A little bit of a 'filler'

  Enjoy.

  ---

  "If you don't close your mouth, yoing to start drooling," appearing out of nowhere behind Diah an arrogant smile, Mande decred, raising her eyebrows after a few seds of silence.

  Upon hearing the girl's joke, I instinctively tried to y mouth, only to realize it had actually been closed from the start.

  "You look fantastic," I said, ign Kat's soft ughter—she was also behind Diane, along with Mande. I smiled at Diane, who returned a small smile.

  "Thank you, you also look really handsome," Diane replied with a slight nod, trying to tain a bigger smile.

  "I do what I ," I joked, exaggerating an arrogance I didn't really deserve.

  "It's surprising that when you want to, you actually have some style, Dun," Mande ented, studying my outfit with her head tilted, visibly impressed.

  "Yeah, well… I had a little help from Teddy, Bianca, and Baja," I admitted, immediately losing the fake arrogant smile. I khere was a big ce Bianca would tell Kat what had happe my house, so there was really no reason to hide it.

  "Oh, now it makes sense," Kat said as she walked around Diane while leaving Meemaw's house. "The only way you could have such good style is if someoied it to a brid threw it at your face."

  "Hey!" I excimed, pretending—maybe irely—to be offended. "That might be true, but you didn't have to say it out loud," I added immediately.

  "A lot of people will be grateful to whoever dressed you," Mande joked, smiling as she also walked out of the house. "Those long t-shirts you like to wear really hide your physique, Dun. Don't they?" she asked, lightly tapping Diane's shoulder with a signifit smile.

  "Yeah, I see that," Diane replied casually, also studying my shirt. "Although I don't see any problem with how you normally dress, your clothes certainly hide your muscles," she added with a slight frown, as if analyzing the information.

  "Oh, you still have so much to learn," Kat decred, faking while pg a hand on Diane's shoulder.

  "You really don't see a problem with the t-shirts Dun wears?" Mande asked, incredulous.

  "No, I mean… it's practical," Diane replied, shrugging softly, visibly fused.

  "That's what I keep saying," I said cheerfully, pointing at Diane. "You really uand me," I added suddenly, pulling her into a hug.

  Diane, surprised by my as, kept her head against my chest for just a sed befently ing her arms around my torso.

  I didn't pn to mention it out loud, but as she had her face against my chest, I could feel Diaaking deep breaths, as if she were smelling me.

  "At least wait until the party, where I don't have to see you and be reminded of how lonely I am," Mande decred, shaking her head with theatrical sadness.

  "You have me," Kat quickly reminded her, huggiightly from the side.

  "Oh yeah, that's right, I have you," Mande aowledged with a rather poor attempt to seem excited, yet she still leaned into Kat's hug.

  "Aoo," Diane added after taking another deep breath. Releasing me from her embrace, she quickly turo the other two girls, who immediately weled her into their hug, leaving me pletely aside.

  Despite being "abandoned" by Diane, I felt immense joy seeing her share hugs so effortlessly with Kat and Ma truly made me happy to see her making friends and opening up more to the world.

  "Thanks, guys," Mande said pyfully after a moment in the group hug.

  "As much as I enjoy seeing all this camaraderie, it's te. Are you ready?" I asked, cheg the time on Bob's watch. It was already almost twenty minutes past the time we had agreed to arrive at the party.

  "We're going to a high school party, Dun. People don't expect you to be on time," Mande scoffed as she walked backward toward her truck.

  "I know that," I excimed, offended. "I just don't like arriving te," I added in a murmur, more to myself than to anyone else.

  "Whatever, see you there?" I asked Kat, resigned as I saw Mande ign me.

  "Sure," Kat replied, amused. "See you there," she added with a smile toward Diane before following Mande.

  "Ready?" I asked o had taken a few steps away, raising my hand to invite Diao take it.

  "Yes," Diane answered with a cheerful smile, taking my hand.

  "I don't know if I made myself clear earlier, but whoever is going with you to this party is a lucky dog. You look absolutely beautiful," I said, joking as we walked to my car, hand in hand.

