Maya was right. Once we stepped into the club that night, all eyes were on us. I was not used to all this attention if it wasn't for my academic work and I didn't know how to handle it.

"Oh my God, Maya everyone's looking", I whispered loudly to be heard over the thumping bass music reverberating in the club. It made my heart pound in my chest.

"Nothing wrong with them appreciating some fresh hotness up in here. Now you better own it", Maya whispered loudly back.

Own it. I wasn't sure. Maya certainly could, dressed in this stunning monochrome jumpsuit and flashy silver heels that complemented her caramel brown skin perfectly. I had to admit when I looked at the mirror after Maya was done with me, I was shell shocked. The yellow mini dress hugged my curves and the simple black pumps elevated my 5'6 height at least four inches. My pale blue eyes were brought to life rimmed in black kohl, my lips must have been the darkest colour of scarlet lipsticks came in and my usually flat ebony hair was now wavy and bouncy. I looked great thanks to Maya but now I couldn't shake this feeling of uncertainty.

Maya led the way to the middle of the dance floor, saying hi to at least forty percent of the people we brushed against. Damn, the girl knew a lot of people.

"What now?" I wasn't sure of how to handle myself

"We dance honey", Maya yelled over the increasing racket. And sure enough in less than three seconds two strange guys were all up in our space, trying to dance with us. Maya was in her element, laughing as she danced around, grinding and swaying her hips to the beat of a Tinashe song against lucky guy number 1.

I tried to mimic Maya's movements but when guy number 2 grabbed my hips and grounded up on me, I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled away and he groaned, probably realizing he drew the short end of the stick and should have gone for Maya instead.

"Uh... Maya!" I yelled to draw her attention "I'm going to try find Matt"

"Okay Ells" she yelled back "You do you! Call me if you need anything"

I walked away just as the guy who was dancing with me decided to join in on the Maya extravaganza. I pushed past a bunch of sweaty dancing people and made my way to the bar where it was a lot less crowded and I felt I could breathe again.

"Can I pour you a drink?" the bartender asked as I leaned against the counter, trying to catch my breath.

"Oh no I'm..." I began saying but was interrupted by a familiar voice

"Ellie! I've been looking for you" Matt appeared suddenly at my side. He gave me a hug and pulled away, his eyes roaming over me "Wow you look damn good"

"Thank you", I said in return, unable to think of anything else to say. Real flirty comeback, Ellenore.

Matt turned to the bartender. "Hey, get me a gin and tonic straight up and a margarita for the lady"

The bartender got to mixing.

"Oh, Matt nothing for me, please. I don't really... drink", I protested

Matt fixed me with a disbelieving smile. "Are you for real? Why?"

"Umm... I'm nineteen. Not up to the drinking age" I replied just then realizing how lame that sounded

Matt looked at me, like really looked at me. Then he burst into laughter, throwing his head back and all.

Gee, was I that funny. I rubbed my arm awkwardly.

"Wow, you're full of jokes Wyatt. Nearly got me there". The bartender came up with the drinks. Matt took them and handed me the colourful drink with a neon green straw. "Drink up"

I watched as Matt threw his back in a single gulp. It couldn't be that bad right?

I took a long drag from my straw. The liquid hit the back of my throat hard and I almost choked, tears springing to my eyes immediately. I kept my eyes down willing air through my nostrils and praying Matt hadn't noticed what just happened.

He hadn't.

He was busy waving to some guys that were heading up the stairs to what looked like a private lounge.

"Those are my team mates from football", he explained to me "They're the ones that came up with this shindig"

"Oh" I croaked and took another, slower drag from the straw, getting used to the feeling of warmth as the liquid spread through my body.

"Let's go join them", Matt took hold of my hand and led me through the throng of people crowding the opening to the stairs. He led me up the winding staircase to this private lounge that was on the next floor overlooking the rest of the club.

There was a whole other party going on there by its own right. I recognized most of the guys as members of the football team and the girls in their skimpy dresses clinging around them were mostly cheerleaders and groupies. They were all laughing at something apparently quite hilarious as Matt took a seat and pulled me down with him.

"Matt, my man. Finally decided to show", One of the more muscular guys said. He poured himself a glass of Chardonnay and looked at me with a smile "And who is the babe?"

Babe? Me? Well that was something I didn't hear often.

"Devon, this is Ellie. She's in my Thermodynamics class in school", Matt placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed "Ellie, this is Devon, linebacker" He gestured at another guy "I'm sure you know Sean, quarterback. Liam, Quentin, Andrew..." He introduced me to some other guys and a few of the girls. I nodded at all of them nicely, my lips clamped around that straw so I didn't have to say anything.

