"Knock, knock!" Emily whisper-shouted from outside before sticking her head into our tent. Her eyes widened as she saw Hunter, who was currently getting dressed and hadn't put on a shirt yet.

"Sweetheart, you usually wait for a reply before you come in," he said, one eyebrow raised as he pulled a white v-neck shirt over his head, slowly so we could see his muscles straining in the process.

I shook my head and looked at my girlfriend instead.

A slight blush crept onto her cheeks as she tore her gaze away from Hunter's body. "Er...sorry," she stammered. "I didn't know you were still getting dressed... If I had, I wouldn't have entered yet."

"Sure you wouldn't," Hunter commented.

Emily's cheeks turned an even deeper shade of pink.

"Okay, can you stop flirting with my girlfriend?" I asked and could barely hold back a scowl.

"What, do you want me to flirt with you instead?" Hunter suddenly turned his head towards me and watched me like a predator would watch its prey.

"You know exactly that that's not what I meant."

"Are you sure?" I could sense that he was still staring at me, but I didn't dare to look at him.

"Do you guys want me to leave you alone for a moment?" Emily laughed, but her voice sounded strained.

"No," I firmly replied, just as Hunter said: "If you don't mind."

I sent him a glare that only made the smirk on his face grow even wider.

"Anyway," Emily slowly said. "Are you guys coming? The teachers all went to bed. We can go to the beach now."

"I don't know if this really is such a good idea..." I trailed, suddenly nervous.

I had never been at a party before, nor had I ever had a beer in my life. Doing both for the first time on a fieldtrip with teachers around seemed like an incredibly stupid thing to do.

But Hunter was already pushing me towards the exit of the tent. "You are coming with us. Even if I have to drag you there."

"You can't be serious," I muttered under my breath.

"Oh, I am, sugarpie. Move."

I glared up at him as he got up and dusted off his pants, but eventually followed his lead with Emily right behind me. Hunter walked towards the woods that were bordering the camping site, Emily and I right at his heels.

A few more students were making their way towards the forest too, but in the dark I couldn't make out who they were. The full moon, partly hidden behind some clouds, was the only source of light and tinted our surroundings silver. It was slightly warmer than last night on the cemetery, yet our breath formed clouds in the air.

Emily saw me nervously looking around and reached for my hand, squeezing it gently.

"Hey," she whispered, "It's okay. No need to get anxious. I'm here with you and if it gets too much we can leave, alright? Nothing bad will happen."

I nodded and smiled weakly at her. This is exactly the reason why it was sometimes pretty awesome to be dating my best friend. She knew me so damn well that she could recognize even the smallest sign of uneasiness on my part.

We were silent for the rest of the walk, until we eventually reached the beach. People were standing around with red plastic cups in their hands, others were sitting in the sand in groups. Laughter echoed over the dunes, mixing with the soft whispering of the waves.

I took a deep breath before I approached the group. Next to some beer crates, I could see Hunter already making out with Sean, his hands buried in Sean's dark hair while he was sucking the skin below his neck. Neither of them seemed to mind that there were tons of people around, a few of them pretty interested in what was going on between them.

"Jules!" someone called me in that moment and I spun around to see a smiling Alexis skipping towards Emily and me. "You came!"

"I did!" I laughed.

"Here, have a drink." She handed me a plastic cup and offered one to Em, too.

I took it hesitantly, while Emily declined politely.

"Oh, don't worry," Alexis said as she saw my expression. "I poured it myself just a minute ago. It's not spiked or anything."

"It's just...I've never had alcohol before," I said, uncertain whether this was a good idea.

But Alexis smiled reassuringly. "Nothing to worry about. Just take it slow, don't drink too much and too fast and it'll be fine. Of course you don't have to, though," she added. "I'm not a fan of peer pressure, so you do you."

"Okay. Thanks, Alexis."

She just nodded and walked off, towards Liam and Adam who were talking to some girls.

"She's nice, isn't she?" I asked, turning to Emily.

