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I let out a big yawn as I rubbed my eyes and stepped foot into the kitchen. "Morning." Cole's voice was too bright and cheery for someone who had woken up before 10 am.

I looked up to find Cole standing in front of the stove holding a spatula in one hand and a pan's handle with the other one. He was wearing a long-sleeved dark grey shirt that was tight enough to show off his sculpted chest, black jeans, and sneakers. His hair was wet, indicating he had just finished taking a shower.

Blake was standing right beside him in front of the right side of the stove, also holding a spatula and the handle of another pan. He was wearing a white hoodie. The sleeves were rolled up to the spot right beneath his elbows, exposing his veiny tan forearms. He was also wearing black jeans like Cole, but the only difference was that his were ripped while Cole's weren't.

"G'morning." I took a seat on one of the kitchen island's stools and rested my cheek against my left palm. "What are you guys cooking?" I looked down in front of me and realized that the table was set neatly with OJ, maple syrup, toast, honey, jam, and other kinds of delicious breakfast crap.

"Pancakes and Bacon," Blake answered as he shook the pan he was holding.

I almost drooled at the mention of pancakes and got up to get ready for school before they're done making them. "I'll be right back."

I walked back in about five minutes later, my hair combed, my teeth brushed, my face washed, and wearing decent casual clothing. I accompanied the two of them who were now sitting at the table, chewing their breakfast peacefully, which was weird and out of the ordinary.

"Are you coming to Jordan's party tonight?" Cole questioned, taking a sip of his OJ.

"Probably not." Again... I'm not a big fan of parties.

Cole made a certain unhappy face. "Why not?"

"I kind of hate parties," I answered him honestly.

"Have you ever been to one though?" Blake asked me, tilting his head to the side.

"No, and I'm not planning to." I shrugged, pouring maple syrup on my pancakes.

"Noo. Why~?" Cole whined. "I promise you it'll be super fun."

I shook my head at him. "Nope. No way. You think I don't know what happens in most of those parties?" I shuddered at the thought. "I'm not going."

Cole huffed. "Oliver, this isn't some random dude's party. It's Jordan's so it'll be a million times safer and cleaner, there won't be any drugs or creepy perverts, all the bedroom doors will be locked, and I promise you it's not always like the movies. Plus, this is a high school party and not a college one. It'll be less risky. You should really come. You can even invite Huda if you want. Also, Blake and I would be more than happy to beat the shit out of some pervert who makes a move to touch you or any other person in the party without consent, we're like Jordan's security." He smiled widely and flexed his muscles.

Blake nodded and added, "You can also tell us whenever you feel uncomfortable or feel the need to go home. The four of us always have one designated driver and I'm him tonight, I'll get you back home the second you say the word. You should really live a little, cupcake."

"I- I don't know." I'm not gonna lie, they kind of gave me more than one reason to feel safe going there and I have a feeling that it might be fun, but a little part of me can't help but still feel a bit scared of what could happen.

"Think about it?" Cole smiled.

I sighed "Okay."

Cole beamed. "Really? You're coming?!"

"No, I mean okay as in 'okay I'll think about it," I explained.

"Oh. Well, at least it's something." Cole shrugged and took a bite out of his bacon.

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"What do you mean you can't?" I whined at Huda through the phone.

I just came back from school and realized that I forgot to ask Huda if she could come to the party with me when I sat with her at lunch.

"My parents are out and Harris won't be here, I have to stay wit da daym children."

I groaned. "I'm not going then." I plopped down on my bed.

"Haha. No honey- you're going. Stop being such a dick in the mu- wait, that isn't it. Was it 'stop being such a sti-' Oh, yeah- stop being such a stick in the mud and shake that ass up there on the dance floor- wait no, don't do that. Just have fun but not too much fu- wait no- ugh. Just have some fun, Livi-poo. Plus, didn't Thing One assure you he'd drive you home whenever you tell him you wanna leave?"

