chapter one: New Years party.

Melanie Porter didn't have it good, she grew up in a pretty shitty household that made her closed off. Her parents got evicted from their apartment when she was only ten, so after being kicked out, they were living in a sketchy alley way in a tent. She hated everything about it, because when they lived in the apartment she was able to escape her parents fights and arguments by going to her room, but she had no room anymore. So the small girl would run over to a near by store just to hang around. She'd sometimes even went there to get herself some snacks if a stranger gave her money when she asked for it. Her parents weren't great, they yelled at her over little things, called her names, got high off heroine anytime they could afford it, meaning they barely noticed that the ten year old was gone. So while they were high on drugs, she was off eating snacks and drinking water or just getting as much food as she could afford at the store. The store was her only escape from her parents, and she loved having an escape.

Now, your parents usually teach you the "stranger danger" rule, but in Melanie's case, her parents made her go up to strangers to ask for money all the time, so it wasn't a problem when this kid with a face full of freckles asked her if she wanted to stay with him and his little brother. Melanie wasn't stupid, she had been to the store over fifty times when the boy had asked the question, besides, she felt comfortable around him and had gotten to know him enough by visiting the store almost everyday. Of course she didn't go back to the tent with her food because her parents would've taken it to eat it for themselves, so Melanie would stay at the store, and eat her snacks while talking to the boy who sat behind the counter with a baby by his side. He'd questioned her about her life and why she was always at his store, and she'd questioned him about random things. It was like that for almost every day of the week. Melanie thought it was cool to see a twelve year old run a store by himself.

So when he offered a spot in his home, she trusted him enough to say yes. And in her state, she definitely wanted to be under a roof so she took her chances. Besides, her parents never realized when she'd leave, so what was the harm in living with someone who offered to help?

What can be harmful? Nothing, really.

Is what she thought before nodding her head, finally answering the question after a couple of minutes of silence. She had thought about the possibility of never seeing daylight again, or how this could be a set up, but that was better than sleeping in a tent with your parents who couldn't even tell you that they loved you. She was a smart ten year old and she could tell that her parents didn't love her—they didn't even want her.

"Yeah, I'd love to stay with you and your brother—I-I just don't have clothes—or anything to bring in that case." She stammered awkwardly, playing with her fingers. "You good. I can do something about that." He nodded. This made the girl furrow her eyebrows as she placed both of her hands on the edge of the counter. "Why are you being nice to me?" She questioned as she looked down at her beat up shoes, her curls wild and puffy. "Because you seem like a good kid. You don't need to be out on the street." He answered honestly, looking over at his baby brother, he was going to care of her the way he did for his baby brother.

Now in that situation, everything could've went wrong but, it didn't. And that was one thing the girl still thought of to this day. Melanie hadn't had much good luck growing up until that moment in her life. It was life changing and she appreciated Fez so much for taking her in.

Now here she was, seventeen years old. She had been living with Fez and Ashtray for seven years. They were like her brothers, very overprotective brothers and she loved them to death. She knew about the whole drug dealer situation going on and she didn't mind. In fact, the boys didn't want her to be apart any drug deal, and she was fine with that, so instead, her job was to take care of their grandma and she loved ranting to Marie whenever she had a long day. She knew that Marie couldn't hear or see, but she knew that Marie still needed love. Melanie still told the older woman that she loved her because she knew deep down that Marie would've loved her too.

That was her life now, living in a apartment with her brothers who her super overprotective but fun to be around. She never had a dull moment with them—not only because they were drug dealers and had the craziest stories to tell her, but because they were the only ones who opened up around her and they had great personalities. She loved her life now, she felt loved, she knew what love felt like for the first time, thanks to the kid who offered his home.

NEW YEARS DAY.

Melanie rolled her eyes as she exited the apartment making sure to lock the door quickly. She then began to walk over to the car as the passengers window rolled down revealing Ash. The brown girl leaned forward slightly poking  her head through the passenger window, speaking up. "I thought you said you were gonna be back in no time?" She questioned Fez as the music from the radio played faintly. "Yeah, that was before I knew some crazy shit was gon' go down." Fez spoke truthfully. "Just get in." Ash spoke, this made Melanie scoff as she pushed his head away from her. "Shut up, Ash. By the way, y'all need to start watching the time, it's almost eleven. What's the point of a New Years party if we miss the count down?" She questioned as she sat in the back, next to Rue who was high out of her mind, but the high girl quickly straightened her posture and cleared her throat as Melanie smiled over at her.

