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She frowns, turning inward as a few girls holding hands as they snake through the crowd. “But it’s not even that late. Plus, Ollie isn’t here yet.”

I internally sigh. Ollie is this guy Zayla has had a huge crush on since the beginning of the year. They’ve hooked up a few times, but from what I can tell, Ollie isn’t interested in anything but hooking up. I’ve seen him around campus flirting with other women. He’s also on the football team and when they’re gone on the road, rumors have surfaced that he sleeps around. I’m not about to slut shame the dude, but he most definitely is stringing Zayla along. I know he’s told her all sorts of bullshit to get her to sleep with him. She told me once that he said he’s never felt this way about anyone before, he’s just scared of his feelings for Zayla. Whether that’s true or not, it’s still messed up the way he treats her.

I’ve tried to subtly suggest to Zayla that perhaps he isn't the right guy for her and that she should find someone that is more interested in a relationship, but for some reason, she’s stuck on this idea that she can change him.

She kind of reminds me of my sister in that way and life didn’t turn out great for her.

I swallow as my chest clenches so tightly I can’t fucking breathe.

Take a breath, Harper. Air in… Air out… In… out.

Calm, I will my mind to obey.

“Maybe he isn’t going to show up.” I inch to the side as some couple making out walks by and bumps into my arm.

“No way. This is Wylder’s party. And he and Ollie are like besties.” She takes a sip of her drink while scanning the mob of people over the brim of her cup. Her eyes suddenly light up as she spots something through the doorway. “Oh! I see Wylder. Come on, let’s go see if he knows where Ollie is.” She snags my hand, and I begrudgingly follow as she yanks me with her.

She weaves us through the crowd and toward the doorway that leads into the room where the game of beer bong was taking place. We have to step over multiple cups and puddles of liquid that are pooling the scuffed hardwood floor. Once we get past all of that, and make it the opposite side of the room, she steers me through another doorway and into a kitchen. It’s a bit quieter in here, with a few guys standing around an island chatting about a game. One of these guys is Wylder.

In the corner, a few women I recognize from some of my classes are standing near a bar-like area that’s covered with various bottles of liquid and juices. They glance at us when we walk into the room and one of them—I think her name is Ellie, gives me a small smile and a wave.

“Hey, Harper,” she greets me as Zayla releases my hand. “I never see you at parties.”

I come to a stop by Ellie while Zayla wanders off toward Wylder.

“Yeah, I’m not much of a partier, but Zayla dragged my ass out of our room tonight,” I tell her as the other woman she’s with flick me a glance.

I don’t know these two well enough to be able to remember names, but the one with auburn hair offers me a small smile and the other one doesn’t look my way as she leans over to squint at the labels on the bottles.

“What the hell do these labels even say?” she mutters as she bumps the bottles. “Wait, where’s the vodka?”

“Right here,” Ellie tells her, then grabs a bottle of sparkling water.

She fills her friend's glass and I watch as her friend downs it, wondering if she’ll realize it’s not alcohol.

“All right, back to dancing!” her friend shouts and then spins around to head back into the other room, nearly tripping over the threshold on her way.

“I’ll go keep an eye on her,” the woman with auburn hair says then she hurries after her drunk friend.

“That was smart,” I tell Ellie as she returns the bottle of sparkling water to the bar counter.

“Yeah, she always drinks too much when we go out, so me and Clara created this system where once she gets to a certain point, we swap out her drinks for sparkling water. We’ve tried to get her to stop drinking, but that never works.” She shrugs. “So this is the alternative.”

“It’s a good idea.” My thoughts travel back to Zoe, my older sister, who always drinks too much at family gatherings and wonder if it’d work on her.

I’m not around her a ton, though, to make the plan a constant one. What I wish is that three years ago I had thought to do that. Then maybe that goddamn night that shattered everything would’ve never have occurred.

“No, I’m going up there!” The sound of Zayla shouting yanks my attention away from the conversation.

I peer over my shoulder and what I see makes my blood boil. She’s trying to go up the stairway but Brooks, this bulky guy who’s on the football team, is blocking her path.

“Shit,” I mutter then tell Ellie. “I have to go take care of this. I’ll see you in class on Monday.”

“Okay, be safe,” she calls out and I throw her a wave from over my shoulder as I stride toward the scene.

“Just chill out, okay,” Brooks says to Zayla as I reach them.

A couple of other guys have crowded around her. They’re all on the taller side and Zayla is barely five foot five.