FROM MILES AWAY, DARREN COULD hear the music coming from the mansion. Sound waves didn't seem to care that the windows were closed to keep all outside noise out, and they were set on destroying the eardrums of many teenagers tonight. And despite the fact that he should have been able to prepare himself for the volume when he'd first noticed the music minutes ago while still being far away from the music's source, he was still overwhelmed when he opened the passenger door of the white Kia. He had to suppress the need to put his fingers to his ears.

So, this was what people liked doing on Friday nights, he thought to himself. This was the American life.

Dakota got out of the car too, grinning from ear to ear as she looked up at the mansion she'd just parked in front of. Colorful lights were coming out of the windows on every floor, and they could see the shadows of people inside. The front doors of the huge building were wide open and Darren could just see how a couple disappeared behind them.

"Are you ready?" Dakota asked.

Would he ever be, he wondered. There was a reason he avoided parties: they were overwhelming. The combination of loud music, the flashing lights, and the sweating people always seemed to overpower him. How could he ever compete with such an intense environment? In situations like this, he didn't feel like he could be himself, no matter how hard he tried to prepare.

Dakota sensed his hesitation. "Now, we're here to have fun, all right?" she said.

Darren looked up to the building once again. The shadows of the people in the window seemed to have fun, and he should be able to have that feeling too. He pressed his lips together and nodded. "Yeah," he confirmed. "Let's have fun."

A big smile appeared on her face. "That's the spirit!" She put her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close, just for a second, before releasing him. "Let's go inside." With a few quick steps that had a happy bounce to them, she walked towards the entrance, and Darren followed.

The opening of the doors of the mansion let the music enter Darren's ears unfiltered, overwhelming him with its loudness, but all the other partygoers didn't seem to be affected by it as much as he was. Instead, it freed them, and their bodies moved loosely on the beat in a way that seemed to come naturally to them.

Dakota took Darren's hand while she found her way to the crowd, as if she knew exactly where she was going. Darren didn't mind it; he was just happy he couldn't lose her this way. The only reason he was even going to this party was her.

She turned around to him and said something, but her voice got drowned out by the rhythmic sounds.

"What?" Darren yelled.

"Can't – without a drink!" Half of her sentence was still inaudible, but that didn't matter; he knew what she meant. She wanted to start off the night with some alcohol and he didn't think it unreasonable if he was offered some too.

Darren could remember the last time he drank alcohol. It was this summer, on his eighteenth birthday, and his father had taken him to a typical Scottish pub to get his first legal drink. The waitress had put the tall glass with apple-juice like liquid with foam on top in front of him with a knowing grin, as if she knew that this would be his first taste into the world of adult beverages, but hadn't said anything. His father had looked at him expectantly as he took his first sip – which had also been his last. As soon as the bitter taste touched his tongue, he put the glass down, and he had difficulty swallowing the tiny sip he had taken. No, alcohol wasn't his cup of tea, just as much as parties weren't.

However, he didn't want to swear off alcohol on one bad experience, and he knew that going to America would mean he'd have to open himself up to many more new experiences. Parties and alcohol might just be two of those.

Dakota's hand slipped away from his, and the feeling of panic that arose quickly subsided when he saw why: they had arrived at what would function as a self-serve pop-up bar for the night. Dakota's hand navigated itself through the array of bottles and picked one out, after which she filled two red cups that Darren recognized from American movies. She handed one of those to Darren and mouthed "Cheers", but if she actually said the word was something he would never find out as in that moment, he felt a light, tender hand being laid down on his shoulder from behind him.

"Darren!" a sweet, poised voice told him in an unnaturally loud voice. He immediately recognized the sound, and when he turned around, his suspicion was confirmed. However, unlike other times he saw this girl, she wasn't alone this time, but had a friend standing on either side of her, holding red cups identical to the one he'd been given.

"Allison?" he asked. He was too surprised to see her at a place like this to realize that he should be raising his voice.

She broadened her smile. "And Amelia and Anna," she added to Darren's comment, suggesting she had heard him. When hearing their names, Amelia flipped her brown hair bound in a long ponytail over her shoulder and Anna gave Darren a small wave.

Dakota leaned over to Darren and whispered in his ear, "I'm leaving." Her eyes had a warning look.

"Already?" he replied.

"If you don't want me to rip their hair out," she said. "It's bound to happen if I'm in their vicinity for too long. Really, it's better for all of us."

Darren thought about going with Dakota, but before he could make a decision, she had already left and he was foisted off with the three A's.

Allison's eyes followed Dakota until she was out of sight, and turned back to Darren. "So, I didn't take you for the type to go to parties."

He wanted to say he wasn't, how Dakota had dragged him here and he hadn't protested, but the words didn't leave his lips. "Well, I'm here now," he said instead.

"Do you know Kenzie and Justin?"

Darren gripped his red cup tighter. "Who?"

Allison raised her brow. "They host this party." It came out as a question, and on the faces of Amelia and Anna, Darren saw a smile appear. "They're over there, actually," Allison continued. "You should meet them. They're really nice, don't worry. Actually, Justin is the cousin of my neighbor, which is how..."

☆

In all honesty, having Allison, Amelia and Anna as company was not as bad as being alone at a party like this. Of course, he'd rather be sharing this experience with Dakota, and every time he saw her from across the room and she gave him a knowing smile, he was reminded of that fact, but being around the three A's meant there wouldn't be any silences and he wouldn't be among a group of strangers by himself. Actually, the three A's – and Allison especially – were perfect guides for a crowd like this. They knew everyone and they always introduced someone with a memorable story.