"You don't even like parties." Rue commented, hoping that she didn't look too high for Melanie to notice. "Yeah, that was until I was forced to go—I might as well put on that "I love partying" persona, right? Besides I didn't get dressed for nothing." She shrugged. That comment made Ashtray looked over his shoulder to look at his sister's outfit. She was wearing a white crop top, with a black leather jacket, a black skirt, with black tights, along with black and white converse. Her makeup was simple with a winged eyeliner and a reddish-pink lipstick, while her hair were in braids and they were styled in a cute half up half down. Ash was about to say something smart, but decided not to. Fez on the other hand was thinking of how he had to keep an eye on his little sister, he kind of was upset at Maddy for talking her into going to this party. Fez liked that his sister was always to herself or like being at home because he didn't have to worry about guys like Nate trying to date her, or he didn't have to beat a guy's ass if the overstepped her boundaries. But right now, he hoped that everything goes well.

"Yeah, I think what you're wearing is cute." Rue nodded and she smiled. "Thanks, I stole this outfit off of Pinterest." She laughed, Rue only smiled at her.

Rue and Melanie met when they were fourteen, Melanie bumped into Rue in the apartment, which confused Melanie because she would've never thought that a girl the same age as her would be getting drugs from her brother but, she just ignored it and decided to befriend Rue instead of judge her. And that was probably the best and worst decision she's made.

Best, because Melanie made a best friend who was honest with her, fun to be around, and simply because Rue didn't mind that her brother's were drug dealers, of course. And it was Worst, because she hated seeing Rue totally high to where she couldn't function, or when she got a call saying that Rue overdosed, that scared she absolute shit out of her. But at the end of the day, they were always there for each other. And Melanie never experienced what it was like to have a best friend until she met Rue.

Once they arrived to the party, they basically went there separate ways. Rue said something about the bathroom, Ashtray just walked off, Fez told Melanie that he'd be on the couch if she needed him, and Melanie told everyone that she'd be looking for Maddy.

Which she quickly found the girl as they unexpectedly bumped into each other, literally. "What the fu-Melanie! Bitch! I didn't think you'd actually come!" Maddy pulled Melanie into a hug. "I didn't wanna miss out! A New Years party sounds good I guess!" She explained loudly, to be heard over the blasting music. "Girl, I just had to wipe myself with a fucking towel, do you have those wipe things that you use when you're on your period?" Maddy said into her ear, Melanie almost laughed at the girl. Maddy and Melanie told each other embarrassing secrets that they'd never tell anyone, it was their thing. "Damn, no I don't. They're at home—but I mean, at least you wiped?" Melanie cringed, making Maddy laugh. "Have you seen Cassie? Lexi's been trying to find her since we got here." Maddy changed the subject. "No, I just got here, like, five minutes ago." The brown girl shrugged. "Right...fuck—" before the girl could finish her sentence they were cut off by a loud voice.

"I know that is not who I think it is!" They heard the loud voice over the music. "Hey, Bb!" Melanie playfully rolled her eyes as she pulled Bb into a hug. "Who the hell talked you into coming here?" She asked, taking a hit of her vape in her hand. "Yours truly, bitch!" Maddy cheered and Bb instantly cheered along. "Y'all know what? I'm leaving to go sit down." Melanie spoke. "You told me you just got here five minutes ago, now you wanna sit?" Maddy groaned. "Hell yeah, what is there to do?" She questioned. "Drink! Dance!" Bb said. "She only smokes weed." Maddy reminded the vape girl. "Oh shit, I forgot. My bad." Bb laughed and walked away.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to get myself a drink, you want soda or something?" Maddy asked. "Sure." Melanie nodded as she sighed, she hated being alone. So she made her way over to the couch with her brother. "Did you find your friends?" He questioned. "Yeah, they went to go do something." Melanie nodded. "So you found them, and they left?" Fez eyes were squinted, trying to understand why they left. "Maddy went to go get something to drink and Bb just walked away, it's fine though." The girl shrugged. "Wanna hit this?" Fez offered his weed but she quickly shook her head. "I only get high at the house, you know this, Fez." She explained.

She didn't like getting high around a bunch of people, mainly because she wouldn't be cautious of her surroundings and she couldn't trust everyone at the party. Besides, she felt good and wanted to soak in her happiness, she like the way she felt right now. "You actin' weird, Mel. You alright?" Fez asked and she nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. I just wanna be sober right now because I feel happy, you know? It's a good feeling." She smiled and Fez nodded with a smile. "That's what's up. I'm happy for you." He punched her shoulder softly making her laugh. "How high are you right now?" She asked. "Not too high, I mean, I'm talkin' to you right now, ain't I?" He asked. "Fez, you can have any conversation while high." Melanie laughed, he laughed along. "You right." He nodded. The girl wasn't paying attention to her actions, Melanie was mindlessly covering her mouth as she noticed a couple half naked on the dance floor. Her eyes quickly widened once she realized she had lipstick on.

