Loud music blasted from the pulsing speakers that had been placed around the basement of Charlie's place. He lived in a detached house on the end of a cul-de-sac, next to a small park that was nicely lit, well up kept and there was enough space between the houses so his neighbours, probably, wouldn't be disturbed by the loud electronic music and gathering of drunk teenagers. The basement, that had an adjoining room that was Charlie's bedroom, opened up onto his back yard, and he'd opened up his back gate so that guests wouldn't have to walk through his house to get to the party.

Alice was currently sat on the couch next to the open double doors, sat next to Fei and a few of their friends who had taken it upon themselves to start a drinking game using cards. She half paid attention, just drinking when she wanted to as she eyed the boys across the room, all gathered together with their drinks and cigarettes in hand... and although her gaze every now and then focused on Magnus putting a questionable roll up to his lips, it was mainly on Candice... who had decided to attach herself to Charlie for the evening and fairly smugly stood close to him although they didn't touch.

Alice was surprised at her confidence, considering her brother was somewhere around here and would probably have something to say, and she had made it so clear she wanted nothing to do with the group before, but for some reason was having a change of heart. Alice assumed it was jealousy, since that single emotion could drive someone to think, do or say stupid things without seeing the logical sense in it. She sighed, knowing a few examples she could bring up of things she'd done and pursed her lips before taking another long sip of her drink.

"Alice it's your go," Fei called over the thumping music. The DJ was some college guy who was a friend of Charlie's dealer, and seemed to have ignored Alice's playlist entirely. She was annoyed, and it showed on her face as she sat with one leg folded over the other and a straight face as she held her drink with one hand. After a few seconds of registering Fei's voice Alice dealt her cards, losing the round she assumed from the round of laughs and orders for her to drink. She threw back the rest of her drink before standing up, crushing the red cup in her hand before letting it fall from her hand carelessly.

Fei watched her walk off, deciding to get up to follow to see what was happening as Alice left the room and climbed the spiral stairs to the first floor where there was a bathroom. She caught up with her quickly, managing to catch the bathroom door before she closed it, and slipped inside, and closed it behind her. They'd dressed down from the 80s party, and ditched a lot of their costume jewellery and neon colours in unknown places around the house and now had outfits that looked fairly up to date and neutral. "Hey.... so, what's up?" Fei asked, trying to steady herself but she still was fairly drunk.

"Nothing," Alice replied, hitching up her dress and sitting down on the toilet to pee.

"You have a face like someone just slapped you," Fei replied, causing Alice to look up at her without moving her head. "What?" She hiccuped then apologised quietly.

"Have got really not noticed?" Alice asked, finishing up then pulling up her underwear.

"Noticed what?" Fei asked as Alice fixed her outfit then washed her hands. The music from downstairs was muffled but they could feel the bass through the floor.

"Candice and Charlie." Alice replied in a low voice as she dried her hands and fixed the towel so it was neat again. "She's been all over him tonight." She added, looking Fei in the eye and waiting for a response. Fei parted her lips and hesitated, unsure of what to say since she had noticed, and it had hurt her feelings, but she didn't know what she could do.

"Well she did have him first..." Fei murmured,

"He's not an object, Fei. No one can have him." Alice replied carefully whilst laughing softly. "It's... I just think it's... actually, nevermind." She smiled a little half heartedly, "I don't wanna put words in your mouth." She said before turning around to look at herself in the mirror and fix her make up that hadn't budged since application.

"What were you gonna say?" Fei asked, stepping closer. Alice hesitated for a few seconds, and looked like she was reluctant to say. "Please, because I don't know how to handle these kind of situations... like he makes it seem as if he really likes me and that we have a genuine connection, and then behaves like this. What if he's been sleeping with her the whole time?"

"Then he's playing you," Alice replied simply, "-and it's good riddance, if he is. The last thing you want to do is behave like a pick me for the guy you like, then they know they can manipulate you."

