Getting my way through my new neighborhood in California was a lot different than it was in New York. In the city you walked everywhere and took the subway or taxis. Here, everyone is more into the shiny sports cars, the big gas guzzling SUVs, or bikes (in an attempt to outdo those same SUVs). I barely knew how to drive yet so I was using my own shiny, mint green bike today.
I was on my way to a new friend’s house to hang out. After my first two weeks here at my new school, I was lucky enough to meet Violet. She was the only genuinely kind person there who was willing to take in the new girl.
I finally stopped in front of what I assumed to be Violet’s place. She had given me vague directions and a description of her house. I only remembered her saying that she had a red door. Please be the right house.
I laid my bike on its side in the driveway and walked up to the front door. After ringing the doorbell a few times I tried to neaten myself up by flattening my t-shirt down and pulling down my cut-off shorts.
Footsteps could be heard from inside the house and suddenly the door flew open. Violet stood there with a huge grin that lit up her chestnut brown face.
“Hey, Ella!” she greeted.
“Hey,” I said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. Her house wasn’t huge or anything, but it was very neat and nicely decorated. The walls were a comforting wine color and it smelled like cinnamon.
“Nice place you’ve got here,” I stood by the staircase admiring the décor.
“So, you ready to meet my friends?” Violet asked, sweeping away the deep drown curls from her face, which flowed down to her shoulders and bounced along with her every move.
“Wait, meet your friends? I thought we were just hanging out” Great, being judged by more people? This is just what I needed on a Friday afternoon.
“Yea, but it’ll be fine, I promise. They came here before you right when school let out and it’s kinda hard to get them to leave.” Violet explained.
“Oh,”
“They’ll like you, Ella, trust me.”
I only nodded and followed her as she walked through her kitchen. Violet looked over her shoulder as we approached a door which seemed to have led to the garage.
“Hey, don’t mind my friends, ok? They’re a little crazy but they’re the only ones I have.” I nodded again and Violet laughed. Ok, how crazy?
When she opened the door I immediately understood why Violet said her friends were crazy.
A laptop was blasting a fast pace indie song and a petite girl jumped up and down on a worn out couch, singing along and whipping her fiery red waves around in circles. Two boys were on the floor wrestling each other, shouting and laughing. The garage seemed to be a sort of hang out spot, with the sofa, bean bag chairs and an assortment of rugs on the floor. The walls were covered with sketches and drawings that had been taped up. An easel stood in one corner of the garage, half finished.
The shelves on the other side of the garage were packed with old books and other trinkets, which I guess belonged to her parents. It seemed like a pretty chill place to hang out and I couldn’t blame Violet’s friends for not wanting to leave.
I stood in the doorway watching her friends act like wild first graders until Violet spoke up.
“HEY, GUYS! GUYS, CHILL THE HELL OUT, WE HAVE A GUEST!”
The girl on the couch stopped jumping and waved at us with a big smile.
“I’LL TURN THIS OFF!” she shouted, jumping off the couch and kneeling down over the laptop. She pressed a key and the song came to an abrupt stop. The guys on the floor stopped playing around and looked up, surprised by us standing there watching them. They both stood up quickly and laughed.
“Thank you,” Violet chuckled. “Everyone, this is Ella Torres!” They all waved simultaneously as Violet continued with more introductions.
“This is Thalia Nicholson,” The girl smiled and said, ‘hi’. Violet pointed to the first guy.
“That’s Adam Banks,” The tall, dark skinned boy nodded his head. His muscular arms stood out in his loose v-neck shirt and I noticed a bright red beanie perched on his short curls. He had big, hazel eyes that lit up his entire face. Whoa, he’s cute…
Violet turned to her third friend and said, “And this is Bradley Kane,”
He may have been last, but he was definitely not least. He was tall as well and had muscular arms just like Adam, even though he appeared to be lankier. His brown hair was styled up in a messy quiff and freckles ran across both of his cheeks. For some reason I couldn’t take my eyes away from his sharp green ones, and it wasn’t until he spoke that I snapped out of my trance.
“You’re welcome to take a picture if you’d like, Ella.” Bradley said with a smirk. Not so cute anymore.
“W-what?” I stammered. When he chuckled at my undoubtedly surprised expression I rolled my eyes and focused down on my shoes.
“Bradley, don’t be a d*bag.” Thalia quipped. Bradley flipped her the bird and sauntered back to his spot on the floor. We all followed suit and picked a spot to sit. The boys sat on the floor, Thalia took a seat next to me on the sofa and Violet plopped down in a lumpy bean bag chair. She reached down and turned the music back on, lowering the volume.
