My friends actually listened to me. It was the day before my birthday, and to my surprise, I hadn't been blindfolded only to be led to a venue glowing with strobe lights, and full of faces that I couldn't put names to. I told them I didn't want a party, and they didn't give me one. But, they did show up to my front step at seven in silk pajama sets, with sleeping bags in their arms.

The sleepover was my call. It isn't often that you hear about teens throwing slumber parties for their eighteenth. But, it's exactly what I wanted. Maybe I did it for nostalgia's sake. It used to be like this all the time. Back in ninth grade, we'd take turns hosting them at our houses every month. The nights would consist of watching 90's teen flicks, trading stories about our then-crushes, and if we were at Rachel's, playing outrageous pranks on her brothers.

Of course things were different now, despite the 90's movies because you can't watch enough of those.

After they made their beds on the carpet in my living room, I headed towards the kitchen to get the popcorn started. While I shuffled through the cabinets in search for a large enough bowl, Aly pulled up the movie on Netflix. By the time I returned, they'd settled on She's all That.

"I can't believe they kissed. Guess there's no hope for me huh? They're practically official now." Rachel said, as I sat down next to her, handing her the bowl. I guess I missed half of the conversation while I was in the kitchen, but it didn't take long for me to catch on.

"Don't say that," I said, drawing my legs up on the sofa. "You'll find someone."

"Exactly," Aly chimed in from her other side. "In a few months we'll be out of here anyway. High school guys don't matter in the long run."

Rachel's face contorted as she tried to smile, and then pursed her lips like tasted something sour. I'd forgotten that my friends didn't have the same insight as me on Chase and Leah's relationship. So, after Rachel caught the two of them making out in his truck this morning, I tried to act surprised when she practically fell into sobs about it during free period.

Maybe it was best that's all she knew. I could only imagine her reaction to hearing that Leah's been to his house more times this week than she has within the past four years.

"I just don't understand. What does he even see in her? She looks just like every other girl in this town. You'd think California would have produced something better quality."

"Rachel!" I gasped. Aly snickered.

"I'm sorry but it's true! I've known him since we were freshmen, and all of a sudden she comes out of nowhere and he's head over heels. I'll be honest, if there was any girl I thought he'd settle down with, I expected it to be you, Kaya."

I turned my head so fast, I nearly whipped her with my braid. "Huh?"

"What?" Rachel looked from me to Aly. "Like it's not true? As much as I want to deny it, you know I'm right."

"No." I blinked in disbelief. "He doesn't want to date me. What are you talking about?" I looked to Aly for support, but she didn't offer any. Instead, she popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth, and took her time chewing it.

Rachel raised an arched brow, and tilted her head sideways. "For the longest time, I thought you were my biggest competition. Turns out I was wrong."

I was stunned to silence, waiting for Aly to come to my rescue.

"Aly?" I asked, suddenly needing to know her opinion. They couldn't both think that Chase had a thing for me. That was just ridiculous.

Aly lifted her hazel eyes to me, but not fast enough. Her delayed response confirmed my suspicions.

"Oh my gosh." I couldn't take it anymore. I outright laughed. My head tilted back against the cushions as it tumbled out of me, nonstop. It took me a few seconds too long before I realized that I was the only one laughing. When the tears finally cleared from my vision, I saw the troubled expressions on their faces.

"Are you okay?" Aly asked with a frown crossing her fair eyebrows.

Once I caught my breath, I nodded. "Absolutely."

I must have looked ludicrous, but they were the ones that weren't making any sense. Chase did not like me in that way. He just couldn't. He didn't.

But, what if he did?

My memory is one of my worst enemies sometimes. It constantly plagues my head with images that I'm not supposed to see ever again. He had tried to kiss me. I thought that I'd wrapped that memory up, and tucked it in a bottle to be cast away in the deepest hollow of my mind. Dragging it out just complicated things.

Absentmindedly, I began to trace the outline of my necklace. The necklace Chase gave me. I remembered how it fell to the floor, the sound of the collision echoing through the room as no words could fill the air that hung between us.

"Rachel." I said, pulling my mind away from that night. "I can promise you that he doesn't like me that way. And, he might be with Leah right now, but he's missing out. Like Aly said, you don't have to waste your time on high school boys. Let's just enjoy the rest of our senior year, with or without them."

I could tell that she still didn't believe me one hundred percent, but she nodded and offered and an actual smile. It was only after the words left my mouth that I realized I should be taking my own advice. It applied to my situation just as much. No matter what happened with Mason, I wouldn't let him ruin the rest of my year. He had already taken enough from me.

I wasn't giving him anything else.

***

"Aaron?"

I sat up in the dark, feeling around the floor to see what it was. My eyes still hadn't adjusted, so I assumed the buzz at my feet  was my brother messing with me, like he usually did at sleepovers. Then, I saw the light glowing through my blanket. I pulled back my sheets to find my phone screen illuminated by a flashing name.

Mason.

Was it possible that he could read my mind? No matter how often I tried to dodge him, despite the many attempts I'd tried to program my brain to erase him, he always came back. He was always there. I answered the call.

"Hello?" I whispered as I stood up, careful to step over Aly and Rachel's limbs. Heavy breathing clogged the receiver on his end. I made my way to the hall, and pressed a finger to my other ear.
"Mason?"

"Kaya, I need your help," came his desperate plea. I frowned.

