A fiery red orb of light slowly sank beneath the horizon, and threads of light lingered in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds, dying the heavens first orange, then red, then dark blue, until all that was left of the sunset was a chalky mauve.

I sit aimlessly on my bed looking through the window at the sky. It was already four days into the winter break and the weather says it wont be long before our driveways are filled with snow.

Looking into the next house I see jess in her room busy scribbling something into a book. I have ensured to avoid contacts with any of the siblings, especially that mute brother despite the pleadings of my mum. I see jess get up and move to the door opening it to reveal Ray.

He places a kiss on her forehead and mutters something which gets her packing all the stuff off her bed to a small table at the corner of the room. He drops another kiss then goes out and I feel a wave of jealousy wash over me.

I wish I had a sibling.

I must have been staring because next thing the little brat is at the window giving me a death glare before slamming the curtains shut. I do not understand why she hates me so much but I plan not to get in her way.

Sighing I snuggle comfortably into my bed and bring out my phone. My parents were home, currently occupying the three seaters downstairs and laughing their heads off at a program they loved so much and I hated with a lot of venom.

Deciding on the best way to pass time, I open up my Instagram which was really lacking in followers due to my lack of social life and flick through the various feeds. Finding nothing interesting, I am forced to look at my previous posts and cringe everytime I see an old picture of me -believe me its a painful experience.

" manda!" mireal's sudden entrance has my heart in my mouth. I would never understand her antics. What was she doing here anyway?. She pulls me into a hug temporarily suffocating me. She definitely wants something.

" okay i know you well enough to know you definitely want something so spill " I tell her pointedly and she giggles. " we are going to a party " she deadpans a smile playing on her red lips.

" no way, you know I hate parties plus am very busy and my parents wont let me " I tell her after a moment of digesting what she said. " your parents said you can go I told them about it immediately I came in, and you are bored to death I can see it " she has a smirk glued to her face and I know its pointless to argue.

My parents agreed though??

" what did you tell them mireal " I cross my hands over my chest and give her a look. She rolls her eyes " I just told them its a school party and you didn't want to go ".

" you didn't! " I look at her in horror. " just calm down its Kyle's party and he's been wanting to see you since we started going out " she says already entering into my closet to get something for me to put on.

" what if they find out and since when did you start dating Kyle " I ask running my hands through my hair, a habit which I picked up from Liam whenever he's frustrated.

" its not official but he's really cute and damn he's a good kisser like really really good " she says tossing me a pair of skinnies and a skater cropped shirt. My mouth hangs open and she laughs saying something about flies having a sleepover in there if I don't shut it.

I get dressed and forced to put on some lip gloss in case I get lucky tonight. I don't know why she keeps joking like that when she knows I have Liam already, but I don't question it. I still feel terrible that I haven't told her or Liam about chase who hopefully, wont bring up incident ever again. I have succeeded in burying the memory in my subconscious like it never happened.

" don't stay too long Miranda be home by eleven " mum says barely taking her eyes off the flat screen tv while dad winks me a goodbye.

We get into the car and speed off the road into the night. " so you really never told me, what has been going on with you and Liam " she asks as we turn into a bend on the road and I blush hoping she wont notice.

" you know, normal stuff " I say hoping my voice doesn't give away how I don't want to talk about this particular topic.

" Come on, your not prude and am your bestie " she rolls are eyes playfully at me. " have you seen him naked yet? Because the way you guys were all over each other that night says a lot " she adds and my eyes go wide.

The heat from my cheeks spread to all parts of my body as mireal laughter continues to hurt my ears. She is so mean sometimes, I could seriously stab her.

" you have got to find out if its big though seriously" she says again when I still dont say anything. " Mireal! " I gasp in horror " I refuse to have this conversation with you".

Her laughter fills the car as we pass various cars and traffic lights on our way and I bite down my lip to also prevent me from laughing . " so kyle is very experienced in that area in case you are wondering" she says after calming down.

As expected it had to be kyle.

We make a final bend and the car comes to stop in front of a house. The music was blaring out from the speakers and teenagers with red cups were clustered everywhere. I suddenly feel my head pound from all the noise and my nose scrunched up at the unfamiliar smell of puke and too much alcohol. This was some party.

" Gosh I hate parties " I murmured to myself. I really preferred wriggling my hips to beats while being secured within the walls of my room. " seriously you will like this one " mireal nudges me in the side as we walk to the front door.

