he backyard is a lot more cooler-looking than the inside. The fairy lights hanging around on the trees and on the walls of the house. There is a small bar with a guy pouring pink liquid into a cup, while people sit on the stools in front of it.

A medium sized pool is in the middle of the green space, a few people are hanging out in it and splashing each other. There is even a DJ with the speakers blasting Move Your Body by Sia. A bunch of teenagers are on the dance floor, only it isn't as crowded as the one inside. And the rest are seated on the cushioned garden chairs connected together.

I preferred the backyard than the inside of the house, if you ask me.

"Well, I think this place is much better for you, Anna," Sophie says, her eyes sweeping around the place.

"Yeah, it's great," I nod my head.

"How about we go dance?" Riley offers.

"You guys can go ahead. I'm too tired to do anything," I tell them.

"If you want to leave, we can leave now. It's not a problem," Colette claims.

"I'm fine, really. You guys go," I smile at them, reassuringly.

The three of them give me a pointed look and when they notice that my facial expression doesn't manage to falter, they nod before walking over to the glowing dance floor and joining the others.

I look around, trying to spot some familiar faces. Almost half of the people inside are now outside. I don't see Cameron anywhere, so I'm guessing he left. And I silently pray for God that mum wouldn't spill out everything.

My eyes suddenly land on Luke who is sitting on one of the cushioned chairs. Looking really handsome in black pants, a leather jacket and a white shirt, may I add. He always manages to look good anyways.

I really wanted to thank him about the gift and how much I loved it. I decided to muster up my courage, pull my big girl pants up and walk over to him.

His eyes are fixated on the phone in his hands, as he scrolls through it with his thumb and in his other hand there's a dark red lighter that he keeps turning on and off, making a tiny flame appear dancing every time it's on.

I stand right in front of him, then I bend down a bit and tilt my head to the side downwards, my hair dangling down, so I can catch his gaze. I feel a sense of déjà vu hitting me, but I just ignore it and push it in the back of my mind.

Luke notices me and raises an eyebrow at me, as in question of 'what the heck are you doing?'.

"Hey," I smile.

"Hey, Cherries," he replies back with a small grin, before looking up fully as he slips his lighter in his jacket's pocket and I stand straight back up.

"Mind if I take a seat?" I point at the chair connected to his.

"No, not at all," he shakes his head.

I sit down next to him. "So, are you enjoying this?" I gesture to the party.

"Yeah, I guess," he answers.

"Where are Zach and Alex?" I frown in confusion.

"There," he points at the pool.

Zach is dancing in the water, a bit crazier than usual, while Alex shakes his head at him. Zach notices the disapproving look of his friend and he starts splashing him. Alex manages to escape away from the raining water, but then Zach tackles him. I laugh at their silliness and look back at Luke.

"They're always like that," Luke mumbles.

I chuckle a bit, "Why are you not with them?"

"I don't really feel like dying from hypothermia today," he points out.

"Reasonable enough."

"So, what's up?" He leans back in his seat, his legs spreading apart a bit and his hands resting on his thighs as he taps his fingers on his legs.

"Huh?"

"There must have been a reason why you wanted to talk to me," he says.

"Well, no and yes," I reply. "I just wanted to thank you for the gift. It's really beautiful."

"You're welcome."

"How did you know about the bear?" I ask him, referring to Snuggles jr., my teddy bear. Yes, I named him.

"What about it?" He questions back.

"That was literally the exact copy of my childhood teddy bear," I explain.

"I had no idea. I just saw that in one of those gift shops and bought it," he shrugs his shoulders.

"Well, thank you. That thing meant a lot to me," I give him a grateful smile.

"No problem."

"Anna!" A female's voice yells and I notice Abby waving at me, while standing by the pool.

"I gotta go. I'll talk to you later," I tell Luke, standing up.

"Sounds good."

I give him one last smile and walk over to Abby, who stands with her new friend, Zoey. I talked to Zoey a few times before and she was such a nice person.

She could be a bit hyperactive sometimes, but Abby is literally the description of hyperactive, so Zoey is probably the best option for her as a friend.

"Hey, guys," I greet them.

"Hey," they both say back.

"I didn't know you're a party type," Abby says.

"I'm not," I reply. "I felt bad for the girls and I didn't want them to feel upset, so I agreed on going with them."

"I didn't know you're a Luke-type," Zoey teases.

"Oh my God," I cover my face with my hands and they both giggle slightly.

"I saw you, talking to him," Abby grins.

"That's how people communicate, Abbs," I muffle from behind my hands.

"You like him," she says and I quickly pull my hands away from face to see her still grinning at me.

"I do not," I differ.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Sure?"

"Yes!" I exclaim.

"Okay," she shrugs, glancing at Zoey from the corner of her eye and Abby's smile stretches devilishly at her, while Zoey copies her expression.

"What?" I switch my gaze between both of them.

"Nothing," Abby holds her hands up in defense.

"Why are you guys smiling like that?"

"Like what?" Zoey asks, innocently.

"Like Dora at the end of each episode, waiting for an answer when she knows she'll never get one," I narrow my eyes at them.

"We're smiling normally," Abby shrugs with the same creepy smile on her face, like Pennywise, the clown, possessed her.

I eye them suspiciously, trying to figure out what's wrong with them. Suddenly, I hear a loud splash coming from the pool and a row of cheers follow it. I whip my head around to see what happened.

