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|| Chapter 20 ||

Dylan Michaelson knows how to throw a party. We haven't even gotten inside the house but I'm already dreading the amount of drunk people I'll have to deal with. He lives just outside of town so it took us about thirty minutes to get there and the sun is already setting.

I left my phone in Isaac's car but I haven't asked to borrow anyone else's to contact someone. Will drops us off at the end of the block so that he can try to find a parking spot for his car leaving Addison, the random girl who's name is actually Loretta and myself to walk up the block.

Addison claps her hands as we walk up the front block, "So, you've never been to one of Dylan's parties?" I shake my head no and her mouth drops open. "How does that even work? I've been in this town for like two months and I've been to his parties more times than I can count on one hand."

"Not much for people," I reply honestly. If Drew were here he would keep me distracted with his stupid jokes.

She looks at me over her shoulder, "Well," she pauses, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "Here's to trying something new." With that she grabs my arm and pulls me into the chaos of the party. I've been to a few parties in my lifetime but I'm usually surrounded by friends to keep me comfortable and sane. Strangers make me nervous.

A few people from school look over in my direction as I follow Addison towards what I assume is the kitchen. One group of girls in particular throw me nasty looks. Fuck I hate teenagers.

"Oh. My. God. Tessa Hayes is at the same party as me, what the actual fuck?" A highly intoxicated girl slumps next to me and screams in my ear. "Can I take a picture with you? My friends are not going to believe that you're here!"

I pull my arm from her grip and take a step to the side, "No, please go away."

She just laughs loudly, snapping a picture of me. I blink a few times in confusion. What the hell is happening?

Someone grabs my arm and a pull of panic envelops my brain as I yank my arm out of their grasp forcefully. Addison's face stares back at me with a concerned expression. "Hey, you okay?"

I'm silent for a few seconds and she seems to get the picture. She turns to the drunk girl starting to take a Snapchat video of us. Addison grabs the phone and forces the girl to put her arm down, lowering the phone. "Put the fucking phone away. What the hell is wrong with you? She said no!"

The drunk girl's eyes are wide as she stares at us. "I just wanted a picture."

"Does it look like I give two shits? Because I don't," Addison's face is blank as she shoos the girl away. She pushes me in the direction of the kitchen and doesn't stop until we're next to the counter where all the booze are. "Jesus Christ she was annoying," Addison groans as she picks up a bottle of vodka and pours two shots.

"Sorry, I don't understand what just happened," I shrug.

She waves her hand that is holding the bottle of vodka around dismissively, letting little droplets fly onto the kitchen floor. "Totally chill, I just hate it when people can't respect personal bubbles, drives me mad."

I find myself nodding my head, "Yeah same."

My thoughts drift to my family as we stand in silence. Do they know where I am? Probably not since I left my phone in Isaac's car. Do I care right now? Nope, screw them.

"Drink?" Addison is holding out her hand that has a shot glass filled with vodka.

My feet shuffle awkwardly on the floor, "Um, I'm not much of a drinker if I'm being honest. I'm usually the one looking after all the drunks."

She laughs and drinks both shots one after the other. Her nose scrunches up in disgust as she shakes her head quickly. "Woo! That was nasty." She grins in my direction, "Don't worry, I'm not here to get you drunk, but you looked like you needed to take the edge off a little so I thought I would offer."

Loretta speed walks into the room with the biggest smile on her face, "Dylan just kissed me!"

Addison drops her shot glass onto the counter in shock, "No, fuck."

"Way fuck!" Loretta yells out, dancing around the kitchen, earning weird stares from everyone. Addison joins her dancing while pouring another shot. The music is blaring in the background so loud that I can feel the vibrations in my ear drums.

I find myself smiling at the two of them not caring about what other people think of them, they're just having a good time. Loretta grabs the bottle out of Addison's hand after she's finished pouring her shot and Loretta starts drinking directly from the bottle.

Addison twirls Loretta around with one hand as they move past me. My hand clamps down on Addison's arm making her stop dancing to look over at me. I look down at the shot in her hand and back up at her face. "I'll take that drink now." A grin stretches across her face as she rips the bottle from Loretta and starts pouring vodka into her shot glass.

