Ditching

Jace and Dana left the dance floor, laughing and holding hands. Jace’s lips were buzzing with the taste of Dana, and he wanted to grab her again and kiss her again. She didn’t seem like she’d be upset if he did that, from the bright glow in her blue-green eyes.

Jace was reaching out to put a hand on Dana’s hip when Amy seemed to materialize from nowhere, bumping against his chest in her haste.

“Oh, oops, sorry.” Amy said, and Jace saw to his surprise that Amy seemed very frazzled.

“You OK, Ames?” Jace worried, and she shook her head rapidly.

“No, no, I… I want to go home.” Amy said urgently, her eyes wide and ****.

“Did something happen? Did someone do something to you?” Jace asked, confused.

“No, I’m.. I’m just very drunk.” Amy nodded, “I want to go home, Jace.”

Jace looked at Amy, then nodded.

“Alright. If you want to go, we’ll go.” Jace said, and looked to Dana.

“You’re my ride, I’m going home if you are.” Dana smiled.

“Right. Can you go find Brooklyn?” Jace asked, and Dana nodded, hurrying away into the crowd.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” Jace checked on Amy, who nodded. She was breathing hard, but she tried to calm herself down so as not to worry Jace. She couldn’t even begin to explain what had happened, so she didn’t want to make him keep asking questions.

Jace nodded back at Amy, and he glanced around.

“Where’s Aiden? We should go find him.” Jace realized.

“He’s going home with Owen.” Amy blurted, and Jace accepted that without question, thankfully.

“Is Jayden going with them too?” Jace wondered. Amy shrugged, having no idea where Jayden was.

Dana returned, having Brooklyn with her.

“Ruby’s getting a ride home from a friend.” Dana explained to Jace, and Brooklyn nodded, saying something about Jayden going home with Owen.

“Much smaller group going back, then.” Jace chuckled. The Barnes sisters could catch a ride back together, so Jace wasn’t bothered about not seeing Val around anywhere as he led Dana, Brooklyn, and Amy back out to his car, where he discovered Skylar Wayne standing with a purple haired girl with large breasts, pale green eyes, and a smirk on her face.

“Sky, Violet. What are you two doing out here?” Jace stopped and asked his teammates for the fundraising competition, while Brooklyn, Dana, and Amy kept going towards Jace’s car,

“Having a bit of a chat without the music blasting.” Violet June shrugged, “How about you four?”

“We’re heading home.” Jace explained.

“Oh, already? We hadn’t even gotten to the beer pong part of the night.” Skylar exclaimed in disappointment.

“Sorry to miss that.” Jace chuckled.

“The penalty for missing was stripping, so you definitely should be.” Skylar said with a devious grin.

“Damn, now I am sorry to miss that.” Jace said, wide-eyed. Skylar laughed.

“Don’t be too downcast. I’m far too good at beer pong to lose a single sock.” Skylar winked, “I’ll see you Monday at school. Oh, and I’m having a team meeting here sometime next week. I’ll send you a text whenever I decide it’s going to be.”

“Sounds good. The first fundraiser is next weekend, so it makes sense to have a quick planning session.” Jace nodded.

“Slash team bonding game, actually.” Skylar winked.

“Ginny’s gonna flip with what you have planned.” Violet laughed.

“Oh, yes, her and Jasmine won’t be too happy.” Skylar agreed with a laugh.

“I’ll see you Monday.” Jace gave a wave, and Skylar waved back.

Jace jogged down to where his car was, and unlocked it for the three girls to open the doors and climb inside.

———

When Jace pulled into his driveway, he glanced at Amy in his passenger seat and she gave him a warm smile.

“Thank you for leaving the party just for me.” Amy said genuinely.

“There’s not much I wouldn’t do for you.” Jace grinned at his best friend, and Amy beamed.

“I’m not sure there’s anything I wouldn’t do for you, either.” Amy said warmly, and Brooklyn made an indecipherable sound and climbed out of the car quickly. Her movement spurred Dana to do the same, and Jace and Amy climbed out as well.

The four walked into the Holland family house, and Jace discovered Daisy and Ariel sitting on the couch, chatting.

“Thank God you’re back! Daisy’s gotten boring!” Ariel exclaimed dramatically, jumping to her feet.

“Hey!” Daisy protested, “I just said I couldn’t go party with my students!”

“Yeah, like I said, boring.” Ariel stuck out her tongue at Daisy.

“Daisy is definitely not boring.” Jace said with a laugh.

“Thank you, Jace. I knew there’s a reason you’re my favorite sibling.” Daisy blew him a kiss.

Dana, who was quite frequently at odds with Daisy, rolled her eyes.

“Don’t pander to her.” Ariel accused Jace. Jace chuckled.

“I have no dog in this fight, I love both you girls.” Jace raised his hands, looking from Ariel to Daisy. The busty black haired girl descended upon Jace.

“I love you, too, Jacey!” Ariel laughed, and she kissed his cheek.

“Get off him.” Daisy said abruptly, and Jace looked in confusion at Daisy’s tone, but then she was talking again and he was suddenly unsure if he’d imagined her curt tone.

“I’ll show you tomorrow how completely un-boring I am.” Daisy told her best friend, and Ariel laughed.

“You’ll have to make it really good so I don’t keep thinking you turned into a teacher and got boring.” Ariel released Jace and put her hands on her hips. Daisy saluted her best friend.

“Aye aye, ma’am.” she said sarcastically.

“Where’s Mom?” Dana wondered.

“She’s out on the town with Aunt Rachel and Aunt Claire.” Daisy answered.

“Must be nice having friends you can go and party with.” Ariel said, pouting.

“Don’t go taking that tone with me.” Daisy pointed a finger threateningly.

“Sorry, Ms. Holland.” Ariel said in a high pitched, breathy voice.

Daisy gave a groan.

Brooklyn and Amy both giggled at that, and Jace chuckled, too.

“Don’t you three encourage her.” Daisy huffed, “She’s insufferable about the fact I’m a teacher assistant now.”

“Back in the day, you used to be a student like me.” Ariel shook her head melodramatically.

“Ariel, I’m still a student!” Daisy said incredulously.

“I can almost hear my best friend, still talking.” Ariel said, feigning deep sadness.

“Remember whose house you’re in, Ariel. Keep doing that shit and I’ll kick you out.” Daisy threatened.

“Short tempered like a teacher.” Ariel shook her head. Daisy moved to grab Ariel and Ariel leaped back, “Last one, I swear!”

Jace laughed at his sister and her best friend.

“Right, well, I’m feeling a bit tired, so I might try and get some sleep.” Jace said.

“Sleep? At 10 at night? Shit, you’re getting boring too.” Ariel groaned.

“I’ll see you tomorrow for the beach trip, girls.” Jace chuckled.

“Night, Jace.” Brooklyn said with a sweet smile.

“I’m going to go ahead and head home, then.” Amy said after glancing upstairs. She headed out the front door after saying goodbyes, and Jace heard her car start out front.

Jace headed upstairs, and Dana and Brooklyn went out to the shared yard space. Daisy and Ariel went to the couch, still playfully arguing over the boring Daisy issue.