AN: Heyyooo check out this awesome edit/gif a really sweet person made for Jayce Stryker ;) hope you like the chapter xx

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It was a typical Sunday morning. We have just been let off school for spring break and my brother and I couldn't be happier. We were so excited to grab our bikes, and ride around the whole neighborhood. I heard the faint voice of our mommy calling from behind, "Have fun darlings! Don't go too far and make sure to come home by dinner!"

I gave Elliot a sideways glance, a silent agreement we had since we were seven, which meant that we would race towards that haunted neighborhood like we always used to. He nodded and we both pushed hard with our feet and took off. I was zooming so fast on my blue bike I thought I was almost going to fly. It was the best feeling in the world. The breezy weather, the smell of newly blooming flowers, the sound of the rustling leaves, and the grass dancing swiftly around us. Elliot was laughing loudly, gloating that he was beating me with just a couple of inches. I put more effort in gaining accelerAtion because I was set on beating him this time. Although he was only two minutes older than me, he would always say that this was the reason he always beat me.

Before I could contemplate and make up an plot on how to win, we were already at the opening of the haunted neighborhood. I put my leg down, wanting to get the bike to a halt. Panting, I realized Elliot had already reached before me, but I just laughed, "Hey! Come on lets turn back and race to the house!"

Elliot got off his bike and removed his helmet, a cheeky smile tugging at his lips. "No, this time," He said, placing his helmet on the hood of the bike, "this time, I'm going exploring little sis."

His tone was daring and full of confidence. I couldn't help but start to panic. "You cant! Mom has forbade us to go there! Its too dangerous Elliot come on."

Mom has always warned us about this place, saying it was full of ghosts and monsters. We used to believe her but now I was thinking that might not be true. Still, its off limits and she would go crazy if she knew we were even that close.

"Come on Ash! We just turned ten! Dont you wanna do something crazy since today's our birthday?" He said enthusiastically, stretching out his hand towards me.

A sinking feeling was forming at the pit of my stomach. Oh my god mommy would freak' was all that was dancing in the back of my head. I clasped my hands towards my chest and shook my head at Elliot's offer.

He shrugged casually, "You're a lamey lamerson."

I wanted to reply back with 'no you're mr. Lamey!' But I stopped when I saw him proceeding to take confident steps towards that dark, small neighborhood. The walls were scrappy, the windows were cracked, the floors were made of bricks, and a howling noise was erupting from inside. It reminded me of Monster House and that made it even creepier.

"Elliot!" I called to his back. He was slowly growing smaller and smaller as he went deeper into the haunted neighborhood. "Elliot! Please lets go home! The sun is starting to set!" I called again. "ELLIOT!" This time I yelled and his head turned back to me, the same dangerous and daring smile drawn on his face. "Elliot please!" I yelled again and again, my voice starting to crack. I didn't dare follow him. I didn't dare take one more step. Maybe I should call mommy so she would pull on his ear and tell him off like she always did. Yes, i should call mommy. "Elliot! I'm calling mom if you don't come back right now!"

And this time, he didn't look back, but just kept going.

Running to where I put my shiny blue bike, I quickly put the helmet on and hopped on, taking a last glance at Elliot's shadowy figure.

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I jolted upright in my bed, taking quick shallow breaths. My whole body was heating up and it would be no surprise if my blood was on the verge of boiling. My heart was slamming so hard against my chest, it was actually starting to ache.

Why did I have to have this dream out of all dreams in the entire universe? Why must this memory haunt me everywhere and every single time? Why must I be tortured constantly with it? Why? Why?

My eyes were prickling and I could feel tears coming on. Tears of heartbreak, tears of agony, tears of sorrow, tears of regret and mostly... Tears of guilt. This guilt was eating me up alive, from the inside out. This guilt that was a constant reminder of how much of a horrible person I am and how much I don't deserve to be the one living here instead of my brother. I should have never left him, I should have never ran away, I should have never been a coward, and I should have been gone instead of him.

I buried my face in my sweat covered pillow and let go of all my raw and torturous emotions, pouring out all these tears I had bottled up. My eyes poured and poured and I couldn't stop. It was like a gate has been opened. I screamed, yelled, sobbed and shot curses all in muffled voices because of my pillow.

Guilt will never leave me alone.

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"Im telling you. From the way he looks at you, Im a hundred percent sure he's into you!" Lyanna beamed at me, as she went through her wardrobe, picking a dress for tonight. "I mean that day at the beach, he was totally checking you out! I dont uderstand why, considering you were sweaty and basically a monster without a leash but still."

