moment i thought you tricked me with sparkling water or something."

"or something." jamie agreed. "are you tired, caroline?"

"no. i think i'll go back to the couch. there was a cute boy over there."

"okay, have fun!" jamie waved as caroline stumbled back toward the living room. matt laughed.

"she really won't get mad about the sparkling water?" he asked. jamie shook her head. 

"nah, she can't tell the difference when she's drunk. the funniest part was that i gave her mango flavored sparkling water and she thought it was watermelon."

"you're insane." matt shook his head, smiling. his eyes caught on something behind jamie and his smile slowly started to fade as a commotion was heard just outside the kitchen. 

"what's going on?" jamie turned her head to see. matt tried to stop her.

"jamie, don't!" he said before jamie froze, her eyes fixed on a certain couple that had started kissing, no, making out near the stairs.

"woohoo!" some guy cheered. "two hours and we finally have our first makeout session!"

"get a life, bozo." some girl replied to him.

"holy shit, is that chris kissing paris? in jamie's house?" another girl called out. a crowd had began to form.

"oh my god, poor jamie." jamie tried not to let the tears stinging her eyes begin to fall. she shook her head and looked at matt with pleading eyes. 

"matt..."

"yeah?" he replied, his eyes still on chris and paris in shock.

"i need you to kiss me." matt's eyes snapped away from his brother as he looked at jamie in disbelief. 

"what? jamie, no."

"i know we agreed not to do this anymore, but i can't deal with this. not after how good chris and i were today."

"i can't do that to chris. no way." 

"matt." jamie the two looked at each other. jamie was close to crying. "just this once and i promise that i will never ask you to do anything to hurt chris ever again." matt saw the expression in her eyes. she was hurting. she longed for just one thing: getting even. getting him back. without thinking of the consequence, matt leaned in.

"just this once." he said before pressing his lips onto hers. 

maha speaks :)

i told u this would get crazy