Chapter Thirteen
PARTY CRASHERS

Mara walked into school the next day with bags under her eyes. She couldn't sleep last night, the fight with Hawk replaying over and over in her mind. When she walked into first period and saw the books layed out on the desks she facepalmed. She completely forgot they were taking the practice SATs today.

She saw Miguel and Demetri sitting next to each other so she just decided to take a seat next to a random person. Ryan was sitting in the front of the classroom with someone random too. Mara gave him a small smile and he sadly smiled back at her remembering how she had came home crying last night. Mara sat down next to a random girl. The girl looked at her and gave her a shy smile before going back to reading her book. Mara just nodded at her and took her seat. The test started and Mara found that nothing was very hard so she breezed through it.

Soon the test was over and Mara caught up with Miguel and Demetri as they left the classroom. When they passed through the doorway Miguel was pulled aside by a smiling Sam. She kissed him and Demetri and Mara looked away awkwardly. With perfect timing, Ryan chose that moment to come out of the classroom and he froze when he saw Sam and Miguel. Miguel and Sam pulled away from the kiss and that's when the boy noticed Ryan staring at them. He went to say something but Ryan just shook his head and walked off. Sam was confused and looked at Miguel. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing," Miguel replied quickly. Way too quick.

Mara grabbed Demetri's arm and pulled him away from the couple. "We'll meet you Miguel."

The Hispanic boy nodded and watched as they walked off. Mara caught up to her brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You ok?"

He nodded. "It hurts, but I have to get over it sometime."

"Don't worry Ryan. There is someone out there for you. It might not be Miguel, but that's ok. You just have to keep an open mind. You're soulmate could be right around the corner."

Ryan smiled at her and bumped her shoulder with his. The two turned the corner and Mara's smile dropped when she saw Hawk. He looked like a deer in the headlights when he saw her. "Mars. Can we talk? Please?"

"It depends. Are you gonna yell at me some more?"

"No!" Mara tilted her head and Hawk realized his mistake. "No." He said quieter this time. "I promise I won't yell. I just need to talk to you."

Mara reluctantly nodded and turned to Ryan. "I'll see you at home."

Ryan nodded and ruffled the hair on her head. He pointed his finger at Hawk. "Now I don't know what's gotten into you, but you better cut it out. If my sister comes home crying again I will personally walk over to your house and give you a piece of my mind." Hawk nodded, fear evident in his eyes.

Mara tried to push her twin forward but the boy wouldn't budge. She didn't need Hawk to know that he made her cry. "No wait a second Mars, I need him to understand the gravity of this situation." Ryan pulled back the sleeve on his sweatshirt and flexed his muscles. "You see these? Their stronger than the hair gel you use to keep that mohawk on your head. I will use them to pummel you if you hurt her again." If Hawk was scared before he was terrified now. Ryan just smirked at the look on his face. "See you nerds." He walked away from them turning around once to show Hawk his muscles again.

"Um guys. I'm still here." Mara turned to see Demetri standing behind her awkwardly. She completely forgot he was behind them.

Hawk just glared at the boy and Demetri jumped slightly and took off down the hall after Ryan. He turned back to Mara who was waiting for him to start talking. "Look, I'm really sorry for how I treated you. I should have told you how I felt instead of just expecting you to think we were exclusive. You deserve to be happy. Even if it's not with me. I shouldn't have put my hands on you either. It wasn't right."

Mara nodded and hugged him. He hugged her back and placed his head in the crook of her neck. "Just don't do it again ok?" She pulled away and smiled at him. "I guess I was being kind of oblivious too. I should've known you weren't kissing my neck in a friendly way. The person I was with asked me not to tell people who they are just yet, but I really like them."

"I'm happy for you, Mars."

Hawk watched as she smiled and walked away from him. He didn't know what came over him the day before. He just didn't like the idea of her with anyone else but him.

That's why he knew he had to find a way to make her jealous.

