There were blinding flashes of light and the music was loud, but I could still make out the expression on Lara's face. She looked exasperated, as if I was the one who insulted her. "Don't look at me like that, Quinn. You know what I mean," she sighed.

"Actually, no, I don't know what you mean. So unless you come up with a good meaning, I'm going to take it as an insult," I snapped.

Lara scratched her head in irritation. "I just meant that there were some guys you would never go after. It's Erin I'm –"

"Don't go changing the topic, Lar. Are you trying to say that some guys are out of my league?" My grip on the bottle of beer I held tightened. I slammed it down on the table and folded my arms across my chest. "Was that what you were getting at?"

"No! God no! You're my best friend," she said slowly. "Why would I insult you?" Lara paused and then she spied the brown bottle on the table. Her eyes widened. "You're drinking."

"So?" I took a swig from the bottle.

"You're not supposed to be drinking. You…You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Drunk or not, you just told me that I wasn't good enough for some guys," I retorted.

"I'm not having this conversation with you, Quinn. Not while you're drunk."

"I am not drunk."

She shook her head and glanced at my sister Erin, who stood on the other end of the room. They were watching someone who was in the next room. Probably Julian. Who else would make Erin all doe-eyed and loopy?

Oh damn. There we go. Julian. Lara was telling me Julian Vanderblit was out of my league.

"I don't want Julian, that's all. That's the only reason I don't talk to him," I said to her.

Lara turned to me with a calm expression on her face. Not good. Whenever Lara looked calm, it was probably because a storm was coming. "I never said you wanted him, hon."

I shouldn't push my luck, I knew I shouldn't. But Lara just said that I couldn't get Julian. And Julian was a player. He would sleep with anything that was female and human. Me? Not get Julian? Was I butt ugly or something?

I didn't think so.

"Yes, you said I couldn't get the guy."

"I didn't say that. I said you wouldn't go after him because of who he is." Her teeth were clenched and so it came out a little hard to understand, but I managed to decipher it.

"Oh yeah, and what is he?"

Her green eyes flashed and she looked as if she was going to rip me into pieces right then and there. "God, Quinn! You're impossible when you're drunk! You should know better than anyone who Julian is! Your freaking father is working on his case!"

"My dad is building a case against his father," I corrected. "Not him."

Lara threw her hands up in the air. "Gah! You're impossible, Harlequinn! Impossible!"

My eyes narrowed. "Don't call me that."

Her eyes narrowed too. Her mouth twisted into a smug smile. "Har-le-quinn."

If there was one thing in the world I hated more than anything, it was my name. Harlequinn Valor. My parents had to be drunk when they chose my name.

Miffed, I turned around and pushed my way through the crowd of people.

"Watch it!"

"You didn't have to push me away!"

I ignored them all and made my way to Erin. She stood there by the punch table, giggling with her friends. True enough, they were all staring at Julian Vanderblit. Erin looked disgusted when a girl came up to Julian and started nibbling his ear.

"Is that his girlfriend?" Erin asked me. "She might as well have come here naked."

True. The dark haired girl slobbering all over Julian had worn only a tube top that showed her bare midriff and a skirt from which her panties peeked out. Julian didn't seem to mind, but neither did he seem to enjoy it. Most guys would have drooled.

But no, not Julian the Ice King. It was part of his charm. He never went after girls. They left him their numbers, he wouldn't call. He'd just wait for them to call him.

And because he was so difficult, the girls who've slept with him numbered dozens.

"When will you set us up, anyway?" Erin asked.

Oh yeah. I promised her that I would hook her up with Julian because I forgot to get her a birthday gift. I looked at her, then at Julian. Julian was dark haired, with near-perfect facial features. Erin was, on the other hand, short and the innocent type of pretty. She had long wavy brown hair and the face of an innocent twelve year old. She was actually fourteen.

However, she looked just like a younger version of me. Except, you know, with hazel eyes. I had plain brown ones.

"Dad's going to kill you," I said instead. "Vanderblit isn't someone you mess around with, Er." Not that anything I said would matter to her. She'd been crushing on Vanderblit for the past…four years? She claimed it was true love. I claimed it was a delusional spell.

"Makes it all the more interesting. Like Romeo and Juliet, you know?" Erin smiled and took a sip of the punch.

I glanced at Julian again. So Lara thought I couldn't get him, eh? I'll show her. Before I could think of my next move, my body reacted. I strode towards Julian confidently and smiled at him.

"Harlequinn Valor, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He drawled, a smile playing on his lips.

He even sounded like a crime lord. Must be from his dad, who actually WAS a European-American crime lord.

Julian's friend Louis Kim waved hello at me with a seductive smirk. Ha. Nice try, Lou, but I'm after the big fry.

I swallowed the lump in my throat that formed when Ari Maverick raised an eyebrow. Julian's stoic friend never, ever reacted to any girl. I supposed they could tell I was fresh blood and were out for the kill.

"Jules, do I really need a reason to talk to you?" Ick. What in the world was coming out of my mouth?

