I wake up the next morning with a head-splitting hangover.

Because I'm not really a morning-person, I have to make dinosaur sounds while stretching and only then can I climb out of bed and trudge down to the kitchen for an aspirin.

Uncle Anton is sitting by the kitchen island - reading the newspaper upside down. 

"Morning sleepy-head," he greats.

"Orghing"

"What?"

"Ughrrr"

I fill some water in the glass I grab and then swallow two aspirins for good measure. It's that darn Brandy that's got me feeling like this!

Jessy comes trudging in as well - probably looking about as bad I am with her brown hair standing in every direction and her previous smokey eye that's turned into raccoon eye.

"Orghing," she says by greeting.

"Ughrrr," I reply.

"Hughhhhh," - pass me some aspirin, "Aghrrr," - please.

I grab two more aspirins and give her the glass of water I was using. "Ughorrrl," - here you go.

Jessy takes the glass and swallows the pills. "Tuhhhh," - thank you.

"This is how man evolves back to their primitive selves," Uncle Anton observes.

"You trying to figure out the oven is how man evolves back to fish," Aunt Tessa says by way of greeting when she walks in.

Uncle Anton grumbles something about finally being Aqua-man while Aunt Tessa ignores him. She makes all of us some coffee before looking back at us. 

"What are you girls doing today?" she asks.

Feeling like I'm finally getting to grips with basic human speech again, I answer: "Not sure. I thought that maybe Jessy and I can go exploring? I don't really know this town too well yet."

"That's a great idea!" Aunt Tessa replies.

"Let's do it," Jessy adds.

After a nice, warm shower, dressing in my favorite vintage jumpsuit and drinking my coffee, Jessy and I get into Blue Jay and set out our quest to let me explore Tygerwell. 

"So.... what happened last night?" Jessy asks.

I sigh. "Everything that could possibly go wrong... I ran into Owen and he stole my phone! He told me that if I want to get it back, I'd have to win him in drinking. Considering that I'm pretty good at handling alcohol, I was kicking Owen's ass. Unfortunately, before I could win, Owen made me drink Brandy and you know what Brady does to me," I explain

"Oh, shit..." Jessy breathes.

"Yeah, you can say that again! We danced together and when I went to the bathroom - after several glasses of Brandy, Owen was there and he.... Oh God... he kissed me!" I exclaim.

Finally understanding what happened, I start freaking a bit out. I can't believe that fucker got to kiss me! THIS IS NOT AVOIDING! THIS IS ASKING TO BE HARASSED!

"You what?" Jessy asks.

"Oh, dear gods above! Why, why, why? How could that happen?" I complain.

"Did you guys... you know?"

"Hell to the no! When I finally realized that Owen was kissing me, I pulled away. And then.... Blake appeared. Long story short... it was a game of cat and mouse and when he eventually found me... He was so rude, Jessy! I... I told him about my parents to shut him up, because I just couldn't take it..." I end off with.

"Oh... Amber, I'm so sorry..." Jessy says.

"It's not your fault..."

"I'm sorry in anyway... But shouldn't they try to win you over? These guys are dumb-asses!" Jessy chuckles.

I suck in a breath and force myself to let go of the darkness that's calling. When I manage to conjure a laugh, I add a chuckle for good measure. Then I say: "But I guess the cherry on the cake was when Mysterious Fucker messaged me and told me it was nice dancing with me..."

"WHAT?!?!?! YOU DANCED WITH THEM????? WHO IS IT???" Jessy exclaims.

"I still don't know... I was drunk, Jessy, but... I will say that I only danced with guys, so our suspect list has fortunately dropped with a couple of people," I answer.

"Well, we better keep our eyes open!"

Jessy and I drive through town and make our way to the mall. I'm not that much into mall's, but it's on our to-see list, so we're stopping here for some junk food. I'm busy waiting for my super-sized cheese burger with extra fries and an extra large chocolate milkshake, when the Queen Bees appear out of nowhere.

"Hey, girls," Jessy greets, but the look Tam Cam and Rude Jude are sending us, lets me know that they're not here for some idle chit-chat. 

"Oh, you stole my one chance with Blake!" Tan Cam growls with a pointed look at me. 

"Uhhh... When?" I ask, because I'm genuinely worried for this girl's eye-sight. I've been avoiding Blake!

"Oh, last night at my party!"

"The one at Jane's house?"

"Oh-yes, the one at Jane's house!"

Tan Cam is fuming. She's seconds away from bitch-slapping me and I honestly feel innocent in the situation. Where's the nosy Puerto Rican girl from when I met her? This girl could be auditioning for a reality TV show!

"I didn't do anything," I try to reason. Even Nerdy Birdy is sending me daggers with her eyes. Only Plain Jane is too nervous to do anything. 

"Exactly!" Rude Jude exclaims.

"You're not making any sense!" Jessy says.

"Do you know how we got here? How we climbed the social ladder, Amber?" Tan Cam asks.

"I'm sure you'll tell me in any-"

"We climbed it by using two weapons. One, pretending to be nice. And two, getting our competition out of the way. I'm not rich. Mommy and Daddy didn't hand everything to me, Honey. I had to work and if you don't back the hell away, I'll tell my brother," Tan Cam says.

"I was really hoping you guys would break a cliche," I sigh with a rebellious eye-roll.

Nerdy Birdy seems to be taking notes while Rude Jude suddenly says: "Do you even know who her brother is? He's in the North-side gang!"

"And if you don't get out of our way, he'll be sure to make you," Tan Cam adds.

These girls have some issues.

"Yeah, we tried being nice, but clearly the new slut in town is going to be a problem," Rude Jude sneers.