I wasnt really listening to her constant rambles because as usual, she always tends to ramble when picking out an outfit. Its a weird habit, I know. I just felt really down today for some reason and my energy was not even close to thirty percent. Probably twenty or even lower. And on days like these, I wouldnt even jump on the offer for a pizza or even a competition of some sort. Yeah, to that extent.

"What was that by the way?" Aly spoke, still placing dresses on herself in front of the full lengthed mirror.

"Huh?"

"You know, what was that at the volleyball court? You were almost going to strangle Jayce and dump him in a river for noone to find!" She chuckled, probably amused at the scene she drew in her head.

"Um... I dont know." I replied boringly. I didnt even have the energy to rant on about how he was cheating, and intent on provoking the life out of me.

"You dont know? You guys were so caught up in your little cat fight that you didnt notice us staring with horror."

"Horror? Aly you see me like that all the time." I said, as I fiddled with the bed sheet covers I was laying on.

"You're right," she sighed. "But still, your threats were freakishly innovative out there. Not that they arent normally like that, but you kicked it up a notch."

"Well if that doesn't give you a clue that Jayce annoys the living souls out of me, then I don't know what will."

Okay, I have exceeded my limits for speaking today. I was seriously not in the mood. Especially bot in the mood for mindless chatter about Jayce.

She groaned, probably realizing I was on one of those days she hated so much. She was rummaging through her closet for matching heels when she spoke up, her back facing me, "anyway, as I was saying. I think you should ask out Sean. I mean, he's clearly into you and well lets face it-- he's hot."

My eyes widened at her phrase. Was she talking about Sean at first? Oh well, Like I said, i was completely fazed out. "Um... Yes he is but--"

"But? Hes like the perfect guy! Hes sweet, blonde hair, green eyes, and damn that body!" Her voice was kind of muffled because her head was deep in the closet as she moved away pairs and pairs of shoes.

She was right. Sean was hot and I guess I liked him too but maybe not in the way Aly was suggesting. I don't know its too weird for me. Maybe she was the kind of girl who would do something like that, but I don't think I'm that straightforward. Especially in that matter.

"Did the cat eat your tongue honey?" Lyanna said, snapping her fingers to grab my attention, "anyway... What do you think? This?" She held up a pair of red strappy high heels up to her face. "Or this?" She said, switching the red heels with black wedges.

I regarded them carefully, in hope of tricking her that I actually care about what shoes go with what dress. "The black ones. They're nice."

"Okay, turn around. I wanna change out of my PJs."

I only closed my eyes since I was already laying flat on my back on her bed.

After a couple of minutes she spoke up, seconds before I was about to doze off into dreamland. "By the way, whats up with you today? Youre not... You."

"Uh its nothing. Im just tired." I said, sitting up.

"Ash, Im your best friend I can easily tell when youre lying."

Aly was almost ready for the party. She wore her red dress that clung to her curves tightly that it enhanced her figure in a beautiful but sexy manner. The black wedges actually looked nice with it and I was actually proud of my choice.

I sighed when I spotted her worried face. "Im fine. Its just..."

"Just what hun?"

"Its just... I dreamt of...of Elliot today." I said, in the lowest voice I could muster. It felt that all the breath left in me was suddenly pushed out harshly. Tears were threatening to engulf me but I held back.

"Oh baby." Aly replied with the softest tone. Sitting beside me on the bed, she grabbed my hand and started circling my knuckles. The look in her eyes, that of pity, made me want to disappear altogether. I hated feeling vulnerable. I hated being vulnerable. It wasnt me and it wasnt who I am. A strong exterior was what kept me going and talking about this topic especially, made me feel lost and like I was a little girl again.

"Was it that same memory again?" Aly questioned, after a long silence.

"Yes."

"Listen. I know you'll deny it, but its not your fault! Things like this happen. You were ten for crying out loud theres nothing you could've done even if you wanted to."

I looked at her and she was speaking with this sincerity that made me want to believe her. To believe that this guilt wasn't supposed to fester in me anymore. "I could've gone in with him."

"Of course not! If thats the case then you would have never... you know, met me." She said softly, still stroking my hand. I smiled back weakly.

"Yea you're--"

The door to Aly's room suddenly thrust open, revealing a very excited Liam.

"Honey, Im home!" He beamed, grinning.

