Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved. This is for the repeat readers--hello I love you.

An alarm startled Rosalie out of her sleep and into the dreaded world of tomorrow. She slouched back, hair splayed, and pushed her hands over her face. She felt gross, and approximately two seconds away from letting her brain ooze out her ears. Her skin felt grimy, so she sat up and prepared to go to the bathroom. Only, her head swam, and it took both hands to keep her brain where it was supposed to be.

She heard people outside her room, and her worry spiked. Please tell me Sami kicked everyone out and I'm just hallucinating, she thought, aware that the sunlight was brighter than morning. It had to be midday by now.

Rosalie crept to her door, and felt the familiar touch of Khoshekh running by. She scooped him up and opened the door. She rubbed a finger under her eye and when she pulled it away, it was littered in sparkly gold makeup. Just as she was thinking about the odds of looking like a raccoon, she looked up at the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs. A familiar head of black hair came swinging up, awake as ever.

"Oh! You're alive!" Ray cried, and they both instantly winced. Rosalie put a hand to her head.

"I've... never gotten a hangover before, but I think this is it," she said, and Ray apologized in a whisper. "Khoshekh probably needs to get to the basement."

"Do you want me to feed him?"

"Yeah, that'd be swell," she said, and placed Khoshekh onto his paws. He took off for the stairs, and a moment later, they listened to the sound of someone squeaking in surprise at the sight of a black, furry mass darting across the house. "Who all is here?"

"Most of the soccer team. Both guys and girls," Ray said, hitching a quilt under her arm. Rosalie realized then that Ray was in the middle of cleaning up. "Everything went fine last night. Football guys left around eleven and some of the girls ditched for curfew."

Rosalie covered her eyes with her hands and moaned. "I'm such an awful host..."

"No, no! It's fine, honest. Sami and I took care of everything while Joanna cleaned you up. You got a little messy around ten but, like, classy messy. Alyssa was just straight up messy the entire night."

Rosalie stole a look at Ray through her fingers, and tried to cover her own smile. Ray grinned and started ahead down the hall. She opened the spare blanket and towel cabinet and pushed the blankets in. "We had to stop Jamie-Lee and Alyssa from shagging in your mom's room, but other than that Lennie and Harper took it home."

"Does that mean Jace is still here?" Rosalie said, and refrained from admitting just how much she loathed that he was invited.

Ray grimaced, and it gave the impression that more than just annoyance was festering. Rosalie's expression dropped, and she lowered her hand. "What? What is it? I thought I saw him last night. I took a shot with him and the other guys."

"Uh... yeah, about that," Ray said, hand on her hip. She hissed low, expression pained.

"I kicked him out," a familiar voice said, and the minimal color in Rosalie's face drained away. Ray glanced over Rosalie's shoulder, and Rosalie turned to face a sleepy-looking Joanna climbing the steps.

Joanna's hair was in a gnarled, low bun, and she hadn't even bothered with pants. She wore male swim trunks and her top from the night before. She rubbed a hand under her eyes and said, mid-yawn, "I got pissed at him and threatened to give him another shiner. He's still bitter about the one he already has."

"Yeah, no kidding," Rosalie all but whispered. "I—Um... I'm confused."

She then processed the fact that she hadn't even taken into consideration what she was wearing. She looked down, and was already too out-of-it to fully process the fact that she was in her underwear from the previous night, and nothing else. The fact that Ray hadn't said anything was the most confusing part of all.

"Why am I not wearing anything?" Rosalie said, more tired than anything. She rolled her eyes and headed back to her room with a groan.

As Rosalie stormed off to get a shirt and shorts, Ray gave Joanna a what-the-hell look. Joanna shrugged. "What, sleeping in clothes is so uncomfortable," Joanna said, as if it was a universal trait. Ray rolled her eyes and headed for the steps. "Come on, you know how hard it is changing someone? I got lazy!"

Rosalie stepped out as she was shoving her arms through the holes of her cutoff t-shirt from sophomore year club soccer. Joanna was still there, hands on her hips, grinning demonically as per usual. Rosalie hesitated at the open threshold, debating whether or not she should abandon ship and just stick to her room. The curiosity and anxiety surrounding the state of the first floor was too powerful, though.

"I made coffee if you're interested. That gay swim kid is making eggs for the hangovers."

"Gay swim kid?" Rosalie repeated.

"Isaiah."

"Isaiah isn't gay," Rosalie said, and Joanna raised an eyebrow at her. "What? I'm serious."

"Yeah, and so am I. You do realize I have the single best gaydar known to mankind, right?" Joanna said. "And that whole bullshit bet the grade has on you and Griffin? Bullshit. You're both queer."

"It's too early for this," Rosalie moaned, hand over her face.

Joanna led the way down the steps and stopped short where Juliana was walking by with Brynn on her heels, the two of them sporting black trash bags filled to the brim with crap. Rosalie stopped to stare after them, hand tight on the stair railing. Brynn looked back at her and stopped to wave.

