Chapter 2

Max opened the door and Raquel stood transfixed to the ground as a sudden rush of alcohol, smoke, temptation and unease filled her lungs. Max put a comforting arm around her.

"Don't worry" he whispered into her ear as they walked in. Looking at Matt, people would think that his house would be an average middle-class home but it was actually on the bigger side. Raquel loved the soft, brown furniture. It was the perfect shade of brown. She also liked the light beige walls, complimenting the couches and furniture perfectly.

They took a lap around, occasionally greeting people, until they saw Alex, Paige, and a guy she thought looked familiar. Raquel watched as Max and Alex greeted each other with some sort of ridiculous guy hand shake. She couldn't help but burst out laughing. 'Why do guys even do that'? She thought to herself. Because if they did it to look cool, it only made them look like the exact opposite.

As Max, Alex and the familiar boy engaged in some conversation non-important to her, Raquel and Paige began to have a conversation of their own, sitting on one of the cushiony, warm, brown sofas.

"Having fun?" Paige asked casually.

"So far, so good" Raquel said honestly, with a smile.

"Sooooo…," Paige said bouncing up and nodding over to the boy talking to Alex and Max, "He's cute, don't you think?" She asked, raising her eye brows and nudging her arm a little bit.

Raquel laughed a little, flattered – "He's… he's alright." Paige was always trying to set her up with guys. She was truthfully the best girl friend she has ever had. Most of the friends Raquel had had were complete backstabbers. To your face, they seemed nice, but one you turned around, they were complete bitches.

"He's a drummer – like you." She added in, taking a sip of her drink. Raquel was about to ask for his name but Alex came over and swooped her away, setting her drink down and leading her backwards, his arms around her waist, to the back door. Raquel felt a little envious, but also glad they were so happy together.

Raquel stayed sitting as she looked around for Max, but he was nowhere in sight. Then she felt a light double-tap of two fingers on her shoulder. She turned around to see the drummer Paige was talking about. "Hey. My names Nicolas" he said with a polite smile.

"Hi. I'm Raquel" She replied warmly. Raquel got a good look at him. Paige was right – he was kind of cute. And his wide, toothy smile was adorable. Raquel might have actually considered him – that is – If there wasn't already someone she had her eyes on.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," Raquel thought for a second," Were you at the Alesana show last month?"

"Yeah. I knew you looked familiar."

They eventually began to talk about different types of drum companies and music when someone else caught Raquel's attention. It was Spencer. He was with Max and Alex. The soft cushions of the couch suddenly felt like cold stone under her body and all the conversations in the room began to sound distant. She felt nervous but she hastily shook it off. They were friends after all. Even though she wanted it to be more.

"You don't want anything to drink?" Nicolas asked

"Um…,"Raquel eyes darted from Spencer back to Nicolas, "No. I don't drink."

"Straight Edge?"

"You could say that." Raquel answered. Her aunt and uncle were complete addicts. They smoked, did drugs, sold drugs, and were alcoholics. They did everything. When she was younger, her parents used to leave her and her brother Ryder with them when they were on business trips. They were practically submerged into a whole new world. Then one day, when Raquel and Ryder were younger, they were playing with their aunts lighter when they set the house on fire. It didn't burn down, but it did plenty of damage to the home. They never saw each other after that incident.

Staying with her aunt and uncle definitely wasn't a safe environment, but it did show Raquel what the things they did could do to a person. They could leave a person physically, emotionally and mentally damaged. You could end up in a world of turmoil, especially from the drug abuse and dealing. She promised herself she'd never let herself get that way, but trying alcohol and sometimes even smoking was tempting at times, especially in an environment like this.

Nicolas and Raquel eventually made their way over to Spencer and Max. Max hugged her gently as she arrived. He couldn't help but notice Nicolas standing next to her. He had seen them talking for a while. Jealous? A little bit – he wasn't going to lie. Raquel had a tendency to start going out with people she had just met.

"Happy Birthday!" Raquel exclaimed, giving Spencer a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek.

(Authors Note: Desperate much? Haha.)

"Ha ha, thank you" he said, a tad bit surprised by the friendly bear hug. But how could he decline a gracious hug from a good looking girl? Never.

Spencer lifted her up off the ground a little before he put her down, getting a whiff of her vanilla honey scented hair. He began to pay more attention to Raquel as the four of them spoke. She was pretty hot. And he already knew her well, too. He watched as she fixed her already perfect, radiant black hair. It was so alluring and inviting. It made you want to just reach in and stroke it for hours.

Nicolas eventually drifted off somewhere else, leaving Max, Spencer and Raquel.

"Max?" he heard from behind him. He turned around and saw his ex, Jessica, standing behind him. "Can we talk?" she asked, her soft voice sounding tense.

"Sure." Max replied and reluctantly followed her upstairs to an empty hallway. The memory alone of how he hurt Jessica was almost unbearable. And now he was here with her alone – well, almost alone. They were at a party after all.

FLASHBACK…

"Max, can you just talk to me?" she asked, running about of breath. They were both maneuvering their way down the crowded hallway. He was trying to pretend he didn't hear her over the innumerable amount of conversations going on at once. Max eventually stopped and turned to her – he could only pretend for so long.

"Why have you been ignoring me lately?" she asked, catching her breath. Her eyes were full of hurt and confusion. She had a puzzled look on her face.

END OF FLASHBACK…

Max remembered it clearly. That's when he broke up with her, right in front of everyone. She was so embarrassed – mortified. He didn't even have the decency to do it in private. And she was never the strongest person.

"I missed you." She said. Max didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. She then threw her arms around Max's neck and brought him in close. He smelt booze on her breath.

"Jessica… You're drunk" he said, pushing her away. He did feel bad for using her and for breaking up with her the way he did, but not bad enough to get back with her. "I'm sorry. You need to move on." He said. She just stood there staring him in the eye, bewildered. Then her facial expression became angry.

"Fuck you" She said, shoving him into the wall and leaving.

"You having fun?" he asked. Raquel looked into his piercing blue eyes. Spencer had his arm around her waist as she sat on his lap.

"Yeah, it's – "She was cut off.

"…mmm… You smell good." he mumbled as he smelled her hair. Raquel laughed.

"Thank you, I guess?' She was unsure of what to say.

Spencer drew out his phone, "I can't believe I don't have your number…" He said, scrolling through his contacts. He handed his phone to Raquel, "Add it?" he asked, with a grin. And she gladly took his phone from him.

Ok, I know the ending wasn't as great but I really want to get this out now. Opinions?