I'm on my bed painting my toenails when there is a knock on my door, followed by my mother poking through her head.

"There is a call for you." She said, the homeline in her hand.

"That will be Sara. "I said, finishing off my pinky toe. "Tell her that she can pick me up in about fitfthteen."

"Where are you guys going?" Mom let herself into my room. She wore coveralls over her flowery dress. They were painting the living room now, having moved on from the patio.

"Nowhere special." I shrugged. "I think we're just gonna drive around in Sara's new car. Her parents got her a Jeep for her birthday."

"What a waste of gas. Why don't you girls just come around the house, hang around here?"

"Mom, we live on a construction site, there is barely any space for me and Kai to move around in."

"It will all be done at the end of the summer." She waved. " I'm glad that you and Sara have reconnected, god forbid you spend a little time with people your own age."

It is true that I should spend more time with people my own age, there are many ways that my long days with Kai had damaged a few brain cells. I wouldn't really call Sara friend, no. But in school she had been the best amongst the worst and we had known each other since preschool.

"Hey girlfriend!" She greets me, after having honked the horn outside the house to the point where my dad had to run out and tell her to stop.

"Are you ready for a day in my new ride?"

"Yay." I cheered sarcastically.

Sara had dark brown hair. Once we were on the road it blew in the wind the way it would flow underwater.

"Watch out for the curbs!" I pointed out, as another bump under the wheel had my seatbelt make a carve into my belly button. It didn't take long for me to understand that Sara wasn't the best of drivers.

"So tell me about your summer, how has it been so far?"

The car makes a violent twitch to the left as Sara goes to adjust her sunglasses in the rearview mirror.

"I prefer small talk once we've parked. "I said, holding on for my dear life.

"I have a place we can go!" Sara gasped excitingly. "I'm sure everyone is gonna be there."

I continued to fear for my life, at least for another half an hour. Sara had taken the Jeep as far as across town to the most remote place I could have ever expected.

"What are we doing here?" I look around with a frown. We're in the country somewhere, we passed a lake on our way up here. We left the car parked amongst at least dussing trucks carrying flat beds. There were also dussin's of Jeeps parked out there. I was starting to wonder who the owners were to these vehicles, however I didn't have to wonder for long. The shredding noise of motocross engines had caught me off guard and then there was cheer from a crowd of people seated upon a grass hill.

"What's this?"

"Come here, let's join the others." Sara began running for the hill.

I had been so at awe by the scene of dirt bikes going around a muddy track that for a second I had lost her to the crowd of people.

"Sara?"

It was all arranged, I thought. This whole thing, it must be some kind of off book motor racing event. People from all over had gathered, some of the faces I recognized from school, seniors and some people my age, girls mostly.

"Sara, where are you?" Before I panicked Sara's arm had hooked onto mine and in her other arm she had found a third party.

"Ellie you know Gwendeline right, from school?" Gwendeline was a senior who went to the same school as Sara and I. Sara was cool enough to hang out with them and Gwendeline she was bound to go off to university before the summer ended. Her parents were also Italians and so naturally our families knew each other.

"Eleon? Surprised to see you here. I didn't think your mother would let you come to something like this?"

"Well, she doesn't know that I'm here." I said, slightly embarrassed.

"Mine doesn't either." She smiled. "Let's go find somewhere to sit."

It had been a bit off putting in the beginning, with all the noise that the motocross engines generated. But after a while I got used to it and it all appeared quite exciting to me.

"Look!" Sara pointed. "That is Raul Ferenadez, he is the best."

"Raul Fernandez?" I frowned "You mean Boogie?"

"You know him as Boogie?" She frowned. I had recognized the guy in the death skull helmet as one of Enea's surfing buddies, particularly the guy who had left Deniz with a huge grease stain that night on the first day of summer BBQ.

"Not me, Enea does. I wonder if he is ..." Before I could look for his face, Gwendeline came back with our beverages.

"I'm sorry Ellie, all they had was alcohol." She said, handing Sara her beer bottle.

"Not even water?" I frowned.

Gwendeline shook her head. "Not even water. I hope you don't mind?"

"She doesn't mind, right Ellie?" Sara passed on the spare bottle to me. "It's time you had your first drink, No? Why not let it be today?"

"It's not my first drink." I muttered. My parents let both Kai and I have a zip of wine that time we spend a weekend at grandmas.

"Well then, cheers everybody."

"Cheers!" We said, clinking our bottles. My brain tickled with the first tip of the bottle.

