It's the end of December, and the last day of the winter term. The time of the year where there seems to be endless parties held across Thornhill and Lockwood alike.
I'm sat in the End of Term Awards assembly, wedged in between Jack and Lucy.
Olivia's with the dancers, having just performed on stage.
Lucy's browsing the Urban Outfitters app on her phone, desperately trying to find dresses for all of the upcoming parties.
She'll go to them all, whereas I'll probably only go to a couple. Liv and I normally do other stuff; like gingerbread houses and ice skating.
"Is this too modest?"
Lucy whispers to me, trying to discreetly show me her phone screen. It's a shimmery green dress that barely covers the model's ass and breasts.
"Yes, very nun-like." I reply, straight faced.
"Very funny." Lucy replies.
"Seen more clothes on a stripper." River's voices beside her.
He came in late and the only seat left was at the end of our row- next to Lucy. When he realised this, it definitely looked like he contemplated walking back out.
"Pray tell me," Lucy hisses at him, "which parties are you going to? Just so I know which ones to avoid.
"All of them."
I try not to smile.
"Go take a long walk off a short cliff, Kavinsky."
"Ladies first."
Lucy grumbles and angles her body towards me. "What are you wearing tonight?"
"The sequin dress I showed you yesterday," I whisper back.
Tonight is the night of the biggest Christmas party in Lockwood.
"Sexy," Lucy approves. "Jax will be there."
River leans forward, legs spread open, elbows resting on his knees.
"Oh, yeah?" I say, completely disinterested.
Jax and I haven't seen each other since that night in town- the night I also bumped into River. We texted a little bit after that, but his texts were drier than the Sahara dessert, and I quickly realised there was no chemistry.
That and he's not River.
"Mhm. Maybe you guys could hook up!" Lucy sings, way too loud.
I clench my jaw as the people in front of us turn around and give us weird looks.
Mr. Bonner, standing nearby, tells her to shut up.
But I don't care about any of them. I look over at River- the boy I've been meeting in secret for months now.
He avoids my gaze. His face holds no expression, but his jaw is clenched more than mine.
"Do you ever talk about anything other than clothes, getting drunk, or fucking?"
Lucy hesitates, before saying, "Sure. Let's talk about your mum. How is she?"
I instantly feel the atmosphere change.
There's a few seconds of silence, then River turns to her, lips to her ear.
He's quiet, but I'm close enough to catch what he says.
"Another word, and I'll rip your fucking tongue out and make you choke on it," River ushers with conviction.
I look at them, horrified, just as our principal declares the assembly is over.
River wastes no time in disappearing out the doors.
I round on Lucy "What the hell was that about?"
Lucy looks down, looking somewhat shaken and ashamed.
It takes her a few seconds to respond.
"His mum's dead, Ana. I know it was a low blow, but he was pissing me off."
"Dead?" I repeat, mortified. "How do you know that?"
"She died of a brain tumour a few years ago. My mum was her surgeon. He asked me to not to tell anyone when it happened. Like I said, a low blow."
My chest suddenly feels very tight as I stare at Lucy. I half-consider slapping her.
"Fuck, Lucy," I breathe out, finally. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
I pick my bag up and leave before she can reply.
~
I stand in front of my full-length mirror, fixing my tousled blonde hair, then glance over the rest of me.
My strappy, sequin dress clings to my body, my silver heels accentuate my legs, and my smokey eyes almost give me a dangerous look.
My phone lights up. Olivia's outside.
"You look so fine," Liv gushes for the third time as we ride through town in a taxi.
I laugh and nudge her with my shoulder. "Love you."
"Love you too, girl."
Liv's wearing a red, backless mini dress tonight and her long brown hair is drawn back into a sleek knot. I already know all the guys are going to go crazy for her.
Speaking of guys, my mind floats to River. I inwardly sigh; I tried calling him a few times once I was out of the assembly hall but the calls went straight to voicemail.
I silently pray he's OK.
When we finally arrive at Viktoria De Young's residence- a rich girl from Lockwood High's family home- a firework display is happening above the property.
"So beautiful," Liv comments as we climb the stone steps up to De Young Manor.
"Is Lucy still coming?" I ask Liv.
She shrugs. "She hasn't answered any of my calls, but she'll probably be sulking somewhere. She wouldn't miss this."
We reach the top of the stairs, and we're suddenly surrounded by people.
As predicted, the guys are all ogling at Olivia.
We make our way through the crowd and just as we're about to enter the manor, someone comes flying out.
Blonde hair. Pale skin. One pierced ear. Their white tee covered in red blood.
He raises his head. It's Talon Black.
"Man, fuck you!" Talon spits at the guy that comes out after him.
"Yeah, bet you'd love to," he replies, before kicking him in the ribs.
Talon rolls over on the ground. The guy's about to kick him again when someone stops him.
"Leave it now. Do you know whose friend that is?"
The guy hesitates, then walks back inside, leaving Talon on the ground.
Liv stays back whilst I go over to him.
"Talon? Are you OK?"
I know it's a dumb question. But I don't know what else to say.
Talon slowly looks up at me. He's definitely high on something.
"My nose is fucked, at least one of my ribs is broken, and my dignity is long gone. What do you think, darling?"
He climbs to his feet and pushes past me, stumbling away down the stairs.
Liv hooks her arm around mine and pulls me towards the party. "Come on, let's not get caught up in some stupid football beef."
~
"We like to drink with Ana, 'cause Ana is our mate! And when we drink with Ana, she downs it in- eight!"
"Seven!"
"Six!"
I guzzle down another drink of whatever the hell Liv keeps giving me.
