I still don't know if this party is a good idea. It seems like exactly the kind of thing that is only sure to end in disaster. Obviously, it's too late to change my mind now. I'm already dressed and Luke's downstairs ready to drive me to Davina Paisley's house- if I bail on him now he'd never forgive me.

Tugging down the hem of my skirt, I cautiously peer into the mirror and take a deep breath. Choosing something to wear with Imogen's help was a bit more difficult but, still, I think I actually like what I'm wearing. For once I'm actually letting my legs out with a short floral skirt, and while it stupidly feels alien wearing it- I quite like it paired with a simple black shirt.

Grabbing my bag from my desk I leave my room, ready to head down the stairs, before promptly bumping into something small and fluffy. At first I think it's a pet I didn't realise we had but, looking down, I see my little sister peering up at me. She's bundled herself up in a bright pink bathroom towel, for what I have no idea but I can guess it's probably for one of her games.

"Hey, Evie, what are you doing?" I ask curiously, noticing her blonde hair is soaking. She doesn't answer but simply leans her head back at me and smiles, proudly showcasing the large gap in her front row of teeth. Her first milk tooth fell out yesterday and ever since she's been grinning whenever she can and shoving the pound coin the 'tooth fairy' had left her in everybody's face.

"Roger needed a bath," she says, pulling out an absolutely sopping stuffed bear from underneath her towel.

"What?" I cry, looking wildly towards the bathroom door which was hanging open. I feel a little queasy, thinking of how she could have hurt herself in there alone, but the feeling of worry is stampeded on by shock as I finally acknowledge the sound of rushing water. "Evie!"

Leaving my giggling sister behind in the landing, I rush to the bathroom and the state of it does not calm me. Luckily, the water in the bathroom hasn't spilled over since she hadn't actually put the plug in; unfortunately it's my stuff that's on the bottom of the shower rack that's had a hard time of it. The whole room smells of cranberry as I see the contents of my shampoo have been squeezed all over the bath, accompanied with the a whole bottle's worth of shower gel.

Bloody hell. I curse as I walk towards the taps and turn them off. This is just great, honestly- finding out the bathroom's in a state just before I'm meant to head out. Yep, this is just fantastic.

"Evie, why are you all wet?" I hear Granddad's voice drift from the landing. Evie responds with the same information of washing Roger bear. A beat later and he's in the bathroom, inspecting it with an expression of relief.

"I thought she'd flooded it," he says, giving a smile. His voice sounds a little wearier, as it has been for the past while. It's always had that familiar croak in it but now there's a tired rumble to it.

I point to the inside of the bath, smiling half-heartedly. "Well, she managed to make a bit of a mess anyway." Granddad looks in and chuckles.

"Just your stuff, eh?" he asks. His stuff is safe and out the way from Evie's chubby fingers a few shelves up from mine, not to mention all if it isn't even there. He's started packing to go home again, after months of staying here. I frown, not liking the emptier look of his shelf.

I don't want him to leave, none of us do but he's been insisting on it- saying he's stayed for far too long. Mum and Dad have been completely adamant that he stay but Granddad always has the last say. I haven't failed to notice my parents' frequent exchange of worried glances that they seem to be doing lately. It's all making my stomach knot in worry.

"Ruby, you go on downstairs, your friend's asking for you," Granddad says before leaning over and picking up a sponge. "I'll sort this out.

I open my mouth immediately to protest. "Gran-"

"No, go on," he says firmly before beaming at me. "I'm glad you're going out. You've been stuck inside with those books for far too long." With those words he ushers me out, waving the sponge at me before shutting the bathroom door. I stand for a few moments outside hesitantly before relenting and going downstairs.

Luke is waiting at the bottom of my stairs. His eyes widen when he sees me before he suddenly grins. "Woah," he says with a cheeky grin, "I'm bringing a hot fake-date."

* * *

Davina Paisley's house is booming. It's literally shuddering along to the bass of the songs blasting out of the speakers in one of its rooms. The loud hubbub of chatter, laughter and voices of all the people crammed into the house makes me want to muffle my ears and the word quiet seem foreign. We've only just arrived and the hallway is already littered with beer cans, dodgy-looking stains and food.

