One thing West Valley High's football team knew how to do was celebrate a win. The homecoming game ended an hour ago. Now everyone was crammed inside Demarcus Lancaster's house. And I was a part of it.

Sweaty bodies that smelled of alcohol or weed or both pressed against me as I made my way through the crowd, two cups of beer raised above my head to keep them from spilling. It took a solid two hours for me to pick the perfect mini skirt and top combination. I wasn't going to ruin it with beer.

Liah Scott was waiting for me on the stairs. Her face broke into a grin when she saw me, hands already grabbing for the cup. I handed her the drink and sat a step below her. She tamed her kinky curls back into a high puff, decorated with butterfly clips that match her blue shirt.

"So, guess who was just here?" My brows raised, waiting for her to continue as I took a sip of my drink.

I instantly went into a coughing fit. The alcohol burned all the way down my throat. "This is horrible."

Liah giggled, taking a sip from her own cup. "It'll get better, trust me. Anyways, Elijah Roberts stepped on my hand."

The dreamy way she said it had me confused. "And this is a good thing?"

"Yes, because when he apologized, he sat next to me and asked if I was the girl who sang the national anthem."

Now the smiling made sense. Liah had a beautiful singing voice. We normally didn't have live singers for sport events. It took a whole lot of begging, but she ultimately convinced the principal to let her sing.

Of course, she did amazing. Of course, she got a standing ovation. Of course, the star running back was flirting with her.

"And?" I prodded.

She shyly looked into the contents of her cup, her warm brown skin getting a red tint. "And he wants me to meet him for a game of beer pong later."

"Liah!" I said, shaking her knee. "See, I knew this year was going to be the year."

"Yeah, it's easier for people to talk to us when we're not on your living room couch watching movies."

"Who knew?" I laughed, taking another sip of my drink. Still burned. Still gross.

My gaze roamed the living room area where people danced or drank or made out. There was an unmovable smile plastered on my face. Seeing a bunch of inebriated teenagers shouldn't have made me so happy, but this was the first house party I'd been to in a year. The second house party in total.

When you had an older brother who treated you like a delicate flower, you missed out on stuff. Like seeing the senior class president twerking on her boyfriend.

Grayson, the older brother in question, was now miles away in a dorm room. Or maybe he was at some sort of mixer to get to know his classmates. Whatever he was doing, he wasn't doing it here. If he knew I was at this party, a cup of alcohol in hand, he'd drag me home so fast.

But he wasn't there. I took another drink to that.

"Getting better?" Liah teased.

"Not even a little," I admitted. "How long are you going to make Elijah sweat before you meet up with him?"

She puckered her lips up to the side, pretending to think hard about it. "A song. Two max."

Then she took my hand and pulled out to the middle of the living room to join the few people dancing.

• • •

We danced to four songs before we went out to the backyard where the beer pong was set up. The late summer breeze was welcome against my skin, that was currently sticky with sweat.

A game of beer pong was already going. Caleb Browning and Penny Rothenberg versus Kat Giles and Jess Coombs. It looked like Penny and Caleb were winning.

Elijah stood off to the side, cheering them on. When he caught sight of Liah, he winked before turning back to the game. She leaned back into me like she was falling. "Catch me."

I laughed, shoving her playfully. "I think it's your turn."

Penny and Caleb had won the game, the two of them handing out high-fives to anyone who wanted one.

"Come on," Liah said, grabbing my still mostly full cup and setting it down with her empty one on a side table before dragging me over to the beer pong table.

Elijah reset the table, glancing at Liah. "How are we doing this?"

"You and me versus Harlow and..." Her voice trailed as she looked for a fourth player.

"I'll play."

I turned to find a guy I recognized from around school. He had a name that started with a "T" and was a grade below me. He was a few inches taller than my five-seven, with rich dark skin and his hair cut so short you can see the waves in it. In a word: gorgeous.

As we took our places, Liah and I screamed at each other with just our eyes.

That time last year we didn't go to the homecoming game or the after party. Instead, we stayed at her house, watching her little sisters and baking brownies. Now we were playing beer pong with cute boys.

My life was finally starting.

• • •

When Grayson was accepted into college halfway across the state, I started planning for a life without him. My Friday nights would no longer be spent studying or watching movies with mom and Liah. I was finally going to be able to live my life. No brother lurking around every corner, making every guy afraid to even sneeze in my direction.

But I never could've imagined it go this well. My beer pong partner, Travis, and I won the game. I was motivated by never having to drink another beer as long as I lived. While Liah and Elijah went to dance, Travis and I walked the perimeter of the backyard. He was cute, but he talked a lot. Like a lot. He rambled on about his math teacher who kept giving him detention and about how hard it was to find some over priced sneakers online and other extremely uninteresting things.

I didn't care. All I cared about was that he was talking to me. He wasn't running scared, thinking my brother was going to jump out the bushes to kick his ass. He could list off the elements on the periodic table and I'd happily listen. Anything would sound good, as long as Grayson wasn't there to interrupt it.

"I always wanted a tree house." Travis said, staring up at the massive structure at the far end of the yard.