I take a deep breath and reach out for the shot glass, holding it in my hand and staring down at the contents. Addison sees my hesitation. "Hey, you don't have to if you don't want to."

I repeat those words in my head three more times before raising the glass to my lips and downing the shot in one gulp. My throat burns and I suddenly need to cough but I hold it together, scrunching up my nose from the taste and hold my glass up to Addison. Addison and Loretta cheer in response and start filling up another glass for each of us.

Oh shit.

|| ||

Third POV

Car doors slam shut as a group of people crowd around the parking lot of a convenience store. They're confused and frantic, arguing with each other.

"She couldn't have gone far," Charlotte is saying.

"'Couldn't have gone far?' She's been missing for over two hours Lottie! She could be in Mexico for all we know!" Sebastian yells in response, typing on his phone. Messages are being sent out to as many people that they know who could possibly tell them where Tessa is.

"She's only sixteen," Benji comments, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, but this is Tessa Hayes we're talking about, she could talk her way into Canada without a passport," Sebastian grumbles, clearly agitated.

A black vintage Mercedes convertible pulls up next to Isaac's car and Drew hops out, walking fast to meet them. "She's not at the gym."

"Or the skatepark," Alyssa offers up, standing next to Kendall.

"Harry is still in there," Jesse gestures over his shoulder to the convenience store. "Did she answer her phone or anything?" Jesse asks, walking out with a RedBull in his hands.

Isaac sighs for what must be the thousandth time in the span of five minutes, "She left her phone in my car."

"She texted me saying that she was fine earlier," Sophie offers, holding up her phone to show the text message.

Olivia shakes her head, "Yeah but she was still with Isaac at the time."

"Isaac," Courtney calls to get his attention, "what happened after you went into the store?"

Isaac shuffles on his feet, suddenly nervous although he knows that he didn't do anything wrong, he still feels guilty. "I went to get a coffee, she said she would wait in the car. When I was leaving the store, she was standing next some red car and when I called to her a hand just yanked her in and they screamed to drive."

Quinn tilts her head, thoughtful, "And you didn't recognize any of them?"

He throws his hands outward, helpless, "I've only been in this town for just over a month, you're lucky I can remember your names!"

"I don't understand what drove her to do something like this," Drew speaks up, pacing in the middle of the group, "I mean she does stupid stuff all the time but it usually involves one of us, she doesn't like strangers." His phone suddenly rings and for a spilt second he's hoping that it could be Tessa but then he realizes her phone is in Charlotte's hands. Brianna. He internally groans and hits the decline button, placing his phone back in his pocket.

A black SUV pulls up in the parking lot, taking up the last free spot and Nathan Ward steps out of the car. Everyone looks up at him hopeful, but he shakes his head, "She wasn't at your house."

"Where the fuck could she go, she doesn't have any other friends!" Mateo shouts out, exasperated. "She wouldn't be stupid enough to leave the state... would she?"

Cole shakes his head, "Tess does stupid stuff but she's not looking to be murdered by her parents."

"Dude, you didn't see her face," Isaac starts, gaining everyone's attention, "I know she doesn't talk a lot but you could just see how deflated her expression was, something really got to her."

Sebastian kicks at the gravel, swearing loudly. When that isn't enough for him he moves to kick the wall of the convenience store. "It's all my fault!"

"Babe-." He cuts Olivia off.

"You don't get it! I was the one that pushed her over the edge," he yells at Olivia, making her shut her mouth. "If I hadn't have yelled at her for getting Maddie hurt she wouldn't have done this!"

"'Getting Maddie hurt?' What are you talking about?" Isaac asks in confusion. "I was with Tess when it happened, she told Maddie like three times not to get on the board until she was next to her but Maddie didn't listen. That's why Maddie got hurt, it had nothing to do with Tess."

The Hayes siblings are quiet as they absorb this new information. Drew's phone rings again but he ignores it a second time, focusing on the problem at hand.

"So you yelled at her for no reason then?" Sophie says, rounding on Sebastian.