Luke and I stand hesitantly at the front door, looking like this is the last place we want to be. Which, right now it is.

"I'm going to go get a beer. God knows how many I'll need to get through this shite night," he says, pointing towards the kitchen. "You want some lemonade?" I'm surprised he doesn't ask if I want a beer too but then I remember he must have noticed I don't drink at Imogen's house. I smile; it's quite sweet he remembered.

"Yeah, that'd be great," I say and he nods, before telling me he'll meet me back here.

I haven't even ventured that far into the house yet and I've already seen so many people I recognise. There are a bunch of girls from my Biology class squished in a corner of the hallway, engaged in a lively conversation, there's Scott Jones in the year above chanting for more beer and there's-

I stop in my tracks. I haven't seen him properly for weeks and there he is, laughing with his friends by the stairs. Ryan looks happier than I've seen him a while and I feel an overwhelming sense of shame. For ages he'd been miserable and quiet and it was all because of me.

But at least he seems better now, I try and assure myself. A pretty girl standing near him is clearly checking him out and he's noticed. He stops laughing as much and says something to her and the girl blushes before giggling. Ryan's about to respond when suddenly he looks away and straightens- his gaze lands right on me. It feels like someone's dropped a bucket of icy water of my head.

It's unnerving, watching blue eyes that are usually so warm turn so cold. His laughter dies and I feel two feet tall as I look back at him, trying to smile. Ryan does not return it. Instead he glowers at me and turns away to whisper something in the girl's ear. She nods and they both walk off together. Ouch.

My heart thuds dully in my chest as I watch them go, feeling my eyes prickle. I sigh heavily, willing myself not to cry. He hates me. I'd hoped that someday soon we could maybe try being friends again, but seeing Ryan now- I don't know what I was thinking.

I feel a nudge on my shoulder and I start, turning around sharply. Luke's got two drinks in his hands and he's looking absolutely livid. "I genuinely think Reece's mouth could replace all hoovers on this planet," he says darkly as he thrust a cup of lemonade into my hand, vacating all thoughts of Ryan from my head.

"What do you mean?" I ask as Luke pulls a sour expression.

"He's in the kitchen right now, sucking Natalia's face off," he says darkly. His beer can gives a metallic noise of protest as he clenches it hard, bending it out of shape.

"Oh," I say, feeling bad. That must not have been a fun sight for him to see. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever," Luke mutters and he shakes his head. "Let's go to the sitting room." He heads to a room that I notice isn't the only living room, there's another that's opposite- it's packed and full of a pulsating mass of people dancing along to a song that booms from its four walls. The one we head to is much quieter, even though it's still pretty full the atmosphere is more chilled.

Luke heads over to a wall and slouches against it, looking like the very definition of moody. I stand next to him, taking a sip of my lemonade before crinkling my nose. It's warm. Luke, meanwhile, gulps his drink down.

"So, is this what you do a party?" I ask, looking around at all the people that seem to be having a much better time than us. "Keep the wall company?"

Luke scowls at me before sighing. "I barely go to these things."

We're quiet for a moment and he stares down towards his black Converse, furrowing his eyebrows. "I need another beer," he mutters before glancing back up. "You want more lemonade?"

"No thanks," I say, lifting up my full plastic cup. He nods and heads off once more. A couple of minutes go by before he's running back in again, looking even more angry.

"What?" I asked, startled as he storms right over.

He doesn't respond, he just grabs my hand and pulls me out of the living room to the kitchen swearing under his breath. "I've had enough. I come into the kitchen and see they're getting off right by the beers. They're not letting me enjoy anything!"

I see Luke's leading me towards the kitchen and stare at him incredulously. "But why are you taking us there?"

He doesn't answer and instead stalks into the room, spots a free corner by the fridge and pulls me there. "Please, please can you pretend you're with me?" he asks in a hushed voice as I spot Natalia and Reece. They're both wedged by the counter and Luke's right, Reece looks like he's inhaling another human being.

"I can't," I say as I turn back to Luke, feeling sympathetic. "I know this is tough but, seriously, this plan is bound to fail."