"So what do I do?" Fei asked,

"I don't know, Fei. I don't know Charlie all that well... but I just can't get over the fact Candice knew you were talking to him because she heard me talking about a double date with Magnus." Alice said, twisting the truth a little, and she could see the emotions moving across Fei's eyes as she told her more information... "She's doing this to win something, you know what she's like. She lost the popularity contest with me so now she's feeling territorial." Alice continued with an annoyed smile, her voice hushed like she was whispering a dark secret whilst staring directly into Fei's eyes and almost forgetting to blink.

"You make this sound like war." Fei whispered although she felt the burn of her own irritation begin to tingle inside her veins.

Alice smiled more, and laughed softly... but let it fade away after a few seconds. "She's stepping on your toes, Fei... Like... Personally? I wouldn't like being so disrespected like that. She's making him make you look like a fool." She replied quietly and shrugged her shoulders. Fei looked at each of her eyes and felt her own emotions click into place, she frowned a little and exhaled slowly... now feeling as if Candice had embarrassed her and physically pushed her out the way to get to Charlie. "But who fights over guys anymore, right?" Alice laughed softly, looking away to glance down at her nails before carefully looking back at Fei without moving her head.

"Yeah." Fei agreed quietly, looking away from Alice and staring off at the wall. She had an expression of pure irritation and Alice smiled very quickly before wiping it off her face.

"Let's go back to the party." she said lightly, running her fingers through her long hair quickly as her curls loosened and became more relaxed. They returned downstairs, slipping back into the darkness and fog of the party to rejoin their friends on the couches as Magnus glanced over to see where she was. He watched as she sat down, this look of subtle mischief playing on her lips as she was offered another drink by one of her friends. He wondered what she might be thinking about when he noticed her glance towards where Charlie was standing, who was a metre or so in front of him. For a moment he felt himself tense, and looked where she was only to see she was probably looking at Candice... he relaxed a little, aware that she was angry about the situation with Charlie, Fei and Candice, but felt his consciousness begin to whisper doubts into his ear about why...

He brushed it off and took another long sip of his drink from the red cup in his hand, having passed the spliff back to another one of his friends. It hadn't really had an effect on him apart from relaxing him a little, and he looked back towards Alice for a few seconds before returning his attention to his friends. The lighting in the room was low, and it was slightly smokey even though the doors opening up onto the backyard were still open... the party progressed and livened up as more people began to arrive, bodies now crowding together in Charlie's basement as the scent of a Friday night house party having wafted through social media, drawing people in from neighbouring towns to join in.

It was now coming up to midnight and loud music continued to pulse from the speakers, bodies moved together to dance, filling the room with those who wanted to enjoy the music whilst sipping their drinks or smoking. By this point most attendees had reached a level of intoxication that reality had seemed to slip away, and people had spread across Charlie's house, sneaking into rooms with their partners for privacy or hiding away in bathrooms to take questionable substances.

By this time, Alice had consumed several more drinks, and her head spinning with intoxication. She'd escaped the basement with a few of her friends and wandered upstairs and into the kitchen to find something to snack on. "I love Charlie's house, it's so like.... random." She said at a normal level since the music was a little muffled from where they were. Charlie's house had five levels, the basement, the ground floor, first floor, second floor and the converted attic that was used as a games room for him and his siblings who were now off at college. Alice hadn't known Charlie wasn't an only child, he had an older sister and brother who was two years older and were fraternal twins. She'd investigated the family photos hanging in the kitchen nosily before helping herself to some chips she'd found in a cupboard.

"It's so homey." Fei sighed, pulling herself up onto the counter on the island in the middle of the kitchen and thanking Alice who offered her a bag of pretzels she'd also found.

"Have you not been here before?" Georgia asked, as a few other girls looked at the family pictures, cooing over young Charlie who looked like your average teenager, apart from the fact he'd brutally murdered his father in that very kitchen. Alice stared at the tiles on the floor for a moment as she remembered before she blinked and smiled.

