"One sip, bad for me
One hit, bad for me
One kiss, bad for me
But I give in so easily
And no thank you is how it should've gone
I should stay strong
But I'm weak, and what's wrong with that?"
Weak - AJR

oOoOo

Halloween is on a Saturday this year. The party at Theta Alpha is at ten o'clock, so we spend the morning and afternoon getting our costumes together.

Blair and I decided to go as an angel and a devil. I wanted to be the devil, but Blair said she already has devil horns in her closet.

So, I end up dressing as an angel. I pick out a v-neck white bodycon dress from my closet. It ends mid-thigh. I also paint my nails white and apply blush and a shimmery highlight to my cheeks. I attach the feathery wings I ordered from Amazon to my back and look in the mirror.

Blair walks into my room in her costume. She's wearing black shorts, a red crop top, a choker, and her devil-horn headband.

"Aw you look so heavenly," she teases.

"And you look evil," I retort.

"Marc, can you get a picture of us?" I holler.

Seconds later he emerges in his American football player costume. He borrowed one of Kaden's old Tom Brady jerseys and applied some eyeblack to his cheeks.

I hand him my phone, and he snaps a picture of us standing next to a blank space on my wall.

"Cute," I say, handing the phone to Blair so she can approve it. I post it to my private Snapchat and Instagram stories.

"Are you two ready to go? We're supposed to meet Grace in the lobby in ten minutes," Marc says.

We decided to all carpool to the party tonight. Blair got stuck with designated driver duty tonight. Luckily I never get stuck as DD because I don't know how to drive.

"Yeah, just lemme grab my purse," I say, going into my closet to grab my white Chanel crossbody.

We file into the elevator. It stops on Grace's floor and Grace steps in. She is dressed up as Cher from the movie Clueless. She has on the classic yellow plaid outfit and knee-high socks.

"Cute costume!" I say.

"Thanks, love yours too!"

When the elevator reaches the lobby, we walk to the parking lot and get in the car. Fifteen minutes later, we are in the parking lot closest to the frat house.

oOoOo

Walking into the crowded house with Blair and Grace flanking me, I automatically start looking for Kaden. It's difficult to see with the strobe lights flashing and all of the people dancing sloppily.

I don't see him, but I see Chase standing in the corner with a group of guys. I motion in his direction to Blair to let her know I'm going to go talk to him.

"Hey, Maxwell," he greets, tipping his red solo cup.

He takes in my costume with a smirk, "Did you fall from heaven or something?"

"Very funny, Chase," I say dryly.

"Hey, you gotta admit it was clever."

"No, it really wasn't," I quip, causing his friends to laugh drunkenly at his expense.

I take in his outfit. He is wearing a backward baseball cap, button-up shirt, and khaki shorts. "So what are you?"

"A frat boy," he replies with a cheerful grin.

"Ah, so you're dressing up as yourself for Halloween?"

"Oh, I guess I am," he says as if it just occurred to him. He's definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

The guy dressed as Superman roughly nudges him. "Who's this, Chase? Wanna introduce your lady friend?"

"You could just ask me," I reply with a fake smile. It bothers me how they ask Chase to introduce me. Hello, I'm standing right here!

"Kate Maxwell," I say before Chase can say anything.

"So Kate," Superman drawls, "Need help taking off your costume? It looks complicated."

"Back off, dude. This is Kade's girl," Chase says quickly, causing Superman's eyes to widen.

"This is Kate?"

I nod. I don't know if I should be offended by his reaction.

"That's me. But, Kaden and I are just friends," I correct.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet the girl he never shuts up about. God, it's annoying," the guy dressed up as a skeleton says.

Chase and Superman snicker.

"Yeah, it's always 'Oh Kate looks so pretty today' or 'Do you guys think she likes me?' or 'I looove Kate,'" Superman mocks in a high-pitch voice.

I turn bright red.

"Oh, look, here he comes," the skeleton says as he adeptly puts his free arm around me. I try to shrug his arm off, but he's stronger than I am.

"Sup, guys?" Kaden says with an impassive face. I was hoping he would have at least shown some sort of reaction.

"Nothing much, just getting to know Kate better," the skeleton says, squeezing me. I can hear the smirk in his voice.

