SUMMARY: Danielle--Danny, if you still wanted the ability to procreate--Connor was a kickass, Miss Outta-My-Way, feminist type of girl, managing to scare most guys away from her dominant attitude. And she usually shot down those brave enough to stay within a 50 foot diameter of her. Unfortunately, when you vow never to fall in love, you generally do--and she does, with the one guy who isn't intimidated by her, much to her dismay. But when she thinks she may have finally found her happy ending, memories start to pop up--hurting memories that she would rather leave forgotten than remembered.

A/N: This sounds slightly out of character for Danny, but she's only thirteen here. Her attitude changes in chapter one.

PROLOGUE

The smell of beer and the drunken shouts filled the air as my best friend Christina and I carefully snuck into the party. Claire, the most popular girl in our 8th Grade class, had discovered her sister’s intent to throw the year’s biggest party in their million-dollar mansion while their parents were taking a cruise in the Bahamas for their company. She agreed to keep quiet about it on one condition—if any friends she invited would be allowed in without any problem.

And she invited us. Well, technically she invited everyone who was in at least one of her classes, which had to be at least 35 from the grand total of 87. But it wasn’t like her mansion couldn’t handle a few hundred people. And since Claire and I weren’t exactly on speaking terms, I jumped at the chance at going to a party at her house. And I brought Christina with me for support, despite the fact that she hadn’t been in any of Claire’s classes. How was Claire supposed to tell, though? Most of the grade crashed the party anyways.

The party was a mixed bowl of variety—from 8th graders to seniors from the private high school that Claire’s sister went to. We went to the kitchen and grabbed two diet Cokes—no beer for us, well, at least for right now. We hesitantly walked out onto the patio, where hip hop was blaring from the outdoor speakers.

“Alyssa,” Claire slurred as she pulled herself away from the highschooler she was freak dancing with. I didn’t bother saying my name was Danny, not Alyssa. Horrified, I looked at the guy she was dancing with. He had to be a senior. She was obviously very, very drunk. Since I was only 13—young for my grade, I had never seen anyone drunk before, and it was very unnerving. Her breath was hot and smelled sick as she casually slung her arm around my shoulder. “Having fun?”

“Uh, sure,” I lied. I shrugged her arm off and grabbed Christina’s arm and slowly pulled her away. “Thanks for inviting us,” I murmured, and got the heck out of there.

“Grab a beer and come dance with us,” she shouted, then attached herself at the hip to the senior she was formerly dancing with.

“Let’s go,” I whispered, sounding alarmed at what we were witnessing.

“Just 5 more minutes,” Christina promised, and she shrugged her shoulders and said, a bit more confidently, “I’m going to ask Travis—“ her crush since 7th Grade but knew she had no chance, since he was a grade ahead—“to dance, since I can always blame it on being drunk, even though I’m not.”

I pushed her towards him and said, “Well then, who am I to stop you? Go!”

Then she was gone.

I went to an empty room, sat down on the sofa, and picked up a copy of Seventeen. “Remind me never to attend one of these again,” I muttered to myself.

Engrossed in one of the pages, I started when an arm threw itself over my shoulders and a deep voice vibrated through me. “What is a babe like you doing sitting by yourself during this party,” he said smoothly. He didn’t sound drunk. But then he handed me a beer, and said, “Have some. You’ll relax,” he whispered.

What could I do but take it? He was hot, at least a foot taller than me, and he was talking to me. His hair gently fell over on his forehead, and his blue eyes sparkled as his talked to me, his voice soothing as I sipped the beer slowly. Blue eyes so deep that when I looked at him, it was like I could see into his soul. Those hypnotic blue eyes, slowly putting me into a trance.

That’s when my memory blanked out. I woke up to Christina shaking me awake and chattering about Travis. I asked her what happened, and she said that I must have had fell asleep while reading the magazine, which was still on my lap.

What could I do but believe her? She was my best friend, after all, and wouldn’t lie to me. I shrugged away the memory of those blue eyes, telling myself that he must have went away when I fell asleep.

Despite this, subconsciously, I knew something happened.

Something had happened.

Something that would unknowingly affect me for many years to come…..