"No I haven't," she said lightly, hearing the house music thumping in the background.

"Neither." Fei added, and Georgia smiled before she sipped her drink.

"We don't really go to anyone's house apart from Magnus's." Alice added, and Georgia hummed lightly.

"So what that's like the HQ?" She asked with a soft laugh and Alice didn't understand what she meant for a second, and felt herself tense as she assumed wrong. It took her a moment to realise and laughed quietly, but Fei noticed the fake-ness of it. "Also, like what's going on with you guys and Candice?" Georgia asked, "I know you guys aren't super friendly right now but I heard she apologised and things were cool?"

"Who said that?" Alice asked in a light tone, the bitchiness oozing from it easily as she popped some chips into her mouth before putting the packet down and craving another drink.

"Well Hannah heard from Olive, who heard from Candice, that she had spoken to you and apologised?" Georgia replied looking interested and confused at the same time. Alice inhaled and let the expression of confusion spread over her face even though she remembered when Candice had apologised.

"Don't remember that," Alice laughed, "I mean... if she did it must've not been very good if I can't remember." She added, moving some hair from her face and flicking it behind her ear.

"What even happened between you guys anyway?" Another girl asked who had stopped looking around the kitchen and pulled herself up onto the counter next to Fei to share some of the pretzels. Alice opened her mouth to create a response, but stopped as she noticed Candice and Olive appear from the stairs that led down to the basement. The other girls saw Alice stop and look over, so they looked over too, letting the silence between the group of five girls radiate towards Candice and Olive whilst they walked past to find a bathroom.

The air felt awkward for them, and it was obvious they had been talking about them from the way everyone had gone quiet. Candice's temper bubbled away as she left the kitchen and went into the hall, moving past the island in the kitchen and going through the door closest to Alice... who then moved away from the counter to slam the door after her. She did it deliberately, because she knew acts of passive aggression were Candice's biggest pet peeve and she smiled but dropped it quickly before turning around to face the other girls.

"Anyway," she said lightly, causing an echo of laughs from her friends at her behaviour. In moments like this it was clear the other girls weren't shy to a little drama, in fact it was clear they enjoyed it. They'd been hanging around Alice more, spending more time at her lunch table, ogling at her boyfriend and his friends like they were kids in a candy store, and seeming to mimic her behaviour, her clothes, her way of speaking and mannerisms. No one had realised that they were doing it, apart from those who wanted nothing to do with her.

The subject changed for a few moments, and the girls talked about nothing important and laughed amongst themselves as Candice and Olive used the bathroom in the hall. "She's just trying to provoke you." Olive said as she washed her hands. "Ever since she's become Magnus's pet she's become a massive bitch, just ignore her otherwise she wins."

"If I continue to ignore her she's going to keep doing it." Candice replied angrily as she used the toilet, "She deliberately sent Fei after Charlie because she found out I was talking to him, she's taken Georgia from us and made her little friendship group her minions, now they barely talk to us and act like they're so important because they get to sit at the same table as Magnus and Charlie sometimes. Like, what the fuck." Candice ranted. "This is such bullshit, just because I called her out on her psycho behaviour because she's in love with a fucking-"

"Careful." Olive murmured, "You don't know who's listening." She added, subconsciously rubbing her wrist.

"I don't care who's listening." Candice snapped back as she flushed and wiped herself clean before washing her hands. She checked her appearance in the mirror and sighed angrily whilst leaning against the sink, pressing her palms into the edge as she tried to reason with herself, but her heart thudded angrily and her chest felt tense... she couldn't ignore it and it was frustrating her.

"We should just ignore her." Olive repeated quietly, wanting to emphasise her point. "They already don't like us, let's not give them an excuse to make us a target... And I don't want our behaviour to reflect badly on Noah, they already bully him a lot."