Not too long now the race was about to start.

"So what are the rules?" I asked Gwendeline, she seemed to know her way around here better than Sara.

"There aren't any rules." She shrugged,

"No rules? B...but that's dangerous isn't it?"

"That's the fun part." Sara budged in.

"Fun? Right." I wasn't too sure, but then there was an announcement and about ten riders made their way onto the track with their dirt bikes sporting their individual numbers.

"Who's Raul Fernandez?" The skull helmet couldn't be seen from our angle.

"Number twenty-five." Said Gwendeline, helping me point him out.

"And the guy next to him, number twenty-three, who's he?" The rider on the bike with number twenty-three, wore a purple helmet, with sharkbites around it.

"Ellie?" Said Sara, playfully bumping into my side. "I'm surprised you don't know."

"Know what?"

"Well that's Enea Bastianini. You know him don't you, the guy who taught you how to surf last summer?"

"You know Bastia?" Gwendeline said, raising a curious brow.

"Well I don't know him, know him." Heat blossomed on my cheeks. " He's also Italian and so..."

Gwendeline nods understanding. "His uncle owns a surf shop downtown, I haven't been there since I live out here, but I heard it's where people get their molly."

"Their what?" I frowned.

"You know. Their..." Gwendeline gestures with her fingers, smoking an invisible cigarette. It took me a minute to comprehend but once I did my heart was in my throat.

"Oh." Was all I could say. My first thoughts were of Deniz and then of what lies in the freezer in the boathouse. However my thoughts were soon interrupted by the ear puncturing sound of revving engines. The dirtbikes were off, leaving a trail of mud flying into the air.

"Where are they off to?"

Gwendeline leaned in. "Around the lake and back." She said, however, after a while, when the bikes returned from a lap around the lake, I counted fewer than there were at the starting line.

"Enea wins! OMG Ellie did you see that?" Sara shouted happily, as well as the cheering crowd. We had heard the emerging noise of a swarm of bikes, in the front number twenty-three was fighting number twenty-five.

"I can't believe it, '' said Gwendeline." She rose to her feet as did the people around us. "Let's go congratulate them."

I was reluctant, not sure if I wanted Enea to find me in this setting, perhaps he would tell my mother. Luckily for me Sara came to the rescue.

"Actually we're gonna head to the lake, get ourselves a parking spot before it gets too crowded."

"I guess I'll see you there."

"Why are we going to the lake?" I asked Sara once we returned to the parked Jeep.

"For the party of course!"

Once the race was over and the crowd had gathered, a full blown swamp party was held around the lake. There was music and beer kegs. The guys stood showing off their mud infested motocross bikes that had just participated in the race and the girls stood by and nodded impressingly. I kept in the back somewhere, hiding for some reason. Sara had left me for a dip in the lake, she had brought no swimwear but like most girls she settled for her lingeré. The guys loved it of course.

Gwendeline had business of her own. As the night came in, her and Raul Fernadez seemed to get awfully cozy with each other, eventually sticking their tongues down each other's throat. The thought amused me, perhaps she was providing him with his constellation prize having lost the race to Enea? Enea, whom I had successfully been avoiding all night.

I had only observed him from afar. I watched how girls wearing only bikinis would come up to him, flip their hair and pat his arm as an excuse to congratulate him on the race victory. And of course he would eat it up, show off his dimples and at one point show off his muscles, removing his shirt to join his friends in the lake.

"Found what you are looking for?"

I turned around drastically, having heard the voice uttered just behind my shoulder. A guy, shirtless with a trail of tattoos across his torso, stood before me.

"Hi I'm Enzo, you're Enea's friend aren't you?"

"Depends on who's asking?" I said, cocky. This made the guy chuckle. He had a nice smile but not as nice as Enea's

"I've seen you around the shop, you and your brother, I've seen you guys around Alvaro's shop."

I nod, "Yes, that's us."

"Yeah, I've noticed you." The guy said leaning against a nearby tree, his eyes traveled up and down, checking me out. "You're beautiful." He said, his voice seductive.

"Shut up." I snorted, I hadn't seen it coming. Nevertheless my sudden outburst amused him.

"I mean it." He said, trying to get my gaze fixated with his. "If I would have known that you were coming I would have dedicated my win to you."

"What win?" I laughed, the guy was funny, the way he came off as confident despite his fragile figure. He was as skinny as a skeleton, his ribcage showing.

