Rayline. 

A part of me wanted to send Cole a message, to ask him if he was okay, to ask him why he had to leave so suddenly that day. But every time I started typing, I heard his voice in my head telling me not to message him except about the project. But why should I care? 

My other classes for the week were going well. I have met some nice people so far, but no close friends yet. Meanwhile, Darren made sure to talk to me every day, which I always appreciated. I was surprised when Taylor greeted me a few times when we passed each other on campus. We didn't have that class again, so we only had one interaction, but he's still very nice. 

It's Saturday, so I've been at home the whole day, getting some work done. I'm typing on my laptop when I notice my phone is on. Darren is calling. 

"Hey, do you want to go to a party tonight?" His voice sounded cheerful as always. 

"Party?" My eyebrows knit in confusion. 

"Yeah, one of my friends is having a party. It should be a lot of fun. So get out of the house now." 

"Um... I don't know, I don't think my parents will let me." 

"Come on, you're a college student now! Say you're going to a friend's house." As always, he always pushes me, even if it sounds amusing. "And tell them you'll be with me. Because they love me." 

"True, but still." I laughed listening to his compliments to himself, silly guy. "I don't even know if I should go. You know I'm not much of a party person." 

"Come on, please?" His voice sounded pleading this time. "If you're not having fun, I'll drive you home." 

I purse my lips to think. I've never been to a party, especially a college party, so I wasn't really sure what to expect— maybe I'd have a good time. Loving yourself is not selfish. 

"All right." 

"Hell, yeah! I'll be there at 9!" 

"Okay, bye," then I turned off my phone with him. 

I laughed and went downstairs to get a snack to take to the study room, passing my parents who were sitting in the kitchen. 

"Hi honey, how's the study going?" 

"Good," I said as I picked up my snack. 

"You didn't tell me about your first week. How were the classes? Did you meet anyone nice?" My dad chimed in. 

"Um, yeah, a few people here and there, but nothing too interesting happened." Well, except for the weird way in which I got dumped by Cole, but I didn't think that was something that needed to be mentioned. 

"By the way, where's Mom, Dad? 

"Hmm, she's still in her room..." My father looked at me skeptically and I froze. "What's wrong?" He raised his eyebrows and I smiled sweetly. 

"Dad, I wanted to tell you that Darren and I are going to a friend's house tonight." 

"A friend's house?" My mom looked up. 

"How late?" my dad added. 

"Um, I'm not sure, but I'll be with Darren the whole time, and I'll text you when I get home." I gave him an honest look and he nodded. 

"All right, but you better not be irresponsible." 

"Really?" I straightened up, surprised. 

"You're a big girl, so you can do whatever you want," my mom said. "But you need to be safe — no drinking, no drugs." She pointed and I raised my hand. 

"I won't, I promise." 

***** 

Darren led me down the sidewalk, our arms intertwined as my black skirt swayed against my thighs. I decided to wear a tank top and a tight skirt, something more out of my comfort zone. On any other occasion, I would never have been caught in something like this. This outfit showed off my curves even more, but it had been sitting in my closet for a long time and I had never worn it before. I also wore a jacket to make it look more casual. 

The party turned out to be not too far from campus. Even though the area was a little more secluded, with the nearby woods right across the street from the house. It wasn't too much of an inconvenience when I saw everyone scattered outside. I paused as I approached, my body starting to fidget as the mansion came into view, clearly owned by someone rich. I knew that if I lost Darren here, I might never find him again. 

"Hey, don't worry, I'll be by your side the whole time." I nodded and Darren pulled me along. 

Once inside the house, I felt overwhelmed. There were people everywhere, bodies colliding with the loud music playing in the background. I did my best to stay by Darren's side as he pulled me towards the kitchen, and when we got there, I saw two faces I wasn't expecting. 

"Hey, Darren!" Taylor yelled greeting Darren from the kitchen table, and next to him was none other than Cole, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. I suddenly felt uncomfortable. 

"Hey, man!" Darren let go of my hand to high-five Taylor, and I continued to look between the three of them. 

"Hey, Ray," Taylor smiled sweetly at me. 