We walk into the house and we are greeted by the heat coming from the place. " mireal?" a male voice calls out as we begin to register our surroundings, the music now louder than before . I take a look at the guy and I am wowed. Trust Mireal to always go for the hot ones.

He comes over and pulls Mireal into a hug" I have been waiting for you since the party started". " Kyle this is Miranda, my best friend, Miranda. Kyle" Mireal introduces us when she pulls herself away from him and I smile extending my hand.

He takes it with a sincere smile, his golden orbs piercings into mine. He is surprisingly sober and I notice the dimple at his left cheek. " nice to finally meet you Miranda" he says and I nod in response.

What can I say..cat got my tongue.

" Hey guys! " kyle yells above the music to a group of guys with red cups and girls clutching their arms " they are here ". The guys trod over leaving the barbies where they were, stumbling a bit, they finally made it.

" well hello there " one of them with blonde hair says winking at mireal who gives him a subtle smile. " don't even think about it Mike she's mine " kyle slaps the guy in the head.

Well possessive much?

The blonde whose name is Mike then turns to me with smug smile " kiss me if am wrong, but isn't your name Belle?". I laugh inwardly and rolls my eyes deciding to play along.

" yeah it is, but tell me though, did something bad happen to you or are you just naturally ugly " I say with a sweet smile and a snicker goes round the other guys. I lie. He is totally gorgeous. Kyle is shocked obviously thinking I couldn't talk much and mireal just has a proud smile.

" I like you. Am Mike by the way " Mike says giving me a chaste hug. The others introduce themselves to us as Dave, Craig and Percy and I realise they aren't even bad.

Kyle was the best looking out of them all but Craig had this aura to his personality . His dark curls reminded me of Liam and I blushed faintly when our eyes locked.

" since you are checking me out, want me to get you a drink? " he says throwing a wink my way and an arm over my shoulder. " sorry I don't drink " I tell him with a small smile and he gives me a weird look but later smiles.

" Yo Ray! Where you been?. Pass me a can of soda over there " Craig shouts over my head to someone near the kitchen. In seconds two cans are thrown and caught skillfully by Craig.

Thanking him, I open up the soda and take a sip to lubricate my parched throat, surprisingly it didn't fizzle.
Mireal downs the contents of her cup and is already swaying to the music with Kyle behind her and my feet were doing their own thing, which is understandable because whoever came up with this playlist has a good taste in music.

I turn to look at the person Craig was talking to and my eyes grow wide. It was Ray. The mute dude with a dysfunctional family. I dont really mean that though.

He locks eyes with me, recognition flashing in his eyes, but looks away uninterested. " Where's Kyle? some guys just broke his mum's special vase" he said a hint of amusement lacing his voice.

Oh wow IT talks..it actually talks

"what did you just say? " he asks looking at me, his voice slightly taken aback. I cant believe I said that out loud. Today is probably my last day on earth.

Craig and Dave laugh a little as I turn away and disappear into the crowd before he can do anything to save myself, clutching my drink for dear life. As I make my way to safety while stepping on everyone's shoes in my path, I collide with the wall.

Oh wait walls aren't warm

I look up and find Percy's eyes closed as the contents of his cup dripped down his face. Great I am a walking disaster.

" Oh my God I am so sorry " I ramble frantically trying to find anything at all to wipe the sticky liquid off his face. Eyeing the handkerchief tucked in his pocket, i swipe it out and use it to clean his face.

" its okay, its not like its acid " he says sweetly after am done. " but dance with me if you are really sorry ". I blink confused until his words register. Feeling a bit shy, i duck my head and nod slightly as he takes my hand pulling me back into the crowd.

We dance, constantly swapping partners with Craig and Dave who managed to find me. I was dizzy from all the dancing and trying to ignore all the death glares Ray sent my way. He is a real pest I tell you.

I am on my second bag of pringles, third can of soda and am beginning to think my bladder will fail me soon enough. I lost Mireal a long time ago, checking the time its just 9.30pm and I realise we have been here for more than two hours.

"Hey manda, me and the guys are going up with a couple of friends to chill, you coming? " Craig shouts to me over the music and I shake my head lazily, I had just become good friends with this couch and I didn't want it to end.