"Since when did you become such a maid?" Candice shot back and Olive visibly retreated and furrowed her eyebrows. "Noah is one of them. He's as much of a psycho as they are, it doesn't matter what we do. And they just push him around because he's quiet..." She ranted before taking a breath and carrying on. "I don't get why why you stick up for him so much as if he's not obsessed with Alice." Candice snapped angrily. "Which I also don't get because she's the most basic looking white girl there is. But as usual society trips themselves up gagging for the blonde haired, blue eyed girl."

Olive didn't know what to say, and opened the door to the bathroom after Candice had dried her hands so they could return to the party downstairs... She knew that Noah had a particular fascination with Alice, she'd seen him staring at her... she'd seen him lurking on her social media when he thought she was asleep. She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like a churning anticipation as if her instincts knew something wasn't right but knew it was best not to say anything.

Once they entered back into the kitchen the other girls were talking loudly, but Alice watched Candice and Olive walked past her. They knew she was looking, and she knew that they had noticed too... and she smirked, continuing to watch until the two girls were about to open the door to the basement to return to the party, but Candice stopped and looked back at her. Her temper was all over her face, and Alice smiled more and waved a little to taunt her... Their alcohol consumption was making their behaviour worse, and Candice could feel the ease of the words she wanted to snap and shout across the room but stopped herself. "Bitch." She muttered under her breath instead, turning to leave, but stopping suddenly as she came face to face with Magnus... who had just climbed the stairs.

"Who is?" He asked, since he'd seen the look on her face and already seemed to have a pretty good idea on who she was talking about.

"No one." Candice spat angrily, although she felt her heart thudding as it pulsed anxiousness into her blood stream. She was about to push past him but his arm cut across her path suddenly, his palm pressing against the wall to her right and blocking her. He glared with a straight face, his hard stare sounding like a warning even though he didn't utter another word. "Excuse me." Candice said quietly as Olive stood behind her, both of them looking at him a little nervously. It was a quick reminder of who he was, with no words needing to be exchanged.

He stayed silent for a few seconds, raising his upper lip little at the edge to show a subtle look of disgust. "...Magnus," a wary voice said from behind him, and just over his shoulder Candice could see her brother. He looked a little unsure, but didn't say anything more. The seconds seemed to drag by, but finally Magnus looked away from Candice and over his shoulder to see Trey's expression. He said nothing again and retreated his arm, making it seem as if he was going to move on but he made a sudden move in her direction, causing Candice to jump and yelp loudly. The sound caught the attention of the girls in the kitchen, and they all turned to see what had happened as Magnus laughed, his body language relaxed as he carried on walking and moved into the kitchen, leaving Candice clutching her chest as she tried to steady her breathing and racing heart.

"Are you okay?" Trey asked in a low voice, and Candice glared angrily at him before pushing past and carrying on down the stairs. He hesitated and released brief sigh before following Magnus into the kitchen, spotting him making his way over to Alice and scooping her up. "Hello," she laughed, enjoying being lifted so easily as she wrapped her legs around his middle and held onto his shoulders as he put her on the counter behind her.

"Hi," Magnus replied, his slightly lazy smile showing that he was maybe a little more intoxicated than Alice assumed he would be. He leaned forward and lowered his head, resting his face on her chest and humming.

"Are you drunk?" She asked with a light laugh, cupping his head gently as her friends cooed and giggled at his affectionate behaviour.

"Wasted." Magnus murmured, wrapping his arms around her body and nuzzling her breasts as Trey approached and smiled.

"Hi," Alice smiled, greeting him as he murmured a greeting back.

"Charlie's homemade moonshine." Trey commented, seeing Magnus's extremely out of character behaviour and laughing a little half heartedly as he saw him nuzzle Alice's chest again before sighing heavily. She played with his hair, running her fingers through it as she shook her head lightly with a smile.

"He doesn't drink much so it's understandable," Alice replied, noticing her friends gazing at the boys as if they were some kind of celebrities. "And what is Charlie doing making his own alcohol?"