"Hey, you guys know each other?" I asked. 

"Yeah, we've known each other for a while." They both smiled while Cole remained silent. "Besides, this is his house." My jaw dropped. Wow, that was like screaming money everywhere! And he laughed. I had no idea he was that rich. 

"Can I get you guys something to drink?" Taylor asked. 

"Sure," Darren replied, and Taylor quickly poured him a glass of beer. 

"Rayline?" 

"Oh, no thanks. I don't really like to drink." 

"Come on, take it easy." Darren elbowed me in the side. 

"Hey, someone has to make sure I get home," I retorted, and he shook his head and took a sip of his drink. 

"Sure you don't want to, cool kids?" I had to stifle a laugh at Taylor's funny nickname for Cole— well, it sounds like a song title, doesn't it? and I could see him glaring at me. 

"I'm good, bro." He got up and headed for the door. "I'm going to the bathroom." 

As soon as he left the room, Darren turned to Taylor. "How did you get him to come over here?" 

"A lot of begging," Taylor sighed. "I thought if he actually came and drank, maybe he'd soften up." 

"Is he okay?" I asked, and they both turned to me. 

"Yeah, why not?" Taylor replied, taking another sip from his glass. 

"Well, when we were working on our project the other day, he kind of freaked out and left." 

"Freaked out?" Darren asked. 

"Not really 'freaked out,' but he looked pretty freaked out." 

Taylor looked at the door, then at me. "Was anyone else there?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Was anyone else there watching you?" 

"Um..." I paused for a moment, trying to think. "I saw a guy watching us from outside, but I don't think that's anything unusual." 

I could see that Taylor was thinking hard. "What did he look like?" 

"Uh, medium height, dark hair, but I can't see his face." Taylor hummed quietly. 

"Is there something wrong?" Taylor took another drink and shook her head. "Oh no, I was just thinking of possibilities." I raised an eyebrow but did some more thinking. 

"Hey." Taylor nudged Darren's shoulder. "I think someone's watching you." 

Then the three of us looked into the living room. There was a tall, cute girl staring at Darren, and I could see the smirk on his face that made me roll my eyes. 

"I think I'll go over there." 

"Hey, you said you'd stay with me," I whined, and he looked at me as if to say, "Come on, let me go to her," and I sighed, "All right." 

"You're the best, Ray." He ran out of the room and I also saw Taylor staring at a girl across the room. 

"Go talk to her," I said with a grin on my face. 

"What?" He looked between me and the girl. 

"Uh, no, I can't." 

"Why not?" 

"I'm, uh... I'm kind of shy when it comes to flirting," he admitted, looking down at his glass, and I laughed. 

"But you're so friendly." 

"Yeah, but... I don't know, I'm nervous." I laughed at his adorable demeanor. He seemed so at ease around his friends. 

And after a minute of silence, he turned to the other room. 

"Okay, I'm going to go mingle, you want to come?" Taylor headed for the door. 

"No, I don't. I'll find a way to keep myself entertained." 

"Okay, but don't get into trouble." I nodded as he walked out. 

As soon as he was gone, I started walking around the room, looking at the luxurious kitchen, the countless cupboards probably filled to the brim with food. Then I walked out into the hall, where several people were scattered about, chatting and drinking. I managed to nudge them when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. 

"Hi!" I turned to see the cute girl Taylor had been ogling earlier. 

"You're Rayline, right?" 

"Uh, yeah, sorry, do we know each other?" She chuckled. 

"I'm Irish. I was in your history class, though I'm sure you didn't see me with those guys." 

"Oh," I said, quickly remembering seeing her in class. "I remember, sorry." 

She laughed. "That's okay, I just wanted to introduce myself, you seem really nice." 

"Oh, thank you. You're very nice too," I smiled, but then I noticed her eyes moving over my shoulder, then back to me. 

"Hey, I noticed you seem to know Cole Spencer." I looked down, smirking, and now understood. "Yeah, not very well, but I do know him." 

"You guys aren't related or anything, are you?" 