He rolls his eyes and his dark hair sways as he comes over and tries to coax me out of my comfortable spot. Noticing my eyes on his hair, he shakes it over my face playfully, something Liam would do.

Liam.

Oh God I miss him.

" no way just go have fun, am satisfied already " I wave him away and he sighs " fine ". I smile and am about to get comfortable with my pringles when he hurls me over his shoulder heading to the stairs.

I pound his back with my fist as my pringles drop from my hands, earning a little whine from him but he keeps moving nonetheless." what a waste a salty goodness " I moan as he drops me in front of a door. " babe, there are other salty things that can get you moaning louder than that and you only have to look here " he says pointing at something.

My gaze drops to his fly. Confused, I give him a look but he keeps his smile in place and my eyes fall back to his fly-

What the actual fudge!

My face heats up in embarrassment as my brain finally deciphers what he was getting at. Guys seriously, how they think of such things to say beats me. I open the door to see a smaller living room than the one downstairs, there was a huge cupboard at a corner - at least that's what I think its is, a few people where already sat in a circle but Kyle and Mireal were engaged in something else.

" dude seriously, if you keep that going you are gonna drain the poor girl " Ray laughs quite amused throwing an empty can of beer at Kyle's head.

Great he is here. I am about to turn back when I feel Craig's hold on my upper arm so I stay put sulking. We join the circle and Kyle comes to the middle when he stopped feasting on my bestie.

" so this is a gathering of all my close friends and some of my new friends, i throw the awesomest parties I know " Kyle says with a smirk and I can tell he's a bit drunk. A snicker goes round and he waits for it to die down before continuing. " this party is to welcome Ray back home after seven bitchy years and to show yet again I throw the awesomest parties " he says finally and the guys claps Ray at back welcoming him.

I was wondering how he got to know about the party but I guess this was self explanatory. He had been friends with Kyle and the others before his family moved to Detroit.

Kyle goes back to his spot beside Mireal and someone starts passing cans of beer. Before I can protest Craig hands me a can of coke. I am beginning to get suspicious of him- he might have issues with my bladder. I take it anyway and wonder where all this is going.

Surprisingly everyone seems comfortable as they are being passed the cans and I know am the only one in the dark. " whats going on Craig?" I whisper to him beside me. " we are playing a game. Never have I ever" he says shrugging.

What?

No one said anything about a game or I would never have come up. Even though I was practically dragged.

" you never said anything about a game " I glare at him accusingly and he laughs. Mike waves to me after sending me a wink, he is sat beside a blonde girl who i recognize from school.

" Never have I ever farted during a class " the statement startles me and I focus on the game at hand. A really busty blonde had started the game, the boys all take a sip from their can and I also see Mireal take a subtle sip.

No way.

Ew.

So that's where the foul smell during English comes from.

" seriously?" Mike gives me a suspicious look and I roll my eyes. So what? I had never farted in class.

" trust me that cant be healthy " Kyle says and a snicker goes round again. Kyle is next to the blonde whose name I think is Kaitlyn so he goes next "never have I ever eaten food that fell on the floor ".

We all take our drinks.

" never have I ever locked my keys in my car" Mireal says and Ray takes a gulp from his beer. I laugh inwardly, he's so clumsy. He was the only one so he went on to tell us his story. " I was hurriedly making out with this hot chick from a club and we wanted to get it on, that's when I accidentally locked my keys in" he ends with a smirk and the other guys give him sounds of encouragement.

Pigs.

" never have I ever fallen down on the stairs " Percy says next myself and three other guys drink from our cans. I wouldn't lie, i did have a mutual relationship with the ground.

" never have I ever sneezed while kissing someone " a brunette goes next and I feel my cheeks hit up as I reach to take my drink. Mireal's eyes widen and everyone starts laughing. I feel Ray's eyes on me, burning my very existence.

" I visited a friend and while- " I go on to tell them my hideously embarrassing story with Chase knowing fully well that Mireal would dig up the rest later when someone bursts through the door.

" Kyle! the cops are here " a boy with whitish blonde hair says breathing heavily. " what?! " Kyle is mad and if he were a cartoon character, he would have steam shooting out from his ears. " what the fuck are they doing here? ".

" some old lady across the street yelled that we were making a ruckus, but guys started puffing smoke in her direction and showing her their asses, guess she got mad and told the cops that we are doing drugs here because that's what they have been saying since they arrived " as the boy rambles on, i feel my heart slam against my chest .