"Huda, what the hell is the point in going if you're not gonna be there? People don't just show up to parties without their friends. What do you expect me to do if I barely have anyone to talk to? Just sit there and stare at someone's puke?"

"What do you mean you 'barely have someone to talk to'? Your two roommates will be there along with their two other hot friends, you also did mention that you're cool with Jordan today at lunch."

I thought about it. "What if- Nah, they'll probably disappear into the crowd the second we step foot into the house."

I heard a chuckle being let out from the other side of the room and looked up to find Cole leaning against my door frame. He shook his head at me and continued to chuckle lightly. "No, we won't. You're fun as fuck, I'm dragging you everywhere."

"Yeah, sureee." I drawled. He walked into the room, snatched the phone from my hold, and pressed it to his ear.

"Hello Hudson, thank you for trying to convince her to go. Don't worry, I have decided to interfere and the situation is now under control. Have a good day ma'am. Also, could you please send me our chemistry not-" He held the phone back and looked down at it."-She hung up on me... lol."

Wait, did he just call Huda 'Hudson'?

I swear- this boy and his nicknames...

I chuckled and lied my head back down. I felt the bed dip from beside me and tilted my head to find Cole sitting criss-cross applesauce to my left as he smiled widely at me.

"So, what are you gonna wear?"

"Nothing."

"As much as we'd like that, I think the weather's a bit too cold for that, mate." Cole winked.

I smacked his chest lightly. "I meant nothing as in I'm not going to change my clothes because I'm not going to the party."

"Cool. What are you gonna wear." Cole asked again, completely ignoring what I just said.

"Cole I'm serious. I'm not g-"

"Ugh. Pleaseeee~" He threw his head back and whined like a child.

"No."

"Yes."

"No.

"Yes."

"No"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Yes- wait what? For reals?" Cole exclaimed.

"Yes, just shut the hell up." I sighed.

"BLAKE SHE'S COMING!" He shouted loudly.

"FOR REALS?" Blake shouted back.

"FOR REALS," Cole answered. He looked back down at me, patted my head, and said "Imma leave you to get ready. Try not to look hotter than you already are Oliver, I need my fists un-bruised." He jumped off of the bed and sprinted out of the room, jumping and clicking his heels in the air on his way to the door.

I chuckled and felt my cheeks heat a little at what he just said- is that Cole Anderson's way of complimenting someone or was he just kidding? He was probably just kidding.

I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before deciding to get up and pick an outfit for the party. It was currently 5:40 pm and we're supposed to be leaving the house at 6:50, which leaves me with only one hour to get ready.

After ten minutes of attacking my closet to search for a decent top and bottom, five minutes of trying to decide on which pair of shoes I should wear with the outfit, a two-minute banana break, three minutes of staring at myself in the mirror doubting my outfit, and fifteen minutes of watching YouTube makeup artists apply makeup on their faces and then attempting to copy them- I ended up wiping the entire thing off and just applying mascara and lip gloss because I'm a freaking failure- I stood in front of the mirror and admired my appearance.

Since the weather was kind of freezing, and I'm too scared to wear something that might catch the attention of pervy creeps- call me weak but I don't think I'm ready to show off some parts of my body yet. I mean, I can barely wear tight jeans without a baggy hoodie to cover up the top of my thighs- I decided on crossing out all skirts and dresses and picking a cute winter season-friendly outfit.

I came up with a pair of high-waisted ripped black jeans and a cute white spaghetti strap crop top with a baggy soft jacket on top to keep me warm. I didn't look too great or too awful... I just look decent, I think.

My makeup was light and cute, I think so- I wouldn't know since I don't know jack shiz about applying it- but it didn't look bad from my eyes. I took a glance at my hair and smiled at my accomplishment. I managed to curl my locks in a beautiful way that complimented my face and I was proud of myself.

I stopped staring at myself through the mirror before I end up naming every single flaw of mine and triggering my insecurities and breaking down on the floor and deciding on staying home and planning on how the hell I'm gonna get myself to look prettier and slimmer like most other girls in my school so I wouldn't hate myself so much and think about decreasing my intake of food.