“Don’t mind him. He just thinks every girl in California wants to do him.” Thalia whispered to me, obviously wanting Bradley to hear. Bradley looked up and scoffed.
“Because they do,” he said simply. They all laughed but Bradley looked dead serious. Adam rolled out on his back and groaned.
“Can we talk about something else besides Bradley’s super-sized ego? Like…”
Thalia perked up. “Like…Claire Hayes’ birthday party tonight! That spoiled b**** throws parties, like, every weekend so why not crash it?”
“That may be as eventful as my weekend is gonna get.” Violet shrugged. I tuned them out as I looked around at the artwork hung up around the garage. There were some abstract paintings and quirky sketches, along with photographs of Violet messing around with her friends. I focused on a candid shot of them sitting on a park bench, laughing. It seemed foreign to me, having a tight knit group of friends like that.
“Ella? Hey, you ok over there?” I heard Adam say from his spot on the floor.
I looked past him and over at Violet. “You did all of this?” I pointed to the artwork behind me.
Violet smiled and nodded. “Yea, art’s kind of my thing”
“Just like getting ass is kind of Bradley’s thing.” Adam laughed. Bradley pretended to punch him in the face while Thalia and Violet giggled at them. I let myself laugh, too, feeling a little more comfortable.
“So…again, who’s up for that party tonight? I think we all should be able to walk there without a problem,” Thalia continued to try and sell this idea of going to Claire Hayes’ party. I looked around at the others without saying anything. Adam stuck his hand up first.
“I’m in.”
“Yea, I’ll come,” Violet chimed in.
Bradley nodded his head at Thalia. “Me, too.”
They all looked at me expectantly. “Oh…uh…” I can’t go to a party, what the hell would I even do? But if I say no I’ll look like I don’t know how to have any fun. Oh, s*** they’re waiting for an answer…
I considered saying that I would pass, but I caught sight of Bradley sitting there, looking up at me with those…stupid, hot green eyes. It’s like he knew I didn’t want to come and was waiting to poke fun at me for it.
“I’m in, too.” I finally said, keeping my gaze on Bradley. Ha!
Thalia squealed and clapped her hands together. While she went on to ramble about some other party she’d been to, Bradley grinned at me and shook his head. I guess I passed the first test.

I moved around my bedroom slowly so my parents wouldn’t wake up. They were only right down the hall and my little sister, whose room was directly across from mine, would definitely rat me out. I thought about what I would say if I were to get caught but I didn’t have anything believable. If I wanted to go to this party, I’d have to be ninja quiet. I stood in front of my bedroom mirror and checked over my outfit again. I had thrown on the same cutoffs from earlier and a plain cropped t-shirt. It slid off my shoulder, exposing my bra. Ehh…whatever, it’s just a party. I still wanted to do my makeup but I didn’t want to turn on too many lights, so I settled on my dim lamp for a light source. I quickly put on some eyeliner and mascara and called it a day. Now I just had to wait for Violet’s signal text.
About ten minutes of me sitting on my bed, the text came through:
We’re here ;)
I hopped off my bed and slowly tiptoed out into the hallway. Before going down the stairs, I stopped in our bathroom and flushed the toilet so my folks would think I was just up using the bathroom or something.
I opened the front door as quietly as possible and closed it behind me, leaving the tiniest crack so I could get back in when the night was over. When I turned around, Violet and Thalia were waiting on my front lawn. They waved me over and I trotted over to give them hugs. It turns out I wasn’t too underdressed because Violet was in a muscle tee and high-waisted shorts with a flannel shirt tied around her hips, and Thalia only wore a Beatles t-shirt, a flimsy floral skirt, and black booties. They looked effortlessly cool in comparison to me.
“You ready to go?” Thalia said, her ice blue eyes sparkling with anticipation. I looked around for Adam and Bradley before answering.
“Where are the guys?”
“They’re gonna meet us there since Bradley lives closest to Claire” Violet said. I shrugged and we all started walking along the sidewalk. Thalia linked her arm with mine and leaned in close.
“This is going to be so much fun, I can totally feel it.”
“I sure hope so…” I said, sort of to myself. I could use a little fun right now.

When the three of us arrived at Claire Hayes’ house it looked like a riot was going on inside. A few people hung out on her front lawn, smoking or drinking. Some of them were lighting sparklers and dancing around with them, nearly burning themselves in the process. The columns of the front door had strings of little white Christmas lights wrapped all the way up their whole height. I guess that was her way of decorating for her birthday tonight.
