Mom and Mason didn't really talk to me the rest of the week. Which was fine by me. They did their own thing, I did mine. Carrie was on the phone with me, talking about how much fun her and her mom were gonna have tonight. They were gonna go out to eat, then see a movie, and probably just drive around.

"I hope y'all have fun," I said as I curled my last curl.

"Thanks. You still goin to the party?" She asked.

"Absolutely. Just finished getting ready for it," I said as I turned off my curling iron.

"I thought both your mom and Mason said no," Carrie laughed.

Mason went and snitched on me after our conversation that day. He irritated me so much, but I had a plan.

"That's the beauty of sneaking out," I said.

"Just be careful, okay?" She asked.

"Nothing will happen to me," I laughed. "But I will be careful."

"How are you gonna sneak out?" She asked.

"Simple. Mason took Jamie on a date, so I just have to wait till Mom goes to sleep. In the meantime, I'll be wearing a robe, and pretending I'm going to bed too," I said.

"I gotta go. Later," she said.

"Later," I said and hung up.

I grabbed my white robe and threw it over my dress. Once I felt satisfied with my plan, I went into the living room where Mom sat, watching TV.

"Hey, Mom," I said sitting on the couch.

"Hey," she smiled at me. "What're you up to?"

"Nothin, just seein what you were doin," I said.

"I'm bout to go to bed," she stretched

"Yeah, me too," I yawned.

"Okay, well, goodnight," she kissed my head and went to her room.

I went to my room, grabbed my heels and purse, and snuck out the front door. Slipping on my heels, I ditched my robe in the bed of Mom's truck. I walked to the party and arrived fashionably late. It wasn't too far. Just two neighborhoods over.

"Hey, pretty thang," Liam wrapped his arm around me when I walked in.

"Hey, babe," I kissed him.

"So you're Emma," a girl walked up to me. "Looks like the rumors are true. Such a slut."

"Hey, don't talk about my girl that way," Liam said.

She rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome. Blue really is your color, babe," he said admiring my blue minidress. It was spaghetti-strapped and form fitting.

"Let's dance," he said bringing me in the middle of the living room and he turned up the music.

We danced and some guys whistled, some girls just laughed at me, because they were jealous. Some couples joined in on our dancing and had fun. Liam held my hips and I leaned into him.

"Man, if my parents saw me like that, I'd be dead," a girl said.

"I know. Do you know how pissed me dad would be?" Another girl laughed.

"My mom wouldn't have it," the first girl said.

"Wanna get out of here?" I asked Liam.

"Yeah, sure," he smiled.

We went into the backyard and sat with some other guys. I sat in Liam's lap and the guys just looked over me.

"Babe, will you get me a drink?" Liam asked.

"Sure, watcha want?" I asked.

"Coke," he said.

I went into the kitchen and grabbed him his coke.

"What are you doing here?" Mason walked up to me.

"Me? What're you doing here? I thought you were with Jamie," I said.

"Yeah, she's in the bathroom. I told you not to come," he snapped.

"Why? It's not like there's beer or drugs anywhere," I snapped back.

"Hey, Mason," Jamie ran up to him, holding his arm lovingly. "Oh, hey, Emma."

"Hey. Look, I gotta go," I said and went back to Liam.

"Thanks, babe," he said taking the coke from me.

"So, Emma, is what everyone says true?" Henry, one of Liam's friends, asked.

"What do they say?" I asked.

"They say that y'know. You and Liam are always, like--"

"No," I said. "No, we haven't done that yet. My mom doesn't even know about him yet."

"Oh snap," Henry laughed and some other guys laughed.

Liam pulled me closer to him and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He kissed me and his buddies cheered. We stood and he led me inside. We walked all around the house till we came upon a room. My stomach started to feel weird, like I shouldn't do this.

"Let's talk," Liam said as he sat down on the bed.

I sat next to him and smiled.

"I think we should do this," he ran his hand up and down my arm.

