She blew out yet another sigh and stared at me. It was like something had finally clicked in her mind and her eyes hardened. It looked like she'd finally seen me for who I was. 

"Reniella, you're lovely, honestly," she bit out. "I'm not sure if you've been told this before but you just have this vibe around you. You've got these eyes and this little smile that makes people feel like they should confess their entire life story to you. But I can't risk spilling any more secrets than necessary, I hope you understand."

She brushed me off and turned to her friends. 

Without kicking up a fuss, I put the can back onto the kitchen island and stalk off. My eyes were heavy and I didn't feel like investigating anymore. I couldn't go upstairs to any of the rooms but I didn't want to stay downstairs on my own anymore either. As nice as Deshawn's company was, I couldn't talk to myself all night. 

Just as I thought of looking for Ross, Raven stumbled into my arms. Alarmed and breathless, her classic vanilla perfume was replaced by the stench of weed. She pulled at my arms roughly towards the door. 

"We've got to go, the police are on their way here." 

"What? Why?" I demanded, eyes wide. The last time the police had turned up to a party was when Deshawn died. As Raven pulled me through the herd of people, flashes of blood spread across my vision and blurred facts from fiction. I tried my best to take a look at my wrist and peer at the words 'Reniella De Vega' I had scribbled down earlier to offer relief. Raven's hand was in the way, though. 

"There was a party a couple of streets over that got shut down and all the crackheads have come here instead. I can't have the police phoning my mother, Rei. Even if it's just weed on me, you know what she's like, 'marijuana is a gateway drug'," she mimicked. "She'll literally lock me in the shed for the night, you know she will. And my brother will laugh so we have to go right now." 

The pleading in her voice was what propelled my numb legs forward. Greeted by the icy bite of wind outside, we didn't stop to acknowledge it. Holding on tightly to one another, we fled in search of raven's brother's car parked on the curb and then threw ourselves inside. 

As I waited for the engine to warm, a knock sounded on the back window. At first, I thought it might have been Deshawn but was proved wrong when Raven snapped her head around to take a look. 

Ross Rivera, looking as shit-faced as you could get, flopped inside the car. His dark brown hair stuck up in all sorts of directions and a rosy red had blossomed at the apples of his tanned cheeks. He stuck his head through the gap between the two front seats and directed a boyish grin my way. 

"Bambi, you magnificent creature, I've always loved you the most. In fact, I-"

"Cut the crap, what do you want?" I interrupted. 

His eyes turned beseechingly to me. "Reniella! Pretty, pretty please would you drive me home? The feds are on their way and if my dad is awoken in the middle of the night again because of my dumb ass, he'll be fuming. He'll send me away to military school and I'll never survive there. Say you'll drive me, please! For old time's sake. I'm really quiet too," he ranted. Then, in an attempt to prove his maturity he threw himself against the back seat and pressed a finger to his mouth.

"I'm a good boy, promise." He smirked behind his finger. 

I turned to Raven in question, it was her brother's car after all. She just shrugged lightly. 

"Fine, but be quiet." I agreed. 

He grinned widely and hugged the back of my car seat. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he chanted and I pulled the car out quickly before the flashing lights of police could catch up. 

"I can't believe those little shits ruined my commemoration party," Deshawn complained quietly from the back where he appeared on the other side of Ross. As he caught my eyes in the rearview mirror, he grinned.

A strong emotion that I couldn't put my finger on crawled its way from the pits of my stomach and up my throat, choking me. Just the sight of Ross's large home split my mind open, letting the taunting memories of Deshawn's dead body ooze through and blur my vision. Luckily I had stopped the car or I was afraid I might've carried on going within my daze and crashed it somewhere.

"You should walk him in," Raven advised as Ross's blatant intoxication seemed almost dangerous. 

With a deep sigh, I obliged. We got out of the car at the same time, night had fully taken over by now. The confident moon cast dark shadows over us and Ross threw me a grin while we walked to his house. 

"Thanks for driving me home, by the way. And now walking me to the doorstep, you're such a gentleman, Bambi. How can I ever repay you? My very own prince charming," he sang out. 

"Shut up," I muttered and rolled my eyes, suppressing a smile. We neared the doorstep and flashes of the police carrying a body bag through this very same front door barreled towards me. My amusement sobered. 

Ross turned his back to the door and gave me a soft smile. As if he could feel the thick emotions as they peeled from my body, he enveloped me in a hug. It wasn't the same sort of silly hugs that he used to give me where he'd squeeze too tightly to annoy me. It was identical to the hug he gave on the night I found Deshawn. With his hand at the back of my head, it felt as though the two of us were clinging to hope. After a moment, Ross pulled away and turned to the door. Before he could open it, it was pulled forcefully from the other side to reveal Mr. Rivera. Ross's dad.

"Ross," his deep voice echoed. 

I visited the Rivera house a lot when I was younger but I never got used to seeing Mr. Rivera. He was a tall and burly man with a dark brown beard and matching hair. Normally, he wore tailored suits but tonight he showed off his custom velvet robe.