  "Yes, I think he's really lucky," Diane replied, squeezing my hand and slightly raising an eyebrow with a small smile.

  "I might even have to fight him to be able to spend some time with you," I joked with a falsely defeated sigh.

  "I'm sorry, but I don't think you would win," Diane responded, pressing her lips together to avoid smiling, with fake pity. "He's really strong. I've seen him fight before."

  "Really?" I asked with curiosity as we reached my car. I walked over to the passenger side to open the door for her, but before Diane could answer, a voiterrupted us.

  "What are you talking about?" Geie asked, appearing out of nowhere behind us.

  "What the—" I excimed, startled, instinctively pulling Diane behind me. "Geie, don't ever do that again, man," I added seriously, raising my fist in front of my face, slightly embarrassed.

  "Shut up!" Geie said anxiously, immediately bringing a fio his lips in , cheg toward his house.

  Dressed like some aovie protagonist of the moment and heavily perfumed, it was obvious Geie was sneaking out of his house to e to the party with us. Knowing his mother, he probably hadn't even bothered to ask for permission.

  "How long have you been hiding there?" I asked, sighing and shaking my head, amused.

  "A really long time," Geie replied, nodding slightly, oddly proud of himself.

  Pausing for a few seds to process the idea of Geie hiding in the bushes, I finally said, "All right, get in," frankly impressed by my friend's resilience as I adjusted the passenger seat so he could climb in the back.

  "Why was he hiding there?" Diane asked, puzzled as she watched Geie get into the car. "Is he sneaking out of his house?" she added with i.

  "Yup," I responded casually while readjusting the seat.

  "Oh," murmuring and nodding slightly, apparently processing the information, Diaook a quice at the Cooper house for a sed before shrugging aing into the passenger seat.

  After carefully closing the door, I walked to the other side and got in. Geie's cologne, which had already been quite noticeable before he got in, turned into a mild torture in the fined space. It didn't take a full minute before Diane and I rolled down the windows to let the air flow.

  Other than that, with musi one of Diane's chosen CDs, the ride to the party went smoothly.

  Several mier, when we arrived in the neighborhood—a middle-css area—we immediately spotted the house where the party was taking pce.

  With poorly parked cars scattered across the surprisingly rge yard, people drinking and moving to the rhythm of the musid windows fshing with colorful lights, I parked my car across the street.

  "See you inside," I told Geie after parking, patting his shoulder once he got out of the back seat.

  "I'll be busy," Geie said with an arrogant smile, raising an eyebrow before fidently striding across the street.

  Watg my friend greet everyone he passed—most of them ign him—I chuckled as I closed my car door and walked to the other side, where Diane had already gotten out.

  "Are you all right?" I asked, seeing Diaudy the lively house with a pletely serious expression, leaning carefully against my car.

  "Yes," Diane answered seriously, without taking her eyes off the house.

  "If you're not fortable, we leave. No one will bme you," I assured her calmly, squeezing her arm gently. "We always go to another party iure, when you feel ready."

  "Oh, I'm ready," Diane said, holding my hand that was still on her arm. Returnitention to me with a small smile, she assured me, "I was just paring it to the parties and gas I've attended," nodding toward the house.

  "What are the biggest parisons?" I asked, amused, imagining the kind of "parties" Diane was talking about.

  "Well, for starters, there are people my age here," Diane quickly replied with a small smile, thinking for a sed about my question. "The noise, in this case, es from musid not from people arguing about academics," she tinued, shrugging her shoulders.

  "Those sound like really fun parties," I decred sarcastically. They were exactly what I imagihey would be.

  "Not really," Diane said, shaking her head thoughtfully, not notig the irony in my statement. "I would say they were more of a show-off gathering; most of the time, it was about proving you had more achievements thaher," she expined, noddily.

  "Well, sounds like there are some simirities between this party and that one," I murmured, tentatively moving my head as I recalled the few—almost ent—times I had attended parties.