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Mara, Demetri, Miguel, Aisha, Hawk, and Bert were at the park eating lunch. Mara sat on the grass watching Hawk and Bert fight while Miguel, Demetri, and Aisha sat on a bench.

"Come on, eat something. I'll make you feel better." Demetri was trying to get Miguel to eat his sandwich. The boy was feeling even more upset after his conversation with Sam.

"I told you I'm not hungry, man."

Demetri sat back and looked around the park. "I still think you're overreacting."

"I'm not overreacting, dude. I know what I saw."

"All right, so you saw her eating dinner with some chose." Mara watched as Hawk kicked Bert in the face sending him to the ground before waking over to Miguel and leaning over the back of the bench. "It's probably her brother or something."

Mara went to help Bert up and turned to the group. "No Sam only has 1 brother and he's way younger than her." She turned back to Bert and checked his face to make sure he wasn't hurt badly. There was just a slight bruise meaning he would be fine in a few days.

"Plus, brothers don't look at their sisters like that," Miguel added to Mara's statement.

"Depends what part of the country you're in," Demetri joked.

Miguel ignored the boy and looked down at his uneaten sandwich that was starting to get soggy. "Look, I just don't want what happened to Sensei to happen to me."

"All right, so you go over to this kid and beat his ass so he doesn't have the chance."

Demetri shook his head at the boy. "Don't listen to Eli."

"It's Hawk."

Demetri was still unimpressed. "Yeah, whatever. The fact is, Sam's given you no reason not to trust her."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Miguel's face contradicted his words. He still looked unsure and Mara couldn't help but feel bad. All of this relationship drama they were all having was taking a toll on them. Mara wasn't sure she even wanted to be in a relationship anymore after seeing what it was doing to Miguel.

"Oh. That little bitch." Mara furrowed her eyebrows at Aisha's words and got off the floor to see what she was looking at on her phone.

"What?"

"You know that video I posted of me breaking that board?"

"Yeah," they all said at the same time. Minus Demetri, who had no idea what video anyone was talking about.

"Look what Yasmine commented." Mara looked at the comment. Impressive...can't believe the belt made it around your waist. "I gotta do something."

Hawks eyes lit up. "How about we kidnap her and have my boy Rico tattoo bitch on her face?"

"Calm down, Hawk."

Hawk glared at how Demetri was saying his name. "All right, I hear how you're saying it, and I don't like it."

Aisha waved her hand at both of them. "Wait, wait, wait. I have a better idea. Look." They all looked at her phone to see that Yasmine posted about her VIP birthday party at the Canyon.

"Yasmine's throwing a birthday party at the Canyon mater?"

"Not if we strike first."

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The group was at the store buying drinks and snacks for the party now. Aisha, Demetri, and Bert were grabbing any snack they could find and were raiding the candy. Miguel was outside trying to call Sam. Apparently the girl hadn't been answering her phone all day and Miguel feared she could be cheating on him. Mara was buying bottles of apple juice for herself. She would have a drink or two of course, but she could never abandon her apples.

"All right be sure to stack up good. I'm inviting everyone. VIP only my ass." Aisha walked over to Mara and rose an eyebrow at the amount of apple juices she had in her arms. "What are you doing? No one drinks apple juice at a party."

"I do." She blew Aisha a kiss and went up to the register to pay. Once she got her bag she walked back over to Bert and helped him carry a few things.

"I still done understand how we're going to buy alcohol."

"Oh please," Hawk told Demetri. "Never underestimate the power of the Hawk." He grabbed a some bear and the snacks the group picked out and dropped it on the counter in front of the cashier. "Sup."

Mara, Demetri, Aisha, and Bert all stood at the back of the story trying to act casual while they listened to Hawk. Aisha was pretending she was looking at snacks and Demetri, Mara, and Bert were flipping through magazines. Mara saw Bert grab a magazine with a half-naked girl on the cover and she snatched it out of his hands and gave him a more age appropriate one.

"Did you catch the game last night? See Puig with the walk-off?"

"Nah, man, but I heard he flipped the bat to the moon," the cashier answered Hawk.