We all stepped over a few passed out girls on the front steps and knocked on the door, hard. When we did, the door opened up by itself with a dull creak and we all looked at each other, smiling. When we walked in, pretty much all of the lights were off except a few mini strobe lights where the DJ was playing tracks. Red plastic cups were strewn everywhere and hot pink streamers were torn down so that they hung from the ceiling limply. People filled the house from wall to wall and we could barely walk through all of them. I could tell the house was bigger than most of the ones in the neighborhood only because of the amount of people that were there. There’s no way Claire knows this many people.
The DJ was blasting the Steve Aoki Remix of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” and everyone near his booth was jumping up and down to the beat, going absolutely crazy. I was tempted to join but Violet and Thalia pulled me along through the raging crowd, looking for Bradley and Adam.
“They said they would just meet us here! I don’t know where they’d be!” Violet shouted back at me and Thalia. Thalia shrugged and began bopping to the remix. I looked around for the guys but all I could see were dark silhouettes and multi-colored blinking lights.
“I can’t see anything!” I pretty much screamed. As soon as I said that, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist and pick me up into the air.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Stop, put me down!”
The arms placed me back down gently and I whipped around to see that it was Adam. Bradley stood behind him laughing at me.
“Hey, it’s just me, Torres!” Adam said with his big smile. I rolled my eyes as he pulled me in for a bear hug. Violet and Thalia attacked Bradley with questions while I shouted back and forth with Adam.
“Sick, right?!” he asked, gesturing to the chaotic surroundings.
“Yea, this is crazy! I’ve never been to a party like this…or any party for that matter!”
“Well, if any party were to be your first, this would be the one!”
“Definitely!” I grinned to match his own smile.
“Just have fun tonight, Torres! Whatever you got to do, just do it! It might be your only chance!” Adam said, patting me on the shoulder and dancing away.
He was right. I probably would never get the golden opportunity to do this again. Now I was determined to make the most of tonight.
“Ella, let’s dance!” Violet suddenly appeared by my side with two red cups full of what smelled like beer. I took one reluctantly and gulped it down when Violet nodded at me. It tasted bitter but I kept drinking. If this was making everyone else have the time of their lives then I would drink, too.
The thought of being responsible went right out the window as I followed Violet and Thalia into the dancing crowd.

It only took a little while for us to get as drunk as everyone else. Thalia had downed five cups of booze dangerously fast and was already going crazy, dancing on a coffee table for a group of guys. Her red waves were being flipped around as she dipped down and shook her ass for everyone to see.
“Take it off, girl!” some random guy shouted out. Thalia squealed and threw her shirt off, exposing her bright pink push-up bra. All the guys whooped and hollered in response.
I considered telling Violet about it, but it was too loud and too chaotic to get a word in. I told myself that I would go get Thalia myself but that was a lie. I danced freely with Violet, Adam, and Bradley, not caring about anyone else. I was having way too much fun. Wale’s “Pretty Girls Benny Benassi remix” rang out through the whole house and everyone clapped their hands and grinded on each other to the beat. I hollered out with excitement and waved my hands in the air.
The song came to an end and the next one started to play through when suddenly I heard Violet’s voice being projected out onto the crowd. She had seemed to appear out nowhere up with the DJ in the booth.
“Hey, y’all!” she began. A few voices shouted out her name and clapped drunkenly.
“Hey, sexy!” Bradley screamed.
“Hey, guys. I requested a song by Portugal. The Man called “Purple Yellow Red and Blue”. It’s kind of chill but still hot. I think you’ll like it.” Violet smiled and told the DJ to start the song.
The beat thumped steadily throughout the room and everyone got into it slowly. The voices sang out:
“All I wanna do is
Live in ecstasy, I
Know what’s best for me.”
People started to pair up and dance on each other. Violet threw her arms up and rolled her hips to the beat. Everyone was feeling it, just like she had said. I stood there awkwardly for a minute, but then I suddenly felt someone come up behind me and put their hands on my waist. I tried to turn around but a voice a stopped me.
“Just go with it,” Bradley said into my ear. He rolled his hips against mine and I got in sync with him. In fact, it felt like the whole room was in sync, with everyone going the same way and feeling chilled out.
Bradley got closer to me and we were practically squished against each other, grinding to the beat. I placed my hands over his to guide my hips. I felt calm and sexy at the same time. It was easy to get caught up in that moment of sensuality with Bradley for some reason. Like it all came naturally.
I glanced around for a quick second and caught sight of Thalia dancing with guy, who didn’t wait long before starting to make out with her. When I looked away I saw Adam with a girl who wore a tiara and a baby pink sash with the words, “BIRTHDAY GIRL” spray painted across it. Her blonde curls were falling limp and her party dress had a large wine stain on it. But she didn’t seem to care all that much. That must’ve been Claire Hayes.