  "Really?" Diane asked. "I'd really like to see that," she added, seemingly intrigued from a stific perspective. After I her first question, Diaurned her attention back to the party.

  "Okay," I said amusedly. "Are you ready then?" I asked once more, raising my hand.

  "Yeah," Diane said, nodding as she took my hand fidently.

  "Let's go then," I said, curious to see how Diane would react to the party up close. I walked alongside her, following the same path Gee had taken.

  As I walked o Diaudying her fad how she observed everything with a spark of i in her eyes, I thought—only for a full sed—that ing to the party hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

  "Dun!" Suddenly, an obviously drunk teenager with nothing c his torso shouted incredulously, grabbing my shoulder.

  The guy's—someone I didn't reize at all—shout caught the attention of many people around us. More than one, who were also surprisingly intoxicated, shouted just as excitedly upon seeing me.

  "Hey... you," I said, smiling politely as I slowly removed the first guy's hand from my shoulder.

  "Oh yeah, sorry," the guy said, realizing he had held onto my shoulder for too long. Despite being drunk, he waved his hand as he spoke. "I 't believe you actually came to my party," he added, stepping ba a strangely ed manner.

  So this was Jake Thompson.

  "I must be incredible at throwing parties if even you showed up," Jake decred excitedly, raising a disposable cup and spilling half of his drink on the floor in the process.

  "Yeah, that's totally the reason I came," I respoo the drunk teenager, nodding while keeping a pletely serious expression.

  Knowing that this was his house, seeing the state he was in, and how he was chugging the rest of his drink without any trol, I felt relieved knowing that Jake wouldn't be driving—not just for his own safety, but for the safety of everyone else in Medford.

  "Great," Jake said, grinning cheerfully. "There's a lot of beer and drinks, help yourself," he added, patting my shoulder before tinuing on his unsteady path.

  "Was he your friend?" Diane asked, fused. "You've never mentioned a Jake before," she added, expining the reason for her question.

  "I think it's the first time I've met the guy," I answered, shrugging and trying not to smile.

  "Well, then that was iing," Diane decred, nodding slowly. "He seemed pretty excited to see you, just like those other fuys."

  "That's the alcohol," I corrected her with a sigh.

  I knew I was retively 'famous' among the people at school, basically a monthly source of gossip in the hallways, but I had no iion of crifying that to Diane.

  "Okay," Diane murmured, tilting her head slightly before tinuing to walk toward the house, pulling me along by the hand.

  As we walked through the house's rge front yard, I immediately noticed how several eyes focused on Diane and me. Right after that, I saw the birth of a new rumor unfolding.

  At the very least, I hoped Diane wouldn't notice...

  "Why are they looking at us so surprised?" Diane asked, puzzled.

  "It's because you look so beautiful," I said easily, quickly finding the correswer.

  "Stop," Diane said, pretending to be exasperated as she gently pushed her shoulder against my arm, a tained smile on her face.

  "What? It's the truth," I tinued, growing increasingly ued iares around us, pying along with Diane as we made our way into the party.

  Upoering the house—which, like the front yard, was quite rge—we were met with more teenagers drinking and nodding their heads to the loud music bsting inside. Some heads turned in surprise upon seeing Diane aer, but I quickly ighem—or at least I tried to.

  Knowing Kat, I figured my friend and, therefore, possibly the rest of my friends would be wherever the music was the loudest.

  "There's not a single waiter," Diane said, rising onto the tips of her toes as she spoke as close to my ear as possible while I guided her through the house, despite not knowily where I was going.

  "No, there isn't," I answered, amused as I stopped and lowered my head o her ear.

  "I like the music," Diane said, taking advantage of our closeness. Fag me, she took my other hand and began to dance softly.

  I was quite surprised at how well Diane was handling the party atmosphere. Without a hint of embarrassment, she kept a small smile on her face while looking at me ily. She tinued dang in the middle of the 'dance floor'—which was actually Jake's living room.

  Still impressed, I watched her as she tinued dang in front of me. The music pulsed around us, the lights fshed in sync with the rhythm, and for a moment, everything else seemed to fade away as Diane danced with her eyes closed.