"Me? Oh, no, not at all." I shook my hand. "Sorry, I'm just curious, and just so you know, I'm not talking to you just to ask about him. I'm just curious." 

For some reason, I was still skeptical, but I nodded politely. "Do you know if he's seeing anyone?" I put on a fake smile. 

"Um-" I don't know why I didn't say no, it was the truth, but I also remembered that he didn't like girls throwing themselves at him. Besides, he didn't seem to be in a good mood. 

"I don't think he's interested in meeting anyone right now." 

"Oh," she pouted, and I saw Taylor smiling with a group of people next to him. 

"You know who you should talk to?" I pointed at Taylor. "I think he really likes you," I said, and her eyes lit up. 

"You think?" 

"Yes, he's very sweet. I'm sure you'll get along with him." Her eyes lit up with excitement. 

"Okay." She walked happily toward the group of men. 

I grinned — here I was playing Cupid, even though I couldn't flirt with a guy for the life of me. I wish I could get close to a guy I like. How do people do it so easily? While it was hard for me. 

I turned around in the long corridor and saw Cole at the end, leaning against the wall. I looked around for a moment and took a deep breath before walking over to him. He was playing with his phone and didn't seem to notice me until I was right next to him. "Hey," I said with a warm smile. 

"Hey." He gave me a quick glance, then looked back down, and I sighed. Clearly, I should be more direct when trying to get close to him. There was no dancing around him. There was no game. So I took another breath. 

"Look, I was just wondering if you were all right?" 

He finally raised his head, put his phone down, and faced me fully. "Why not?" 

"Well, the way you left last night, I don't know — you seemed really freaked out. I tried to follow you, but you disappeared very quickly." 

I stared at his eyes intently, and this time I saw them again — glowing blue, but only for a moment. 

"Why did you follow me?" His voice sounded annoyed, but also a little desperate. 

"Um, I don't know, because I was worried..." I said innocently and he sighed as he looked to the side and turned back to me. 

"Look, when I leave, don't follow me," he said, his expression serious. "And I'm fine. I don't need your attention." 

"Okay... but Taylor seemed worried that someone was following you, so—" 

"He told you that?" he cut me off as the orange color flashed in his eyes again and I swallowed nervously. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. 

"He said something like, I–" 

"You idiot," he muttered, looking around, but now I was getting annoyed with his attitude. 

"Look, why don't you stop being nosy and just mind your own business? Do you get it?"

Rayline. 

And with that, something clicked inside me. I tried to be nice and ask him if he was okay, but instead, he snapped at me and told me to leave. My jaw clenched and I knew for sure that he could see the anger that was building up inside of me. 

"All right, but a word of advice for you, cold bastard — when someone is being nice to you, maybe you shouldn't act like a jerk," I said, the words coming out uncontrollably, but I didn't regret it, and he seemed annoyed by my words, the orange color in his eyes flashing even brighter this time. He opened his mouth to speak again, but his voice was cut off by another. 

"Hey! Look who it is!" I turned around to see a man, who was not familiar to me, suddenly come over and put his arm around Cole's shoulders. However, from the look on his face, it seemed that he was not happy with the man's presence. The man was of medium build with dark brown hair and was obviously drunk, judging by his body movements and the single shot that he was holding. 

"I never thought I'd see you here." The man spoke to Cole, then looked me up and down. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!" Cole brushed the man's hand off his shoulder. 

"Oh, we're not together," I replied quickly, making him glare at me and the man raised his eyebrows. 

"Well then, I'm Hayden, Hayden Smith to be exact." He held out his hand with a bright smile and I took it. "But you can just call me Hayden." 

"Rayline Hale, just call me Rayline or Ray." 

"Can I get you a drink, Ray?" 

"She doesn't drink," Cole said sideways in response to Hayden's offering. I shook my head in annoyance. 

"You know what? Screw that, I want one, Hayden." Ignoring Cole's presence, I answered him. 

"Looks like it," he smiled and grabbed my right hand, pulling me towards the kitchen. But as I followed, there was another tug on my left wrist. 

"What are you doing?" Cole asks, but I pull my left hand out of his grasp. 