The song came to an end and the crowd howled and cheered. Bradley and I clapped along with them. Violet stayed with the DJ as he switched to the next fast paced remix, making everyone jump around again like animals.
I turned around to face Bradley. What now? Do I say thank you or something? Before I could say anything Bradley started to speak.
“You want another drink?”
“Sure…don’t spike it,” I said, only half kidding. He lifted an eyebrow at me.
“Alright then…try and stay put, ok?”
When he left I looked back over into the crowd. Violet waved at me from the DJ booth and blew me a kiss. I waved back and caught sight of Adam downing another drink. I glanced over to the coffee table crowd, but Thalia was nowhere to be found. She had been replaced by Claire Hayes herself, who had ditched her dirty dress and danced around in her bra and underwear. Classy.
I suddenly had the urge to pee, so I trudged my way through the crowd to get to the large staircase in the foyer. I blindly walked up through the dark and busted through the bathroom door. I almost pissed myself but I did my business neatly (thank the lord).
When I finished, I stopped and looked at myself in the mirror. My dark waves were hanging messily on my shoulders and my eyeliner was smudged.
“Oh, well…” I said to myself. I reached over to open the door but it suddenly opened up, nearly hitting me in the face. It was Bradley.
“There you are,” he said, putting down my drink. “Here you go; one beer, free of roofies.” He was eyeing me carefully.
“Oh, thanks, Bra –.”
Before I could even finish, Bradley grabbed me by the hips and plopped me down on the sink counter. He put his hand under my chin, lifting my face, and kissed me roughly. You could say I was pretty shocked. He kept kissing me like that and eventually I gave in, putting my arms around his neck. I opened my mouth a little, inviting his tongue to trace my lip. When I pulled him down closer to me, I found myself enjoying the impromptu make out session.
Bradley bent down and started kissing my neck and I giggled, obviously still drunk. Without warning, he wiggled his hand between my legs and pushed them apart. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist. I hadn’t noticed him lifting my shirt, but it was too late and it was already on the floor. When he put his lips back on mine, I could feel his hand travel up my back and struggle with my bra clasp.
“Bradley,” I said, turning my head away.
“Sorry,” he chuckled and attacked me again with kisses, which were getting increasingly sloppier by the minute. He kept one hand on my face but the other one had wandered down to my pants. Bradley swiftly opened the buttons on my shorts and started to put his hand down there. He may have been having a good old time before but that was about to be cut short.
“Stop, Bradley!”
“C’mon, chill,” he said into my ear. I balled my hands into fists and pounded them into his chest. It barely made a dent but it sent my message to him to back off. I kept hitting him until he stumbled into the wall. He smirked at me, making me even more irritated.
“What’s the problem? Not good enough for you?”
“You’re a pig, Bradley.”
“Just remember that you kissed me back,” he said as I pushed past him to retrieve my shirt from the floor.
“Whatever, just get the hell out of my way.” I grumbled as I swung the door open. I could hear him laughing to himself as he followed me out into the hallway. I put my shirt back on and turned around to look at him.
“If you tell anyone about what just happened, I swear I’ll--.”
“What happened…?” a voice said out nowhere. Me and Bradley both glanced around and stopped on an open closet door. We walked over to find Thalia slumped over a stack of towels. The dim light inside the closet showed that she had thrown up all over the floor. She looked like hell.
“What the f*** happened to you?” Bradley asked, backing away from the puke. I glared back at him before crouching down next to Thalia.
“You’re ok now, Thalia. Let’s get out of here.”
“What? No, I want to stay!”
I pulled her up anyway. I walked her down the stairs slowly with Bradley trailing behind. We just got down to the bottom of the stairs when the front door flew open with a crushing blow. Thalia and I shrieked.
“POLICE! POLICE! NO ONE MOVE, DAMMIT! POLICE!” the officers came rushing in, grabbing the first people they could get their hands on.
“Run!” Bradley shouted. Other people heard and started to warn everyone else. We all ran out through the house, practically getting trampled by the rushing crowd. Amidst all the chaos I stopped and tried calling out for Violet and Adam.
“Adaaaaammmm! Violeeeeeeettttt!”
“YO!” Adam’s voice rang out among the shouts and screams of the scrambling party guests. He and Violet nearly ran into us as I blindly followed their voices.
“You guys good?” Violet asked, out of breath.
“Not for long, the cops just busted in!” Bradley shouted back. Adam took one look at Thalia, who was slumped over me for support, and scooped her up. He slung her over his shoulder with ease and motioned for us to start moving.
We joined the wave of kids running out of the back door and made a break for it across Claire’s backyard. People had started hopping over the fence and scattering into the streets. My legs carried me straight for the fence until I actually came to it. I hopped up and down trying to get my grip on the top of the fence.