  "Aren't you going to dance?" Diane asked, opening her eyes after what felt like hours. Smiling, she moved closer to me curiously, still swaying.

  "If that makes you happy," I said, pretending to give in before quickly pulling Diane closer to me. Amused, I started moving along with her.

  Diane, who at first seemed slightly forced to move with me, surprisingly adjusted quickly, dang in sync with me and ughing cheerfully.

  Without realizing it, I was no looo worried about the curious gazes around us or what they might be whispering. At that moment, only Diane and her bright smile held my attention.

  "Ah, I 't believe it! PJ Dun is dang! And enjoying it!"

  Beside us, seemingly out of nowhere, Mande and Kat—who had a slight sheen of sweat on her face, obviously from dang, and was holding a disposable cup—stood o us.

  "You've seen me dance," I said to Kat, pretending to be offended as I raised my arms.

  "That was so long ago that it's like it never happened," Kat immediately responded, shrugging while tinuing to move to the music. She was visibly enjoying the party.

  "Nobody cares about that," Mande excimed sarcastically, dang dramatically toward Diahe real question is—are you having fun?" she added, smiling at Diane.

  "Yeah, you're right," Kat agreed, also fog on Diane.

  "Yes," Diane answered after a few seds of ption. She seemed surprised by her own response. "I'm having fun," she added with more certainty.

  That was good.

  "Great," Mande ented excitedly, dang o Diane.

  "Aren't you thirsty?" Kat asked a moment ter, notig the slight sheen of sweat on Diane's face.

  Diane shrugged slightly and nodded casually. "What are you drinking?" she asked, pointing at the cup Kat was holding.

  "Beer," Kat immediately replied, handing her cup to Diane so she could try it.

  And before I could do anything to stop Diane from drinking alcohol...

  "It doesn't taste good," Diane said after taking a small sip.

  Good.

  "But it's refreshing," she added a sed ter, taking another sip.

  "I'm pretty sure there's water or soda i. Wouldn't you rather have that?" I asked Diane, slightly ed. I figured it wasn't really a problem if she wao try alcohol—I wasn't going to drink a single drop, so I could keep an eye on her, and I was going to take her home anyway.

  "I want to experiehe full teenage experience," Diane replied with stific seriousness.

  "All right, so let me get you and Kat another drink," I said after calg everything that could g—there really wasn't much. "What about you, Mande?" I asked, hoping she wasn't drinking, or I'd have to drive her truck.

  "Just some soda, please," Mande responded immediately, unknowingly relieving my .

  Nodding in farewell, I moved through the crowd, searg for the kit in the spacious house. Once I found it, greeting those whnized me, I poured the drinks and turo head back.

  A few steps away from the kit door, pressed against the wall, I reized my friend David pletely absorbed in kissing a girl who, in fact, had him pinned against the wall.

  Good for him, I guess.

  As I left the kit with the three cups in my hands, I lightly kicked one of my friend's feet as a greeting, obviously receiving no response.

  "Karen Smith," I murmured to myself, impressed by my friend as I walked out of the kit.

  He, Brock, and Geie, ever sihe days when I was dating Regina and we all sat together at the same table, had always tried to impress the 'i' Karen. It seemed that David had somehow succeeded.

  Diane, Kat, and Mande, dang without a care, left me in charge of their drinks on one of the living room couches. As I watched Diane ugh and daime passed.

  At a certain moment, as if synized, the three girls stopped and approached me.

  "We're going to the bathroom," Diane said, pointing at herself and slightly slurring her words. It was surprising because she had really only drunk one full cup of beer and a few sips from Kat's cup.

  "All right," I responded, nodding in amusement. I didn't know why they were all going together, but thinking about it, it was much better thaing Diane go on her own.

  "Stay here," Diane said seriously, surprisingly leaning in to give me a quick kiss.

  "Don't move," she added, softly tapping my nose and smiling widely before walking off with her friends.

  Yeah, no more beer for Diane.