"Hm..." she said. "Do you really wanna drink that?" She looked pointedly at the cup in my hand.

I shrugged and lifted it to my lips. "It's just one cup."

Emily watched as I drank the entire content in one go.

I grimaced at the bitter taste it left in my mouth. Just as I put the cup down, Hunter suddenly approached from behind. I heard him sarcastically clapping and spun around.

"Would you look at that," he grinned. "Baby had its first drink. How was it?"

"Disgusting," I muttered. "Why would anyone drink that?"

Hunter sent me an amused look. "Well, knowing you, you're probably not really the beer-kinda guy. I think you'd like this better."

He handed me the bottle he'd been drinking from.

"What's that?" I asked sceptically.

"A pre-mixed cocktail. Contains a bit of vodka, so be careful."

"Jules, I don't think you should-" Emily started, but I was already drinking a sip.

And another one, and another one, until Hunter snatched it from me and drank the rest. It tasted good, like oranges and grenadine, but it burnt in my throat.

"Easy, sugarpie. If I was you, I'd wait a bit. It's your first time drinking, don't overdo it."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh, please. Who are you, my mom?"

A smirk tugged at his lips, which were still red and kind of swollen from making out with Sean. "Watch out for him, will you?" Hunter asked, looking at Emily.

"Yeah, sure."

"I don't need anyone to take care of me," I objected.

Emily didn't reply and only pulled me away from Hunter and towards Nate, who was sitting with Liam and Adam now.

I flopped into the sand next to him with a loud sigh and stretched my legs out in front of me.

For a few minutes, we were just sitting there, chatting about this and that, until I got distracted by the way the sky had started spinning. I flopped onto my back, gazing up at the stars. Had they always been dancing like that? I had to smile, realizing how pretty they were.

Next to me I noticed Nate staring at me with a weird look. "Did he drink anything?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Emily said before sitting down next to Liam. "It wasn't even that much."

Someone had turned on some music and even though I didn't particularly like that band, I quietly hummed to it.

"Wow, he sure is a lightweight," Liam snickered.

"Shh, guys, don't get on my nerves, okay? I'm feeling awesome right now," I said, shutting my eyes and drinking in the unfamiliar feeling spreading through my body.

"Looks like someone is enjoying himself."

My eyes snapped open as I heard Hunter's voice.

I had to turn my head a bit to be able to look up at him. "Hey there," I grinned lazily. "Could you get me more of that happy juice? It's making everything spin funnily."

Hunter chuckled quietly and looked over at Sean who was standing next to him. "You heard him, get him one of these cocktails."

"What, why?" Sean asked defiantly. "I'm not your servant. Especially not for that five-year old!" He waved a hand at me. There clearly was some kind of tension between the two of them, only now it was charged with aggression.

"Hey, I'm not five! I'm..." I had to pause for a second to count the years on my fingers. "I'm seventeen!"

"Get him a cocktail," Hunter repeated, slowly and firmly. "I'm not going to ask you again."

"Oh, what are you going to do, Hunter?" Sean asked angrily. "Break up with me?"

A thin smile appeared on Hunter's face as he said: "Sean, why should I break up with you? We've never even been together."

By now everyone was dead silent, so Sean's gasp was clearly audible. "Are you serious right now?"

"Do I seem like I'm not? Sean, you really have to work on that attitude of yours," Hunter said in a nearly friendly tone and patted Sean's arm. "It tends to annoy the fuck out of people. Me included."

Sean's expression slowly darkened. "Get lost," he growled before he stomped off, his walk only swaying slightly.

I sat up so abruptly that my head was spinning even more. "That was not nice, Hunter," I said with a frown and sent him a disapproving look.

"For real," Liam agreed. "Do you always have to act like a complete asshole when you dump someone?"

"Hey, did I miss out on something?" Alexis asked in that moment and sat down next to me.

"Hunter dumped Sean."

"Oh, thank God."

"Thank you, honeybee, at least someone who understands me," Hunter laughed and ruffled her hair.