He looked surprised for a split-second, but then he seemed indifferent again. "Didn't your father ever tell you not to play with bad boys?"

"You're bad? I was under the impression that you were a boy scout."

His bimbo moved in front of me and tried to kiss him on the lips but he pushed her away. His motto probably was a new girl every party. The girl he pushed away seemed hurt. She bit her lower lip and tried to go near him again.

"A boy scout?" He leaned close to my face. I found myself staring into his dark blue eyes. "You couldn't find a worse man to play with, Valor."

I snuck a glance at Lara. Her mouth hung open in shock. She pointed at Erin. Contrary to what I expected, Erin looked fine. She seemed to think I was trying to get Julian for her.

"Oh yeah? Show me," I dared. Take that, Lara. I told you I could get Julian if I wanted to.

When I came to, I was in a bedroom. A dark bedroom with purple walls and a white ceiling. One with a bed too soft for my comfort. An arm was draped over me. I fought hard to think. My head pounded. I hated hangovers.

I groaned and pushed the arm off me. Great! Just what I needed. A one-night stand. Letting out a deep breath, I turned to see who was beside me. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness enough for me to tell who it was, and when I did see who I had spent the night with, I scrambled away from him and fell off the bed with a loud thud.

My heart raced in my chest as I tried to make sense of what happened. However, the night was a blur. I couldn't remember a thing. Maybe when the hangover passed it would come back.

The door creaked open. I swore and did my best to cover my naked self. A big bulky man in black peered inside and, upon seeing me, gave me a small nod. It was as if he was used to seeing naked people.

He closed the door. I sat on the carpeted floor, shivering from the cold wind that blew in through the window. That guy was Julian's bodyguard. And the man on the bed was none other than Julian himself. How could this happen?! Erin was going to kill me, with a capital K-I-L-L.

I decided to peek at the boy on the bed one last time. Perhaps it was just one of Julian's friends. Their fathers were part of the crime syndicate too, after all. Or maybe I was just suffering the effects from my hangover. After all, some parts of the room still seemed kind of blurred. To my surprise, Julian was already awake. Dark blue eyes scanned mine for a moment. Then I yelped and dove out of his sight, trying to look for my clothes.

Stupid beer. I never should have downed five bottles. I eventually found my clothes, all in different parts of the room. It felt awkward to put them on in front of Julian, despite the fact that we slept together.

I picked up my purse and glanced at Julian one last time. He was now sitting up on the bed, with a lazy look on his face.

"We will never speak of this again, you hear me? Never!" I warned.

"See you at school."

School? Oh crap. Karen threw her party on a Monday night. I remembered now. She wanted it on her birthday, which was on a Monday. A few colorful words came out of my mouth. How was I supposed to go to school with a hangover like this? I hoped there was still Gatorade at home.

"Just don't talk about it ever again!" I stumbled out of the room unceremoniously and made my way through the house. Karen's house. Thank God. If it was Julian's house and I met Mr. Vanderblit, I'd probably die of a heart attack.

People were strewn all over, unconscious. Bottles of beer were spilled, some of them were broken on the floor while others were untouched on the table. It was a mess. Some couples had fallen asleep on top of each other on one of the numerous couches. I managed to make it outside the house without disturbing anyone's sleep.

The wind was freezing. The sky was still dark: no trace of dawn whatsoever. I took a deep breath and whipped out my cellphone. Three AM. Who was I going to call? Erin couldn't drive yet, and my dad probably slept in a hotel last night. He was working late these days. Lara might be mad at me, so I didn't dare call her until I could apologize to her face. This left me with my mom.

I wondered what she would say as the phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered in a sleepy voice.

"Mom, I uh…I need you to pick me up."

"Quincy? Darling, where are you? You didn't come home last night."

Quincy. I never liked the nickname, but somehow I could stand it when it was my mom who called me that.

"I'm at Karen's house. You know, my friend Karen?"

"I'll be right there."

Thank God my mom wasn't the type to ask questions. I glanced at Karen's house. My mom used to drop me off here for sleepovers when I was younger. Now, Karen and I were on good terms but we weren't exactly friends any more. I shivered as another icy blast of wind hit me. Didn't I come with a blazer on? Where did I leave it? In the coat rack, maybe? I glanced back at the house. No way was I going in there to retrieve it. I might meet Julian along the way.

It was my favorite, but Lara and Karen were both on the cheerleading squad. Lara could ask Karen for it, and Karen wasn't a bad person. She'd give it back…I hoped.

My mom's silver SUV pulled up after around ten minutes. I got inside the car and relished the warmth. My mom began to drive back to our house.

After about five minutes or so of silence, she spoke up. "Quinn, what happened?"

"M-mom?" I stared at her wide-eyed.

"Erin came home looking all excited. Lara drove her home. She said she didn't want to interrupt your moment. Did you have a fight with her?"

"I was drunk. It was my fault," I said. My mother was a defense attorney who could squeeze the truth out of anyone. Was being the keyword. She quit after she married my father and moved on to open her own boutique.

"Did you pass out?"

