The walk around the vast space and through jumbles of people takes some time, but I never find Derek. I've walked all over the massive house, but can't find him anywhere. I ask all of his friends that I bump into but no one has seen him either. I check all of the bathrooms, which had girls snorting cocaine and guys getting handjobs without locking the door, and the tightly packed kitchen, but still no sign of him. I am about to pull out my phone to call him again when I hear Mike calling out Derek's name. I walk around the corner and Derek is by the front door, putting his letter jacket on.   

"There you are! I couldn't find you!" I shout and he completely ignores me as he opens the front door. I run out behind him to catch him, but he doesn't turn around at my shouting. "What the hell Derek, I'm talking to you," I yell loudly. He suddenly whips around and snaps, "Oh, is Liam busy?" I stop in my tracks and shake my head.

"What? What does that even mean?" He points toward the backyard as he snaps, "I leave to get you a drink and five seconds later, you two are already huddled up together."

"To talk about Harper!" I exclaim.

"Right Ellie, he's only hanging out with her to get close to you and you don't seem to mind. It's not that hard to see that she's not the one he's into," he says with a shake of his head. "I'm sure he won't mind giving you a ride home either. I'm out." He throws his hands in the air and strides off towards his Jeep. I watch him shove a kid out of his way and sneer, "Move dirt!" Mike and Aaron follow and I am left standing alone in the grass. I am now confused and pissed off and I quickly stomp my way back into the house.

I'm beyond annoyed as I make my way out back, and am about to kick a flower planter in frustration when I no longer see Lily, Liam, or Harper at the firepit. I push through the crowd of drunken people until I see the back gate slightly ajar, and wonder if they made it to the front to leave too. Liam certainly seemed eager to leave.

I glance down at my phone and see I am not going to make curfew now. I don't want to be here and am going to be grounded when I walk in, looking slutty and over an hour late. I can tell I'm swaying from the booze and my heels are making my walk around this never-ending house even harder.

I stumble to the gate and heave it farther open until I see the driveway is still full of cars. I continue stumbling around like a baby deer to see if Liam's car is still here, but there are three identical BMWs parked on the driveway. I can't tell which one is his.

I really want to go home when my stomach starts feeling queasy from mixing alcohol just as I thought it would. Why did I take that last shot of tequila? I tug at Lily's stupid skirt, hoping to free the tight waistband from my upset stomach. I regret switching skirts with Lily and wonder how she can wear this sweaty bandage wrap. The balls of my feet ache from the height of my heels and right as I'm about to plop down in the grass with defeat, I see Ashley and Brittany stumbling out of the front door, walking behind two other cheerleaders. I yell out Brittany's name to get her attention and she stops to find me.

"Hey, can I please catch a ride with you?" I beg. It's obvious they have all been drinking, but I only live a few blocks away.

"Yeah, I just have to figure out how I am going to get my car out. It's blocked by like, ten others," Brittany says while she fumbles for her keys. I hear my phone ring from within my purse and I attempt to fish it out. It looks like the number Liam called me from earlier so I answer.

"Hello."

"Ellie, where are you?" Liam asks, sounding completely panicked.

"About to get a ride home. Where are-" He cuts me off. "Don't get in Brittany's car, Ellie. Stay where you are!"

"What? Why?" I ask, suddenly very confused.

"I'm serious Ellie, don't. Wait for me I'll be right there." The line goes dead and I see Ashley climbing into the white car. Brittany honks at me to climb inside but I wave to her and shout, "Go ahead Brit, I guess I'm not leaving yet. See you Monday." She waves back and then drops into her front seat. The door closes and I watch as it takes her several tries to get out of the gridlock. People are watching her bad attempt to pull out and I know this would even be hard for her to maneuver around if she was sober. She finally squeezes by and peels out down the driveway. My attention moves from the fleeing car to the front door where I see Harper coming right at me looking furious.

"Hey, what's going on?" I ask and before I know what's happening, she has me knocked down on the cold grass with her lying on top of me.