"Hey, can I have a sip?" I asked and pointed at Alexis' drink.

"Sure."

She handed it to me and I immediately emptied the rest of the bottle, before getting up and walking towards the other beer crates stacked near the jetty.

At least that's what I was trying to do, but I kind of tumbled and if it hadn't been for Hunter who caught my arm just in time, I would've fallen.

"Careful," he said and let go of me. "Where are you going?"

I just pointed at the beer crates and grabbed his arm for support as I started walking again. Hunter laughed and helped me get there, even opening the bottle for me.

As soon as he handed me the beer, I gulped down half of it. But as I went for a second sip, Hunter took it out of my hand.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I complained.

"Jules, I don't think you should drink more than that. You're already slurring."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but somehow stumbled over the words in the process, so they came out sounding jumbled. I slapped a hand over my mouth, giggling. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Hunter laughed and took my fingers, pulling them away from my face.

For a second he stared at my lips, but then his eyes landed on my face again and he let go of my hand.

Meanwhile I began fanning myself with one hand. "Why is it so hot here?" I whined.

"That's probably the alcohol."

"Stupid, stupid alcohol," I huffed and started walking towards the sea.

"Jules, what are you doing?"

"Time for a bath," I yelled instead of an answer and broke into a sprint.

I just wanted to cool myself off in the water, but Hunter gripped my wrist and pulled me back.

"Jules, it's freezing!" he said and tried to drag me away from the water. "You're going to catch a cold!"

But I wasn't listening. Instead I wrestled my wrist out of his grip and fled from him, almost tripping a few times. Seconds later, I threw myself into the waves, which swallowed me immediately.

I tried getting back to the surface, but everything was spinning and I suddenly couldn't distinguish between up and down.

Before I could even start to panic, I got yanked back up as two strong arms circled my waist and pulled me back.

Hunter was helping me get to my feet in the shallow water, still wearing all of his clothes along with an annoyed expression. "I'm going to yell at you for being this stupid tomorrow," he promised.

I just looked at him with wide eyes, feeling the wind tear at my dripping wet clothes.

"Can you walk?"

I tried, but immediately lost my balance. Hunter didn't miss a beat and crouched down before me. "Get on my back," he ordered.

"Piggyback!" I laughed in delight and jumped onto his back, clinging to his coat as he straightened himself with a quiet grunt.

Then he walked out of the water and towards the path that led back to the camping site. I was freezing cold, but Hunter's body spent at least some warmth, so I gratefully rested my cheek against his back.

"Why are we leaving already?" I asked, slightly disappointed that the party was already over.

"Because you need to get to bed or you'll feel even more horrible tomorrow."

"Huh," I said thoughtfully.

Hunter gave a vaguely annoyed noise and walked over to Alexis, Adam and Liam. Nate and Emily were a few feet away, but they didn't see us.

"I'm bringing him back to the camping site," Hunter announced. "I don't think I'll come back afterwards... Someone has to look after him."

Liam and Alexis exchanged a meaningful glance.

"Guys," Hunter groaned. "There's nothing special about that. I'm just being nice!"

"Really nice," I muttered, earning a few chuckles.

"Alright. I'm gonna go. Have fun," Hunter said before stomping into the opposite direction.

"Goodbye, friends!" I yelled, clinging tightly to Hunter as we made our way back.

A little later, after I had successfully changed into dry clothes with a little help from Hunter, I finally slipped into my sleeping bag. I was trembling from the cold right now, every inch of me shaking.

Hunter lay down beside me and closed his eyes, but the sound of my chattering teeth made him sit up and turn the flashlight on again.

I blinked into the bright light while he got up and got his coat from the other side of the tent.

"Sit up," he whispered into my ear.

As I finally got up into a sitting position, he tightly wrapped his coat around me and helped me stick my arms into the sleeves.

The coat fit almost perfectly and I smiled gratefully up at him while I snuggled deeper into the collar.

"Good night," he softly said and gently pushed me onto my back.

My only response was a sleepy yawn.