"You didn't win the race Enea did." I said.

"Well Enea is my partner in crime."

I continued laughing.

"You don't believe me? Here let me show you." The guy retrieved a bundle of cash from his back pocket. This seized my laughter, there must have been thousands in there, I thought.

"Where did you get that much money?"

"Baby I think you mean how? I'll tell you how, your friend Enea is one of my riders. Whatever he makes during a race he splits with me and today we scored big time."

A bad taste roamed my mouth, "But that's...that's gambeling." I said, my dad had taught me all about it since his brother ( uncle Rino) had a gambling problem betting on horses. Gambling was a bad thing, Kai and I had been taught.

"You get it now? If Enea wins I win" Said Enzo, however I hadn been listening.

"I think I'm gonna go find my friends now." I said slowly distancing myself from the guy. Suddenly I felt like I was lost in a grocery store looking for my mother. I didn't feel safe here, at least not around these people. I had best find Sara and get out of here.

"Hey, where are you going?" Enzo shouts as well as trailing my steps. "Let's have a drink."

"No thanks, I've had enough." My steps were rapid towards the lake, If I so had to pull Sara out of the water.

I felt the world come down on me like a dark cloud. Down by the lake Sara was being carried upside down making cagestands whilst pouring beer into her mouth.

"Fuck me." I curse, no way she was eligible to take me home with that much alcohol in her body. I barely dared to get into a car with her sober.

"Or perhaps you'd like to party? I've got something that'll make you relax."

"What?" Turning around I saw that Enzo had refused to leave my side. He brought something out of his pocket. A tiny plastic bag containing two blue pills.

"What's that?" I frowned.

"Molly baby." Enzo urged me to stretch out my hand. I did so for research purposes. What Deniz and I had found in that freezer in the boathouse looked nothing like these little blue pills, however if I could take a photo, perhaps I could send it to him and ask him about it.

"What are you doing, you're supposed to put it in your mouth." Enzo frowned, having watched me pull out my phone.

"It's for my Snapchat story." I smiled and took the picture. It was sent to Deniz within seconds, perhaps I should have waited for his response.

"And now...." said Enzo, patiently waiting for me to join him by swallowing the pill.

"Did you have one already?"

"Yeah, your turn."

"Where did you get these?" I asked and I knew that I shouldn't have, judging by the furrowing expression on Enzo's face.

"What are you a narc?"

"No, no I just..."

"Fine, then just swallow the pill." He said impatiently.

"I won't." I said, handing him back the pill.

"Fine." He sighed. "I've got some powder if you prefer that, or some mushrooms, but that's gonna cost you extra."

"What?" I felt like passing out. This was Enea's friend. The guy offering me drugs was one of Enea's best mates. I should warn him that the guy was up to no good, he was using Enea, proferting from his race wins and everything.

"Yeah, I'll have that." I said, but just as an excuse to get "money" that I told Enzo I had left in the car.

"I'll be right back." I said. However on my way there I bumped into Gwendline.

"Eleon, are you okay?"

I had been in such a rush towards the car, almost hypervetńtalating with fear. I would check my messages once in the Jeep. Hopefully Deniz would have seen the picture by now. He would know whether I should call the police or not. If I did, would they arrest everyone and crash the whole lake party? No, I couldn't do that to Sara or Gwen, also Enea could get in trouble for hanging out with these people.

"Elli, can you hear me?" Gwedeline's voice echoed somewhere in the distance as well as Enzo's voice.

"I told her to relax, she just went all paranoid on me. Here she needs something that will help her relax."

Enzo passes on the cup to Gwendeline who passed it onto me. She helped me tilt the drink into my mouth, it's soda and so I shug it all down. I felt slightly better afterwards. Perhaps my blood sugar had been low, mom says I can get a little light headed once that happens. Either way I never make it to the parking lot and my phone containing Deniz 'possible response remains in my back pocket for the rest of the night as it all becomes a blur, the night that is. From the moment that I took a zip of that drink the night was turned upside down. All I felt was forces pulling me left and right.

"Ellie, Ellie! Omg is she alright?" Sara's voice. There was another voice in distress, Enea's.

"Why did you bring her here? Eleon, can you hear me?"

It was like floating on air. Later I was told that Enea had to carry me to his car. He had been the one to take me home. Before that there had been a fight between him and Enzo. I couldn't possibly know what it was about since I hardly remember anything of that night, but I knew it left Enzo with a bloody nose and Enea with bruised knuckles.