My breathing hitched. "No, I don't think we should."

"Why not? We've been together a month now," he said.

"Yeah, but--"

"It's not so bad," he said. "Everyone does it."

"I just think this step is a really big one. Why not wait till we know for sure that we're not splitting up?" I tried to reason.

"Alright fine," he said.

"But hey," I said lifting his chin. "I will kiss you all night long."

I kissed him and almost immediately, he deepened it. He pulled me closer to him so there was no space between us and he hooked my leg around him. He grabbed my hair and tried to lay me down, but I held myself up with one hand.

The door swung open and it was the girls who were messing with me earlier and some of Liam's friends. They laughed and Liam pulled away and looked at them.

"Can we help you?" Liam asked.

"You two do it?" Henry asked.

"No," I shook my head.

"What's going on--?" Mason started then saw me with Liam. "Get away from my sister."

"Mason, calm down, we were just kissing," I said.

"I don't care," he snapped.

"C'mon, Mason. I wouldn't hurt Emma," Liam stood.

"Yeah, cause I'll kick your ass," Mason said.

"Mason, Liam, stop," I said.

"I see you manhandling my sister again, we're gonna have a problem. I already don't like you," Mason sneered.

"I wasn't manhandling her," he said.

"Just don't touch her," Mason said and walked off.

The huddle that formed around the door left and Liam turned to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sorry about my brother," I said.

"Nah, it's cool. It's just us now," he said kissing me again.

"Actually, I'm gonna go get some water. And I think we should leave the room before people think we actually did do something," I said.

"If you insist," he smirked and we left the room hand-in-hand.

All the girls whispered and pointed. All the guys looked ready to pounce. I grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator and Liam hugged me from behind, kissing my neck.

"I'm gonna bounce, kay, babe?" He said.

"Will you give me a ride home?" I asked.

"I can't. Gotta get home before 2," he said.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"1:30," he said.

"Already?" My jaw dropped.

"Yeah, so bye," he kissed me and left.

"Some boyfriend he is, huh?" A guy said walking up to me.

"He's actually a really good boyfriend," I said.

"No, I didn't mean it like that," he said. "I'm Ben."

"Emma," I said.

"I know. People talk about you all the time," he said.

"Trust me, I know," I said.

"Want me to give you that ride home? I promise I'm not gonna do anything to you," he said.

"Uh, no thanks. You probably don't wanna be seen with me. People will get the wrong idea," I said.

"I don't care. We know the truth. People who make up rumors like that are just bored," he said.

"Thanks, but you seem nice. Wouldn't want to ruin the nice guy look you've got goin for ya," I said. "I'll just walk."

"No, I'll take you. Just don't listen to people," he said.

"Fine. But only because it's insanely dark and my feet are killing me," I said.

We went to his truck and he drove.

"So tell me about you," he said.

"Not much. I'm sixteen, Mason is my twin, and Liam's my boyfriend. What about you?" I asked.

"I'm seventeen, I'm an only child, and single," he laughed.

"Fun," I said.

"What do you like to do for fun? And where do I turn?" He asked.

"Just go two neighborhoods down and turn left. And I don't do much. I stay at my friend, Carrie's house a lot. Oh and I really like dancing. You?" I asked.

"I play baseball. This left?" He asked.

"No, next street," I said as we turned into my neighborhood.

"What're your parents like?" He asked.

"My mom's kinda strictish, but not horrible. Like, I love her and everything. What about you?" I asked.

"My parents are cool. Busy with work, but they're good," he said. "No dad? Which house?"

"This one," I pointed to it and he pulled into my driveway.

"Thanks for the ride," I said getting out.

"Wait," he said. "You didn't answer my question."

"I've never had a dad," I said. "See you round."

I snuck back inside and got into comfortable pjs and went to sleep.

******

So??? Team Liam or Team Ben? Thoughts, predictions, etc in the comments! And what do you think should be done about the cyber bullying and actual bullying? Lemme know!
WritingMelody<3