The girls start hammering at me. Jessy only stands there stunned while I take it. Tan Cam goes on about how rich Blake and Owen are and that they've been trying to get their attention for years. It wasn't fare that the new slut should steal their attention. Whore. Loser. Attention-freak.

"Y'ALL BETTER LISTEN TO ME," I say when I've had enough. I'm not letting these pity-party girls walk over me. "FIRSTLY, I don't have time for this. It's sad. SECONDLY, I'm already in deep shit with two gangs, a third really isn't going to bother me. And THIRDLY..." I take a breath because everything I can say is flooding my mind.

My parents are dead, shut the fuck up you whore.

Virgin's can't be sluts, you guys are the sluts.

You're all just being rude and childish.

Instead, I say: "I'm not going to judge you. Cam, I'm sorry that you feel like you'll only be happy if you finally have money. You're really pretty and I don't think you should rely on getting a man. Be independent. Jude, you like hurting people, but I suspect it's because you're hurting inside. Lovebird, don't try to be like others. Be yourself. And Jane, don't ever let people use you," I end off with.

I grab my order and Jessy and I leave with an invisible mike-drop.

"That was... Wow..." Jessy breathes when we get back into the car.

"Thanks," I reply, because it really did take all my strength to not be rude back. Before I can drive off, my phone buzzes.

"Who is it? Is it Mysterious Fucker?" Jessy asks.

"Let me check," I answer and open the message.

I frown down at the screen. What does this person- this guy mean? I text back:

I know he won't reply my next message so I don't even try.

"Was it him?" Jessy asks.

"Yup"

"What does he want?"

"Well, lets just say I have a destination of my own on this expedition. We have to be at the docks at nine tonight," I answer.

"I'm getting a bad feeling..." Jessy warns.

"Me too," I reply before speeding away from the mall. 

The docks. That's where we're heading after a day's worth of exploring.

We made sure to take a pit stop at home first. To eat and change into something warmer for the night. Jessy picked a crop-top with some jeans and a Jacket, while I'm sticking with black tights and a vintage off-the shoulder shirt. The jacket I grabbed I  just chucked into the boot.

"What do you think will happen?" Jessy asks.

I don't have to answer her as we roll into view of the docks. What we're doing is quite clear.

About a dozen fancy cars are lined up. More average-looking cars are in the parking area and among these cars are quite a number of people. Girls in dangerously short dresses are strutting around. Guys with egos much bigger than their balls are swaggering up and about. And a crowd has formed in the middle of it all.

Setting the scene with a full moon and wet pavement doesn't make it legal either.

Mysterious Fucker wants me to race. 

Mysterious Fucker is crazy.

"There's no way... Are we seriously... What? What are we doing, Amber?" Jessy asks.

"I think we're going to race," I say and pull up next to the other fancy cars. 

People notice me immediately and the crowd shifts to meet me. A couple of guys are drooling and the girls are glaring when I step out of Blue Jay. I'm sure I'm looking really sexy and bad-ass right now, but on the inside I'm shitting myself. 

Plus there's a piece of hair that's gone into my mouth.

"And what do we have here?" someone asks.

I look up and it's a thirty-something guy that I can't recognize. I almost ask him if he's Mysterious Fucker, but I pull myself in and realize that I just almost asked a possible-gang member if he's Mysterious Fucker. That couldn't possibly have ended well.

"We have money that says I can kick your ass in this race," I answer. 

I will not be afraid.

"Whoa, this one's feisty, Boys!" the man says and a few even scruffier looking guys surround me.

"How much are you willing to bet, Li'l Lady?" the guy asks.

"Five-thousand," I answer, because I know I've got ten under my boot. Emergency money my parents forced me to hide. 

The man laughs it off and for a moment I feel like I should double the amount just to shut him up, but then he says: "Money around here means nothing, Li'l Lady. how about a night with Big Daddy?" he asks.

I almost puke on his boots. 

"That's not going to happen," I say - a bit nauseated to be honest.

"Well, if you're so sure about winning, what's the problem?" he asks. When he smiles I think I visibly gag, because his teeth are disgusting as hell.

My pride is a very serious matter, so I almost actually shake on it.

"Dea-" I start, but someone steps in between us.

"That sounds like a bargain I'm willing to be a part of," Owen Rhodes says. I roll my eyes, because of course he'll show up.

"Don't count me out," Blake Bowmen adds when he appears as well.

Well, fuck my life.

"Then it's settled. We all race and the winner gets to keep Li'l Lady over here for a night," Gross Man says.

"Deal," everyone chimes in except me.

"Uhh, actually, I don't thi-"

"Drivers, get into your cars!" A pretty red head suddenly howls.

"Whoa! Wait a second!" I try to reason, but the guys are already walking away and climbing into their cars.

"We better get in!" Jessy says and we dive to get to Blue Jay.

When Pretty Red Head says: "start your engines," I'm finally closing my door.

"Shit, shit, shit, Amber! What have you gotten us into?!" Jessy demands. 

I finally start my engine and Blue Jay purrs back to life. I can see the other guys all sending me smirks from their cars. It takes all my will-power to not flip them off. Instead, I focus on the road ahead.

I honestly can't answer my cousin.

Hey,

Who do you guys think is going to win? Are you rooting for anyone? Sorry if this was a boring chapter, but I need 'breathing chapters' in between all the exciting ones.

And thank you so so much for getting me 2k reads and 409 votes! It's so awesome to know that you guys like TGAAGG! Please don't forget to vote and comment though, because my target is 2,2k reads and 430 votes by the next chapter. Thanks again!

Follow me on Instagram at holly.shmit for updates on TGAAGG!

~ Holly Shmit