His smile quickly dropped when he spotted us sitting on the bed, faces full of sadness. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Yes! I was just telling Ash that she should get her ass up and get dressed before I dress her up myself!" Lyanna said jokingly, getting up towards the makeup station as she loved calling it.

"Oh... now, I would love to see that." Liam said, with a wink.

Aly grunted with disgust and I chuckled.

I mouthed a thank you to her and she smiled warmly in response. How can anyone survive without a best-friend?

The burden is always easier to carry when shared by two.

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Liam had basically begged me to drive the Mercedes, and being my awesome self, I agreed. Definitely not before I made him promise to buy me a double sized burger with extra large fries the next time we were out. And of course when I saw that he was completely willing to do that, I also added in a fudge cake from the Cheesecake Factory.

Aren't I the best of friends?

So, Liam, Aly and I were all taking the same ride to Sean's party. He had texted me the address a day before, and I realized it wasn't actually that far from my place. After a five minute ride with Liam's crazy driving skills that nearly got us killed without any traffic present, we arrived at our destination.

You can not miss this house even if you tried. Dozens of beer bottles were littering the front yard, the music was blasting from the inside, people were practically poking out the windows because of how much crowded it was. The house was definitely huge, and I was guessing a house this big could fit a hell lot of random teenagers. I suddenly felt anxious about going inside. This definitely wasn't my place.

"So anyone wanna go back and dig into a tub of icecream?" I questioned boringly, turning my head to meet Liam and Aly's excited faces.

"Yo come on Ashy don't be a baby!" Liam said, nudging me in the ribs with his elbow. "You could easily get a quick hook up around here. Its probably full of drunk, horny teenagers."

"Ew. Well, guess what? My first priority in life isnt to have a random hookup with some random guy."

"Who said it has to be a guy?" He said giving me a wink and opening the door to get out.

I sighed, knowing that I'll just have to suck it up and pretend to enjoy myself for Sean's sake since he invited me here.

A horribly drunken guy whistled when Aly and I walked past him, going for the house. She threw her long, fiery red hair backwards, enjoying the attention. Instead, I scrunched my face in disgust at this non-respectable gesture. Liam placed an arm around Aly's shoulders and tugged her closer to him. She looked up at him with wonder but he ignored it, and I chuckled at the serious face he was trying to pull.

The moment we stepped in the front door, I was basically starting to lose my hearing. Animals by Martin Garrix was on full volume, engulfing the whole house with deafening music, and the whole crowd in the middle of the room were all jumping accordingly to the beat. Girls were grinding on guys, other guys were cheering them on shouting statements such as 'Twerk that ass baby', others were having an intense beer pong game and most of them looked incredibly drunk. And of course, there were at least three couples making out in every corner.

Okay wow, this is so not my place. We were only two hours late, but from the looks of it, it seemed this party got wild super fast. It was only eleven and people were already passing out on the stairs, or bumping into all that is around them. Turning around to look at Lyanna, i found her scanning the surroundings, probably looking for someone.

"Hey! Who are you looking for?" I yelled in her direction, but she didn't seem to hear me. I poked her in the shoulder and her head turned at me. "Who are you looking for?" I yelled.

"WHAT?" She mouthed back. She was probably yelling too but her voice was easily swallowed by the loud music.

Shaking my head, I spoke loudly, "Are you looking for someone?"

She shrugged and resumed her scanning.

Couple of meters away, I spotted Ellis chattering away with three girls. He seemed to be cracking some hilarious joke because they were all nearly tearing from their laughter. The way He was making gestures with his hands suggested it was some kind of A funny story. I chuckled at his cuteness. Realizing Lyanna was also staring at that scene, I gave her a nudge. "Hey, you know... you can go talk to him if you want."

Her eyes widened but she looked unsure. "You think so?"

"Yeah, Im sure he'll appreciate it."

"Uh I don't know. He seems to be having fun. I don't wanna barge in like a loser." She said, fiddling with her fingers.

"Come on, you know you want to. Im telling you, Ellis will like that." I shrugged.

She smiled with a little more certainty than before, "Okay...Thank you Ash."

After I watched her trot over to him confidently, I realized I was by myself. Liam has probably left us from the moment we stepped in, obviously going after some girls.

Im always being ditched by my lovely friends. Maybe Ill go get a drink then.