I couldn't go to jail because of some crazy old lady. My mother would kill me for lieing this was a school party and worse my record would be bad for life.

We hear footsteps on the stairs and everyone jumps up in panic. " quick y'all should get in there and try to be as quiet as possible, i ll handle this" Kyle says nudging a panic stricken Mireal into in the direction of the huge cupboard.

We all dash into the cupboard at the same time as the footsteps get closer, struggling to get in which makes us look like an army of really clumsy ants. I find myself plastered to a person as we all manage to get in and Kyle shuts its door.

Everyone is surprisingly really quiet obviously frightened to death that we could be caught, only the sounds of our breathing can be heard. I wonder if Mireal managed to get a good spot in this mess.

It is uncomfortably tight and I was breathing in one too many colognes at the same time. I feel a movement on my backside, a hand was twisted in between my ass and someone else's, the fingers nearing my crotch giving me the feeling of both shock and irritation.

God help me.

" okay which one of you has their hand on my butt? I suggest you get it off or suffer the consequences " I force myself to whisper in the dark.

" that would be me, but its rather impossible because my hand is stuck " Craig says, to further prove his point he tries to wriggle his hand out but ends up rubbing his fingers lightly on my crotch. I feel my face heat up.

Holy mother of Jesus.

" I hope you are feeling comfortable" I realise that its Ray I am unfortunately glued to, my boobs squashed on his chest and all the rest of my front body.

If my mother found me in this position I would be grounded for life.

I decide to ignore him, Craig's fingers were in my sacred place and i really wasn't ready for his bullshit right now. Speaking of shit, i feel my stomach churn which was obviously the effect of the cans of coke and soda I had been ingesting all night.

Voices coming from the room are vivid and I can tell we wouldn't be here long enough because they seemed to understand it was a false alarm but needed to search the place to be double sure. My stomach churns again and I feel my colon expand a little.

Oh God.

Please not now.

My breathing is becoming more difficult as the liquids in my stomach fight for dominance further enhancing my discomfort. Another disturbing sound erupts from the pit of my stomach increasing the feeling in my colon and I clasp my legs tightly together forgetting Craig's fingers.

Shit shit shit

" Miranda what the hell are- " Craig was saying but got interrupted by a loud wheezing sound coming from my behind.

" Oh my God ".

" Miranda did you just - " I hear Mireal's voice laced with unbelief.

Did I just-

Yes I did. I just farted in a wardrobe filled with teenagers and very little oxygen. Fortunately, no smell was perceived.

I feel Ray's body shaking obviously making no attempt to stifle his laughter. The voices from outside stop and someone pushes the door open letting everyone out then they all burst into a wave of laughter.

This was too much. My eyes sting and tears are threatening to spill. I couldn't cry, no, not in front of them. I walk out of the room and sprint down the stairs, ignoring someone calling out my name. I blame Craig, it was his fault giving me all those cans of drinks.

The house was getting empty and I guess Kyle had told people leave immediately the cops left. Getting outside, am greeted with the harsh wind reminding me that winter was near.

My phone kept buzzing, i knew it was Mireal trying to get me. " I am so sorry for laughing like that i couldn't help it, it was too funny" Ray says with a smirk from behind me making me jump.

Great I feel a lot better.

I ignore him and continue staring aimlessly at the road in front of me. " okay let me give you a ride home at least and before you say anything Mireal is in no position to drive you, Kyle is taking her home".

I sigh knowing I have no option and quietly follow him to his car. Getting in I stick my head out of the window ignoring the fact that I could catch a cold by morning.

The drive was quick and quiet. He pulls up at my drive away and I get out muttering a quick thank you.

" mum, dad am home " I call out as I open the door. I see my dad already asleep on the couch and the kitchen light on.

Walking over I see my mum sat at the table a bowl of cereal in her hands. " how was the party honey? " she says with a smile as I walk in and get a glass of water.

" it was okay I guess " I reply thinking. It was actually really good except for the wardrobe incident. Cringing, i drop the cup and hug her good night.

I am almost at the top of the stairs when what she says gets me rooted to the spot.

" I know you didn't go to a school party ".

I slowly turn to face her.

Crap crap crap

Crap.

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AUTHORS NOTE

Been really lazy but decided to update.

So what do you guys think Miranda's mum will do?!.