"Ethan!" I practically wailed into the phone.

     "Wow, no need for such enthusiasm," he said, chuckling, "I was calling to see if you wanted to come to a bonfire?"

     "Ethan I need your help!" I said, not even listening to him.

     "What? Why?" he asked. Something in me squirmed in dismay at his suddenly defensive tone.

     "I...I tried to leave Will's party but I'm kind of hammered and all alone walking on this road..." I admitted sheepishly. I paused and waited to see if he would say anything. When he didn't, I began to speak again only to have my cell phone beep in my ear and die.

    "NO!" I screamed, whipping it around to look at the darkened screen. I bellowed in frustration, stomping my bare feet on the asphalt like a toddler. I felt like crying and breaking something at the same time.  When the temper tantrum finally abated, I collected what little resolve I had left and set off along the road again. My feet were aching from the pavement, but I kept telling myself that was a lot better than being forced to make out with Will Dawson.

   Fifteen minutes later, the first car that I'd seen all night came up behind me. As my shadow elongated on the road in front of me, I momentarily panicked as I realized yet again that I was a scantily clad girl walking all alone on a deserted road with a dead phone. Not that there would be any rapists lurking in Elysia Hills, Clairview's richest neighbourhood, but I seriously wondered what the driver of the car would think once they came upon me walking all alone out here.

   Resisting the urge to dive into the ditch by the side of the road, I kept walking as the car slowed next to me. My heartbeat started racing as my hand clutched my dead cell phone, ready to whip it at the driver if they so much as made a move for me.

    "I must say, that is one stunning dress Buttercup," Ethan hooted, stopping his car next to me. In one fell swoop the entire evening caught up to me and I burst into tears. Ethan shot out of the car, running around to grab me by the shoulders.

    "Hey, what happened? What did they do to you?" he demanded, staring down at me with such concern that I could do little more than lean forward and sob onto his shoulder. He awkwardly patted me on the back, pulling his hands back as if stung when he felt my bare skin beneath his palms.

   "C'mon, lets go. You must be freezing, your skin is like ice," Ethan said finally once my sobs had abated. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder as he led me to the passenger side of his car. I shivered, only then realizing how cold I was in my teeny tiny pathetic excuse of a dress.

    "I'm sorry for that little...episode," I said, once we were comfortably sitting in Ethan's hot little red car, "Thanks for coming, I didn't think you would,"

   "Good old alcohol, right?" he joked, shifting out of park.

   "Oh you have no freaking idea," I groaned, leaning my head against the window.

    "So...was it the wine, the cheese, or the stale upper class that drove you away?" Ethan asked, thoroughly amused. I shuddered.

     "When they broke out the coke I ran for it," I said, sneering at the memory, "Sir Dawson had the nerve to offer me to take the first line,"

     "And you didn't?!" Ethan asked, totally incredulous. He was staring at me and I was staring right back at him, at a loss for words. Ethan Wheeler, new kid, die-hard A-List hater, and...drug aficionado?

     "Are you sh-" I began, but he'd started smiling as he looked back towards the road.

     "Man you're worked up. Can't even see through my antics," he laughed. I got defensive.

     "Well it's not like I'm at my best right now!" I snapped, "I've just been nearly fondled by some creep, consequently slapped him in the face, and to top it all off I've had more champagne and vodka that I'd care to admit so I could put up with hours of stupid, shallow banter!"

    There was silence. I felt a whole lot better getting it all off my chest, but when I looked over at Ethan I half-wished I hadn't. I mean, sure venting is nice, but venting to Ethan Wheeler is subjecting your innermost secrets to a CSI-caliber analysis. I wished I had another shot of vodka for the rest of the car ride.

     "So you like him now," Ethan said, his voice dripping with disdain.

    "Did you even listen to a word I just said?" I demanded, incredulous. I mean, wasn't my hatred obvious? I'd slapped the guy!

    "Then why did you let him feel you up?" The way he was staying so calm and accusatory was making me angry. Well, that and the booze.

     "Because I didn't have a choice, okay?" I said, crossing my arms across my chest huffily. I wanted to get out of the car until I flexed my aching feet and remembered how awful the asphalt had felt under my bare toes.

     "Does he know that or did he think you were into it?" Ethan demanded.

    "I'm pretty sure he got the picture when I slapped him in the face," I retorted.

    "And you think slapping a guy like Will Dawson at his own party in front of all his rich little friends was a good idea?" Ethan continued. I opened my mouth to let out yet another tirade, but a cold fear washed over me as his words finally processed. Suddenly the dizzy champagne haze was gone and I realized that Ethan wasn't trying to piss me off, he was trying to help me.

    "Maybe...okay, probably not," I said weakly. I saw Ethan's eyebrows raise a little bit.