Pushing through dozens of sweaty, drunk teenagers, I marched towards the kitchen. The air was stuffy and one can easily suffocate in here. Well, not to that extent but yes it was that crowded. I recognized some people from our school, but most were people I haven't even met. They looked like college students and I wondered how Sean and the others knew that much people although supposedly they moved here recently.

Finally reaching the kitchen, I reached for the root beers lined at the counter. At least the kitchen was a bit less rowdy.

"Hey! You came!"

Halting my cursing on the fact it was so fucking hard to open a beer bottle, I turned around to find a smiling Sean. His blonde curls were in a messy bunch on his head, and his eyes were the usual stunning shade of green. I adored how they always carried such softness to them and I loved how his smile was always so real and happy.

"No I didn't. Im still at home eating a huge bucket of double chocolate chip ice-cream and watching freakishly disturbing horror films. I don't know who you think is standing right in front of you." I mused, my lips involuntarily tugging into a half smile.

Sean grinned a wide toothy grinned as he shook his head. "Ah... you're something. Okay, Ill rephrase." He cleared his throat. "Hey Ash, Im so glad you made it! Its a pleasure seeing you here!"

This time, it was my turn to grin. "Thats better. And thanks." I said, giving him a pat on the head, as he laughed at my gesture.

We chattered away easily for a couple of minutes. He was easy to talk to and I actually felt comfortable. Other than the fact I was thinking how horrible this beer tasted, the whole thing was quite enjoyable, although we weren't actually in the party.

"By the way," Sean said, after an argument about how Video games were a waste of time or not. "You look beautiful."

My eyes widened for a fraction of a second and I didn't know what to say or do.

Did he just say that?

I don't usually get complimented on my looks. Sometimes the compliments would be about my brains or my amazing competitive skills, but they were barely about my looks or anything similar.

"I like that you have your own style and it makes you, you know..." He continued, raising his gaze to meet mine "Special."

I was wearing a simple dark blue romper which reached to mid thigh and it had thin, spaghetti straps. I topped it up with a simple belt, and I wore some white converses to complete the look.

Even if it was a party, there was noway in hell I would wear those feet torturing heels that Aly adored. Of course she protested a lot about my outfit and picked about twelve different dresses for me, but I refused them all.

The crazy thing was, that I felt my cheeks heat up at Sean's compliment. It felt... nice. Hearing those words from him felt nice for some reason, but I didn't know what to say. Should I smile, or shake hands and say thank you, or just give him another pat on the head?

I mean what do people do in such situations?!

Before I could do something pathetic, a song by Justin Bieber was being blasted in the living room, on top volume.

Sean looked around exasperated. "What the-- These girls!" He said, getting up from his seat. "I told them no Justin Bieber!"

He stomped away, wanting to rescue his music. Turning around and giving me an apologetic smile he said, "I'm sorry Ill be right back. Oh by the way, try the punch! Its awesome."

"Aha...okay." I mumbled to myself, but he was already zooming past dancing teens.

Getting up from the wooden chair I was sat on, I proceeded towards that huge punch bowl sotting on the counter. It was the color of crimson red and honestly, it looked kind of weird.

There was definitely alcohol in this.

No, i wont be drinking alcohol in some random party, its not who I am.

When I turned away, a voice spoke in the back of my mind something about 'what happened with the stepping out of your comfort zone since you're a senior now?'.

Was I talking to myself again? Not that thats new.

I sighed and decided that it was okay to let loose once in a while, since I was already in a shitty mood from this morning.

Picking up a red plastic cup, I grabbed the ladle dumped in the red liquid filled bowl, and filled it up.

Of course, being me, I dropped it on the floor, along with the punch that was present in it. I growled angrily and then sighed. Whats so hard about using a ladle Ash?

Cursing, I crawled under the table to grab it, but hit my head pretty hard when trying to get up. Typical.

An arm stretched from above me and grabbed the fallen cutlery. I quickly looked up to find a smiling Jayce.

Im just so lucky today. Wow. This is why I didn't want to come because well, Jayce would be trotting around thinking he's boss.

"Look, I knew you wanted me badly but I didn't expect you to actually beg on your knees, Ashton." Jayce spoke up dramatically, regarding me with amusement.

I was on my hands and knees right in front of his feet, gaping at him with an open mouth. And obviously he took advantage of my current situation and decided to make a retarded remark.

"Oh shut up you goon thatll never happen even in your wildest dreams." I said angrily, trying to get up from the littered floor, and dusting my hands off on my thighs.