"What the hell Harper?" I scream as I put my hands up to block her slaps. Liam comes and yanks her off of me but she is still frantically swinging her arms around. My skirt has inched up to an inappropriate length and she's managed to rip my hair out of my ponytail. She's screaming at me like a lunatic but thankfully Liam still has a hold on her.

"You're a bad friend, Ellie Adler! And a bad girlfriend! I am telling Derek everything! You are so selfish!" She is struggling against Liam's hold and she pushes against him to break free of his grip around her.

"What are you talking about? You're going crazy over a guy, Harper!" I shriek as I pull myself up from the cold ground, trying not to snap my ankle on the unevenness of the grass.

"This isn't about just a guy! This is about girl code! Why was Liam calling you? Why does he even have your number?" She screams. She has a slight slur to her words and her eyes are glassy and bloodshot. She has had far more to drink than I have. I also notice she is not addressing Liam in her rant, even though he's standing behind her. "When did you give Liam your number?" She seethes. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you've hardly hung out with Derek all week, Ellie. You two always study together but oh no, not since Liam got here, you slut! What is it that you two do after we all hang out after school together hmm? Although, I know you two aren't sleeping together because you're an uptight virgin!" She drunkenly rambles. She never lets me interrupt her screaming tantrum to inform her that Liam and I have never hung out alone besides the twenty-minute tour of my house, but I'm silent when she finally hurls that last insult. She's managed to call me a slut and a virgin in the same drunken ramble and I'm about to unleash my wrath on her.

Right as I go to correct her, we hear a large crash in the distance. The sound of broken glass and tires squealing across the gravel fills our ears. Everyone out front hears it and breaks into a mad sprint down the street. Liam and I stare at each other and I suddenly throw off my heels and follow the crowd.

The gravel road beneath my bare feet starts to hurt, but I continue to run down the hill with everyone else. We make it around the corner of the block and see a familiar white car's front hood wrapped around a light pole.

It's Brittany's.

Fear fills me, but I keep sprinting toward the car even though my lungs are already burning. Tears build as I see smoke coming from the engine. I look behind me and scream for someone to call 911. The doors on the car aren't opening from the inside and I see people quickly surrounding the car trying to pry them open.

I keep my distance, not wanting to get any closer to the damage. Liam is suddenly behind me and pulls me into a hug. Normally I would pull away, but fear is keeping me in Liam's embrace. I watch the chaos from Liam's arms but fear has me paralyzed. I'm now too scared of what I could possibly witness when they get the doors open. I start to feel warm tears slide down my cheeks and I feel my pool of wetness on Liam's shirt. The guys are still tugging at the car doors when we hear the sounds of an ambulance in the distance. Liam quickly pulls away from me and pushes me, telling me to run.

"Ellie we can't stay here, we need to get out of here. You're going to get arrested for underage drinking. Let's go!" I still can't look away from the accident and people are becoming frantic, wondering what to do. I know standing here won't help anyone but I need to know they are alright.

"Help is here Ellie, come on! If we stay, your future is going to look a lot different." He grabs my hand and we sprint back towards Piper's house. My feet ache from slapping against the pavement and I'm panting when I pull myself out of my daze.

We make it back to the lawn and Lily is still with Harper looking terrified. Lily has her arms around Harper's waist while Harper has her head nuzzled into Lily's neck. She's playing pity party while our friends are smashed into a light pole down the street. I yell at her to get in Liam's car, but Harper flips me off and Lily stays with her. I know the cops will be here any minute, but they aren't moving. Liam quickly finds his BMW and starts the car. I give them one more chance to come with us, but neither of them moves. Harper really must hate me enough to ignore my warnings and Lily must be too high to realize what is happening. I slam the car door shut and Liam looks to me, "You're really fine to leave them?"

"What am I going to do? Wrestle them into the car?"

"Your friends are nuts, Ellie," Liam mutters and I have too much adrenaline to linger on that comment. We navigate the driveway and then fly down the street.