“I can’t get over!” I cried out helplessly. Bradley ran straight pass me and climbed over the fence like a spider monkey. Did he really just go right past me without helping? That little…
“Here, I’ll hoist you up!” Adam said. He offered his hands for me to place my foot in and once I did, he lifted me up and I hugged the fence. I swung my leg over too fast and basically threw my whole body weight off of the fence and straight for the ground.
Before I nearly broke my back, I landed in another set of arms.
“I got you!” Bradley said, grinning. I shot him a look in response.
“Go! Run, Ella!”
I started to run but I looked back at the rest of them coming over the fence. I wasn’t about to ditch them now.
A random girl stumbled in front of me and breathed her booze breath on my face.
“Hey…whew, you should get out of here, the cops are co--.” She cut herself off when she suddenly kneeled over and puked in the grass in front of me, some of it getting on my boots.
“Ew, what the hell!” I screamed out. Bradley’s obnoxious laugh filled the air as him, Adam, Violet, and Thalia approached me.
“Ahh, gross,” Adam said, trying to hold back a laugh. Violet pulled me and Thalia along.
“Let’s go, guys!”
We all started running again with the other frantic guests until we were a good distance away from the Hayes’ undoubtedly trashed house.
I stopped in the middle of the street once I figured we were safe and bent over my knees to catch my breath. Adam and Bradley laughed, clapping each other on the back and Thalia sat on the ground with a sick look on her face.
“We survived,” Violet said. We all chuckled, out of breath, when Thalia’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Oh, no…”
She grabbed her stomach and hurled right between her legs. That seemed to have sparked a much needed chain reaction because a second later we all keeled over and puked onto the street. Well, that’s more throw up on my shoes...
Thalia sighed. “Ok…so what’s next?”

We all decided that we didn’t feel like going home, so we just walked on the side of the road for a while until we made it to a shady place called Mickey’s Mini Mart. It was only about a half of a mile from our neighborhood and it was the only place that was open during all hours of the night. I wanted to believe that we were doing this to hang out and be cool or whatever, but really, we just needed some gum for our puke breath.
If our stumbling through the doors of the mini mart didn’t tell the employees we were drunk, our obnoxious behavior did. Bradley, being the most obnoxious of all of us, whooped and hollered for the whole store to hear.
“Ayyyyyeeeeeeee! Mickey’s Mini Mart, how you doin’ tonight!” he hacked out a drunken laugh. Adam slapped his hand over Bradley’s mouth unsuccessfully, because Bradley smacked it off and ran off down the frozen food aisle with his arms flailing around like an idiot. There was no talking to that kid.
“Thalia and I are gonna find some chips or something to eat, while Adam gets the gum.” Violet explained to me. “Could you go find Bradley?”
I let out a heavy sigh and agreed reluctantly. He was the last person I wanted to talk to right now. But I walked down to frozen foods section anyway.
“Bradley? Bradley?” I called out, ignoring the irritated looks from the other customers. I shuffled up and down the aisles and started to think that Bradley had disappeared into thin air, until I saw him looking at the wine bottles in the drinks section at the back of the store. The wine was held in a display that was supposed to look like a winery or a vineyard or something. I walked under the cardboard arc and stood at Bradley’s side between the sturdy cardboard shelves.
He didn’t turn to look at me but his smirk greeted me instead.
“What are you doing, Bradley?” I asked. He tapped the tops of the wine bottles absentmindedly.
“I really shouldn’t drink so damn much,”
“And why is that?”
“I do a lot stupid s*** when I drink.”
I rolled my eyes and turned him around to face me. “I have a feeling that you do stupid s*** when you’re not drinking, too.” He shook his head and went back to counting the wine bottles.
“Are you mad at me or something, Ella?” he asked simply.
“Yea, Bradley, I am!”
“Why…?” he blinked his eyes at me lazily.
“I’m mad at you because you tried to hook up with me on a bathroom sink!” I said a little too loudly. Bradley laughed and I smacked him on the arm. Why was everything so funny to him? This kid must have zero consideration for anyone else besides himself.
Bradley pulled out a bottle of red wine and wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Want some?”
“No, you definitely don’t need any more to drink,” I said, trying to grab the bottle away from him. He dodged my attempt and started trying to tear off the wrapping that covered the cork.
“Open up!” Bradley shouted at the bottle. He stuck the top between his teeth and tried ripping the paper off, growling like a dog.
“Bradley, cut it out! Put it back!” I waved my hands around his face to try and get a hold of the wine bottle with little success. I smacked my hand at his and caught the bottle, only to send it flying into the floor.