"Shortcake, you don't even wanna know what kind of wild dreams I have. Trust me, everything is possible." He countered mockingly twirling the ladle between his fingers.

"Stop calling me that!" I growled. "And give me that you ignorant shit." I snatched the ladle from his hands roughly, and he merely chuckled. Im sure my outfit was already so dusty and my hair had decided to act all out.

"What kind of a girl crawls under the table?" Jayce mused, his arms crossed.

"The kind of girl that will kick your stupid ass if you dont go away."

"Do you realize that you curse in every single sentence you say?"

Scoffing, I grabbed my red plastic cup and half filled it with the colored punch.

Of course I know I curse in every sentence. Any idiot I meet enjoys pointing that out. Maybe if I get drunk enough, Jayce would magically disappear. Ahh the pleasure.

"May I kindly know why you are still here, blocking my way?" I said, taking a sip of the punch.

Oh, my god what the--

"Ugh! What the fuck is in that? Its so strong and frankly very very disgusting!" I exclaimed a bit too loudly.

In my defense it did taste horrifying. There must have been like fifty liters of vodka alone in this.

Jayce laughed mockingly at my scrunched face. "Its Vodka, tequila, Rum, Red-bull, and raspberry juice and some red food coloring. Actually scratch that, theres barely any raspberry."

His grin grew wider and he grabbed the cup from my hand and took a big gulp. "Oh and by the way, if you want to be thanking anyone for this magnificent drink, you should thank me. I mixed it all up." He said enthusiastically.

Is this boy retarded? This is by far the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted in my life.

Although, if you wanted to get super drunk, this was possibly the perfect drink for you. Thats probably why Jayce decided to put such strong mixtures in it in the first place.

"Is something missing from your ego filled brain?" I said, picking another cup from the nearby counter and filling it with more punch.

I know its horrible but hey, its a party. What harm can be done from drinking some god knows what mixture made by Jayce?

Never mind, dont answer that.

Jayce was regarding me carefully with an amused expression, and he looked like he was thinking of something. "I got an idea for you."

"Spare me your moronic ideas please I don't need--"

"Seriously do you sometimes shut up?"

Hell, this idiot is so getting his butt kicked all the way to Brazil.

"For your information, some people actually really enjoy my conversations." I said casually, trying to sound indifferent.

He smiled this dark smile. "Aha, I highly doubt that shortcake. They probably tell you that so you wont bite their heads off."

I rolled my eyes. Do I really come off as that scary? Im an angel in my opinion. Well, not really but I'm not scary.

"Move from my way ass-wipe." I waved my hand dismissively at him.

"Lets make a deal, Ashton."

"No thanks I'm fine being tortured by your annoying existence I don't need a deal with you especially."

"How about," he said, totally ignoring my remark. "every time you insult someone or curse throughout this party, you take a shot of tequila."

"Any why the fuck would I wanna do that?"

He grabbed a bottle from an uppermost shelf and I realized it was a bottle of tequila. With an amused smile, he opened it and poured a bit into a cup, that he stretched out to me. "Drink."

My brows furrowed at the sight of him. "What?"

"Drink. You just said fuck."

"Why would I wanna agree to that stupid deal?"

"Because you curse a hell lot and well," he poured some tequila for himself and gulped it down. His face scrunched up and his brows furrowed when he continued. "Why not make some fun out of it?"

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Are you admitting that you curse more than the normal un-mentally challenged human being?"

"Why do you have an answer for everything? Is that what they teach you in the how to be an asshole handbook?"

Laughing, he answered back, "why do you, shortcake?"

"Stop you little stupid--"

"Hey, you dont want another shot do you? You already have to take one."

"I didn't agree to that!" I said through gritted teeth.

"You wanna make this party fun or do you wanna just be the girl who sits in the corner and blushes when some guy compliments her?"

Oh my god.

Did he hear the convo between me and Sean? Thats so embarrassing.

I realized I was starting to blush so I looked away, because I knew Jayce wouldn't stop for a second to throw in another sarcastic comment.

"Fine." I spat, snatching the cup that had the tequila in it. "give me that."

It was like a fire burning down my throat when I gulped the liquid. It felt so strong and tangy, That it made me dizzy for a second. I wasnt used to this kind of thing but something in me wanted to do it just to prove to Jayce I wasnt some kind of prude.

"Now, thats more like it." He mused.

This is going to be a fucking long night.

Oops, thank god I didnt say that out loud or it would have cost me another shot.