  Shaking my head in amusement as I watched the three girls daheir way out of the living room, I pletely ig when someo beside me.

  "I thought you were dating Stratford," a suddenly honeyed voice whispered directly into my ear.

  "Regina," I excimed, startled by how close someone had gotten into my personal space.

  I suppose that if Karen was at the party, it made sehat Regina would be here too. I'd bet a good amount of mohat Gret was somewhere around as well.

  "Hey, PJ," Regina greeted me with an oddly arrogant smile.

  "Hello," I replied, shifting away from her on the couch—she ractically leaning on my arm.

  "So, if you weren't dating Stratford, who was she?" Regina asked, pointing in the dire where Diane and the girls had left.

  From the time I had spent with Regina and her friends, I khey enjoyed gossiping about other people. I had never asked, but I retty sure she knew gossip or at least rumors about everyone in school.

  So, of course, she was curious about Diane.

  "Like I told you before, Regina, Kat and I are just friends," I said calmly.

  "Really?" Regina asked, stretg out her arm to rest her head on her hand, iently leaning closer to me again.

  She was good, but I could see through her.

  I had heard from my friends' versations in the cafeteria and during my little crusade against bullying about some of the things Regina had doo other people. Despite that, when I asked a couple of people—other than Kat, who had a strong dislike fina—they seemed to worship the ground she walked on.

  "Yes, but 'her' is Diane Adler, my girlfriend," I said seriously, once again shifting away on the couch.

  "Diane Adler?" Regina asked, puzzled. "What grade is she in?" she added immediately, clearly nnizing the name.

  "She's from East Texas Tech," I replied easily with a smile. I was going to avoid correg whatever idea Regina was f in her head.

  Was Diane e? Yes. Was she also a uy student? Kind of.

  "East Texas Tech," Regied, tilting her head as she observed me with a mix of curiosity and suspi. I could see her mind w, trying to fit this new information into her eborate mental map of gossip and social es.

  "Iing," she murmured, leaning back a little more on the couch, her smile barely perceptible.

  I didn't respond. I let the silence linger between us as I took a sip of my water, pretending her presence didn't make me unfortable.

  "And how did you two meet?" she finally asked, her tone falsely casual.

  Before I could respond, a loud and exaggerated ugh interrupted anything I might have said. I looked up just in time to see Diane, Kat, and Maill ughing, with Kat and Mande openly sending hateful gres at Regina beside me.

  Diane saw me and immediately smiled, making her way toward me with that natural ease that characterized her. Surprisingly, and before I could say anything, she dropped down beside me—practically on my p—without notig, or perhaps without g, that Regina was there, hugging my ned kissing me.

  This was new... not necessarily bad, but definitely new.

  "Did you miss me?" Diane asked, barely pulling back a couple of inches from my face.

  "What?" I murmured, still processing what had just happened.

  "Dummy," Diane huffed, giving me another small kiss.

  "So, you must be Diane," Regina said forcefully drawing Diane's attentiooempting to sound friendly, apanied by a smile I could immediately reize as pletely fake.

  "Ah yes, I'm sorry, who are you?" Diane asked with an equally polite smile, though I could tell it was just as fake.

  I had no idea what was happening, but I could feel the tensioween them growing, like a spark about to ignite a fire. Kat, standio Mande, crossed her arms, and judging by how white her knuckles were, she was more than ready to start a fight.

  "Regina, seriously, it was nice seeing you, but we were in the middle of something," I quickly blurted out, interrupting before anything could escate beyond vicious gres—even though, I had to admit, it was really iing to see this new side of Diane.

  Regina looked at me, pretending to be hurt.

  "Oh, of course, I wouldn't want to interrupt," she said with a sweethat was obviously fake. Then, she stood up, smoothing her skirt with almost theatrical grace. "See you, PJ. Danielle."

  She turned and disappeared into the crowd without looking back.

  "It's Diane," Diatered through gritted teeth, frowning as she stared at Regina vanishing into the small crowd of people.

  I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

  "So that's Regina Gee," Diane added, turnitention bae once Regina was gone.