"Yeah, I was at the bar last night with my buddies from work. Whole place went wild."

"I wanted to go, but my girlfriend dragged me to some lame-ass play."

"Bitches will be bitches." Hawk nodded at the guy. The guy nodded and looked down for a second and Hawk took the chance to turn to Mara and mouth "I didn't mean it." The guy looked back up and Hawk leaned cooly on the counter. "So, how much it gonna cost?"

"Gotta check your ID first."

Hawk chuckled. "I'm flattered. The cashier just looked at him unimpressed. "Do you really think I'm underage? That's my frickin' kid right there."

The cashier looked over in their direction and the group quickly looked away. "How about that one with the bag of apple juice? She your kid too?" Mara looked up offended but Hawk waved her off and shook his head at the guy. "Whatever. I still need to see ID. It's required by law."

"Oh yeah, for sure. Just holding up the law. It's all good." Hawk handed him his fake ID and the guy just looked at it for a second before telling Hawk the price. Hawk looked back at the group excited and then turned back to the guy. "And uh, how about eight bottles of that vodka right there?"

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Ryan pulled up at the canyon and was surprised to see the party already in full swing. He hopped out of his car and Moon came out as well. He had picked her up at her house to take her here. The two heard another car pull up and their smiles dropped when they saw Kyler, Brucks, and Yasmine exit it. The trio stopped talking when they noticed the two standing there.

"What the hell are you two doing here? I specifically didn't invite you." Yasmine spat at them.

Ryan smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "That's cool. We weren't here for you anyway." He linked his arm with Moon's and the two started heading down to the party.

Yasmine was confused until she looked down the hill and saw a bunch of people already partying. "No effing way. Kyler, go tell these losers to get out of here."

Kyler nodded and started approaching everyone but his eyes found a familiar Hispanic boy and he started to back up. "Um, you know what? Let's just find another spot, or we could go home or whatever. You know what I mean?" Brucks and Kyler got back into his car and Yasmine stomped her foot in frustration as they drove away. She looked back at the party and saw Mara talking with that Hispanic boy Kyler was so afraid of now. Yasmine smirked. If she couldn't have her party she could at least make it a little interesting.

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Mara stood next to Miguel as he tried to contact Sam. He had called her over 20 times since they got to the party and the girl wasn't answering. "Maybe her phone died Miguel."

"Whatever. Let's get the party started without her. Miguel grabbed a beer from the cooler and grabbed Mara a bottle of apple juice. Aisha came over to them and watched as Miguel took a drink of the beer and scrunched up his face. The girl's laughed at him and watched as he powered through the pain and took a long swig of the drink.

Meanwhile, Yasmine wove her way through the party, her eyes set on the boy with the blue mohawk she always saw Mara hanging around. She pretended to be grabbing a drink and turned to a random person beside her and started a conversation. "Hey, that's Mara Abrams over there right? Ryan's sister?" The girl she was talking to nodded and Yasmine took a sip of her drink. "That's what I thought. I was driving home the other night and swore and I saw her fucking that boy she's talking to in the back of her car. She's so desperate." The girl she was talking too laughed and Yasmine smirked as she watched the boy with the blue mohawk clench his jaw and storm off. She smirked in satisfaction. One down one to go.

Yasmine eventually found Moon and Ryan standing around and talking. She walked up to them casually and watched as Ryan glared at her. She could care less, he wasn't the one she was looking for. "Hey Moon, you don't have a crush on Mara or anything right?" Ryan looked at Moon in surprise and the girl looked between them with wide eyes.

"I mean...I don't-"

"I mean I'm just making sure because I'm pretty sure I saw her fucking that boy in the back of her car last night." Both Ryan and Moon looked over to where Mara was and saw her laughing and trying to hold up Miguel. "I just don't want you to get hurt Moon."

Ryan glared at Yasmine. "Mara and Miguel don't even like each other like that."