"Yes, I did."

"You don't sound very convinced."

See? She knew. "I slept with someone, okay? Just don't tell Erin."

She nodded. The rest of the drive was silent. When I got home I downed an entire bottle of Gatorade and went to sleep.

My mom allowed me to go to school late, going as far as writing a false excuse letter. It was the period before lunch by the time I got to class.

"You're late," said Mrs. Lodge as I burst into the classroom. "Hurry up and sit down. I was just about to announce your new project."

The class gave a collective groan. I shuffled towards my seat beside Lara at the back of the classroom. She refused to look at me, staring intently on a blank page in her notebook. I took out my own notebook and pen and tore out a page.

"I'm sorry," I scribbled on the scrap of paper. "Can we be partners for this project?" I crumpled it and threw it at her.

She read it and gave me her are-you-serious look. She wrote something on it and then threw it back at me.

"It's fine. Just don't do it again. You were practically Julian's bimbo last night."

I winced. She didn't know how right she was. I did fake a smile for her, though, and turned to Mrs. Lodge. She continued to babble on and on about the history of the world.

"And so, I want you to write a paper about a historical event. One that had a big impact. You will do it in pairs, as usual."

Lara and I exchanged glances. History was the only class in which we could choose our own partners. The other teachers assigned us partners alphabetically, in which case I was stuck with Julian.

"As per the principal's request, I'll be assigning you partners. However, I'll announce the partners tomorrow. Class dismissed," she said as the bell rang.

Lara patiently walked with me to the lunchroom, despite my sluggish pace courtesy of my hangover. It was a bit better, but not all that much. The two of us sat at our usual table. I had hoped nobody noticed me and Julian disappear last night, but I realized it was too much to hope for. I had barely sat down when our friend Nelly blurted:

"You! Julian almost threw a tantrum this morning!"

A tantrum? The ice king did not throw tantrum.

"Nelly," started Diana in a warning tone. Diana shot her best friend a don't-exaggerate look.

"Okay, fine. He didn't. But he was more than surprised when he saw his locker this morning," Nelly insisted. "It was missing something," she added furtively.

"What, this week's bimbo got lost on her way to his locker?" Lara joked.

Diana laughed at Lara's joke. Nelly scowled at Lara and shook her head. I forced a laugh but it came out so awkward that Nelly, who had opened her mouth to protest, shut it and didn't say anything. Instead they all looked at me.

"You. You're hiding something," Lara said.

"You didn't get her joke. You always get Lara's jokes, even when they don't make sense." Diana stared at me in dumbfounded disbelief.

Then realization dawned on Nelly's face. Her eyes brightened, her cheeks flushed and she opened her mouth to scream out her new revelation.

"No, Nelly! Shh!!" I put a finger to my lips.

"OH MY GOD, YOU'RE - !"

"You left this," someone interrupted dryly.

I thanked whoever it was who had the wits to interrupt the sentence that would have ruined my relationship with my sister. And then I realized who the voice came from. I turned around and tried my best to smile.

"Don't do that; you look like a frog."

My right eye twitched. Oh yeah. Julian Vanderblit. He held my jacket in his hand. I reached out to take it, but he held it beyond my reach. Damn my short genes. Julian's face was indifferent, as always. Lara and the girls watched me try to reach the jacket.

"Give it back," I snapped.

Julian tossed the jacket to Louis and moved towards his table. I felt like I was playing monkey in the middle. Louis grinned at me.

"Something's missing from our table."

"Same thing that was missing from Julian's locker this morning?" Diana asked coolly.

"Yeah."

"Gee, his bimbo must have lost her way. You want us to go hunting for her?" Lara asked.

Sometimes Lara was dense. She still hadn't realized that I was the bimbo she was talking about.

"Oh, no worries. We found her. I think she just needs some direction, and a carrot in front of her," Louis replied cheerfully.

"What does that have to do with making fun of Quinn?"

"Aren't harlequins supposed to be made fun of?" Louis asked with a humorous glint in his eye. "Oh well. Come on, Valor. I'll give you directions."

I turned beet red. Thank God Erin didn't eat lunch here in the lunchroom. She wasn't half as dense as Lara, and she would have figured it by now.

"Oh my God." Lara's eyes widened.

"Shut up," I growled at Louis. I grabbed at the blazer wildly again.

"Oh-ho! You want this, you have to come get it. You don't have to sit down. Julian is only asking you to come." Louis winked at me before moving towards the table in the center of the lunchroom.

I chewed my lip. Should I go get it? They'd probably make me sit down. But I loved that jacket. My mom designed it for me, and it was really gorgeous. Even Lara – who was very discriminating when it came to clothes – said so. I got up to go get it. Hey, I had nothing to lose, right?

I was just going to retrieve my jacket.

"I'm so sorry about the bimbo jokes, Quinn! I didn't know," babbled Lara.

"It's okay. And just for the record, I didn't get lost. But you probably already knew that." With that I began to walk towards Julian's table. The dangerous table, where the sons of the biggest crime syndicate's authorities sat.