I didn't know why I was so nervous. These people had been my friends for years, and I had never almost dreaded a hangout with them. It was mainly because of the Erin situation. I could only hope that she hadn't influenced them in any way negatively, but also, deep down, I feared that this was a setup.

Erin had always been a bitch. I'd said it to her face, in the best friend to best friend way. We both laughed it off, and Erin agreed, throwing her head back and smirking. She was proud of it, too. She was capable of so much, but never did I think that her vengeance could potentially be directed at me. She was only like that when someone got in her way, but boy if you did, then you'd better watch your back.

Perhaps I was exaggerating. These people had been my friends for all of highschool, and I went even further back with some of them. But you knew Erin even longer, and she ditched you, my subconcious threw in. I sighed and decided to focus at the task at hand instead.

I attempted to apply concealer, but it ended up looking like I didn't know how to apply fake tan. The makeup was too light for my skintone, and my eyebags weren't all to prominent, so I ditched the concealer entirely, and just applied mascara and lipgloss.

I hoped that they wouldn't mind that I brought Jay. He was pretty cool company, and my friends always appreciated a new companion, at least for one outing.

I'd never been one who took a long to get ready, unlike Erin, whose beauty regimen took all night, and who then took forever to get ready. Her makeup always looked perfect, while I could barely manage a swipe of mascara on my lashes wihtout messing it up. We were different in so many ways, Erin and I, and perhaps that's why we'd gotten along all this time, until one day, we clashed.

"You're taking forever." Jay whined, a hint of amusement in his tone.

I turned around and scowled. "It's been literally ten minutes."

He grinned but said nothing. "Long enough."

I rolled my eyes and finished my mascara without managing to mess it up, as I usually did, where it ended up on my eyelids.

Soon enough, it was time to head out. We didn't take an uber again, as the bowling place was just a few minutesaway from the hotel and we wanted some fresh air. My hair was still damp from the shower, but it was hot enough for shorts and a crop top, so I figured I wouldn't get sick.

"There's a lot to do here." Jay noted, his grey eyes scanning the town as we walked. We didn't hold hands, although I hoped that he'd reach for my palm sometime soon.

"I know." I said. "My friends and I always drive here after school. There's plenty to do, like go to the bowling alley, or the restaurants. Or the bars," I added "even though we can't get into those."

Jay looked at me now. "Get fake ID's." He said, reaching into his wallet, a worn brown leather bifold that looked like it would fall apart any minute. For someone whose wallet was probably overflowing and complete with Amex and Mastercard and Visa, the wallet itself was surely shabby. He pulled out a little plastic card and gave it to me to look at. "Looks real, doesn't it?"

"Well, I've never really took the time to evaluate a real ID, so I wouldn't know."

"Shut up." He laughed. "It looks real enough and it has gotten me into countless clubs. My guy is the best one in New York."

"Tell your guy I'm in need of his services." I said jokingly.

"Actually? I'll give him a call."

"I'm just kidding. I wouldn't even make it into the sketchiest bar anywhere. I look twelve." Maybe that was exaggeration, but I did look really young. I would be turning seventeen this summer, yet I still had a "baby face" and looked around fifteen. Jay, on the other hand, could pass for twenty-one. He didn't look old or anything, and when he was smiling or sleeping he looked like a normal seventeen year old. When he scowled he looked older. Jay didn't smile all that much, and I wondered what had broken this boy so badly that a smile seemed unnatural to him. But if someone told me he was in his twenties I probably wouldn't question it.

"How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen, but turning seventeen on July 22nd."

"I thought you were seventeen. Even though you look younger."

I groaned. "Everyone says that!" I cried out, laughing. I didn't really take it personally.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. You look young, but it's not a bad thing. You're pretty, regardless."

I smiled and looked at my Converse. "Thanks."

A few minutes later we arrived at the bowling alley. It was pretty busy even during the schoolyear, but during the summer the place was packed. Hannah texted me to meet everyone at 7:30, and we'd arrived a few minutes late, so I could only hope they'd gotten a lane, or at least guaranteed a spot.

I walked in through the door, with Jay right behind me, as the door was fairly narrow and people were exiting through the other side.

It was packed and for a second the bowling place looked like a nightclub. I told Jay and he laughed, but not in the mocking way. "Alina, you've clearly never been to a nightclub." But the neon lights, crowd of young people, and modern decor were convincing enough at a first glance.

I scanned the room, and then I saw them. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I don't know why I was so scared. Perhaps because I was scared the middle school incident would happen again, or that Erin turned them all against me, or that Griffin would be there.

The third turned up to be true as I got closer and could make out the blonde hair and muscular build of Griffin. The rest I'd have to find out as the night went on.