"You know, you could be helping yourself as well," Luke says.

"What do you mean?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. He nods towards the other end of the kitchen and what I see there makes my chest contract so sharply, it hurts.

Levi's sitting on the kitchen counter next to a girl I recognise as Mai Dang. My heart sinks helplessly as I watch them both. Mai Dang has always been a girl guys chase after and seeing her now, wearing a pretty pink dress that suits her raven dark hair- I can understand why.

They both sit together, looking horribly perfect together. After all Mai's beautiful and Levi's gorgeous, the both of them are popular and as much as I hate it, they're the kind of people who just naturally go together.

My blood suddenly boils- it heats and sparks a furious kind of anger that startles me. I turn back to Luke who starts when he sees I have a scowl on my face. I know this jealousy is irrational but I don't care.

"Put your arm around me," I say and he blinks, looking surprised. Then he does as I say and clumsily shrugs an arm around my shoulders. We stand there awkwardly, slouched against the fridge.

"This isn't going to work is it?" I ask, as Luke shuffles closer towards me, reddening. His head then snaps up and his shuffling turns frantic.

"She's looking this way!" he hisses and I notice Natalia's finally stopped snogging Reece. Now she's facing our direction and squinting, as if she can't quite make us out. Luke throws another arm around me quite haphazardly and the whole thing feels so ridiculous I have to restrain myself from laughing.

His eyes widen in panic. "Stop grinning! Try to look a little more... into me."

His words only have me snorting in laughter and I wave a hand, trying to show I'm sorry. "Luke, I seriously have no idea what to do."

"You could try... kissing me?" he suggests and I hit him hard on the arm. "Ow! Alright, what can we do?"

I awkwardly place a hand on Luke's shoulder, not knowing what on earth I could do with the one. "This is so romantic," I say as we both stand in this weird position for a few minutes.

Luke doesn't get a chance to reply because suddenly then two people arrive in front of us, both of them looking completely confused, one of them also appears slightly amused. Levi's smile widens as he watches Luke and I whilst Natalia's inspecting me. Her eyes are narrowed.

"You both look cosy," she says, and there's an edge to her voice. Behind her I see Reece hovering about, obviously not knowing what to do with himself. I look for Mai and see she's talking to some other guy and relief rushes through me. Maybe she and Levi weren't flirting.

Speaking of Levi, he seems much too entertained by the sight of Luke and me. I look at him again and when he raises an eyebrow I realise there's not a chance in hell he believes what he's seeing.

"We're very cosy," Luke retorts and I have to bite my lip to stop laughing. 'Cosy' is not a word I'd describe Luke and I right now.

Natalia crosses her arms and lets out a huffy sort of laugh. "That's nice."

Luke glowers at her. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," Natalia replies curtly. She then turns to face me and something dangerous flashes in her eyes. "So, you've come to the party with him?"

"Uh... yeah," I say, my voice ridiculously high. Natalia stares at me and, bloody hell- she's never been so intimidating.

"I don't expect he's been very much fun, he never is at parties," she goes on to say and Luke lets go of me and glares angrily at her.

"Look, why don't you leave us alone and go back to your meathead boyfriend?" he demands. Luckily, Reece is distracted right now otherwise Luke would've been completely done for.

"I'll happily leave you alone!" Natalia cries back just as spitefully. "Who would want to be around such an arrogant dickhead anyway?" With that she flounces off and Luke gapes after her.

"What did you just say?" he calls furiously. When Natalia continues walking he follows after her, not prepared for her to let her have the last say. Meanwhile Reece hasn't even noticed his girlfriend's gone off.

"So, have you really come as Luke's date?" Levi's voice makes me start and I realise that it's just the both of us together. His humoured tone and the grin on his face let me know he finds the whole ordeal too amusing for my liking.

"Well he's just ditched me, so," I reply, straightening. The movement has Levi's attention momentarily diverted to my body. For the briefest of moments, his gaze lingers on my legs and I feel myself turn short of breath. Levi looks away quickly, as though he's realised what he's doing and he clears his throat. His face faintly colours.