The shadows and missing planks of wood on the roof made it look creepy. More like a haunted house than a child's hideaway. It'd also make the perfect hook-up spot. There was a piece of paper taped to the trunk of tree DO NOT ENTER. I ripped the sign down and started up the ladder.

Travis chuckled, but said nothing as he followed me up. There was a porch that wrapped around the tree house. Fallen leaves and twigs littered the floor. Using the flashlight of my phone, I examined the interior. There were a couple of folding chairs and a table covered in comics that have faded from weather exposure. Everything was covered in dust and dirt.

Not the most romantic place, but it'd do.

"This is crazy," he said, looking out one of the windows.

The party goers didn't look like ants, but they were far enough down to give me vertigo. Looking down was always a bad idea. I turned my back to the window, leaning against the dusty glass. The floor beneath us creaked with every movement. Travis stood next to me, his arm brushing mine.

He started talking again. About what? I didn't know. I was too focused on his lips. We could've been kissing and he was talking about his carpenter uncle.

When he caught me staring, he wet his lips, and finally, finally, he understood. He moved to stand in front of me. He stank of beer and chips, but his lips looked so soft. He leaned in, lips grazing my jaw.

This was happening. I was hooking up with a fine ass guy at a party. And there was no one there to stop me.

"Harlow?"

Travis jerked away before his lips touched mine. I whipped around to cuss out whoever just interrupted. My annoyance shot through the roof when I realized who it was. Corey freakin' Michaels!

"Go away." I refused to let him do this. Corey wasn't going to ruin this for me.

"Gray's looking for you." He said, ducking into the tree house. It groaned under the pressure of having three full sized humans inside.

Travis turned to me. "Who is Gray?"

"No one," I said at the same time Corey said, "Grayson Spencer. Her brother."

My eyes cut at Corey, who returned my sentiment with a smirk. Travis audibly gulped. Suddenly, there was six feet of air between us. I was so close.

"Grayson Spencer?" He asked, voice choked. "He's your brother? And he's here?"

Corey beat me to a reply. "He's on the phone, actually." He held the phone out to Travis. "I'm sure he'd love to talk to you."

Travis backed up like Corey tried to hand him a grenade.

"He's lying," I said, trying desperately to salvage this moment.

"You're not Grayson's sister?" he asked, almost hopeful.

Not tonight, I wanted to say. "I am. But he's at college, so--"

Travis all but knocked Corey down, trying to get out of that tree house. I watched from the window as Travis rushed across the yard. Even from hundreds of miles away, my brother was ruining things.

"He ran," Corey laughed into his phone. So he was really talking to Gray?

I snatched the phone from him. "Don't you have college things to do?"

"Didn't you tell mom you'd be at the library?" He shot back. "What are you doing at a party?"

"Trying to enjoy myself," I spat, pacing the creaky floorboards. "Now, please, call your watch dog off!" My eyes met Corey's. A smile tugged at his lips, pissing me off even more.

"Go home, Harlow."

A laugh flew out of me. "Make me." That come back was the epitome of immaturity, but it got my point across. He wasn't there. He was just a voice over the phone. He couldn't make me do anything.

As long as he was at college, I had full control of my life. That included who I did and didn't talk to. And I was done talking to him. My brother was in the middle of saying something when I ended the call and handed the phone back to Corey.

That self-satisfied smirk was gone. He looked surprised by my action. I was surprised too. If Gray was there, I would've conceded and went home, no questions asked. If not, he would've embarrassed me in front of everyone. But he couldn't do that now. The thought thrilled me.

Corey watched me, his dark eyes narrowed like I was a math question he couldn't solve.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a boy to find."

The floor boards groaned as Corey moved to block the exit. "You really think he'll want to talk to you now that he knows who you are?"

"I can be very persuasive." He blocked me again, his smirk back. "Are you getting paid for this?"

"Not at all," he said, arms crossed over his wide chest. "And I don't care what you do. Not as much as Gray. But I care about the who. And Travis isn't someone you should be involved with."

If I rolled my eyes any harder, they'd get stuck in my skull. "Oh my gosh. I wanna kiss him, not marry him. I'll be fine. Move."

He didn't budge. "He talks too much. Anything you do with him will be broadcasted around school."

Maybe that was true. Travis did seem to speak his thoughts, unfiltered. But I didn't care. I wanted to do something without someone trying to hold me back. Not my brother, and definitely not Corey.

"What are y'all doing up there?" I glanced out the window to see Demarcus waving his arms at us. "Get out! It's unstable."

"Let's go." Corey reached for my hand and I smacked him away.

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

His brows dipped, clearly annoyed. Good. Now he knew how I felt. "You heard what he said."

I crossed my arms, a silent protest. I was done doing what others wanted me to do. He stepped towards me like he was ready to throw me over his shoulder. I stepped back.

Then the floor disappeared.

//
Hi! Hello! Thank you so very much for reading the first chapter of my newest story!

I know I'm the queen of starting stories and later deleting them, but finding *the* story to write is hard.

But I have high hopes for this one!!

🧡