The bottle crashed and glass shards flew in every direction. The reddish-purple liquid splattered everywhere, staining our shoes. Nearby customers turned their heads to look at us disapprovingly. An elderly woman glanced at us like we were dirty animals.
“Oh, my…” she said, shuffling away.
Bradley and I looked up from the mess with our mouths hanging open.
“We gotta clean this up,” I started to say. Bradley cracked up and grabbed another bottle from the shelf.
“Bradley, don’t--!”
Another bottle smashed into the floor with a deafening crash. Bradley picked up two more and threw them at the walls like a crazy person. With every crash he shouted out a string of ‘f*** yeas’ and ‘oh, shits’, for the whole freaking store to hear. I watched him nervously, waiting for someone to catch us.
“Bradley, stop! We’re leaving, NOW!” I grabbed his arm and pulled him through the slippery wine puddles. We ran around the perimeter of the store to avoid being seen by any employees, but it had been too late.
“To the intoxicated children smashing wine bottles…we’re calling the police to deal with you,” I heard a voice say over the PA system. Oh, s***…
We ran out to the front of the store where cash registers were and saw two hefty employees waiting for us. Adam stood at one register with a pack of gum in his hand and furrowed his eyebrows together.
“What the hell?” he mouthed. One of the employees named, Max, turned on his headset and began speaking into it.
“Yea, we’ve got a bit of a situation…should I call the cops?” he said, glancing back at us. “No, it’s those kids again,”
So they’ve caused trouble here before?
“Alright, sure,” Max said, pressing the button his headset to hang up. He cleared his throat before speaking.
“Ok, the manager is gonna come out to speak with you guys. You two should be shittin’ your pants right about now, because this guy doesn’t play around.” Max warned.
A second later we heard a voice come from the back of the store.
“What did these punks do this time?!” he said, obviously frustrated. The man that came around the corner was not what I had expected at all. He did look intimidating with that hard look on his face, and I might’ve been a little scared…if he weren’t four feet tall. The manager’s a little person?
Bradley and I looked down at him, trying to hold back our laughter. Apparently I was better at it because Bradley started snickering uncontrollably. I saw Adam slap his hand to his face and shake his head.
“Bradley, shut up!” I said under my breath. The manager glared up at Bradley.
“Something funny, son?” he asked loudly. I silently willed Bradley not to say anything else but of course it didn’t work.
“Sorry, Jim, but I never could take you seriously,”
“What, the whole month you worked here, Kane? I should’ve fired you’re ass a lot sooner.” Jim growled. “Now, how many of you assholes are in here wrecking the whole store tonight, huh?”
Jim shot a menacing look between me and Bradley. Adam ducked his head, and Thalia and Violet suddenly appeared in line behind him, trying to look as casual as they could.
“Just us,” I said. Bradley nodded.
“Just grand! I’m calling the cops, so stay right here.” Jim said turning around to walk back to his office. I looked at Bradley desperately, thinking that there was no way of talking our way out of this mess. Bradley caught Adam’s eye and nodded. Adam nodded back and started walking out of the store with Violet and Thalia. The pack of gum in his hands caused the security alarm to go off, making Max and the other employee turn their attention away from us.
“Hey! Get back here!” Max shouted at them. Jim stopped and looked back at us and started to yell at us, but was cut off by Bradley running up to him and kicking him in the stomach.
“Suck that, b****!”
Jim landed backwards onto the floor with a solid thump and cried out after us.
“I’ll get you for that Bradley Kane! Dammit!”
We sprinted out the doors and ran into the parking lot. I looked around for the others, wondering if they had been caught. Out of nowhere I heard Thalia’s squeal and looked to my right. They were coming around the corner of the store with shopping carts at an impressive speed. Violet pushed one and Adam pushed the other with little Thalia sitting inside.
They ran right up to us and we couldn’t help but laugh at them. Violet put her cart in front of me and Bradley and jumped into Adam and Thalia’s cart.
“You guys take that one, hurry!” she said, pointing back at the two men from the store running around the corner. Adam pushed his cart and sent them into the dark parking lot. I looked at Bradley hesitantly and he looked back as if to say ‘hurry the hell up!’ The two men were coming closer, shouting at us to stop right where we were.
“Get in, Ella!” Bradley exclaimed. If we weren’t about to get arrested, there was no way in hell that I would go anywhere with Bradley. But I didn’t have a choice anymore. I hopped inside the cart and Bradley immediately pushed us into the parking lot.
He gained on Adam, who was pushing the cart surprisingly fast considering that both Thalia and Violet were inside. The wind whipped all around us and swished our hair around. Violets brown curls and Thalia’s orange-red ones flew out behind them as they put their hands up like they were on a rollercoaster.