"Why don't you just mind your own business?" I repeat his words with a sneer and his face drops. This time I can see the alternating flashes of red and black in his eyes as I allow myself to be pulled into the kitchen counter by Hayden. 

"Liquor or beer?" he asked as Cole stood in the doorway, arms crossed, watching me from behind. 

"Shots of liquor," I said with a sweet smile. 

"Alright," he replied smirking, and picked up a shot glass along with a bottle of Vodka. 

He filled the small glasses and handed them to me while I eyed the clear liquid. I'd never tasted liquor before, and to be honest, I probably should have chosen beer. But I had gone too far and there was no going back. I raised the glass to my lips, sipped, and swallowed. A burning sensation surged through my throat and chest, and I couldn't help but make a pouty face, coughing occasionally and making Hayden laugh. 

"Wow." I wiped my lips with my hand, it felt so crazy. 

"You're so funny," he said as he filled the second glass. I sighed, not ready for another drink. But Cole's piercing gaze motivated me even more. I picked up the glass and exhaled again before forcing myself to take a second sip. I looked down as the bitter taste hit my throat. 

"Maybe you should slow down," Cole said as he leaned against the table while Hayden poured another. 

"Why?" I tilted my head to the side and placed a hand on the cool granite surface. 

"Because this is obviously your first time drinking and you could hurt yourself." 

"Why do you care?" I replied and he pressed his lips together. "What's your excuse? Afraid to have fun?" 

"Yeah, come on, Cole Spencer, go have some fun!" Hayden gulped down the rest of his cup, and I agreed with a smile, taking the third drink and downing it in one gulp. This one was a little easier than the previous one. 

"I guess you don't know how to let go, and that's why you're such a jerk." I poked him in the chest and could see the annoyance on his face. Meanwhile, Hayden was pouring another glass. 

"Oh yeah?" He raised his eyebrows, stood facing me, and without turning his head, took my glass and downed the drink. He didn't even show his face as he downed the drink while Hayden cheered him on from the side. Hayden then walked around the bar and put his arm around me. 

"One more to take home." He handed me another glass and I looked at Cole who shook his head. So I took another sip with a smile. "What do you say we take this party over to the living room?" 

Hayden gleefully pulled me along, and I smiled. However, as soon as I entered the next room, a wave of dizziness suddenly hit my body. My steps were a little unsteady, but the encouragement he gave me made it all worth it. I was brought to what looked like a dance floor, many bodies scattering and crowding, and I followed the hand that led me as I laughed. 

I'm not sure how long I danced - in fact, I'm not sure if I was with him all the time or just dancing with a stranger. My body felt hot, and a layer of sweat began to form, glistening on my chest and face. But I didn't care at the moment. My jacket was long gone, so the thought of covering my skin was out of the question. 

When I finally felt tired, he led me to a sofa, his hand pulling me along. He sat down and I looked around for a place to sit. 

"You can sit here." He patted his lap with a smile. Normally I'd say no in a second, but through the haze, I can see Cole watching me from the other side of the room, and a sneaky idea hits me that takes over. I slide into his lap with a smirk, wrapping my arms around his neck to hold him tight, and I can feel the warmth of his hands on my waist. I look over at Cole again. He is holding a shot glass of liquor, which makes me wonder how much he has drunk, and I see the strange look in his eyes. 

"Green," I mutter to myself as I watch the flash of color in his eyes change. 

"What?" Hayden turns to me, but I shake my head. 

"Uh, it's nothing," I smiled. 

"You know, I really like you, Ray. You're different from what I thought you were before," he told me. 

Well, that's probably because I don't act like myself, I thought, but I just smiled. "Thank you. I really like you too." 

His hands then wrapped around my neck and I felt myself being pulled forward and instantly my body stiffened. I wasn't sure if I wanted to kiss a man I'd just met drunk, but I wasn't sure if I could help myself. It was just as our lips were about to meet that I felt a tug on my shoulder. 

"I need to talk to you." I turned to see Cole's hand clasping mine. 

"Well, maybe I don't want to talk to you." I tried to turn around, but he was pulling at me again. Hardly. 

"Please." He was pleading with me.