Thomas and I slowly enter the house. Loud music blasts, instantly deafening me while drunk teenagers stumble in front of us. My body floods with immediate regret.

"I hate this" I sigh. "Parties like these are where bad decisions are made"

"In that case, this party will make sober, tipsy, or wasted, more interesting don't ya think?" Thomas smirks.

I fold my arms "Why can't Emma be introverted?" I raise a brow.

"Because I'm extroverted" he points out.

So?

"That is not a good reason" I shake my head.

"You heard what dad said...you've got to play the part" Thomas starts as we walk through the crowded house "....Tommy better not be here"

"Be nice" I roll my eyes.

"Hey, you two made it" Ely approaches us with a red solo cup in his hand.

"Not by choice" I mutter under my breath.

"Drinks are in the kitchen" Ely informs as Tommy begins stumbling towards us.

He's drunk already? He doesn't waste any time.

"Great" Thomas scoffs before storming away from us.

"Tommy's out of it already?" I raise a brow at Ely.

"That's Tommy for you" Ely admits "Parties way too hard"

Well that's unfortunate. Ely seems sober to me, I wonder if he's been drinking?

"And you?" I ask.

He shrugs "well I rather remember the party the next day"

Fair enough.

"Heeeey guys" Tommy slurs his speech as wrapping his arm around me.

"Hey Tommy" I greet with a smirk as he pulls me closer to his body.

"You duh party joy man?" Tommy says something incoherent.

"I'm sorry I don't-" I start.

"Are you enjoying the party so far?" Ely translates.

How the hell was Ely able to comprehend that?

"You Looking v good" Tommy tells me as blinking rapidly.

"Thanks" I furrowed my brows "I think"

Tommy gets friendly when he's drunk it seems - Good to know. Tommy presses his cheek against mine, making me laugh.

"So is uh Willow here?" I ask.

"Willow is the most introverted person that I know" Ely informs as glaring at Tommy.

"What about Laura?" I question.

"Lau iz da there bu she just wat othets" Tommy spat, making me to wipe my cheek with my palms.

"Laura is over there somewhere" Ely points at the kitchen as pulling Tommy off me "but she is just watching the others drink"

"How-" I start.

"I have younger siblings" he explains as giving Tommy a playful noogie "just treat intoxicated people like toddlers"

I nod. That's good advice. Suddenly I feel the urge to pee. 

"Do you know where the restroom is?" I ask.

"It's upstairs somewhere" Ely tells me.

"Thanks" with that I push through the crowd of drunk teens, before climbing up the stair case.

The music begins to fade as I search for the restroom. There are fewer people around me, but the ones that are, are definitely intoxicated.

I push open a door where I find a bed, desk, coat hanger, etc. I narrow my eyes at the woman on the bedroom floor whom had a bottle in her hand.

"You're here" she points at me.

"Willow?" I shut the door behind me before taking a few steps towards her. "Are you alright?"

Why is Willow laying on someone bedroom floor with a bottle of god knows what in her hand?

"Does it look like I'm alright?" Willow cries.

I sigh.

"Talking about it helps" I shrug.

"No it doesn't" she hisses whilst drinking from the bottle "you can't help me!"

I sigh. I'll tell her a story. My story.

"I had this friend...her name was Isla...on the surface she was this screw up...this fifteen year old kid who didn't care about anything...She wasn't cruel or trouble...she just lost both her parents and now found herself pregnant and with her brother to raise.....the truth was that she couldn't deal...but she still got outta bed....you admitting defeat is not a sign of weakness...it just means that you've been strong too long"

"....they're wrong" she sighs while I now sit on the bed, "they think they know what's wrong ..but they don't...I'm adopted... It's not a big deal...I've always known...so do my friends" she rubs her eyes, smearing her make up "I've located my birth mother...I walk past her house all the time...I thought that maybe one day I'll get to see her....instead I see her kids....I see her beautiful daughters and her perfect son...around my age...that slut gave me up! She gave me up! Not her other kids! Me! It makes me so mad you know! When I was a kid..I used to dream about her...what she looked like... What kind of perfume she wore.... Now she lives so close....driving her perfect car...living in her perfect house....with her perfect kids"

"Are you sure it's her?" I force myself to ask. 

"There's not a doubt in my mind" she shakes her head "...my adoptive parents have met her....they have all her information... Its her....I wish I could look her straight in the eye and ask... Ask why she gave me up....I just need time"

"Yeah I can understand that" I nod slowly.

A minute of silence the follows.

"you officially know more than the people that I would quite literally take a bullet for so...it makes sense for me to tell you the other thing" she looks down in almost shame "you already know that Kyle and I used to date..."

"Yeah" I nod.

My heart begins to pound in fear. What is she going to tell me?

"Well about a year ago I noticed that something was off...I started noticing pregnancy symptoms so I peed on a stick... It came out positive" she glances at me.

Willow was pregnant with Kyle's child? God that's huge. Where's then child? How did Kyle respond?

"Oh my god, what did Kyle say?" I ask.

"He didn't say anything...he couldn't even look at me...think about the worst way someone could take it and multiply it....any way I went to a doc soon after...we did an ultrasound to find no baby" she sighs "Turns out I was never pregnant...I had Ovarian cancer...I was a sixteen year old with ovarian cancer" tears roll down her cheeks "I had surgeries to remove two tumors...one from each ovary...the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes, resulting in multiple surgeries over the last year...I'm still not cancer free"

"I'm sorry" i soften my eyes.

"Don't be" she shakes her head violently "please don't be...I don't need to be pitied"

"I wasn't-" I start with wide eyes.

"Just leave please" she begs.

I nod at her request. If she wants to be alone, I'll leave her be. I begin walking towards the door.

"what happened to your friend?" Willow asks.

I turn around to face her. "What?" I ask.

"Your friend Isla?" She specifies.

Isla. What ever happened to Isla?  That's what everyone back home as been asking for the last two years. If we're being honest, I don't even know how to answer that.

"She moved in with a family who made her feel whole again" I struggle to say.

"The father of her baby's family?" Willow wipes away her tears with her finger tips.

"Yeah" I nod "his family"

She half smiles "Are they happy?"

I wish I could say yes, but that would be a lie. They're currently running from a psychopath, fearing for their lives.

"Yes they are" I force myself to lie. "Do you want to come down stairs?"

"Nah I think I'll stay up here" she nods as reaching her arm out to give me the bottle "to sober up"

Good plan.

I reach out to grab the bottle "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No I'm fine" she moves her hair out of her eyes.

"Okay...I'll see you later" with that I slowly exit the room.