What am I supposed to wear? I thought frantically, rummaging through my closet for a decent outfit to wear to the party.

“Lisa, hurry it up, will you?” my twin brother, Kevin, called impatiently through the door that separated our two rooms.

“Hold on a sec!” I grabbed a couple of shirts and flung them on my bed. Then I opened the door connecting his room to mine. He was still standing there, dressed in his usual casual clothes, his right hand poised as if he was about knock again.

Seeing me, his hand dropped, and his face adopted an incredulous look. “You’re still not ready?”

“I need help. Pick one,” I replied, dragging him to my bed.

He scrunched his brow, and said, “Who’re you trying to impress? You never take so long to dress. “It’s just a “Welcome Home” gathering for Andrew, ya know.”

“I know,” I snapped. “Are you going to help or what?”

He sighed but pointed to the jeans and the white blouse that was hanging off the back of my chair.

“Kevin!” I groaned. “That’s not a choice.”

“Well, if it is Andrew, then stick with the blouse. Because I know for sure that he doesn’t like his girls dressed fancy,” Kevin responded with a gleam in his eyes. And with that, he left.

I stood there for a second or two, stunned. Am I that predictable? Or transparent? How did he…wait. I don’t like Andrew. I’m not trying to impress anyone, I told myself sternly. I’m just a normal seventeen year old girl who has jitters in her stomach because she’s off to go to her first party. Ever. OK, so maybe I’m not so normal…

Without a second thought, I pulled on the white blouse and buttoned up my jeans. I slipped on my black sandals, pulled my black hair up into its usual ponytail, grabbed a light jacket, and was out the door after Kevin within minutes.

As I dropped into the passenger side seat of the car, Kevin glanced at me and smirked.

“I don’t like Andrew, OK?” I sighed, irritated.

“Yeah, whatever you say,” he responded, as he cast a sideways glance at my outfit. Guys are so immature, even Kevin, who technically is older than me.

“All right. Fine.”

“No, but seriously. Off the record. Who are you trying to impress?” Damnit, I thought. Why did he just have to go be all serious and all? Whenever my brother used that tone of voice, I could never not tell him the truth. I guess it was the same the other way around too though.

I was silent.

“Is it Scott?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

“No,” I responded, staring out the window.

“Andrew?” he asked again.

When I didn’t answer, he turned to look at me for a second. “It is him, isn’t it?”

“Why do you automatically think it’s him?”

“Come on Lisa, we’re twins for gods sake,” he sighed, exasperatedly, turning back to the road.

“Why didn’t you ask if I liked Cole or Adam or --”

“Because I know you don’t like them like that. It was either Scott or Andrew. And now I know it’s Andrew,” Kevin grinned.

“Why was it either Scott or Andrew?”

“Scott, because, well, every single girl likes him. You know, who can resist the uh, blonde hair and blue eyes thing?” Kevin wrinkled his nose. “But then Andrew, because he’s Chinese, like us, tall - that’s something you like, skinny - another thing you like, he’s got a “nice pair of hands” - something you are also quite obsessed with, he’s nice I guess, and well, I think girls like him because they think he’s charming.”

I was silent. Wow. Kevin really does know quite a bit about my preferences. But I’m not as superficial as he puts me to be. Guys don’t have to be tall and skinny and have nice hands…but it would be a plus.

“All right, fine! I admit it. I like Andrew. OK? Happy?” I sighed, unbuckling my seat belt as Kevin pulled the car to a stop next to the sidewalk.

Kevin flashed me a grin.

“Just don’t tell anyone!” I stressed the ‘anyone’ part.

“Promise,” he responded solemnly, knowing that if he did, his little crush on Lena Stevenson would be out in the open. Ha, little my ass.

--

What a great brother I’ve got, I thought wryly, glancing around the room. Kevin had ditched me the minute we stepped into Andrew’s house. Some college friend of Andrew’s sister, Tiffany, had whisked him away. Oh, he was pretty willing to go…

I probably knew about one out of ten people here. I guess this “Welcome Home” party for Andrew was kinda for Tiffany’s friends too. Hearing a familiar laugh, I turned my head to check it out. Shit. Andrew. I didn’t want to see him now…I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because my crush is out in the open, and I feel somewhat…vulnerable? I’m not good at this stuff…I’ve never really been around a guy much. Except Kevin, and when he brings his friends over. But technically, I don’t have any guy friends. Sure, a couple of them talk to me in school and all, but it’s just for homework and everything. Personally, I don’t even know why I was invited to this. Sam…she said she’d be here, I thought. Sam, my best friend, was currently going out with Cole Kennedy, another groupie from the group that includes my brother. How many guys are part of this group? Kevin, Andrew, Cole, Scott, and Adam. Five. They’re all really nice. Kevin and Andrew are the only Asians in the group. But it’s a good group. Kinda diverse. Diversity is a must for me. They’re pretty mature, except when it comes to some girls. Then their macho-ness comes out and grosses the hell out of me.