"How are you feeling?" Brynn asked. "I've never seen you so smashed before. That was fun!"

"Brynn, come on," Juliana whined.

"What! I'm just being honest. Rosalie's fun when she's drunk!" Brynn said, slumping after Juliana.

Juliana gave Rosalie a small wave and said, "We left the trash the way it was before. Sami's idea."

"Oh. That's... honestly super smart of him," she said, surprised. Juliana hurried off after Brynn, down the porch steps, and to the end of the driveway. Rosalie turned to Joanna then, "That's definitely something my mom would notice."

"Yeesh. Your mom sounds like she's fun at parties," Joanna said, heavy on the sarcasm.

"She's a lawyer. She notices weird things. It's impossible trying to lie to her," Rosalie confessed, and added with a sense of false pride, "Hence why I'm so great at lying."

"And also arguing," Sami's voice sounded, and soon, he was passing them on his way to the pantry. He winked at Rosalie. "Except for when you're flustered. Then you just turn into a hot mess."

Joanna laughed, tipping her head to the side to observe the way Rosalie flushed and stammered, "D-Do not! Sami!"

Jamie-Lee was at the counter perched on one of the stools, looking a little worse for wear, but still functional. He eyed Rosalie and they shared a look of understanding. She was simply content that Jamie hadn't destroyed the house. Rosalie took a seat beside him, and they both suffered together until Joanna poured coffee into mugs for the both of them.

"You really know how to throw 'em, Mason," Jamie-Lee said, pouring a heaping amount of creamer into his mug.

He slid it over to Rosalie, who sighed and said, "I'm not proud of it." She splashed a dollop into her coffee and used a chopstick to stir it about.

Sami flipped a batch of eggs onto a plate for Rosalie, and she clasped her hand over her heart and looked up at him as though he was the love of her life. Sami saluted her before turning back around to finish the next batch.

"I'm thinking we could stop by the store today and pick up more eggs so your mom doesn't think we had an egg-fest," he said.

"Smart," Rosalie said. "You're just full of great ideas today, aren't you?"

"Breaking the rules brings out the best in me," he declared, brushing his knuckles against his chest. "In other news, the fam is in Baltimore with tickets to a play, and they won't be back until tomorrow morning."

"Excellent. What do we do until then?" Rosalie asked, sipping her coffee. She raised her eyebrows at him from over the rim, and Sami wiggled his eyebrows back.

"A movie, duh," he said.

Isaiah walked in then, and Rosalie nearly spit out her coffee. He was shirtless, which wasn't entirely unpleasant or unexpected considering the swim team tended to spend their free time shirtless. Mainly, though, Joanna's voice popped into her head again, and she started to piece together what Joanna saw.

Sami, who bit his lip and turned away, and Isaiah, who likely knew just how great his abs looked. "Hey Rosalie—I used your shower. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," she said, grinning. Jamie-Lee looked between the two of them before settling on Rosalie and pointing a discreet finger in Isaiah's direction, mouthing the word, "Him?" as if she could do better.

Of course she could do better, since apparently Isaiah wasn't even on her menu.

Rosalie stuck her tongue out at Jamie-Lee, and wound up giggling because she couldn't believe that this was actually happening. "I can't believe it took three years for us to actually start talking," she commented, propping her chin up on her hand. Jamie-Lee turned to her with a haughty grin.

"Oh really? Why, do you think we'd make excellent partners in crime?" he asked. "I'd teach you how to play dirty, Mason."

"No playing dirty in the kitchen," Sami said, and smacked his spatula in Jamie-Lee's direction. "And you, hands off the merchandise."

"Merchandise?" Rosalie squeaked, perking up.

"Oh, so, do I have to go to you for permission, then?" Jamie-Lee said, gesturing between the three of them and landing on Sami. "To you? For permission?"

"You're salsa dancing on the line, Berry," Sami said.

"What line?"

"The line that says in bold Comic Sans, 'Hands off the merchandise.'"

"What merchandise?" Rosalie repeated, only to be ignored yet again.

Jamie-Lee waved his hands in the air. "Okay, well, hypothetically speaking, what if I were to ask Mason to Homecoming? Would you stop me?"

"Considering you're impossible to stop, I guess the answer is no, I wouldn't," Sami said, but made a point to let Jamie-Lee know just what he thought of that idea. He jabbed the spatula towards Jamie before cutting it across his own throat in a promise of death.

Jamie merely beamed, propped a hand on the counter, the other on his hip, and turned to Rosalie. "What do you say? Homecoming?"

"What about Alyssa?" Joanna said, and Isaiah nodded in agreement, arms crossed.