Kaden looks over at him in mild annoyance. I catch his eye and grimace, trying to show him that I am not a part of this scheme.

"Chad, back off before I have to punch you," Kaden says possessively with a threatening look. Did it just get hotter in here or something?

Chad slowly withdraws his arm and raises his hands in surrender.

"C'mon, let's go somewhere quieter to talk," Kaden says as he puts his hand on the small of my back. He turns his head to direct Chad one last glare before leading me into the hallway. We walk into what I presume is his room.

It's cleaner than I would have expected. There are two twin beds and two desks on opposite sides of the room. There are various posters of Fenway Park, the Patriots, and the Bruins hung up on the wall. I'm assuming Kaden is a huge sports fan. One of the desks has papers messily stacked on it, while the other is virtually spotless. He sits down on the bed next to the clean desk. I follow suit and sit next to him.

"So," I begin awkwardly.

"So," he echos.

"I like your costume," I offer to alleviate some of the tension. He is dressed up as a lumberjack; he has a red plaid shirt and tan khaki shorts on.

"Thanks, I like yours too. It's cute," he replies.

I feel so awkward sitting here alone with him. It's not that I don't trust him. I just don't want to do anything to lead him on. Kaden is so sweet and doesn't deserve to get his heart broken. As much as I want to stay in here with him, I know I shouldn't even be in here.

"Want to go back to the party and get a picture?" I ask, thinking of an excuse to go back to our friends.

"Yeah, sure."

oOoOo

When we get back into the living room, I look around for Blair or Marc. Some drunken guys stumble into me and Kaden pulls me close.

"Let's go to the kitchen to get a drink," he hollers over the music, grabbing my hand

I nod and let him pull me into the kitchen. I gasp when we turn the corner and pull Kaden back.

Peeping around the corner, I double-check to see if my eyes were deceiving me. Blair is perched on the counter, with Marc standing in between her legs. They're very passionately making out.

"What's going on?" Kaden asks me.

"Blair and Marc," is all I can get out.

"Are they having sex in there?" He asks with a horrified look on his face.

"No!" I say quickly. "They're just making out."

"Oh, okay," he says as he starts walking again.

"What do you think you're doing?" I furiously whisper as I tug him back.

"Getting a drink. Want one?" He responds nonchalantly, shrugging my arm off and walking into the kitchen.

Boys can be so stupid.

I try and stop him to give Blair and Marc privacy, but it's too late.

He opens the fridge and gets two beers out. The noise causes them to stop and turn around.

"Sorry, I tried to stop him," I say while shooting Kaden a glare.

"Ohhh," he says, realization dawning on his face. "Sorry."

Yeah, oh.

The four of us stand here, staring at each other. This could not get any more awkward.

Seconds later, Grace and Chase stumble into the kitchen with their tongues down each other's throats. Kaden coughs and they separate.

Chase waves with a dumb smile on his face. Grace looks embarrassed.

I was wrong, now it can't get any more awkward.

Grabbing the beer from Kaden's outstretched hand, I chug the drink. I get a refill and walk outside to sit by the fire.

oOoOo

"How about those pictures?" I hear Kaden say behind me as I watch sparks fly off the glowing fire.

"Yeah, sure."

Blair, Marc, Grace, and Chase all join us.

I hand my phone to Kaden to get a photo of Blair, Marc, and me.

He snaps a picture then glances at my phone with a hurt look before handing it back.

I see a text from Xander.

Xander: Hey, beautiful. I'm coming to visit you next weekend.

He could not have picked a worse time to text me.

Kaden stands next to me to take a picture. I loosely put my arm around his waist.

"It's not what it looks like," I whisper anxiously.

"Then what was it?"

"My strictly platonic friend," I start, emphasizing platonic, "Xander is coming. Nothing's going on between the two of us. He's just... flirty."

Blair overhears what I'm saying and shoots me a disappointed look. It's almost like she's mentally pleading with me to stop with the white lies.

He flashes me a tight smile before sipping his beer.

"Come on, let's go dance," I tell him.

We weave through the lively crowd to find an empty spot in the corner. We start moving to the beat of the song. Kaden pulls me closer as we dance together. Downing the rest of my drink, I throw caution to the wind and start to grind against him. He stills for a second then starts to move.