I let out a long breath and forced myself to chuckle at my idiocy.

Haha. That was a funny moment. I was this close to thinking of starving myself but we're all good now.

"Oliver!" Cole called out from the other side of the apartment.

"Comin- Blake don't you dare." I cut myself off before I could allow Blake to blurt out a sexual innuendo.

"Damn it!" I heard him yell.

I slipped into a pair of black boots and made my way to the living room where the boys were waiting for me, still dressed in their clothes from this morning. It honestly made sense since both outfits were pretty decent for a party.

Blake looked up at me for a second then quickly averted his gaze, turned around, and headed towards the front door. Cole smiled at me when he noticed my presence and he looked at me up and down for a second in a non-pervy way. "Ayo Ollie, looking shmexy tonight are we?" he grabbed my arm and gently tugged, his 6'2 frame dragging my 5'4 one towards the door.

"You guys ready?" Blake asked, stepping foot out of the apartment with his back to us.

"Yep."

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"Okay cupcake listen up." The both of them turned around in their seats when Cole finished parking the car near Jordan's house.

"Since this is your first time going to a party, you need to listen carefully and memorize every single word we tell you right now by heart and never forget them, okay Ollie?" Both of them looked really serious while saying that, and I knew what they were about to say was going to be important, so I nodded and listened to them intently.

"There are certain things- rules you gotta keep in mind when you're entering any party. Now, Cole and I will stay close to you the entire time tonight but you still have to take these seriously just in case." Blake said sternly.

"Rule number one, don't you ever even think about accepting a drink or food from someone you're not familiar with- No, scratch that: don't you ever think about accepting a drink from anyone other than Cole and I. I don't give a shit if you've known the person for years, or met him or her a couple of months ago- you do not drink anything that was handed to you by another person. Understood, Olivia?" I noticed how he used my actual name this time instead of a pet or nickname.

I nodded my head. "Are you sure you've got that carved in your head? Repeat it now, just to make sure you weren't zoning out." Blake said.

"Don't accept any drinks or foods from anyone except you or Cole," I repeated.

"Good. The second rule, don't go anywhere, like the bathroom for example, without telling one of us, we'll come with you and wait for you outside the door until you're done." I nodded my head again.

"Repeat it," Blake ordered.

"Come on, I promise I wasn't zoni-"

"Repeat it, Muffin."

I sighed and repeated it. He gave me a nod of approval and gave Cole the cue to tell me the next rule. "If you're gonna go grab your own drink, don't drink from anything that wasn't from a closed can, some people slip some alcohol in the punch and I'm guessing and hoping that you're not planning on getting drunk tonight. Some water bottles might also look unopened but you never know if someone possibly slipped something in it and closed it tightly. If you get thirsty, tell me, Blake, Peter, or Jordan."

"Okay but wait, isn't this Jordan's party? Didn't you guys say it would be safer?"

"Oh trust me, Ollie, it is safer, but you always have to take all kinds of precautions so you don't end up getting fucked up and we don't end up being murdered by your big bro. We're also worried for you so... yeah."

Blake then continued. "Another thing, if anyone makes a move to touch you inappropriately without us noticing you go to us immediately and tell us, we'll handle it."

"Oh also, it's okay to socialize with people around you and to have fun and everything, just stay away from anyone who gives you vibes that are off. That's pretty much it." Cole added as Blake nodded along.

"Okay then. No accepting drinks, no drinking from anything that's not unopened and canned, no talking to sketchy people, no going to the bathroom alone, and telling you whenever a creepy pervert touches me. Memorized. Can we go now?"

Both of them nodded their heads at me and we all got out of the car and walked over to Jordan's house. Loud music was blaring at its highest volume from the inside of the house and the sound of people screaming and laughing their lungs out was audible from the other side of the street that we were crossing.

Blake and Cole received a bunch of waves and greetings the second they stepped foot into the house and they shook hands with about half the teenagers that were attending the party.