"What do you want? I already told you, I don't want anything to do with you. I have to go-"

"It's my mom."

I stopped with my thumb hovered the end-call button. As I stared at the screen, I read the time. 3:47. I pressed my lips together.

"She had a heart attack."

I gasped. The air left my lungs before I could stop it. A heart attack?

"I don't know what to do," his voice sounded strained, as though he were on the verge of crying. "I just...I need somebody. Please Kaya. I'm fucking losing it."

"Okay, okay. I'm listening," I didn't process the words as they left my mouth. "Where are you right now? Did you call for an ambulance?"

"I'm at the hospital. They took her in an hour ago, and they made me stay out here. They haven't told me a god-damned thing. I-I don't even know if she's still breathing."

Something moved to my right. My eyes had adjusted enough to make out Aly's outline approaching.

"Kaya?" she whispered. "Is everything alright."

"One minute." I spoke into the phone. I turned towards her, and covered the receiver with my other hand. "I'm fine. Mason just called me."

She folded her arms, probably processing the same thoughts that I did when his name appeared on the screen. "What does he want. Is he aware that it's nearly four in the morning?"

"His mom had a heart attack," I said, immediately jumping to his defense. It was the first time that he actually deserved it. The white's of her eyes stood out against the dark as they widened.

"What?" she forgot to whisper.

"Listen. I'm going to go meet him at the hospital. He's really upset. Desperate even. Tell Rachel if she wakes up before I get back. I don't know how long I'm gonna be, but I'll call you if something else comes up."

"Wait," she said, reaching for my arm. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Aly, this is his mother we're talking about. She might not make it out of there. I can't let him go through this by himself."

She nodded her head. "Okay. Call me, when you get there. I'm heading back to sleep. Hope everything with his mom works out."

"I will."

She left me to gather my jacket and shoes from the closet. I put the phone back to my ear as I grabbed Mom's keys from the hook and started for the door.

"Mason, are you there?"

There was silence for a moment before he released a breath. "I'm here."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

***

I didn't even realize how ridiculous I must have looked until I was standing under the hospital lights. The fluorescent light made my brown moccasins appear ashen, and my blue and white striped pjs didn't sit well underneath my red track jacket.  But, I pushed all of my shallow thoughts aside as soon as my eyes landed on him.

His back was towards the wall, as I approached. I hadn't even rehearsed what I was going to say. His skin, which usually held a golden hue was washed out, and it wasn't due to the light. I focused on his sneakers, pacing my own heart to the rhythm of his foot, tapping against the vinyl floor.

"How is she?"

He pulled his head from his hands, and his eyes found me. They were rimmed red, as though they didn't have any more tears to shed. It took a few seconds for my question to process in his mind. He blinked several times before he actually saw me.

"They stabilized her," he took a deep breath. "She's going to be alright."

I closed my eyes as I sat down beside him, relieved.

"I found her," he kept going. I opened my eyes to see that his were staring  at the space in front of us. "In the kitchen. She didn't have a pulse."

I bit down on my lip.

"I don't know how long she was laying there. Something just pulled me out of bed. So, I got up. I passed her bedroom, and I noticed the light was still on." He paused. 

"Mason, you don't have to tell me th-"

"She wasn't in there. I didn't hear a tv on, so I knew the living room was empty. But then, I walked into the kitchen..."

Dear god.

I could only imagine...

"The water was running. I don't know for how long, but the floor was wet.  I saw a shape on the floor. Strands of hair-" his voice croaked.

I placed a hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry."

His face turned to me. Only a fraction of a centimeter stood between our noses.

"Mason Riley."

He pulled back first, at the sound of his name. I glanced up to see a nurse standing over us  with a clipboard in her hand. I jerked back, and folded my hands in my lap, watching as he got up. I heard him ask about her once more, even though he already had an answer.

"She's resting," the nurse said. "But you may go in. As for the girl, she'll have to stay outside unless a blood relation can be confirmed."

"It's fine," I spoke up. "I'm okay with waiting."

Mason glanced back at me.

"It's okay," I said to him. "I'll be here."

He watched me for a moment longer, looking as though he feared I'd vanish if he took his eyes off me. I looked at him directly, and tilted my head ever so slightly, a nod of confirmation. His mouth rose in the corner, as a glassy film formed over his irises. For the first time, in as long as I could remember, I wasn't afraid of him. I was willingly here, and he depended on that for his own sanity.

I think he was afraid of me.

***

It was six in the morning when I arrived back home. Aly and Rachel's cars were still parked alongside my driveway, thankfully. I'd have hated for them to leave while I was gone. I put the car into park, and laid my head back against the leather seat.

The sun was nowhere in sight, but it would rise shortly. I could see it stirring beneath the dark blue night.

He said they found remnants of cocaine in her bloodstream.

I had nearly run off the road when he told me. It was hard thing to do. To drop him off in front of an empty house with blue shutters framing the gaping windows. He had ridden with his mother in the ambulance on the way there. Someone had to take him back.

I turned my head to the passenger seat, and ran my hand over it.  And then, I started to cry. I hadn't even expected the flood of emotions that rushed through me. It didn't make any sense. I was crying for him. His mom was still doing drugs, and she had a heart attack because of it.

He had to have known.

It was then that I understood. That's what was wrong with him. That's why he acted the way he did.

I slid my hands over my face, and rubbed my eyes. How sad, that I almost forgot.

It was my birthday.