  "Yes," I replied immediately.

  "She's pretty," Diane ented, pressing her lips together, trying to sound casual—but with her, it was sometimes pretty easy tnize a lie.

  I didn't know how to respond.

  Fortunately, I didn't have to.

  "That was awesome!" Mande excimed excitedly as she approached the couch along with Kat, who was still keeping an eye on where Regina had exited.

  "You were right, it did feel pretty good," Diane admitted, smiling at her friend.

  I huffed out a quiet ugh, still feeling the lingering tension in my shoulders. "Well, whatever that was, let's not make a habit of it, please."

  Diaurned her head to look at me, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh, e on. Admit it, you liked it, I tell" Diane added, gently biting her lip while still hugging my neck.

  Closing my mouth, since I really didn't want to lie, I lowered my head slightly i.

  "I really don't like her," Kat said, narrowing her eyes as she grabbed the drink I had been holding onto for her and took a sip.

  "Me her," Mande agreed.

  "She looks like a movie vilin," Diane added, finally letting go of my neck but keeping her head on my shoulder as she turned her attention back to her friends.

  It was iing to see Diane having a pletely normal versation firl her age.

  "Bah, whatever. Let's go dance. I o get Regina's stupid face out of my head," Kat said, suddenly standing up and dragging Mah her, who followed without pint.

  "So... jealousy, that's new," I said teasingly, ing my arms around Diane.

  "I wasn't jealous," Diane said quickly, lifting her head from my shoulder. "I was just, and I quote Mande, 'showing Regina who's boss.'" She decred proudly.

  "'Showing who's boss'?" I asked, pleasantly surprised. There wasn't even a hint of embarrassment in Diane's statement.

  "Yes," Diane responded, nodding firmly. "Besides, I wao kiss you. I really like you," she added after taking another sip of her drink.

  "Well, thanks for that. I really like you too," I said, amused.

  Maybe a drunk Diane isn't that bad.

  After that, Diane dragged me along once again, and I followed without issue, dang right in front of the couch. I knew alcohol had different effects on different people, but for Dia was more than obvious that it pletely erased her sense of shame. As we danced, she stantly pulled me in to kiss her—something that, despite reement' about public dispys of affe, I happily went along with.

  Strangely, while we were dang among the partygoers, more than once, seemingly drunk people almost crashed into Diah full drinks in their hands. Fortunately, since I hadn't had a single drop of alcohol, I was able to avoid it every time.

  Despite that, we had fun until my friends got tired.

  Geie, who had disappeared sihe start of the night, eventually reappeared along with David, whose lips were pletely swollen—undoubtedly a result of his night with Karen.

  "This was a great night," David decred, plopping dowo me with a goofy grin.

  "Looks like you were having fun," I said, amused.

  "Oh, PJ, you have no idea," David respohrowing an arm over my shoulder.

  Not much ter, all my friends and I left the party. Kat, David, and Geie got into Maruck, while Diane and I left alone in my car.

  Diane, who was still slightly drunk in the passenger seat, remained silent the entire ride home, simply listening to musid staring at the side of my face.

  It was a bit distrag since she had a small smile fixed on her face while she pyed with and stroked my arm.

  "We're here," I said upon arriving in front of my house after parking my car. Maruck arked in front of Meemaw's house, pletely empty—I had no idea where Geie and David had gone.

  "I really, really like you," Diane, who hadn't said a single word during the ride, suddenly said.

  "I really like you too," I replied amused, gently leaning in to kiss her cheek. Diane simply closed her eyes, possibly expeg a kiss.

  "No, you don't uand," Diane slowly opened her eyes after not receiving the kiss. "I have dreams about you," she added, ughing softly. "Really wild dreams," she said, opening her eyes wider.

  Okay.

  "I love those dreams," Diane added, tilting her head with longing.

  Uo help myself, I ughed softly, resting my fay hand. At that moment, I was quite happy I had goo the party.

  "Don't ugh, I'm telling you the truth," Diane said, frowning slightly, her words carrying a hint of pain.