I noticed how many gorgeous girls tried to grab the attention of the two by pulling down their dresses from the top to show more cleavage and pulling the dresses up from the bottom to reveal more of their perfect thighs when they saw them pass by.

A few rolled their eyes and glared or just gave shocked or confused expressions when they noticed how both Cole and Blake dragged me around everywhere and kept looking down at their sides every few minutes to make sure I'm still beside them and not lost in the sea of teenagers.

"JORDAN YOU HOE! WHERE THE FRICK ARE YOU?" Cole yelled as loud as he could but the music and loud chatters of everyone managed to drown his voice as we searched the place for Jordan.

"Ugh, whatever." Cole gave up. From standing beside Cole, I saw Blake look down at his right for a second and watched as a look of worry and fear flashed his face as he searched around him and nudged Cole.

"Olivia." He simply said to Cole, his face showing more fear by the second. Of course, he couldn't see me since Cole's tall frame was blocking his view of me. Blake was a few inches taller than Cole but I don't think he was tall enough to see me from behind him.

I raised my arm and waved to catch his attention. "Here," I said as I vigorously waved my hand. Blake's face relaxed when he saw me and he let out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. Cole placed his hand over my shoulder and made me stand in between them again as he said a quick hey back to a guy that I think I recognized from the football team.

The guy's eyes averted to Cole's hand that was on my shoulder then trailed to my frame. He looked me up and down, licking his lips and muttering something under his breath that couldn't be heard since the music was too loud.

I shivered in a non-pleasurable way under his gaze and looked away from him, mentally vomiting. I looked back up to see if he was still looking at me and realized that he was long gone. I stole a glance at Cole and saw him staring intensely and almost hatefully at something in the crowd then smirking a few seconds later and looking back at me, quickly changing his smirk into a genuine smile.

He grabbed my arm again and started dragging me to what looked like it was the living room. I looked around and found a group of teens including Jordan and Peter all standing around a long table playing a game of beer pong and cheering.

He and Blake fist-bumped a few people and introduced me to most of them before they walked over to where Jordan, Peter, and some other dude that I don't recognize were standing.

"Yo, what the hell took you guys so long?" Jordan asked Blake and Cole the second he spotted them. "Oh hey, Olivia." He greeted me when he noticed me standing in between the two towers.

I smiled and replied with a small "Hi." right before Cole started talking.

"Wow, okay, don't bother giving me a greeting or anything, it's not like I care." Jordan just smacked the back of Cole's head in reply- something the boys tend to do a lot to Cole. Poor thing.

Cole groaned and was about to hit him back when the cheers of some people around the table caught his attention and he looked up at a dude who had half of the boys high-fiving him and patting his shoulder while jumping up and down. I think he's the one who's beating everyone at the game since I heard a girl say that.

Cole grinned and rushed to where the dude was standing, patted his back, and said "Daddy Cole's here... imma beat your ass, kid."

Is he serious? Daddy Cole?

The dude looked like he was a senior and I'm pretty sure he was since I've never had a class with him throughout all of the years I've been in Rosewood and he kind of looked amused, confused, and challenging when he heard Cole- a junior student- call him a kid.

He muttered something to Cole that I couldn't hear from standing here but it made Cole tilt his head to the side a bit and give him a certain challenging look and yelled "Challenge fucking accepted." loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"Oh shit, I've been waiting for this moment since Liam and his cousin won the first round an hour ago," Jordan said enthusiastically. I'm guessing Liam's the dude's name.

"Pick a partner to play with. We're playing in pairs." Liam said to Cole as he gestured for someone to stand by his side. I squinted my eyes a bit when I realized Liam's partner looked familiar and looked at his face to see Ashton Tuffin standing beside him, grinning at Cole.

Cole turned around and looked at Jordan, Peter, Blake, and I. "Which one of my children is willing to volunteer?" He asked us all. I love how he keeps calling these three his children when he's the youngest one out of them all.

Jordan shook his head. "Nah bro I suck at it."