1:22 a.m.

Mariah came into the house exhausted. What a long, stupid night.
It was cool though. Mariah had to admit that no matter what the activity, it felt exciting to be going out with these older kids. She was going out with the cool ones of the class that probably wouldn't have given her the time of day last year.
Some of those kids are dangerous though, Ri thought moodily as she went into her bedroom. They'd taken a caravan out cruising, wandering around driving fast and bumping into people. Not all of the drivers had been totally sober. Not all of them had been totally clean. Mariah had known that there would be a day in her life that she'd be confronted with the option to drink and to try stuff - she'd just never imagined that it would be quite this soon. Actually, she'd kind of always thought that any experimenting she went though in high school would be a group experimentation with her friends in The Gang.
Her heart dropped guiltily. Maybe she should have gone out with Jake tonight. She did miss him - all of them, really.
It was just something she needed to do for now.
Mariah dialed Sasha's number, hoping that Jake would answer the line in he and Sasha's room before anyone else could. She got Patrick, Sasha's thirteen year old brother, who reported that they were out.
Mariah sighed and hung up. Oh, well. She'd see Jake when she needed him. That's always how it worked.

THE END