"That's not what I saw. They seemed pretty close in the back of that jeep. She does have a jeep right? White? An action finger hanging from her rear view mirror?" Yasmine walked off leaving a seething Ryan and a heartbroken Moon.

Ryan told Moon he would be right back and went to confront his sister. Moon didn't hear him. She was too focused on what Yasmine told her. If Ryan was that mad that meant it had to be true. That meant Mara had left from her house and had sex with someone else. Right after they kissed. She knew what she had to do. Make her jealous. Then Mara would want her.

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"Miguel maybe you should chill out on the drinks." Aisha was worried watching as Mara struggled to hold the boy up. He eventually was able to stand on his own and immediately went back to get another drink.

"I'm fine guys."

He opened the color and realized there were no more drinks. "Oh they're all out of Mr. Pibbs," Demetri told the boy. "I got the last one."

Miguel just glared at him and went to turn around but he bumped into someone's chest. He looked up to see Ryan glaring at him while holding Mara's arm who was behind him totally confused. He pulled her so her and Miguel were standing next to each other. "Do you know that Yasmine is telling people she saw you two having sex in Mara's car. Now I know it's not true but why would she think you guys were doing anything?"

Mara was confused. "Miguel and I were just talking in my car. I needed advice and he was in the same situation as me so I went to him."

Miguel burped and looked between the two. "It looks like you two have this handled. I'm gonna get another drink." He tried to walk off but Ryan pulled him back next to his sister.

"You are going to stay right here before you hurt yourself." He turned back to Mara. "Now you better put that bitch in her place with that karate shit you've been learning. I don't tolerate anyone spreading rumors about my sister. I won't touch a girl though so that part is on you. I'm going to get this idiot some water." He dragged Miguel with him the boy yelling at him to let him go.

Mara looked around for Moon. She hoped the girl hadn't heard the rumor. She was going to ask her out tonight, but the girl wouldn't want to date Mara if she thought the rumor was true.

"Hey Moon!" She heard someone yell she turned to the sound of the voice and her heart dropped at what she saw. Hawk and Moon were sitting on a log making out. Their hands were all over each other and Mara swore she felt her heart break twice. Aisha noticed the girls teary eyes and looked in the direction she was staring at.

"Oh Mars." She pulled the girl into a hug and turned them around so the girl couldn't look anymore. "I'm so sorry."

"It was Yasmine," Mara seethed. "She told everyone Miguel and I slept together and now Hawk and Moon both hate me."

"I'm gonna bury that bitch."

Mara pulled away from her and wiped her tears. "I'm not weak and I'm definitely not a pussy. I'm not gonna let a boy or a girl make me seem that way either." She threw her bottle of apple juice to the ground and grabbed one of the bottles of vodka and a red solo cup. She filled two shots worth and tipped her head back, downing the liquid. It stung as it went down her throat but she didn't care. Nothing compared to the heartbreak she just felt. She filled the cup again, and again, and again. The more she drunk the clumsier she got.

And the better she felt.

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"Hey!" Aisha, Moon, and Hawk turned to see a fuming Yasmine storming towards them. "You think it's funny crashing my party?"

Aisha shrugged. "It's not really your party cause we were here first."

"Yeah, well, I know you and your little karate gang think you're cool, but we all remember who you really are." Yasmine looked Moon and the boy with the blue mohawk up and down. She knew he used to be the freak with the lip, but luckily for her, Moon was too dumb to notice. "You're just a fugly bitch and your friends are all freaks. Come on Moon, I'm giving you one last chance to come back with me."

"No, I'm staying. I apologized to Aisha for what we did, and you should too."

"Whatever. You deserve them, Moon." Yasmine started to walk away but a drunk and very angry Mara blocked her path.

Mara finished the bottle of beer that was in her hand and threw it the ground. "Hey Yasmine," she said sweetly. "Let us help you to your car." She punched Yasmine in the jaw causing the blonde's body to fall to the side. She then kicked her in the back sending her over to Aisha. Aisha reached into the front of Yasmine's pants and pulled on her underwhere. The girl's entire