“Boo!” someone yelled in my ear.

“AHH!” I screamed. Uh oh. Made a scene. “Sam! What the hell did you do that for?”

“Sorry,” my so-called best friend laughed. She waved our little audience away, and pulled me aside.

“What’s up girl?” she asked. “I haven’t seen you in weeks!”

“I know…you look pretty tanned,” I observed, taking in her bronzed skin.

She smiled. “That’s what Hawaii does for ya.”

“No, that’s what no sunblock does for you,” I grinned. “How was the trip?”

“It was amazing! I still can’t believe my parents let Cole come with us,” Sam responded, smiling dreamily.

Oh dear. Sam and Cole are both obsessed with each other. It’s sweet, but it gets quite irritating after a while, especially when I don’t have anyone like that in my life. So therefore, I can’t relate…which means, I can’t understand why they are like that. And thus, I can’t stand it!

“The beach was so pretty…everything is so beautiful there! Except well, some cities. They’re just like some of the towns we have here. Like Jacksonville. Rusted gates and garbage. But with palm trees in the background. Overall though, it was awesome!”

“Pictures?”

She nodded. “Tons and tons of them. I’ll show them to you once I get them developed. Hey, have you seen Cole?”

“What? You mean you hadn’t noticed him the second you came in?” I replied, eyes wide. “Ha, I’m just kidding. I think Tiff’s friend dragged him away. They took Kev too.”

“Spoken with the star of this party yet?” Sam grinned mischievously.

“Sam! Shush…”

“I’m serious. Have you? You can’t hide from guys your whole life Lisa,” she lectured.

“But no one -”

“How do you know? Kevin’s considered a ‘major hottie’ by the standards of the Posse. You two are twins. So I conclude that you are a ‘major hottie’ to the guys too.”

My eyes widened. “What the heck are you talking about? If you’re saying that since I look like Kevin, I’m a so-called uh, ‘major hottie,’ then you are wrong. I look like Kevin. Great. I look like a guy. And, stop calling my brother hot.”

“Ah! Stop twisting my logic around,” Sam groaned. “I’ll get Cole to introduce you to some of his other friends if you want. I mean, if you don’t want Andrew anymore.”

“I’m not fickle.”

“OK then. Then go to him and talk! Ask him about his vacation…a perfect question would be, ‘How was your vacation?’ Simple yet sweet. It implies that you care. Maybe make it longer and say, ‘How was your vacation, Andrew?’ or try, ‘Hey! Did you have a nice vacation?’ But it could potentially cut the conversation short if you ask him if he had a nice vacation. It requires a one word answer. But if he wanted to talk, --”

“What are you saying? Do you hear yourself?” I questioned, shooting her a strange look. “Maybe the sun’s gotten to you.”

“Nah, more like Cole’s gotten to me.”

I opened my mouth to say something in response to that comment, but I was cut short. Loud music suddenly started to blare from the speakers that were set up in the front of the room. Tiffany’s college friends. I couldn’t see Andrew anywhere now, nor could I see Kevin or anyone else from their little group.

“Where did they all go?”

“I have no idea. Let’s check out the pool,” Sam suggested, grinning. She was obsessed with the pool. It wasn’t a regular rectangular pool. Instead, it was strangely shaped. It looked like two large circles that were overlapping each other. The color was always deep clear blue, tiles lined the sides of the swimming pool, and it was just very clean.

Sure enough, there they were. All five of them, plus three college attendees. And all of them had girls hanging on their arms.

“Gross,” I groaned.

Sam had a look to kill in her eyes. Boy did I feel sorry for the blonde who was batting her eyelashes at Cole. “I’ll be right back.”

And with that, she went to claim her boyfriend back. Cole was very happy to see her, seeing that he ignored the blonde.

Great. My best friend just ditched me. And here I was, watching the disgusting flirting going on. And who, you ask, was flirting with Andrew? Ha, none other than Nikki Martello, the cheerleader slash lacrosse player. How interesting. She should be the goalie for soccer though, or maybe even hockey, if our school had a girls hockey team. Hell, there is no hockey team, period. Anyways, back to my point. She could do a split and block any balls coming her way. Oh god, excuse the uh, possible double-meaning.

In middle of my thoughts, I felt someone pull me backwards.

