"I bought eleven bottles of vodka."

I stared at Daria with disbelief, and she guiltily dropped the stash on the kitchen counter. Seven 1.25L bottles of grog clinked together metallically as they settled. Daria's expression was equal parts gleeful and concerned.

"Are we trying to roofie an elephant?" I asked.

Daria shook her head, eyes shining. "The guy at the bottle shop looked very concerned, and my bank account kind of hates me. But I think I'm going to get absolutely smashed, and I want to bring everyone down with me."

I gaped at her. "I admire the shit out of that."

As one of the legal folk, Daria was always the resident supplier of drinks. And Chance, but buying alcohol for minors, such as myself, gave him hives, so we'd passed the baton onto Daria. You would think she was similarly hamstrung by morality, but her desire to appease the crowds outran her need to follow the rules. Plus, it technically wasn't illegal on private property, so a loophole sufficed for her moral obligations.

She pointed at me. "This is your present, by the way. I cleaned the account completely, and can't afford as much as a sticker book."

I held up my hands. "Girl, you have far surpassed anything the others would get me. I love you."

Daria was already unscrewing the first bottle. I loved it. Taking a quick swig straight from the bottle, in an action that made me even more obsessed with her, she held it up in a toast. "I love you more! Now where is the party, babes?"

"I think you are the party," I said, laughing. "But the others are in the back. Let's go, my wild girl."

She smiled at me with a childish innocence, sipping at her big bottle of vodka tentatively. I led her, and the giant bottle of vodka that screamed liver poisoning, into the second lounge. The rest of the invited guests were gathered; the regular school group, with McKenna, Holland, and Tommy DeRiva chatting amicably in the corner. Liv and Austin were setting up a table of jello shots, and my cousins Alec and Harry were carrying trays of food out. Kaelin had invited her boyfriend, Julian, one of the most gorgeous men I'd ever laid eyes on. And most unnotably, Jace was relaxing on the couch, talking animatedly to Callie.

Since my date last night, I hadn't been able to exorcise Jace from my mind. Which entirely defeated the purpose of why I'd gone on the date with asshole-of-the-year Tommy Aster in the first place. Knight's statement, Jace would never, rang uncomfortably true. And I kind of hated myself for the way my stomach flipped at the sight of him.

Especially since he was sitting with Callie, and he'd gone on a date with Callie last night, and I had no idea how I felt about it. I should feel nothing. Why didn't I feel nothing?

"Hello, partay people!" Daria yelled from behind me, holding her bottle in the air.

There was a series of whooping cheers and fist bumps from the rest of the gathered crowd. Daria ran and jumped straight onto Jace's lap, immediately raising the bottle to her lips and sculling a good portion of it. It did not appear that anyone else had started drinking yet.

It was in moments like this that I was reminded why Daria had always been so popular. Despite her innocence and overly kind nature—generally suited to being well liked, but not necessarily popular in the traditional, stereotypical sense—she was fun. Daria, contrary to expectations, could be wild.

Jace was smiling down at her, and she tipped the bottle near his mouth to encourage him to take a gulp. He complied. How could anyone say no to Daria?

"Hey, Lena," said Jace, from the other side of the room. I walked over and waved slightly. "How was your date?"

"It was fine," I said, lightly.

Knight snorted. He was sitting on the floor next to Jace, leaning against the couch. "If by fine, she means that the guy's ex-girlfriend was a waitress at the restaurant they went to, and the ex's friend dropped a jug of water on his head because he'd slept with his ex's best friend."

"What?" said Jace.

"Abridged version: she went out with a cheating douche, and he got what was coming to him right across from her."

I smiled tightly at Knight, resolving to slap him later. "By fine, I mean that I was a delightful date, and Knight sucks at setting me up."

Knight raised an imaginary glass at me, as if he was Jay Gatsby throwing a roaring party.

"I'm sorry, Elle," said Jace. "That sucks."

I didn't ask how his date went. His leg was pressed against Callie's, their fingertips touching, and it made me want to die a bit. "It's fine," I said, breezily. I walked over to the neatly arranged table of Jell-O shots and downed the closest one with nothing but a slight wince. I had the feeling it was an action that would be repeated extensively for the remainder of the night. I wasn't a big drinker; I was more a 'let's get smashed with friends' kind of girl. They recommended no more than 10 standard drinks a week, and I chose to have all mine within the same half hour, personally.

"Oh, are we all drinking now?" Jonah said, sitting up from his spot in Cady's lap.

"Always."

Callie giggled, and I saw Jace brush a golden strand of hair from her eyes. I downed another shot.

Now, I was a relatively good drinker.

I'd been blessed with a liver that flushed things out pretty quickly, and a stomach that would gladly eat enough food prior to vodka that it effectively worked as a sponge for most of my nightly consumption.

Unfortunately, that was no match for 8 shots of a vodka consumed in, well, about half an hour.