"... and she had a bald spot on her head that took forever to grow back!" Allison concluded. She snickered as another thing came to mind. "It looked so strange, especially since she had really long hair and there was just this one spot on the side of her head that had unfashionably been shaven off. It took so long to grow back that she decided to get a tattoo."

"On her head?" Darren frowned.

Allison nodded. "It said, 'Never again.'" She exchanged looks with Amelia and Anna, who burst out laughing at the memory. "If you'd ask her, she'd show you the tattoo."

Darren shook his head, but couldn't suppress a smile. It sounded too absurd to be true.

A familiar, female voice burst from the crowd. "That's enough, Julian." Her tone was annoyed, and her face that appeared from between the many people had the same expression. Soon, the reason for Dakota's annoyance was revealed when someone else emerged from the mass of partygoers, someone Darren recognized as the boy from the car who had asked if they would come to this party instead.

Allison's attention was also drawn to the scene unfolding before them. "Do you know that guy?" she asked Darren.

"It's not Bennett," Amelia added.

"Come on, you liked it," Julian said to Dakota with a sly smile. He grabbed her arm.

"She knows him," was all Darren said to the three girls. He stepped away from them, approaching Dakota. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Dakota seemed to notice him for the first time, but she could disguise her surprise. "Yes, I'm fine," she said. "It's just that not all boys know where to keep their hands."

Darren froze up. What did that mean?

"Let's go outside," Julian begged. He was still holding onto her hand and yanked her closer.

"Let go!" She looked at the unwanted guest with penetrating eyes, her blue eyes seeming more blue than usual in this light. She turned away, noticed the worried look in Darren's eyes and leaned toward him. "He's drunk, don't worry."

Like that made any of this okay. It just gave Darren another reason to despise alcohol.

"Dude, let go of her," a male voice yelled. He popped up out of the crowd, who all turned around to see what was happening. "I won't tolerate this shit at my party." It was Justin, the host of the party. Amy had introduced him as her neighbor's cousin who she'd met via Kenzie, Justin's girlfriend. "Always in for some fun, but has a strong moral compass," was how she'd described him. Darren guessed this was Justin's moral compass at work.

"She's fine," Julian said. Darren noticed the slur in his words that he tried to hide by patting Julian friendly on his shoulder.

"I don't think she is," Justin replied. "She just said she wasn't, didn't she?"

Dakota freed herself of Julian's grip. "Guys, this is not necessary," she said.

"See?" That was Julian.

"That doesn't mean I don't want you out of my hair," Dakota bit back. "It's my way of saying I can stand up for myself."

Julian shook his head and smirked. "Come on, you have to admit you enjoyed yourself." His arm reached out to wrap around her waist, but before it ever got that far, Dakota grabbed his arm and twisted it. Julian yelped. "Fuck, woman!"

From there on, everything happened in a whirlwind. Julian approached Dakota again, but this time, Justin jumped between them and pushed the guy off her. Julian stumbled backward, but managed to stop himself from falling by leaning on the bodies of other attendees. If there were still people who hadn't noticed the commotion, they certainly did now; all eyes turned to the tumult.

Julian's eyes widened, and for two seconds, the entire room was quiet save for the loud music that went on undisturbed, but then he stormed forward with his fists clenched, ready to hammer in on Justin. At the same time, another guy jumped out of the crowd and got in between Justin and Julian. He caught the slinging fist of Julian and gripped his arms tightly to stop him from attempting another attack.

"Kevin?" Julian said dumbfounded when he recognized the face of the guy stopping him. "I thought I'd lost you!"

It was the driver of the car that had led Darren and Dakota here, Darren realized. And another helper in disguise.

"If only it was possible to lose you," Kevin groaned. "Come on, let's go."

Julian shook his head and his mouth fell slightly open. "But, Kev, this guy..."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I know." However, he didn't give in to the urge to attack Justin, and instead, he dragged Julian away from the site. To Dakota, he said, "Sorry."

Justin watched as the two walked away. His chest went up and down quickly, and he took deep breaths. When Kevin and Julian were out of sight, his eyes fell on the crowd, whose eyes were all on him. "What are you looking at?" he said. "There's nothing to see here!"

That worked; people turned their backs toward them and slowly, they began dancing again.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked Dakota.

She nodded and cast her eyes down. No words left her lips, but the gesture seemed to satisfy Justin anyway. He must have realized that while he and Dakota were still close to each other in physical distance, they would get the attention of the people around them, so he did what he deemed was best and walked away.

Only now did Darren dare to approach Dakota. "Are you okay?" he asked too.

"Yeah," she said. She looked around the room and avoided his gaze.

"What did Julian want from you?" Darren asked.

She raised her shoulders and sighed. "I don't know." She stared out the nearest window into the pitch-black night. "It's not important, okay? He was drunk, so let's just forget about it."

He wanted to protest, but she was able to get words out before him. "Can we go?" she asked. "I don't feel like being here anymore."

He nodded; of course, she didn't. His eyes searched for the exit, and his feet followed Dakota, who seemed to know exactly where to go. However, as they left the mansion, Darren couldn't shake the feeling that he should've done more. He should've protected her, get ready to fight like those other boys did. But he'd only stood watching on the side like all the other partygoers, and the realization that he hadn't helped her in the moment she'd needed him brought him a sense of guilt he wouldn't be able to shake for a while.