I did the same, putting my arms out to the side. For a minute I forgot that we were running away from something and thought that we were just flying. That’s exactly how it felt – like I was flying right there with Thalia and Violet.

Adam, who had ended up leading Bradley and I, started to slow down once we were back on the side of the road that led to our neighborhood. No one said anything for a while until Violet broke the silence.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Bradley? We almost got arrested because of you…again!”
“Again?” I asked, peeking back at Bradley. He only shrugged and called out to Violet.
“Sorry, baby,”
“You should be apologizing to all of us, asshole.” Adam said, looking over his shoulder as he continued to push his cart.
“Ok, ok,” Bradley sighed. “I’m sorry, alright? I’m sorry that I almost got us arrested.”
“Again,” Thalia added from her spot up front. We all sighed, relieving some of the built up tension from before. It was quiet again for a little while. But once again, Bradley had to ruin the moment by making another stupid remark.
“So, me and Ella kinda hooked up at the party tonight!” I could practically hear that smirk in his voice. The others whooped and hollered.
“Oh, s***, Ella!” Thalia giggled. Violet and Adam joined in.
“You did not!”
“I knew it wouldn’t take very long but, damn! That must be a record for you, Kane!”
They kept laughing and poking fun at me. I figured that trying to defend what I did wouldn’t help much, so I let them have their fun. I turned around in the cart so that I could face Bradley and talk without the others hearing.
“You just had to, didn’t you?” I whispered. Bradley smiled and looked up ahead.
“What’s so bad about us hooking up? I mean you like me, I like you; it’s human nature.” He looked pleased with himself.
“I don’t like you,” I said, trying to suppress a smile. Bradley caught me though, and shook his head.
“Sure,”
“Hey, guys,” Adam said suddenly. “Let’s stop and rest somewhere. I can’t push these fat asses for much longer.
“Hey!” Thalia said, giving him an audible slap on the chest. Violet pointed up ahead.
“Take us around that big house on the corner. There’s that little playground that’s right behind our neighborhood. I go there sometimes to chill at night.”
Adam nodded his head. “Playground it is!”

We ditched the shopping carts on the edge of the playground and hopped over the mini wooden fence on its perimeter. I went over to the jungle gym and climbed up to the top and sat down alone. The others ran around and played on the slides and twisted themselves up on the swings, acting like they were back in kindergarten. I guess we had been acting like that all night anyway, so why not?
Violet came over while Adam and Bradley raced each other on the monkey bars, and Thalia went through the tiny obstacle course within the playground equipment. I scooted over on top of the jungle gym as Violet climbed up and joined me. We sat there for a minute without saying anything.
“How’re you feeling?” Violet said, keeping her gaze ahead. I glanced over at her before answering.
“I feel like…I wouldn’t have had this much fun tonight if I were with anyone but you guys. Does that sound weird?”
“No, it doesn’t. I’m glad you had a good time.”
I laughed to myself and looked back at the rest of the playground. “It turns out you were right, though.”
“Right about what?” Violet said. I gestured towards Adam, Thalia, and Bradley.
“Your friends are crazy!” Violet laughed as Adam and Thalia trotted over to meet us.
“Alright, sweetheart, it’s our turn to chat!” Adam said pointing to Violet and shooing her away. Thalia nodded and smiled at me.
“I’m going, I’m going, damn!” Violet crawled her way back down and made her way over to the swings.
Adam and Thalia stayed on the mulch, looking up at me expectantly.
“Thank you, Adam and Thalia,” I said shyly. Thalia curtsied.
“You’re very welcome,”
“Why are you thanking us?” Adam asked, appearing to be lost. Thalia smirked up at me and reached up to pat Adam on the head.
“Because tonight we gave her the one thing she probably hasn’t had enough of,” she explained.
“Fun.” I said, finishing the sentence. “I think I made the most out of tonight, Adam, just like you told me to. And I had the best time. So yea, thank you.”
Adam mimed tipping a hat off to me. “You’re welcome, Torres!”
“Hey, sorry to interrupt but can I have a minute with, Ella?” Bradley asked, coming up behind Thalia and Adam all of a sudden. Adam wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at me and Bradley.
“Well, sure you can!” he said with a creepy grin. Thalia started wiggling her eyebrows at us, too.
“Just don’t start doin’ it right here on the playground. This is a place for children after all,”
They snickered as they walked away together and Bradley got himself situated next to me, sitting close. He looked over at me and said, “So…are you still mad at me?”