I start to feel the effects of the alcohol. Yep, I'm drunk.

Turning around to look at Kaden, I see that his eyes are glazed over and his cheeks are rosy. It's safe to assume he is drunk too.

He stares at my lips and leans down. I make no move to stop him, even though my brain is screaming hysterically to push him away.

'Nothing can happen between us. Nothing can happen between us. Nothing can happen between us,' repeats in my mind like a mantra.

Fuck it.

I rise on my tip-toes and press my lips firmly to his soft ones. He tastes like cheap beer and mint. His lips part and his tongue probes my mouth. I instantly open my mouth to let his tongue in. I feel his arms wrap around my waist, holding me securely to his firm body. We stand here, tongues caressing each other until we need to pull away for air.

He leans his forehead against mine.

"Wow," I breathe out, dazed.

"Yeah," he says. "You taste like strawberries."

I flush and bite my swollen lip under his gaze. His green pupils darken slightly.

He crashes his plump lips to mine again. I gasp, and he thrusts his tongue in my mouth once again. He backs us onto the couch, so I'm straddling his lap. I can feel my heart pounding furiously in my chest. All I can focus on is how soft his lips are and how good he tastes. I let out a soft moan, and he groans.

I pull away, breathless.

"I think we should stop," I breathe.

"Yeah," he says with a smile on his face.

Seeing the pure happiness on his face sobers me up. Oh shit. We just kissed. No, we fucking made out. This was a bad idea. I keep a poker face and shuffle off his lap to sit next to him. He wraps an arm around my waist.

What do I say? What do I do? How do I fix things? My mind is racing. I feel nauseous.

My slightly drunk brain just tells me to deal with it in the morning. I snuggle up to his side and sigh contentedly.

We people-watch for a few minutes. I see someone in a robot costume start doing a robot dance. I watch scantily dressed girls practically dry-hump guys in the middle of the room. There's a few guys clumsily attempting to crowd surf. Watching drunken antics is always so much fun.

I'm brought out of my musings when Kaden stands up.

"Want a drink sweetheart? I'm going to get another beer."

"Yeah, I'll come with you." I respond, standing up quickly. I get head-rush and stumble forward.

"Woah there," he says, steadying me. "Someone's a little drunk."

"Yeah so are you," I say, trying to keep the slur out of my voice.

He walks us into the kitchen and grabs two solo cups. Popping open a beer from the fridge, he splits it between the two cups.

I quickly reach for one of the cups and chug it.

"Slow down there," he warns with a chuckle.

"Pour another!" I say a little too loudly.

"I'll get you some water."

"Thank you," I say as he hands me a Poland Springs bottle. "You know what?"

"What?" He says, lips twitching in amusement.

"You're so pretty. Like really pretty."

"Am I?" He questions as he sips his drink.

"Yeah, I looove your eyes. So dreamy," I giggle. "I really really really like you. But is not good idea," I continue with a frown.

"Why?" He questions.

"Secret. I'm not pos' to tell," I slur.

He drops the subject.

"Let's go find Blair before something happens to you."

"Can you carry me?" I ask with a hopeful look in my eyes.

"Always, sweetheart," he replies with an earnest look in his eyes.

He scoops me up bridal style and carries me out of the kitchen.

"Oh my god. What happened?" I hear Blair ask.

"She's a little drunk."

"Great," she says with a sigh. "She's always been a lightweight. I apologize for anything offensive she might have said. Kate's a talkative and happy drunk."

"No, I'm not," I protest indignantly before hiccuping.

Kaden merely laughs.

"I think it's cute," he says.

"Let's get you home."

"Want me to carry her to your car?" Kaden asks.

"I can walk. But yeah I want you to carry me. You're so strong." I giggle again.

He smirks. "Okay, sweetheart."

The next thing I know, I am being deposited in the backseat of the car, next to an equally drunk Grace.

oOoOo

Thanks for reading chapter 9! Please vote and comment if you liked the book! <3

What are your thoughts on the book so far? Is it moving too fast? Too slow?

How was the kissing scene? It was my first time writing a scene like that.