"Shit, do you know where the bathroom is? I needa check my make up now—I think I fucked it up." She looked over to her big brother. "Yeah you did, that red shit on your lips is on your chin and hand." Fez pointed out, she covered her face. "Ima go find the bathroom, hold on." She got up and walked through the crowd of people.

She cringed at the smell of the intoxicated people around her, the sweat that made everyone feel sticky when they'd brush up against her, the heat from all the bodies being close. There were so many cons to why she didn't like parties. But she pushed her way through, finding a hall way. She quickly walked through the halls, knocking on the door to door, when she got no response, so she'd put her ear against the door and would usually hear moans. The girl would yell a quick sorry and make her way to another door.

It would've been so much easier to find a bathroom if all doors were opened and untouched, but in this case, they were all closed and the music blasted loudly making it harder for Melanie to hear a response when she'd knock.

"I'm in here!" She heard a deep voice. "I—okay fuck it." She mumbled to herself, at this point she only wanted to find a room with a mirror and light she wasn't even worried about a bathroom. So she walked around for what felt like hours, but really it was just a few minutes, she got to the last door that she was going to attempt for the night.

So she knocked, putting her ear to the door. "Uhh, yeah?" She noticed the familiar voice making her eyebrows furrow as she slowly opened the door to see her best friend with her arm slumped over a random guys shoulder, he was helping her stand up.

"Rue, what the fuck are you doing?" Melanie laughed. "I almost died, this guy saved my life." Rue laughed. Melanie could tell that Rue was high, she also could tell that Rue wasn't joking. This made Melanie's mood shift a little. "You need to chill, girl, you're already stressing me out, that shit isn't funny." Melanie walked over to her best friend, punching her slightly.

"I'm so sorry you had to see this—I wouldn't say that she's usually not like this, she's kinda off and on—oh, uh, I'm Melanie by the way." The girl rambled as she held her hand out towards the boy. He smiled softly. "I'm Elliot, nice to meet you." He said, Melanie noticed the face tattoos and his hair. Both things suited him, he was cute.

"We were just heading out, wanna come outside with us?" Rue questioned. "Sure, if that means I don't have to deal with Fez questioning me, then hell yeah." She chuckled as she followed the two out. "By the way, has anyone seen a bathroom, I ruined my lipstick and I wanna fix it." She stopped the two before they could get any farther. "All bathrooms are occupied, trust me I've tried." Elliot spoke and she sighed. "I would try fixing my make up on my phone camera, but the lighting isn't good—and I just don't like doing that." She shrugged. "Here, let me help." Elliot spoke as he walked over to her. She stood there, furrowing her eyebrows as he got closer and took his thumb then started to wipe off the lipstick that smeared on her chin.

He took her by surprise when he tilted her head up and fixed the lipstick under her lip that was slightly out of place. His thumb was precise as he concentrated on wiping the lipstick neatly, he barely realized that he was leaning closer to her face. "All done." He smiled. "I-thank you." Her felt face hot, she hoped it wasn't obvious that she was blushing or whatever he was making her feel. "No problem." He shrugged, Rue stood behind Elliot, smiling at their interaction. As Elliot walked along with the girls, Rue purposely pulled her back so that they were walking behind of the boy. "You have a little crush now, huh?" Rue smirked. "You can't tell me that what he did wasn't cute. That was one of the sweetest things a random guy has ever done for me." She whispered back as they made their way outside towards the pool.

There were three empty chairs that they gladly sat in near the pool and started talking.

"So you're going to East Highland High, right?" Melanie questioned. "Yeah, I think.." he said and she nodded. "Well if you do, come find us. Or you don't have to, it doesn't matter." Melanie rambled, making Elliot smile at her. "I will. You'll be the first person I look for—but Rue told me about you, she said that you like hiding from people because you're slightly anti-social—" Melanie's head snapped towards Rue who silently smoked the weed Elliot brought. Rue laughed to herself. "Fuck you, Rue! I'm not slightly anti-social, I just don't like people." Melanie said making both Rue and Elliot laugh at her words.

The three all talked for a while, Melanie was actually having a good time, she did remember that Maddy was supposed to give her a drink, which made her feel bad for disappearing from the house. So even before she could excuse herself for a couple of minutes to find Maddy, Ash came walking up to his sister.

"Yo, come on. We finna dip." He said, and that took her by surprise. "What? We've been here for an hour!" She stated. "Fez finna do some shit, he said be ready to go—so come on. And Rue, if you want a ride, come on." Ash explained, Melanie turned back around towards Elliot and sighed. "Well, I have to go. Sorry for leaving so abruptly, but I hope to see you around." She spoke. "I hope to see you again too." He said.

edited: yes🫶🏽