"She didn't say anything-." He tries to speak.

"Because you didn't let her finish one goddamn sentence!" Sophie yells at her twin, earning shocked looks from everyone.

"You were there too, don't put this all on me!" Sebastian yells back.

"Both of you shut the fuck up!" Harry's voice breaks the tension as he walks out of the convenience store.

"What the hell were you doing, buying up the whole store?" Sebastian asks, pointing out that he had been in the store for the last fifteen minutes.

"No idiot, I was talking the cashier into letting me see the security tapes," Harry explains, unlocking his phone and holding out his phone for everyone to see. The group crowds around the phone as they watch the security tape of the parking lot.

They can clearly see Isaac getting out of the car and then Tess is also getting out of the car but instead of going to the convenience store, she heads for the small crowd of teenagers hanging out around the parking lot. She talks to a few of them then suddenly they're all getting up and heading to their cars with Tessa slowly trailing behind them, nervous. One girl says something to her and she looks in the direction of the convenience store before nodding her head and rushing towards a car. Isaac walks out and calls to her but a hand grabs Tessa and pulls her into the car. Another girl sticks her head out of the front passenger window and waves at Isaac as they speed out of the parking lot.

Everyone is silent for a few seconds.

"Wait, wait, wait, go back to the girl with her head out the window," Kendall reaches out and grabs Harry's arm, concentrating on the phone. "There! She goes to our school, Jesse didn't you date her?"

Jesse raises an eyebrow, "Kenny, I don't date," he informs her taking a sip of his RedBull as he moves closer to see the paused screen. He squints, leaning in closer until his nose is practically touching the screen. "Oh damn." He leans back quickly, darting his eyes around the circle. "um, yeah that's, uh, that's Loretta Daly."

"Loretta?" Drew's voice is sharp. "The girl from the fair?"

Jesse sighs fondly, a small smile on his face, "The girl from the fair."

Someone clears their throat, "We don't have time for this, do you have her number?" Olivia is all business as she snaps her fingers in Jesse's face.

"I don't keep their numbers Olivia-." Jesse gets interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. "Woah, what if it's her?" He holds up one finger and hands his RedBull to Alyssa. His face scrunches up in confusion as he stares at the screen. "Dude, why is your ex-girlfriend calling me?" He looks up at Drew.

"Brianna?" He asks.

A groan of annoyance is heard collectively from around the group, whether it's because of Drew's stupid ex-girlfriend calling or the fact they they've been standing in this parking lot for close to thirty minutes and still have no idea where Tessa could be.

Jesse hits the answer button and holds it up to his ear, "Sup Bitch, what do you want?"

There's distinctive screaming from the other end but there's also loud noises in general likes she's in a crowded place.

"Are you sure?" Jesse's voice turns serious as he listens closely to what she's saying.

When she's finished talking he holds the phone out to Drew. Drew hesitantly takes the phone out of his best friends hand and holds it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Drew! I've been trying to call you for twenty minutes! Tessa's here!"

His grip on the phone tightens. "Where?"

"Dylan Michaelson's house party, she's not acting like herself," Brianna's voice is distant as she tries to move through the crowd.

"In what way?" His mind starts racing. Is she hurt? Did someone drug her? Why won't Brianna fucking talk already?

"Like she's drunk- Hey! Stop being a pervert and put the fucking phone down!- Drew, you need to get here. Now." The line clicks dead and his chest tightens.

The group waits anxiously to hear what's just happened, knowing that it somehow relates to Tessa.

"I know where she is."

|| ✨ ||

Back to Tessa's POV

"Tessa get down from there!" Brianna yells at me from the floor. A crowd of partygoers are standing around the living room waiting for me to do something.

I'm hanging on the edge of the stair banister, dangling one foot out towards the living room precariously. Brianna found me half an hour ago and at first she left me alone but when she realized that I was here without any of my friends she immediately gravitated to my side and has been trying to wrangle me to leave ever since.

"Brianna, could you just like, fuck off for two minutes?" I ask, surprised at how steady my voice is after two shots of vodka and three of tequila.