"You're so pretty, Lena," said Callie, tapping my nose affectionately and stumbling into me. I laughed at that, burying my head in her shoulder. She smelled like lavender and sunshine. "I's not fair that you went on a bad date. You deserve the good dates. Because you're hot."

"Hear, hear!" Daria called, sloshing her tequila sunrise over the edge of her cup onto Jonah's head. "Lena is the hottest. She is infinity hot and deserves a guy who is also infinity hot." Daria's mouth widened to an oh and she gasped. "Like Brad Pitt."

If I was slightly tipsy, Daria and Callie were smashed. Both of them were tiny, and in trying to keep up with me, had effectively wiped away any chances of remembering tonight. All I felt was a light buzz, enough to lower my inhibitions and make the room spin slightly, but not enough that I was incapable of forming a coherent sentence.

"Thank you, my homies. I will stare at myself in the mirror for 2.4 hours tonight and revel in your comments. But Brad Pitt is like... Dad hot, not hot hot," I said. "He's old now."

Callie leaned into my ear, missing the first time and bumping her head on my shoulder. She reached out, grabbed at my earlobe, and hiked herself up to the correct position. "You know who isn't Dad hot?" said Callie. "Alex."

I leaned back and looked at her; unfocussed eyes, goofy smile, strands of hair escaping her country braids. Her words took a few moments to register with me; my thoughts slowed down, bogged down with alcohol. "Alex? Is that because he's idiot hot?"

Callie grinned dreamily. "Yeah."

"I thought you were into Jace?" I asked her, ignoring the undeniable fact that my heart was currently competing for the country in Olympic gymnastics, apparently on the bars.

"Can you keep a secret?" Callie whispered.

"Not really, but I can try."

"Jace is like, mega hot. Like, all the hots," said Callie, eyeing Jace, who was chatting to Julian in the corner, with appreciation. "We had the good good date. It was so sweet, and he bought me a pretzel."

"But?" I said.

Callie frowned. "But I only like him because he'll never like me. I don't like guys who like me."

Daria gasped. "But you should be with a guy who is cray-cray 'bout you. Because you're the pretty pretty new girl with the golden hair." Daria pinched a strand between her fingers. "Like Rapunzel!"

Callie shook her head mournfully. "Nope, can't do it. But I like Jace; he won't ever like me. We get along great."

"I'm so confused," I said.

Callie smiled absently and patted the top of my head gracelessly. "That's because you're silly."

"Silly silly Lena," Daria giggled.

That sent both girls off into a peel of laughter, falling over each other and rolling around on the floor. Drunk Callie and Daria were adorable. It was lucky for little gatherings like this that we had enough 18-year-olds to easily supply liquor. Daria had purchased enough vodka to take down a horse, but it seemed she'd only used it to take down herself. This was not particularly impressive, given she was more pony-sized.

"Lena!" Knight called. "Lena, can I give you my present now?"

I clapped my hands together. "Yes, yes, yes!" I squealed.

I did really love presents.

From behind the couch, Knight produced a messily wrapped package and grinned mischievously as he dumped it into my hands. "This is from me, Alex and Jonah."

I shook the gift box and stared at Knight, Alex and Jonah with a deadpan expression. Knight and Alex were attempting to smother his giggles; Jonah looked mildly curious. "I have two assumptions here," I said. I held up one finger. "Firstly, Jonah has absolutely no idea what is in this gift."

"That would be accurate," Jonah admitted.

I lifted a second finger. "Secondly, Knight has bought me fuzzy pink handcuffs."

Knight wasn't even trying to hide his laughing anymore. "Nope!"

I rolled my eyes, and tore at the colourful strips of paper concealing my present. I'm surprised Knight bothered to wrap it. I picked him for a bag-it kind of guy. I suppose he knew me well enough to recognise that I'm a dreadful snoop.

I flipped over the black box to read the label. "X-rated. Time to get sexy. This product is not for the faint of heart. 16-inch horse dildo." I looked up at Knight. "I hate you."

Daria and Callie had fallen over each other laughing again at the sight of the gift and my serious reaction to the package. Cady and Chance were giggling quietly.

"I... figured..." Each word was punctuated by a gasping breath, before he once again dissolved into a fit of laughter. "That you would be... sexually frustrated... because... you refuse... to jump... Hartley." With that final word, he doubled over with laughter.

Jace was looking highly sceptical and extremely amused. Nothing ruffled the feathers on that guy.

Jonah looked at the box in my hand. "That's where my forty bucks went?"

Knight and Alex just nodded.

Jonah shrugged. "Good choice, guys."

I snatched the bottle of vodka from Daria's hands—she did not notice, too busy staring at non-existent patterns on the ceiling and giggling, while Cady threw corn chips at her face—and took a large swig. "Yeah, okay, I need to drink more for this. Who wants to play drinking games?"

Daria almost peed herself with glee.