“What the -” I started. I turned to see who had grabbed hold of me, ready to scream my head of if he did anything. Ugh. It was some drunk frat boy. Gross. In his right hand, a bottle of half empty beer was dangled, he couldn’t walk straight, and he couldn’t even smell like a normal person! The alcohol stunk. I’m not Miss Prim and Proper, but I do dislike smoking, drugs, and alcohol. Oh, and premarital sex. And I’m not even religious! Oh well. Smoking is disgusting. It makes me puke - second hand smoke, that is. I actually did throw up once. It was horrible. “Get your hands off me,” I commanded, prying his fingers off my arm.

He grinned unsteadily. “I don’t think so, dearie.”

I raised my eyebrow, and repeated what I said. He shook his head again. Come on, dumbass, keep shaking that head, I thought, with hopes that he might get nauseous and throw up - not over me, of course.

“So, you want to go dance?” he slurred.

“There is no dance floor here,” I responded logically, sounding like a parent speaking to their child.

He looked around, confused. I rolled my eyes.

“It doesn’t matter. C’mon!”

“What’s your name?” I asked, still trying to peel his fingers off me.

“John,” he grinned. “I know your name.”

“Really,” I said, playing along.

“Lisa.”

What the hell…how…

“How did you find out?”

Suddenly, he didn’t seem so drunk anymore. “I asked Tiff.”

“Uh, can I ask why?”

“Because I want to get to know you. You know, you should come to Hills Community,” he replied, taking a swig from the can. He offered it to me.

Shaking my head, I said, “I’m still a senior.”

“Who cares? People of all ages come to the parties.”

“I’m not into the -”

“Lisa, can I talk to you for a sec?” my brother suddenly appeared next to John. I shot John a faux apologetic look, and followed Kevin out of the room.

“Why the fuck are you talking to him? Do you know who he is?” Kevin snapped. I pulled back my arm and rubbed it unconsciously.

“Of course I know who he is,” I responded snappishly also. “John.”

“I didn’t mean his name. I meant his reputation,” Kevin replied, exasperatedly.

“I only know that he’s drunk, goes to Hills Community, and that he knows my name.”

“You gave him your name?” Kevin’s eyes grew.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Lisa…I’ll just put it bluntly. He goes out with girls and rapes them.”

My turn for my eyes to expand. Very blunt indeed. “Oh. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t tell him my name. Tiff did. He asked.”

“What did he say?” he pressed.

“He wanted to dance,” I said, looking around at the groups of people talking idly with each other. “And he wanted me to go to HC for uh, the parties.”

“Don’t go,” another male voice piped up.

I turned.

“I don’t even know the guy!” I sighed. “I’m not that kind of person, ya know.”

Andrew shrugged. “Yeah, I know.”

Why, oh why did the first person that’s ever shown some kind of boy-girl feeling towards me have to be such a jerk? Figures.

“So now you know how much of an ass that guy is, huh?” Andrew grinned. “I still can’t figure out why Tiff invited him.”

“Probably because she’s invited the whole sophomore class of HC,” Kevin put in sarcastically. He was being strangely protective…not that I minded or anything. I’ve always envied the girls on TV with the nice protective older brothers.

Andrew smiled wryly. “I guess.” Then his forehead wrinkled. It was then that I noticed he had gotten a tan quite like Sam’s, although his usual skin color had a darker pigment to it than “regular” Chinese people. “What the hell are they doing smuggling all that alcohol in here?”

“Getting drunk?”

“No duh, smartie,” Kevin rolled his eyes. Turning to Andrew, he said, “Well, what did you expect? Booze and college guys seem to be an item these days.”

“Tiff’s not going to hear the end of it if our parents find out,” Andrew said thoughtfully. Then he grinned. “Sucks for her. Hey, I just remembered. Is Annie around?”

I shook my head. “They’re coming back on Saturday.”

“OK. Thanks,” Andrew responded. “Can I uh, get her number?”

Great. The guy I‘ve liked since…god knows when, wants my other best friend‘s number. Figures. “Sure,” I replied, rattling off a series of 7 digits. He grabbed a nearby pen and wrote it on his hand. Do you know what I’d give to have a guy write my number on his hand? OK. I’m being pathetic. Stop it.

“Thanks,” he smiled. “I really appreciate it.”

Kevin was looking at his friend strangely for a second, but then a look of realization appeared on his features. I didn’t get it. Was I missing something?

“Well, I guess I’ll be heading back,” I said, feeling like I was intruding.

“Home? Now?” Kevin questioned curiously.

I nodded. “I just uh, remembered. I forgot to…write my summer reading essay…I can walk home…” Oh god, that was such a lie. I had finished my essay two weeks ago, and I knew it. Unfortunately, so did Kevin.

Kevin’s forehead wrinkled. “But -”

“Sorry! Tell Sam that tomorrow’s still on. 3 o’clock. Welcome back Andrew, bye!” I called, scurrying out of his house.

“Thanks, I’ll see you later!” he yelled back.