"You're going to get hurt!" She shouts in response. I scoff and roll my eyes.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Addison asks nervously as she grips the banister while standing on the stairs in front of me.

I smile up her, "Totally got this."

"She does not got this!" Brianna tells Addison pointedly as she rushes up the stairs and stands behind Addison.

Addison jerks a thumb over her shoulder at Brianna, "Who is she anyway?"

"Best friends ex-girlfriend and I don't know why she's annoying me," the last part of my sentence is directed at Brianna.

"Would you just fucking jump or something already?" Some random person from the mini crowd yells out from below.

I throw up my middle finger at them before looking back at Addison and Brianna. "Time to give the people what they want."

"Uh, Tess..."

"NO!"

They both start speaking but it's too late because I've already braced myself against the banister before kicking off and doing a backflip, landing perfectly on the living room carpet below. I suck in a couple breaths willing myself not to vomit in front of everyone.

"YES!" The crowd screams, jumping around to the music waving their phones in the air. A few people high five me before going back to the party.

Addison runs down the stairs, laughing the whole time as she grabs my face in between her hands. "That was so awesome!" I blink a couple times, trying to get my head straight but Brianna grabs my arm and yanks me away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Could you relax? Why are you even around me?" I ask exasperated.

"I called Drew, he's on his way," she tells me, trying to pull me towards the front door.

I rip my arm from her grip and glare at her, "Why would you do that? What, I'm not allowed to spend five fucking minutes without being surrounded?"

"Tess, I was just trying to help you-."

"WHY? You and Drew broke up, I don't need nor do I want anyone's help!"

A hand gently grabs my arm, pulling me back, "Tess, let's take a walk okay? Let's cool off."

I let Addison drag me away, passing a lot of people who are calling us to join them but Addison just grips my arm tighter and guides me outside to the backyard.

The backyard is still filled with people but the yard is big enough so everyone is scattered around the pool or sitting on the grass. We walk in silence until we get to an empty lounge chair next to the pool.

We sitting next to each other quietly when she suddenly bursts out laughing. "Man, you're an angry drunk."

I fight the small smile and glance across the yard, "I've never been drunk before."

Her facial expression is comical, "What? Wow, I mean you're not even sloppy, I'm impressed."

"So who's this Drew guy you're so worried about? Crazy brother?" She asks timidly, a little cautious in her questions since she knows I'm not really in the mood to talk about it, but I find myself unable to shut up.

"He's my best friend, I have two crazy older brothers already, three would be overkill," I laugh, looking over at her.

"Two siblings? Wow, I can barely handle my little brother and he's fifteen," She replies, getting distracted halfway through to wave at a few people.

I scratch the back of my neck, "Actually, I have five siblings," her head whips to face me, her eyes are wide in shock. "Two older brothers, two older sisters and a little sister."

She opens and closes her mouth a few times at a loss for words, "I mean, wow."

I want to laugh but a sudden thought occurs to me, "And knowing Drew, he's probably called them and told them where I am. Just prepare yourself for a crowd of people beelining to kill me in a few minutes."

She grins, tilting her head, "Can't wait to meet them." I chuckle quietly, looking out over the pool, noticing some people pulling their clothes off to jump in. "So, why did you want to escape earlier? No offense but you don't seem like the kind of person who does that kind of stuff." She brushes a piece of grass off her shorts.

"I'm not, that's probably why my friend was freaking out so much when Will drove off." There's a sudden cheer in the air and a spray of water splashes us in the face from someone cannonballing into the pool. "It was my sister." Addison doesn't ask for elaboration, letting me speak at my own pace. "She fell off her skateboard and broke her arm while I was supposed to be watching her."

She lets out a long breath, "Oh my god, that sucks."

"But I told her not to get on the board until I was standing next to her and she just didn't listen. Everyone at the hospital kept blaming me because I was supposed to be watching her but they wouldn't even let me explain myself, it was automatically my fault," I pick at a frayed piece of fabric on my jean shorts.

A pool noodle flies over our heads and straight into the pool.

"Well that's bullshit." My head snaps up to look at her face and her eyebrows