    "Don't you think you might have a little problem there?" he asked quietly, risking a glance sideways towards me. I felt sick. Will was such a skillful manipulator that he'd not only forced me into attending his party, he'd nearly ripped me and Tyler apart. Embarrassing him in front of all his friends like that meant that he'd do everything in his power to destroy me. And knowing Will, he'd shoot straight for Tyler, especially after Tyler so gallantly tried to save me on Tuesday night when he'd come into the house to help me confront Will.

    I felt a sudden, incredible urge to vomit.

     "No puking in my car!" Ethan shouted, slamming on the brakes and pulling off to the side of the road. I threw the door open, vomiting onto the grass.  As if I wasn't mortified enough already, now I had to suffer with the knowledge that Ethan Wheeler had witnessed me vomit out of the side of his car.  If I could've crawled into a hole and died right about then, I would've.

    "I'm so dead," I muttered once he was sure I wouldn't puke again and had resumed driving. Ethan sighed.

     "No you're not. It's still Saturday night...well, maybe for another hour, but you have all of tomorrow for damage control. For now, though, you're coming to that bonfire with me. It'll be fun and it's high time you-"

     "Deanna!" I shouted, my face lighting up. Ethan looked at me like I'd lost my marbles.

     "No, Buttercup, it's Ethan...you might want to remember that later," he grinned, winking.  I blinked, then hit him as he chuckled.

     "Gross!" I said, "Anyway, I have to go to Deanna's to set this whole rumor thing straight. Everybody's gonna be there and then I can get them all on my side..."

    Ethan slammed his brakes hard as we came up to a stop sign.

     "Everybody, huh?" Ethan asked, suddenly cold, "By everybody I'm guessing you mean all your self-absorbed buddies." I frowned at him, feeling defensive again.

     "Could you stop dissing my friends in front of me?" I demanded.

    "No, you know what? I really won't," Ethan said and my eyebrows lifted in surprise, "You know it just as well as I do that they're shallow, they're stupid, and they'd be out like yesterday's garbage if it weren't for their parents' money. And how can you call them friends when it's me who's out rescuing you from whatever upper class hell you'd just escaped from?"

     "Quit acting like you understand" I snapped, "They're my friends and they've done plenty for me! My phone's dead and somehow you managed to call me, otherwise I'm sure any number of them would've come to get me!"

     "Wow, I feel so honored to be Madison Carlisle's chauffeur of choice," Ethan snorted, "You know, when I called you could at least have the dignity to tell me you wanted nothing to do with me, you just wanted a ride,"

     "My phone was dying and I was stranded!" I retorted, "But I have to get to this party! If Will talks to Deanna first then I'm finished! Please Ethan, just take me to her house on Pine Ave. We're almost there already,"

     "Fine. But next time you need my help I'm not going to drop you right back into the snake pit I've pulled you out of. You know just as well as I do that this life isn't for you, I just don't know why you won't give it up." Ethan said as we whipped onto Chelsea Boulevard, Deanna's cross-street.

    I snapped and my A-Lister alter ego reared its ugly head.

     "Will you ever stop acting all high and mighty or are you really convinced you're all that, Ethan Wheeler?" I demanded as we rolled to a stop outside the buzzing party house, "Stop acting all 'holier than thou' and maybe then you'll see I don't agree with you, not one bit! And you know what, there definitely won't be a next time!" I moved to get out of the car but Ethan caught my arm.

     "Maddie, stop-" he began, his voice and expression like he was trying to reason with me.

     "No, you stop! You don't even know me. You're the new kid. What the hell do you know about the Clairview social scene?" I snarled. I was being a bitch and I knew it, but when the A-Lister in me comes out, she comes out with a vengeance.

    "A hell of a lot more than you think," Ethan retorted, letting me go and seeming to be almost as angry as I am. His eyes were intense, but they weren't only filled with anger, they were filled with disappointment too.

     "I thought you were different than them, Madison. I thought you actually saw them for what they really are. But apparently I was wrong. You're just like them, an egotistical, self-absorbed bitch who cares more about hair products than other people. And you know how I know that? Because I've been there, I know the ropes. So don't ever think I don't understand. You're welcome for the ride."

    By then I'd gotten out of the car and was about to retort when Ethan reached over and slammed the door. He roared away and I felt like shouting something after him, but no words came.

    I watched as his taillights whipped around the corner, simmering with all the things I wish I could've yelled at him. So what if he'd hit home on a few points...or rather, a lot of points. And so what if I felt like the exact bitch he'd accused me of being for using him as a ride to get from one party to another.  He had no right to be nosing around in my business, even if he'd come through as my knight in shining armour that night. But what had he meant when he said he'd been there? Had he been one of the in-crowd at whatever school he'd come from? Did it even matter?

     The blasting music from the party ripped me out of my thoughts and I squared my shoulders, readjusting my skimpy little dress as I slipped back into my heels.  Ethan Wheeler and his preoccupation with bashing A-listers was the least of my worries at the moment, even though he'd seized on the exact thought that had been plaguing me all night:  was I right to blatantly lie that I really like my life? 

    I had no idea.