  "I'm sorry, I'm not ughing at you," I quickly said, gently caressing Diane's face.

  "Ah, ok then," Diane said, pushing her face softly against my hand and closing her eyes.

  In silence, watg Diane nuzzle against my hand, we remained in my car for a few minutes.

  "e o me take you home," I finally said, having made sure to engrave the vision before me into my memory.

  "I don't want to," Diane said immediately, opening her eyes. "I want you," she added after a few moments of staring at me.

  "Sorry?" I asked, surprised.

  "Yeah," she murmured, shifting in her seat toward me. "I want one of those dreams to be real," she added, moving onto my seat, sitting on one of my legs, and ing her arms around my neck. "We were in your car, like this," Diane narrated, pulling her face away from my ned pressing her nose against mine. "I kissed yht here," she tinued, lightly pying with her finger before pointing at my neck.

  "Diane," I murmured weakly, uo stop myself from enjoying what was happening.

  "And you held me here," ign me, Diane tiaking my hands and pg them on her waist. "Just like this," she said, biting her lip slightly as she lowered her fay neck. "You smell incredibly good," she murmured before starting to kiss my neck.

  I was really enjoying what was happening, to be ho, but...

  "Okay," I said after a moment, pulling Diane away with all my moral strength.

  "You don't want this?" Diane asked, ed.

  "Oh no, I REALLY want this," I said immediately, pointing at her and then at myself. "But you're drunk right now, and that's not the way it should be," I added seriously.

  "But I really want it now," Diane murmured, resting her head against my chest.

  "Me too, but ter, I promise," I reassured both her and myself as I stroked her back. "Diane?" I added a moment ter when I received no response.

  Somehow, she had fallen pletely asleep against my chest.

  "Great," I murmured sn, opening my door and stepping out of the car with Diane in my arms—she ractically weightless.

  I carried Diao Meemaw's door, which I slowly opened.

  Ihe house, with straubes on her head, Meemaw was sitting in the living room, drinking what seemed to be tea while watg TV.

  "Aces," Meemaw said with a pletely serious face. "I thought I was doh this when Mary moved out," she huffed, slowly standing up. "e on," she added, motioning for me to follow her with her hand.

  Meemaw led me to Diane's room, where Kat and Mande were, just like Diane, pletely asleep, cuddled together on Diane's bed.

  "Let me take that off," Meemaw said, removing Diane's shoes and then her jacket. "Lay her down," she ordered, pointing to a small spaext to the two girls.

  After tug in Diane, Kat, and Mande, Meemaw pushed me out of the room.

  "Did she have fun?" Meemaw asked as we walked to the front door of her house.

  "Yes," I replied immediately.

  "Did you drink?"

  "No."

  "Not a single drop?"

  "Not a single drop."

  "All right, go home. I o sleep," Meemaw said, pushi of her house. A sed ter, she shut the door behind me.

  "Good night," I said to the closed door before walking to my house.

  "Hey champ, had fun?" Bob asked as I entered. He had likely been waiting for me to get home, watg TV in plete silen the living room.

  "Yes, Dad," I replied, stretg my neck.

  "Good. Your friends are in your room—don't wake your mother up early tomorrow," Bob warned, pointing his finger.

  "Don't worry," I huffed, amused upon disc where Geie and David had ended up.

  "Good night, then," Bob said, yawning as he turned off the TV.

  "Night."

  Overall, I was quite happy that the party had gone so well for Dia had been a good night.

  At least, that's what I thought—until the day when we found out that someone had died in a car act.

  ---

  Author Thoughts:

  As always, I'm not Ameri, not a doctor, not a fighter, not Magnus Carlsen, not Michael Phelps, not Arsene Lupin and not McLovin.

  I think that's all. As always, if you find any errors, please let me know, and I'll correct them immediately.

  Thank you for reading! :D

  PS: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.

  PS2: There are some mistakes i chapter, I'll try to fix them right now, but the main thing is, the fights, they weren't really 'this' weekend but the one, I o correct that versation with Case.