My cheeks are aflame at the fact he's just checked me out. I wait for him to say something, most likely a dig at me but he doesn't. Instead Levi appears distracted, like he's finding it hard to concentrate.

"I've never seen you at parties," he finally says. With a slight smile, I realise he doesn't sound a hundred percent like his usual calm self.

"They're not exactly my natural habitat," I say and Levi grins. The sight makes me smile broadly too.

"I didn't think they would be," he says, returning back to his normal state. "After all, you seem to find textbooks and homework more exciting."

I narrow my eyes at the comment. "Excuse me? I do not find homework fun." I scowl when his grin grows wider. "I'm actually capable of having fun you know!"

"Really?" Levi asks, folding his arms disbelievingly with an air of amusement. "Tell me, have you danced to a song yet?"

"Uh..." I stammer. I've only been here ten minutes so I haven't had a chance to do much, but the question catches me off guard because I never dance at parties, even when I've had the opportunity to. Why would I want to run the risk of looking like a fool in front of all my classmates?

"Right." Levi nods at my response, not seeming surprised at all. "Let's go."

"What?"

And before I know it, he's pulling me out the kitchen to the centre of the busy living room. It's crammed full of dancing, sweaty bodies, the temperature's burning and the music's absolutely deafening but in the midst of it all- it's sort of exhilarating.

I've always been one of the people sitting on the side-lines, shaking my head at the people who lose their heads and rave like there's no tomorrow when some popular song comes on. But now I can actually see why they do. Actually letting loose and dancing madly to a crappy pop song which isn't actually so crappy actually seems pretty fun.

"So, do you want to dance?" Levi asks. His voice is raised so loud he's practically shouting to be heard over the loud crashing music that's got everyone chanting along to its lyrics.

He doesn't need to ask me twice. Somehow, ludicrously, I find myself dancing like a complete and utter lunatic and not caring at all. And even more ludicrously, Levi's dancing with me. With him, for the first time, I don't care what anyone thinks of me. All I care about is us.

The song is fast and keeping up with it has me losing my breath and adrenaline shots through me. Everyone jumps up and down in time to beat around us, the sound of in sync stomping filling the room.

My heart lurches when Levi grabs my hand and we both dance in a way that I've never done so before. Euphoria rushes through me as we both dance in a way that's probably a hazard for those nearby. He's laughing and delirium floods my veins- that boyish, gorgeous sound will be the end of me.

Then, abruptly, it's all over. The song comes to an end and the beat eases and dissolves into something slow, something completely different.

It reminds me of the Arctic Monkeys one Levi had played at Imogen's a week ago. But this song differs from it; it's even slower- even darker. The singer's voice is low and impassioned; the first few lyrics that drift out the speakers are suggestive in a way that has my face blushing and changes the mood in a way that makes the air crackle with electricity.

I don't know what to do. Levi and I simply stare at each other, breathing hard from the exuberant last few minutes. Reason urges me to stop any further dancing now that a slow song is playing in a background. Levi's eyes tell me something different.

Neither of us talk, neither of us say anything.

Then Levi just steps forward and closes the space between us. The sudden decline of space has my heart rising up into my throat. His closeness makes my stomach knot and I stare up him, wanting him to come even nearer.

It's like he hears my thoughts.

Levi gently tugs me forward until there's barely a few inches between our faces and none between our bodies and I think my lungs are going to give out; they're struggling to inhale air so much.

His hands rest on my waist so naturally it's as if they've been there a hundred times before. My heart thumps erratically at the touch which feels electric. The feel of Levi's body against mine has both my thoughts and heart fluttering so wildly I'm sure he can hear them. I can feel the warmth of his body radiate off him and heat mine, this and the soft feel of his breath falling gently against my face has me cheeks flushing pink because it's a sign of how close he is right now.

Somehow, as if they know what to do instinctively, my hands find themselves on his broad shoulders and soon we're moving- drifting in slow mesmerising circles that weave seamlessly together with the rhythm of the song. The proximity between us feels completely heart-stopping and I'm wondering how on earth a party invitation from Luke has come to Levi and I dancing to a slow song.