The guys around us all cheer.
"Again?" A really tall and attractive guy asks, offering me another drink. His brown skin looks so beautiful under the light of the huge chandelier above us.
"No," I decline, my head spinning. "I can't see."
The guy just laughs and downs it himself.
"Liv," I paw at her arm. "I need some air."
Liv just nods. "Go. I'll be here."
I find myself wandering up a huge, winding staircase, remembering all of the balconies I saw on the way in.
I feel my phone vibrate against my breast. I pull it out of my bra and try to read the message on the screen.
RK: Are you at the Lockwood party?
Me: Maybeeeeeee
RK: Drunk?
Me: Yuussss. Where r u?
RK: Are you safe?
Me: No this is Ana
Finally, I find a balcony that isn't occupied by a couple making out. I lean onto the black, metal fence, willing myself not to be sick.
I'm just about to take a seat on the concrete floor, when the appearance of at least fifteen guys at the top of the stone stairs captures my attention.
A red firework explodes above them, revealing their creepy black and white masquerade masks. More than half are carrying bats.
Gate-crashers, I quickly realise, despite being drunk out of my mind.
As they approach the manor, a security guard and a couple of jocks try to confront them. They easily take them down. I hear chaos ensue downstairs.
I watch as they draw closer, when the tallest one suddenly looks up. Right at me. They stop dead for a second, before continuing on in.
I gulp and push myself away from the balcony. Time to find Liv and go. Lucy too, if I can.
They're going to smash this whole place up. And we definitely don't want to still be here when police arrive.
As I try to make my way back downstairs, towards all of the shouts and the sound of glass smashing, I start seeing double.
I topple into the bannister, nearly going over it. Someone pulls me back by the shoulder.
"Woah, easy there," a male voice exclaims, turning me around. "Wait...Anatolia Gunn? Damn."
It's Jax.
"Hey, Jax," I manage to say. "Have you seen my friends?"
"Nah, but I can take you home if you want. Or back to my place."
I shake my head and try to get past him. "I'm good."
"Come on," he persists, blocking me. "I've got a bunch of stuff you can take that'll make this night even better."
"Not interested," I tell him, my head now pounding, trying to get round him again.
His face changes and he pushes me backwards. I fall into the wall and my head bangs against it.
I yelp and stare back at him, my eyes alight with fury and fear, ready to fight.
He takes a step towards me but that's as far as he gets.
One of the masked guys suddenly appears behind him.
An arm gets wrapped around Jax's throat and a hand roughly grips his jaw.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just break your neck," A muffled, deep voice inquires.
"Prison?" Jax chokes out meekly.
The masked stranger hesitates, before smashing Jax's head against a nearby stone statue.
Jax groans and crumples to the floor. "What the fuck..."
Now the man in the mask is staring right at me.
The alcohol in my system distort his appearance.
I try to dash back upstairs, wanting to get as far away from him as I can, but they easily catch up to me.
They seize me from behind and pull me to their chest.
I start to scream and try to kick back at him.
"Calm the fuck down, Anatolia."
I instantly stop fighting. "River?"
River loosens his hold and I turn around. Too fast, it seems, because Ricer is forced to grab me and lower me to the stairs.
He crouches down in front of me and gently grasps my face, tilting my head back. "What have you taken?"
I bite my lip, trying to think. "Uhh...just alcohol."
"Are you sure?" River asks, sounding more pissed off by the second.
"I don't know. Maybe I took some powder. Some guy was handing them out and everyone was taking it."
"Uh, huh," River seethes. "Can I get you out of here now?"
I shake my head. "I need to find Liv and Lucy."
"I can sort that," River says, before pulling me up and lifting me up into his arms.
"Will you take that mask off?" I mumble.
"Not yet."
Cold air hits my skin. We're outside.
"Dal!" River shouts.
A few seconds later, another blurry mask enters my vision.
"Can you look for Burton and Spier? Make sure they get home safe."
"Olivia's fine. I'll look for Spier." I hear Dallas Jackson say. "And, uh, is she OK?"
River never replies, just starts walking again.
It's not long before I'm buckled into some big, plush car.
As he climbs into the driver's side and slams the door, I ask, "Where's your Ferrari?"
"The mask would be a bit pointless if I pulled up in a Ferrari that has my name on the number plate, don't you think?"
"Hmph. Everyone will still know it's you."
Silence.
River finally pulls the mask off once we're away from the De Young Manor.
"My parents are going to kill me," I mumble, resting my head against the cool window pane.
"You think I'm going to take you home like this?" River scoffs. "You can stay at my place."
"You're annoyed at me."
River laughs dryly. "Nope."
"That's how girls sound when they're annoyed."
"Well, baby, I'm not a girl."
"Whatever."
River bites his lip as he slowly turns a corner, his flashy gold watch glinting underneath a street lamp.
"You were right about Jax."
"Mhm."
"I'm sorry," I say, glancing at him.
River shakes his head. "Don't be. Not your fault."
After a while of silence, River slowly breathes out.
"You look stunning tonight."
I smile wearily.
"I think I'm in love with you too," I mumble, eyes closed, half-asleep.
I'm vaguely away of the car jerking to the side.
"What?"
But I don't reply, my eyelids heavy, my brain dizzy.
A/N - Tysm for all of the love on the last chapter!! Shoutout to Thisbookthief
They left a cute comment asking if I'd update yesterday. Sorry I couldn't but here's another chapter today ☺️
I think this is one of my fave chapters. I'd love to know yours?
Also, when I wrote the "No this is Ana" all I could think of was
Ps. I really really want to do a River POV