"Where do I go?" Liam snaps and I can tell his hands are shaking. I take him to my house through a back route trying to avoid any cops. My heart is beating me senseless and I wish I would have seen movement from inside Brittany's car. I wish I could have stayed a few more minutes to know that they were okay. We make it to my driveway without any trouble, but I don't get out of the car after he parks.

After my adrenaline rush died down, the first thought that came to me was, how did Liam know to warn me? I was going to be in that car and he stopped me. After I don't move, he cuts the ignition and my face now burns from crying. I look at him full of questions, but he refuses to look at me. In the silence, I try and hear his thoughts, but I frustratingly hear nothing. How does he keep his thoughts in his head? Why can't I hear them? I suck a breath loudly in through my mouth and pluck up the courage to speak.

"How... why did it seem like you knew that was going to happen?" He now seems angry and hits his hand on the steering wheel, startling me.

"It's not rocket science Ellie, I knew Brittany had been drinking," he snaps. I feel bile rise in my throat and fight the urge to throw up.

"I never told you I was getting a ride from Brittany," I say softly. I'm scared and I want to go inside but a bigger part of me wants answers.

"You called before I told you I was leaving, but I never told you who I was going with. So how did you know?" My voice is shaky but I snap, "Tell me, Liam!" He puts his head in his hands but doesn't say anything. I still can't hear any whispers coming from his side of the car and I can't tell if it's because my head is fuzzy from the alcohol or if he's somehow blocking me out. I can't come out and ask him, so I fold my arms in front of my chest and threaten, "I'll sit here all night if I have to." With my arms crossed, I slouch down in the seat refusing to move. I hear my phone buzz and see Lily sent me a text.

Lily: Cops came. I ran but Harper got caught. Hope you're okay. Xoxo.

I can't think of Harper right now. I should be thinking of Brittany and Ashley but instead, I am freaked out that I wasn't involved with any of it because of Liam. He finally breaks his silence. "Who was that?" My voice is almost a whisper when I say, "Lily. Harper got caught."

"Oh," he replies softly. Is that all he can say? I give up and tug at the car handle. The door is locked, so I go to pop the lock. Liam hits the lock button and I stare at him.

"Why did you lock it? You clearly don't want to talk?" I snap while he sighs and then gazes out the window.

"I just figured when we couldn't find you, you had left and I didn't want you getting into a car with someone that had been drinking. And now you're drunk and letting your imagination get to you," he says flatly with a wave of his hand. I don't buy it, I am not that drunk. Harper would have assumed I left with Derek and forced Liam to drop it if she knew he was looking for me.

"I could have left with Derek, who was more than sober, but when you called, you cut me off before I said who I was with," I state. "You suddenly didn't even want to go to that party and earlier you wanted to be the one to give me a ride home. So how did you know I was getting into a car with Brittany?" He stares at me with his mouth open but then darts his eyes back out the front window. He doesn't say anything, but instead, lets out a long sigh while bouncing his fist on the steering wheel. I become impatient and sit up in the seat.

"Fine Liam, if you want to act like this was all a freak accident then fine. But I don't buy it. The way you look at me and the way you say vague things makes me think something else is going on. I'll figure it out," I threaten and I will put all of my efforts into cracking into his head. He may not tell me himself, but I'll get it out of him one way or another. Liam suddenly looks exhausted, like he has the heaviest weight on his shoulders. He sits up straight and stares into my eyes when he calmly says, "I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, Ellie."

"Figured what out?" I snap at him but he just shakes his head.

"What if I told you that we are more alike than you think?" He says cryptically. Now I am even more confused.

"What? What are you talking about?" He looks like he's trying to find the words, but he closes his mouth and closes his eyes. I notice how long his eyelashes are and become frustrated with myself for focusing on his face rather than on the current situation. I'm about to grab the door handle again when suddenly, I hear whispers. She wants to talk fine...what is he doing? What is he doing...what's going on? It's not just Liam's thoughts I'm suddenly hearing, but it's also my own, like everything I think has an echo. I pinch my nose and shake my head. My eyes shoot open and I face Liam.

All of a sudden, I realize that I am hearing Liam hear my thoughts.