Prologue

WHAT A CRAZY NIGHT. Everyone was wasted, including me. There were beer bottles and red cups all over the place. Couples were making out every which way I turned. There was even a body slumped over a sofa with legs dangling. Most of the party guests were juniors in college, including myself, but the invite was from a senior who was so trashed, he had no idea about the mess he would find in the morning.

It was past two in the morning and I was getting really tired. Not wanting to spend the night here, I thought it was best to go home. As I looked for my roommate, everything seemed to move in slow motion. I wouldn’t have gotten this buzzed, but since it was Amber’s turn to be the designated driver, I let myself go and drank as much as I wanted, even knowing I would regret it the next morning.

Since I had just broken up with the guy I had been dating, I really needed this. He turned out to be a jerk, but as far as the guys I’d been attracted to, that seemed to be my pattern lately. I was an ass**le magnet.

“Amber!” I yelled, but I don’t think my voice carried. I couldn’t tell. It was difficult to figure out how loud I was over the music pounding in my ears. When I couldn’t see her, I opened the nearest bedroom door. There were people in there, but they looked really high, and I could only assume they’d taken drugs.

“Amber?” I wasn’t as loud as the last time I called out. When I heard my name, I rushed into the restroom.

“Amber,” I said again, and stopped from going in any further.

Her hair was pushed over to one side, and her hands were resting on either side of the toilet seat as she bent over it. “I need a minute.” Her words echoed inside the toilet. A few seconds later, whatever she drank and ate poured out of her mouth.

“Amber, you okay?” I asked, grimacing. I dropped to the floor next to her.

“Yeah,” she managed to say, flushing the toilet. After wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she collapsed beside me. “I feel…awwwful. Let’s go home.” I was pretty sure she slurred her words.

“You said…you weren’t supposed to drink, remember? You drive. Me drink.” I pointed at myself. I wasn’t feeling sorry for her anymore. Actually, I was pissed. “What the fuuuck, Amber?”

“Sorrrry. I saw him…with…her,” she sighed, somberly. Holding on to the sink, Amber stood up, stumbling until she got a hold of herself. “Come on.”

When I wasn’t responding, she grabbed my arms. With an irritated sigh, I pulled myself up. “I don’t….” I started to say, but I lost my words and finally understood what she meant by seeing him.

Her boyfriend had broken up with her and had started seeing this girl right away. I could sympathize, but it didn’t matter. Now we were both out of it, and there was no way we could go home. Amber tugged me along. I had no idea where we were going as I let her lead the way. We passed the kitchen, the living room, and oh, crap…passed her ass**le ex-boyfriend and somehow, we were out of the house with our purses.

The cool wind whipped against my face and made me alert, reminding me that I’d left my jacket inside. Not only that, I felt a few drops of rain, falling faster by the second. Shivering, I looked at Amber, who was struggling to get her keys out of her purse.

“We can’t,” I said, a bit more aware of the situation. “We’re both wasted.”

“I feel better,” she argued, pushing me aside to get in the car.

I held on to the door, hoping to calm her down. “Forget him. He’s not good enough for you.”

Amber had already started the engine. “Get in,” she demanded. Her tone was angry, but I could see the hurt and tears that dampened her eyes.

“Please…get out of the car. We’re both too drunk,” I said forcefully, trying to snap her out of the buzz and make her come to her senses.

“I can’t be in the same room with them.” The tears she was trying to hold back were now streaming down her face. “How could he just move on like that?”

Feeling her pain, my heart ached for her. If we were home, I would cry with her. “We’ll stay away and hide in one of the rooms.”

Amber looked at me and wiped her tears, and then she looked up to the sky. “I’m getting wet. You coming?” She reached for the door and missed. Her coordination wasn’t all there. Finally, on her third try, she managed to grab the door, forcing me to jerk back as she slammed it shut.

“I’m serious. You can’t drive,” I urged, as I pounded my fist on the window. I was desperate. My words to her were not registering the urgency of the situation. I thought I had convinced her when she looked up at me again, but her mind was apparently somewhere else. When your heart is breaking to that intensity, nothing matters. You just want the pain gone, even if you have to distance yourself from it. I understood. I had been there before.

“It’s not that far!” she yelled.

“Please…stay with me.”

When she saw I wasn’t getting into the car, she sped away. Drenched from head to toe, I ran back into the house. Feeling the warmth, I shivered from the drastic temperature change, fumbled through my wet purse, and took out my cell phone to dial Amber’s cell.

It was difficult to hear her voice when she answered because of the pouring rain, the thunder that just boomed, and the worst reception from her Bluetooth.

“Amber, come back. It’s dark, it’s pouring, and you’re freakin’ wasted.” She was putting herself out there, vulnerable, risking her life over a loser who wasn’t good enough for her.