I hardly noticed when I actually finished the drink.

"Waiter! Can we get another round of shots up in here?" Sean called out to the waiter passing by, picking up people's empty glasses.

"So... Ellie, beautiful and smart. What did you have to do to end up hanging with a fuck up like Matt", Devon said and a couple of guys burst out laughing at his joke. One even gave him a high five.

"Wow real funny Devon", Matt replied drily

I shrugged my shoulders. The drink made me feel less inhibited somehow. "He's not that much of a fuck up" I replied. The guys howled with laughter. Matt even cracked a smile in spite of himself.

The waiter returned with the shot glasses filled with tequila. Devon passed them around and one found its way into my hands.

"To the end of an awesome season", Devon raised his shot glass and everyone followed suit "Bottoms up guys!"

The drinks were thrown back. I raised mine to my lips and cocked my head, doing what the others had done. The drink scorched the back of my throat like a trail of fire. I choked and tried to cover up in a fit of coughs. Matt drew me closer and patted my back with a worried look on his face.

"You alright, Ells?"

"Yeah" I smiled weakly. I was starting to feel a bit light headed

"Your glass is empty", he said. He picked up my empty margarita glass and motioned for one of the waiters to refill it. The waiter returned with it about a second later.

And so the night went on. The guys talked about football, or anything football related. The girls mostly knew each other so they talked amongst themselves. I had nothing to offer, so I quietly sipped my drink and smiled at Matt reassuringly whenever he looked at me. Something should have told me, as I had never really drunk before, I would be a lightweight. I was downright woozy and the room seemed to sway about me after those two drinks.

The waiter came and offered me another one. I pushed the glass away.

"No thanks", I slurred

Matt looked at me questioningly. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "No. Not really"

"Wanna get out of here?"

I nodded. I had had enough socializing for one night. Matt took my hand and led me away, led me down the spiral stairs very carefully.

"I want to find Maya", I informed him.

"Okay, we'll find Maya in a bit", he gave me a strange smile. "Right now I'd like to spend some time alone with you"

I don't know why this sounded romantic to my ears. "Okay" I smiled goofily.

He nodded his head at one of the attendants who motioned to us to follow him. He led the way down a hallway, away from the noise and music of the club to another private area where it was just the two of us. Matt ushered me in and I sat down one of the comfortable looking settees.

"Alone at last", Matt said sitting down beside me

"Yup", I looked around the room "This place is nice". And it was. It looked all velvety and expensive.

"Yeah. My cousin owns this place, so I have access to all areas", Matt explained

"That's nice", I nodded for lack of something better to say.

"Do you want anything?"

"Oh, no. I've already had way too much", I told him

"Well in that case", Matt took one of my hands in his and drew closer, his tone getting husky all of a sudden "I'm glad you came out tonight, Ellie"

I shifted in my seat, feeling even in my drunken haze, the change in the atmosphere.

"I'm glad too"

His hand came out to touch my hair, then my face. "I always knew you were pretty, Ells. But tonight you look so darn sexy"

I was about saying something along the lines of "Thanks. You look good too" when his mouth suddenly came crashing down hard on mine.

His hands came around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I was panicking; this was all too sudden and too quick for me.

He nipped at my lips, trying to worm his tongue into my mouth. "C'mon Ellie" he urged. I tried to relax; this was supposed to be fun. I didn't have to be so uptight all the time. His tongue found its way into my mouth and he kissed me rather aggressively. No gentle smooches for this guy. I placed my hand against his chest, not entirely sure of what to do. I had been kissed a few times in my life, and I knew that this didn't really feel as good as it was supposed to.

Matt seemed to have enough chemistry for both of us as he pulled me even closer so that there was no space between us. His hand wrapped about my thigh and slid up to grab my butt and I could feel the apprehension bubble up in my chest. This was too much, too soon.

I pushed against his chest, trying to pull away but he held me to him even tighter.

"No... Matt stop... please", I mumbled against his lips. Matt obviously didn't understand the meaning of the word no.

"Babe shh... it's alright", his lips came at mine again, and his hand were roaming all over my body and I suddenly got very angry. Who the hell did he think he was to manhandle me like this? I opened my mouth and bared my teeth, biting down hard on his lower lip.

He jerked away, letting me go.

"AAGHH! Bitch!" he muttered some profanities, clutching at his lip.

I felt a twinge of remorse.

"Matt I'm sorry"

"Save it, Ellie" he stood up and looked at me, the lust that had been in his eyes a second ago replaced with anger "You know you don't have to be such a fucking nerd all the time" he spat out. And with that, he was gone.

I lowered my head into my hands, disgusted and embarrassed. This night had just gotten bad real fast.