"What the fuck, Zach!" Luke growls, standing in the pool and glaring at his best friend, who is grinning at him.

His clothes are soaking wet and his hair dripping with water droplets that run down his face. I cup my hands over my mouth to try muffling my laughter, but I couldn't help it and I start laughing at him.

He turns his glare to me and I press my lips in a tight line, a few snickers manage to escape from my mouth though.

I step a bit closer to the edge and lean in, holding out my hand for him, "Here."

He grasps tightly on my hand and I'm about to pull him, when he tugs on my hand and I shriek as I topple in the water. My body hitting the warm water like a brick.

I hear another row of cheers as I push through the surface of the water and stand in shock with my mouth wide open.

Luke smirks at me, crossing his arms over the soaked shirt. "Nice bra," he nods his head at my top.

"You're such a jerk!" I splash him, not even caring about the fact that my white top is now a see-through one.

He tosses his head back, laughing and his two dimples appear by the corners of his mouth. He doesn't let out a sarcastic laugh or a slight chuckle. No. A real heartfelt laugh and it's truly one of the most beautiful, most angelic laughs ever.

A lot of people were thrilled by what happened with Luke and me, that soon they all started dive bombing in the pool as well. Jason brought out towels for everyone, so we wouldn't turn into human ice popsicles.

I don't stay in the pool for too long because I didn't want to end up with a fever and my top starts looking really bad. I wrap one of the towels around myself and take a seat beside Colette on the lounge chair.

Sophie and Riley were one of the people who jumped in the pool as well, but Colette didn't because she's Colette. She's not the kind that would have too much fun. It's her character.

"I'm thinking about going back home," I tell her.

"We can go home now actually. I'm sure the girls wouldn't mind," she replies back.

"No, that's alright. I'll just walk back."

"Anna, you can't walk back home in the middle of the night, drenched in water and in the cold all alone," Colette states.

"It's fine. The house is a few minutes away."

"What's up?" Sophie chirps as she and Riley approach us, wrapping a towel around themselves and taking a seat on the lounge chair in front of us.

"Anna wants to walk back home alone," answers Colette.

"What the hell, Anna?" Sophie raises both of her eyebrows in shock.

"Guys, it's fine. The three of you are enjoying this party and I don't want to be a downer and make you leave as well," I explain.

"You could get hurt. Are you crazy?" Riley's wide blue eyes stare at me.

"You can't walk back home alone," Colette insists.

"It's alright, guys," Luke's voice pitches in and we look up at him. "I'm actually heading home right now. I can give Cherries a ride back."

"No, I don't want it to be a huge burden on you," I tell him.

"We live on the same street, Cherries. It won't matter," he smirks.

"I'm going back to Colette's, not to my house," I note.

"Doesn't Colette live on the same street as well?"

"Yeah, I do," Colette responds.

"Great. Let's go," Luke announces.

"But-" I start.

"It's either we leave with you or Luke gives you a ride. Pick one," Colette claims.

Sometimes I really hate that they worry too much about me, because I'm the youngest in the group. The girls know I can protect myself and everything, but they still have to make sure I'm safe. They're like female versions of my brothers.

"Fine," I mutter. "I'll go with Luke."

| | | |

"You don't have to do this, you know?" I tell him as we walk to his car and he glances at me.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to feel obligated to give me a ride home. I can just walk," I reply.

"Cherries," he comes to a stop in front of me and I stop at the sudden movement. "I'm not obligated to give you a ride home. I offered and you said yes."

"Yeah, but only because I didn't want the girls to leave."

"And yet I was not going to let you walk home alone in the middle of the night on New Year's," he says. "You're not a burden."

I don't say anything or react in any way at first before I nod, then something around his neck catches my eye and I notice that it's the necklace that I got him. It's hidden under his shirt, but I can recognize the silver chain. I feel a smile tugging on my lips, but I press them against each other to hide it.

"What are you smiling at?" His voice makes me look up to make eye contact with him to see him looking at me with a questioning look.

"Nothing. I always smile," I give a small one-shouldered shrug and the wide smile that can't help but appear on my lips give away that I'm probably mentally ill.

He rolls his eyes. "I know you always smile, Cherries. It's one of the things that I see excessively everyday, but why are you smiling like that?"

"Like what?" I laugh. "I'm smiling normally."

"No, you're not." He says. "I know your smiles. This isn't your normal smile."

"Really, Mr. 'Secretly Stalker But I Like To Call It Observant'?" I do finger quotes. "What exactly are my smiles then?"

The tiniest of smiles appear on his lips. "I will tell you later."

My smile however is as wide as the border between Mexico and America. "You're wearing the necklace that I got you."

"I guess I am." His eyes drop down to my arm. "You're wearing the bracelet that I got you."

"I guess I am," I imitate him.

"You're weird, Cherries."

"And you lack brain cells," I frown.

"Not as much as you do." Then he turns around and continues walking to his car, but I don't miss the smirk on his face. I gape at his back before I follow him with force in my steps.

"I am not stupid!"

"Okay," I hear the playful tone in his voice.

Luke and I continue bickering on our way home or it's more like me trying to prove that I am in fact not an idiot, while he just runs me along.

We finally make it home and as I run up the stairs to Colette's room, I start thinking about how he could be in a playful mood sometimes and how he could be in a grumpy mood in other times. He's like a mystery and if I had to be freaking Sherlock Holmes, then I wouldn't mind.

| | | |

❀