“No…there’s no point anymore. I forgive you.” I said quietly. I started feeling tired all of a sudden and I let my head fall onto Bradley’s shoulder. He patted my leg.
“You know, I really am a decent guy, Ella,” he said.
“Yes, Bradley…”
“I just…haven’t found the right girl,”
“Sure,”
“You know, a girl who could change me for the better. I think you’re that girl, Ella.” Bradley leaned his head on top of mine.
“That’s complete bullshit.” I said bluntly. I moved my head away from his shoulder and we just sat and looked at each other for a few moments.
“Maybe…” Bradley whispered, putting his hand to my face and leaning in to kiss me. He was more gentle this time, and not as intense as he was at the party. I almost let myself get into it, too. But I knew better and separated myself from the kiss.
His eyes looked into mine, as if asking why I had pulled away. They may have been pretty to look at but they were empty. Despite the smooth talk, I wasn’t “that girl”.
“Goodnight, Bradley,” I said as I slid down from the jungle gym, leaving him there with his mouth gaped open.
“Aww, c’mon, that s*** works every time!” he called after me. “Ella!”
“Goodnight, Bradley!” I waved my hand over my head as I made my way up into the slide platform. I looked out and saw Thalia and Violet passed out on the swings, looking like broken dolls, Adam bouncing lazily on the seesaw, and finally Bradley, who had swung through the top of the jungle gym and was hanging only by his legs.
I smiled to myself and looked at the slide in front of me. It was one of those twisting slides that reminded me of curly cheese puffs. I sat down in the entrance of the slide and began to doze off.
“Goodnight…everybody…” I said to myself. I started to lay back and drift off to sleep. I felt myself slide down into the slide, but by that time I was already passed out.

“So that really happened, huh?” Adam said groggily. Everyone nodded. I really didn’t believe it myself. It wasn’t just a dream after all, then. We kind of just sat there, processing everything that had happened only a few hours earlier.
“What do we do now?” Thalia asked, standing up from her swing and looking around the playground.
“I’m too hung over to do anything else but sleep,” Bradley said.
I looked up at him and then the others. “Then I guess this is it. We go home and pretend like nothing happened.”
“Let’s face it, there’s no way any of us are just gonna forget about last night,” Violet laughed. Everyone agreed with sleepy smiles. She was right, of course. I definitely wasn’t going to forget, no matter how bad my hang over was.
Bradley looked over at me and threw his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go home,”
“Let’s,” I said.
Violet came over to me and linked her arm through mine as Thalia hopped onto Adam’s back for a piggyback ride. We shuffled off the playground and began walking through our sleeping neighborhood.
The streets were quiet and empty as the sun rose up, turning the sky orange and pink. We recalled moments of the previous night and joked around before we got to the first of our houses.
“First stop: Thalia!” Adam said, smiling. He bent down so Thalia could slide off of his back. She hugged Violet and Adam first, and then hopped up to wrap her arms around Bradley.
“See ya, shorty,” he said. Thalia came over to me and flashed a grin.
“I’m glad I like, met you or whatever, Ella.” She said before hugging me and walking up her driveway and slipping quietly through her front door.
××××
Violet and Adam live relatively close to each other, so they figured they’d go together. Their excuse was that they didn’t want to put Bradley and I through the trouble of going all the way to their houses just to come back down to our houses. But I knew they were just trying to get us alone.
“Call me, ok, Ella?” Violet called out as they walked away. I agreed and waved back. Adam threw up his hand before turning back around and putting his arm over Violet’s shoulders. Me and Bradley stood and watched them go until we couldn’t see them anymore before starting off on the street towards my house.
After five minutes of not saying a word to each other, we stopped at the end of the driveway of my house. I glanced up at Bradley to find him already looking back at me.
“So…is this the part where we kiss passionately and we both walk away wondering if there’s a chance at love?” I said jokingly.
“And you touch your lips, still feeling that lingering kiss,” Bradley added with a smirk.
“Then the camera gets an overhead shot of you walking off into the sunrise completely lovestruck,”
“And the credits start rolling,”
“The end.” We both said together. I rolled my eyes and Bradley only shrugged. Despite everything that happened that night, I really didn’t hate him as much as I wanted to. That’s just how he is.
I stepped forward and gave him a hug. He hugged me tight and kissed the top of my head before letting me go.
“Get out of here, Torres,” he said quietly. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Bradley.” I said, walking away from him and going up my front stairs. I looked back at him before opening the door. He had already started walking away, head up high with that cocky saunter of his. I shook my head and smiled to myself.
“The end,”
I crept back into my house silently. My family wasn’t even up yet. I shut the door carefully and started up to my room thinking about everything that happened all over again.
I’ll be seeing those kids again.