Music, colored lights and laughter seemed to surround us the instant we walked into the room. Caitlin had really gone all out for this thing.

The were people everywhere. I could barely move. The place reeked of sweat, smoke and alcohol. 

People danced to the loud music on a makeshift dance floor or stuck to the edges of the room, talking, laughing, smiling, drinking.

Everyone was so happy and so attractive. It was as if all the depressed ugly people from high school had been chased away. Which, in a way, is pretty much what had happened.

Jared glanced at me and grinned. Caitlin was coming in our direction,. She was wearing one of those dresses that are only slightly less revealing than lingerie. Not surprising really, but at least she had the body to pull it off.

"Jared, sweetie!" She shrieked in a fake, high-pitched voice, throwing her arms around him in an exaggerated hug.

She turned coldly and looked me up an down with a horrible sneer on her face.

"What are you doing here?"

"I brought him." said Jared, jumping between us and saving me from explaining. "Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all." She gave me a death glare and quickly moved away,.

"Wow. She didn't didn't even make a scene over it." I practically had to shout so he could hear me over the music.

"Sure." He shouted back. "If she did, it would give you some of the attention, and she can't have that. Tonight's all about Caitlin. She would rather die than see someone steal her thunder."

I nodded, rather than screaming my lungs out.

He pointed at the table with drinks on it. Wow. Every type of alcohol imaginable. Caitlin was a good hostess, if nothing else. We went and got drinks. I picked some kind of Vodka mix. I don't really drink, just as a matter of distaste for what alchohol does to people. But this drink didn't taste so bad, and I had nothing better to do.

We stood there for a while, looking around, unable to really talk over the loud music. Eventually Jared got bored.

"I'm gonna go say hi to people," he shouted, and then slipped away before I could see where he went.

I decided to wait for him to come back. He didn't.

I spent what seemed like hours standing there and doing nothing, getting really bored and generally having a horrible time. I saw Caitlin headed in my direction, so I ducked away and decided to go looking for Jared.

I couldn't find him anywhere. I tried the dance floor, the food and drink tables. Even outside in Caitlin's fancy garden, where a lot of people were smoking.

I gave up. I decided find somewhere quiet. It wasn't hard. I'd been here before. Some school committee thing, with Caitlin's older sister. She wasn't that bad, good old Tracy. Caitlin must of inherited all the bitchy genes in the family.

They hated each other. But I heard their step-brother hated Caitlin to, so I don't think any of the blame for that falls on Tracy.

Anyway. I walked down the big, cold passageways. After about two turns I couldn't hear the noises of the party anymore. I relaxed.

I liked this house. It was a big mansion-type building, with lots of marble everywhere you turned. It was made mostly of stone, and seemed like some kind of church. Exactly the kind of house I'd want if I was rich. I'd heard that Caitlin came from a long line of successful bank owners. Old money, you could say.

I walked on calmly in the dark, peeking into the millions rooms when I went past them. Very fancy, most of them were guest rooms with plush carpets and huge luxurious beds. I even took a look at the main bedroom, with it's fireplace and en suite bathroom with a pool sized bath-tub. I wasn't scared of being caught. Caitlin's parents were out of town, hence the party. Her sister had moved out and the step brother was our age, so he was probably at the party too.

I came to a room with the door closed, which was strange. All the other rooms I'd seen had their doors wide open. There was also no light shining underneath it, so I didn't think someone was there. It couldn't have been a family member's room. It was right here in the middle of all the other guest rooms. My curiosity got the better of me.

I went up to the door and gently lowered the handle, making sure it didn't make a sound. When it was all the way down I pushed the door forward slightly and stuck my head in.

It was just another guest room, fluffy carpets and soft bed. But on the bed, lay two people, a guy and a girl. Naked. Clearly having sex. The room practically stank of it. They were both too drunk or too close to orgasm to notice me, so I started quietly to pull my head out of the room. My eyes were well adjusted to the dark, so as the guy turned his head to moan in pleasure I realized that it was Jared.

My shock caught up with me after a few seconds, and I realized I had been staring at the way his muscles rippled under the soft, smooth skin of his back and legs.

I quickly pulled my head out and closed the door. It took every particle of my willpower not to slam it. I ran, heading deeper in to the house, and eventually sat down on a marble step.

I didn't quite cry. I had stopped crying over anything a long time ago, really. But I felt like crap. I felt like my insides had been steamrolled. My bitter inner-voice was telling me how stupid I was to have been so hopeful. Of course he was straight! Your life's not this good.

I decided to get very drunk, which is not something I do often. I got to the alcohol table quickly and practically swallowed my first three drinks in one gulp. After that I met up with some other people. Not exactly friends, but they were always nice to me all the same. I danced and kept drinking.

By the end of the night everything seemed to whirl around me. Did someone dance really close to me? Did I feel someone's warm breath on my face in a dark corner of the house? I heard people talking about going home. I think I threw up. I looked up and saw Andrea, my neighbor and one of the 'nice' group I hung around with that night. We were in a car. Some guy I didn't know was driving. Or did I know him? Did we talk earlier that night? He was really hot. I think I said this out loud, but I don't think anyone heard me. I hope no one heard me. They were probably all too drunk anyway. I saw my house. Then someone was helping me up the stairs to my room. Then a warm happy feeling. Then nothing.

*********************

Note from Author:
To my fans (If I have any ;D) sorry for the long wait, I've been to hell and back in the past month. Thanx to everyone who responded to my first posting. I recieved a very good combination of compliments and constructive criticism. Thank  you especially to Paul, the guy who tipped me off about Komposer. It's very useful, even if I haven't fully mastered it yet.