"She's going with some guy on Facebook," Jamie said with a dismissive wave of his hand. He was staring pointedly at Rosalie, who was too shocked to say a word. She'd never been asked to Homecoming before, let alone by one of the soccer guys. She was convinced Lennie had said something to the guys to lay off her or something, since Jace seemed to be the only soccer guy to succumb to the name-calling.

"I, uh—" She smiled before she could stop herself. Homecoming? With a date? "Sure, yeah, that sounds like fun. As... partners in crime, right?"

"Partners in crime," he agreed, raising his hand up. Rosalie slapped it.

They returned to their breakfasts, and Rosalie couldn't stop smiling as she raised her mug to her lips and caught Sami's eye. Sami looked like he was about to snap his spatula in half, and behind him, Joanna stood with her jaw on the ground.

Rosalie's worries faded into a flutter of butterfly wings in her chest. Homecoming with Jamie-Lee. If Freshmen Rosalie ever heard that, she'd laugh her ass off. As if.

***

The afternoon ended with clearing out the house of guests, and taking Sami's car off to go shopping. They stopped at a strip mall where Rosalie tried on a dozen different trousers in a Kohl's dressing room. She stepped out of the dressing room, arms up, and twirled for Sami.

"Better. Much better," he agreed with an excited clap.

"Yeah? You don't think they're too short?" Rosalie twisted around to look at her ass. It looked far better in these slacks than the ones that couldn't get up past her thighs.

"No, they're fine."

She changed out of them and folded them up to place alongside the remaining others. Sami was staring up at the television screen where Kohl's models were jumping through the air. One such individual struck Rosalie as familiar, and it wasn't until he bounced onto screen again that she startled with a look of horror.

"That's the Adam's boys soccer captain," she said, pointing to the good-looking black fellow now smiling into the camera, thumbs hooked on the loops of his $29.99 (according to the ad) jeans.

"No kidding," Sami said, tilting his head to the side. "He's cute."

Rosalie groaned, snatching her pants from him, and storming out of the dressing room. "What? I'm just being honest," he cried, chasing after her.

Sure enough, she recognized him from the massive banner over the athletics section near the checkout. His face was about the size of a tire, showing off Armory-brand muscle shirts, staring at them as Rosalie made her purchases. She started to sweat out of how unnerving it was to see a familiar face on a banner that size.

She settled on five new pairs to make up for her inability to fit into her old ones. Sami shrugged the bag over his shoulder with a huff, still unhappy after several hours had passed. All through the clothing changes, Sami had sat scowling at one of the plush chairs, and continued to do so across the parking lot.

"I don't know why you're so angry about Jamie," Rosalie said.

"He's a goofball. You deserve better than a goofball," Sami muttered, scuffing his shoe on the curb. Rosalie rolled her eyes and flicked her sunglasses over her eyes.

"Whatever. I think Homecoming would be fun with him. And it's not like we're gonna do anything," she insisted. "I'm not into him like that. Partners in crime, remember?"

"You know he was just kidding about that, right? He jokes around so much it's hard to tell when he's being serious. What if he just said that for the hell of it? And he doesn't actually plan on taking you to Homecoming?" he insisted, but Rosalie put her hand up to silence him. He groaned and slumped after her across the parking lot. "I'm just saying, Rosie-girl."

Rosalie plucked the car keys out of Sami's pocket and unlocked the car. She dropped into the passenger's seat, and took the bag from him as he held it out over the center console. She tossed the trousers into the back. Sami dropped into his seat, still festering.

She turned to him with purpose, pushing her sunglasses up. "Look, Sami, I know you're just looking out for me—" He pouted at her, "—but I can handle myself. This is Jamie-Lee we're talking about. As if he could really do anything to me. You see how much I bench at the gym."

"Yeah, but—"

"No 'but's! Homecoming isn't even until the end of September. We've got time," she insisted, settling back in her seat. She flicked her sunglasses back on. "Besides. I've never had a date before."

"What about me?"

"You don't count," she whined. "And even then, you went with Juliana that one time she had a crush on you."

"I didn't know she had a crush on me," he confessed, and Rosalie slapped her hand over her face. "I'm serious! I thought she asked 'cause she was being nice."

"Samuel Griffin..." she groaned, and giggled with Sami screamed out in frustration and honked the horn.

They replenished the pantry to its former glory (AKA before the party) and settled in for an evening of Disney movies and studying. Rosalie pieced together a presentation for Environmental Science in the company of a cozy Khoshekh. Sami was sprawled out on the shaggy carpet in front of the television, murmuring the lyrics to the Sleeping Beauty soundtrack. He swung his feet to and fro over his bum and propped his head up on his hands.

Rosalie stopped thinking about Homecoming and Jamie-Lee long enough to feel guilty. She wasn't entirely sure why, other than it having to do with Joanna, but she figured she wasn't emotionally mature enough to fully comprehend it. Joanna and her had their plans after nationals.

So why did it feel like she was cheating?

n/a: If Joanna would have taken Rosalie shopping, it would have gone a little something like this: