The School President of the United States (Chapter 1)

Once Madeline entered the cafeteria and approached the table she always sits in with her girlfriends, she slapped her hands down on the table at her "spot". The noise alarmed Andrea and Lizzie while the others saw it coming.

"Hello, my favorite people," she said sitting down.

"You seem to be in a good mood," noticed Skye.

"A very good mood," Debra grinned.

"What's the new news?" asked Lizzie. "Actually, I don't have to say 'new' because news are new. But what is the new news?"

"The new news is that I'm running for president," responded Madeline.

The girls smiled with amazed faces.

"Oh, congradulations, Maddie!" Lizzie gasped.

"Yeah, way to go!" Andrea agreed.

"Why thank you, thank you," Madeline grinned charmingly.

"That's cool you're running for president," started Skye. "You've been talking about that position forever, now it's going to come true for you."

"Yeah, hopefully. My application sheet was one of the best out of the three they picked from the twenty of those forms so I got a small chance of winning."

"That's for sure," said Lizzie. "Twenty people is a lot."

"But there are three competitors."

"But you said twenty."

"No, I said three."

"No, you said there were twenty people."

"No, twenty forms from twenty people but there are three competitors."

"What?"

Madeline shook her head. "Okay, so even though I'm running against a few students, I figured out some methods that will help me win for sure."

"What are the methods?" asked Andrea.

"Well, I was thinking that Skye and her band could write a few songs about voting for me and perform them for the school."

"Okay," Skye's voice sounded hesitant.

"And not to block your genius or make myself off of something but I did write lyrics for you to sing."

"Okay. When can I see them?"

"Right now." Madeline reached down under the neck of her coral shirt and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it then handed it to Skye.

"Ah, the bra: nature's basket," Lizzie shared.

Skye ran her eyes over the words of the paper. "These lyrics are egotistical," she commented.

"You mean truthful?" Madeline asked.

"No, egotistical. I love you, Maddie but I'm not going to sing how cool you are."

"Come on. This will only be for a day. Maybe two. Maybe for a week."

"Can my band get paid?"

"Skye, you're my friend; I shouldn't have to pay you."

Skye slapped the piece of paper. "Fine. I will ask my bandmates if they can help me produce some songs for you."

"Thank you. Also, another method is that Debra can make some charm bracelets to sell to the students like she's done before."

"Oh, great!" Debra grinned. "I bought this new DIY bracelet kit and I can't wait to break it off."

"Make sure you put my name on them."

"What if they don't buy them all?"

"Then you'll have bracelets that remind you of me."

"What can I do for you?" questioned Andrea.

"And me, too?" Lizzie added.

"You," Madeline pointed at Andrea, "can help get me the Spanish vote."

Andrea crinkled her nose. "That seems a bit segregated."

"It's not called 'segregation', it's called 'connection'. Maybe we can film a video and you can speak your fluent Spanish in it. Lizzie, you can help make T-shirts."

"Yes, I love fashion designing," said Lizzie.

"But when you're working the sewing machine, ask for someone to help you."

"Aw, do I have to?"

"Yes. We don't want you to have another 'accident'. Remember last year when you had to bring the sewing machine to school because it was stuck to your shirt?"

"I'll keep my apparell out of the way this time."

Madeline paused. "No, you must be supervised."

"Who are you running against anyway?" asked Andrea.

"Chrissy Walker and A.J. Hart. Smart kids but they can't beat me."

"Why?" questioned Skye. "Because you're too cool for school?"

"Ooh, that would sound good in another song!"

Skye paused. "I've spoken too much."

My First Keg Party (Chapter 5)

It did not take long for many teenagers inside the house to evacuate from the rooms engulfed in flames. The girls made it out safe, dragging Skye along with them who didn't even want to leave so quickly. They walked together, passing by others who were affected by the fire in their own way. Lizzie helped Madeline walk by wrapping her arm around her shoulders and holding onto it. Madeline pretty much dragged through most of the stroll.

"I can't believe you set the house on fire," Skye commented.

"Hey, I did not set the house on fire," Lizzie corrected. "I set a room on fire. There is a big difference, thank you very much."

"I'm not going to thank you for burning a room."

"Wait, I didn't burn the room! It was Debra. Debra did it."

"Not to be rude," started Debra, "but why did you say that like I could've been the only one to do that?"

"You should've stopped playing with that lighter once we saw you," stated Andrea.

"I was trying to see if I could turn it on so later I could light my candles."

"Well, you lit a big candle today."

"I had no idea that Madeline was going to breathe fire."

"I guess I'm an imagine dragon," commented Madeline, almost in a sleepy tone.

"How many drinks have you had?" asked Lizzie.

"A few."

"Define 'a few'," said Andrea.

"Like about eighteen."

"She's not going to wake up with a hangover tomorrow," said Skye. "She's going to wake up dead."

Madeline cackled. "Skye, you're so funny, you could be a chiropracting magician."

"I liked you more when you made sense."

"Poor Richard," said Lizzie.

"What does Richard have to do with this?" asked Andrea.

"It's his house!"

"Oh, yeah."

"Why did you have to drag me out?" Skye questioned.

"Sorry, but when a fire breaks out, you'd want as many of your friends out," Lizzie answered.

"I know but I didn't even get the chance to tell Jeffrey goodbye."

"Who's Jeffrey?"

"A guy I was talking to before Debra pulled me away."

"Ooh, you have a new boyfriend?"

"No. I just met him but he was very cool and funny and I miss him already."

"I'm sorry, Skye," Debra apologized. "Did you at least get his number?"

"No, not even a strand of hair to clone him."

"Clone him?" Lizzie scrunched her forehead.

"It's a joke."

"I should get used to that."

"Don't worry," said Debra. "You'll see him again."

"He doesn't go to our school and he doesn't live around here," Skye stated. "How will I ever see him again?"

"If it's fate, you two will meet once again."

"Well, fate better hurry because I miss him and I want him so let's go."

"Let's go," Madeline started to sing. "I'm talking here and now, I'm talking here and now."

"How many songs do you know!" Andrea asked.

"I feel awful that I even started the fire in Richard's house," Debra confessed. "Maybe I should go back and help him."

"Nuh-uh!" Andrea almost shouted. "You are not getting arrested!"

"But he knows it was an accident."

"Yeah, but somebody can tell him it wasn't an accident. Like Ross, who only cared about getting some tail."

"If I could get a tail, I'd get a monkey's," said Madeline.

"Zip it, Maddie."

"What are we going to tell her parents?" asked Lizzie.

"Nothing. Just leave her on the doorstep and bail. Like what Eminem said in that song."

"We're not going to listen to Eminem. Alright, we're going to listen to our heads. Now what my head suggests is that we water her down and if she's still drunk, we'll explain everything to her parents."

"Oh, you're so caring to me," Madeline cooed. "I love you, Lisa. And I love you, Annie. I love you, Dionne. I especially love you, too, Skittles. Now I got to throw up."

Madeline escaped from Lizzie's grip and ran towards the bushes. The girls flinched when they watched her vomit all over the leaves like a broken fire hydrant.

My First Keg Party (Chapter 4)

Meanwhile, tens of people surrounded the wooden table from earlier to cheer on Madeline who was dancing on the table to a hip hop song playing in the background. Later, Lizzie appeared and spotted her friend acting not so normal. She marched through the cheering teenagers to get right in front of the table.

"Madeline, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Getting my party on!" Madeline bent down and shouted.

Her shout made the crowd shout even louder.

Lizzie pulled on Madeline's arm, making her hop off the table. "Madeline, since when did you become fun?" she asked.

Madeline slowly swayed her body side to side. "Ever since I started calling myself 'Light Bulb'." Her voice was slurred and heavy.

"Why would you call yourself 'Light Bulb'?"

"Because I'm light-skinned. So how have you been doing?"

"Well, I was talking to a guy. He touched my boob. So I punched him."

"What's with people grabbing your boobs and stuff?"

"You know. People just can't understand that my appearance is just an appearance."

"Yeah, you dress like Anna Nicole but it don't make you Anna Nicole."

"Exactly, I guess."

"But it'll come in handy when you meet a very old, rich man."

"Yeah. Wait. No."

"Come on, somebody got to pay the bills with their mills." Madeline rubbed the fingers of her right hand together while puckering her lips.

"Madeline, are you okay?"

"I'm more than okay. I'm a-okay! I'm so okay, I could spell out the long version. O-K-E-Y. Yes, I spelled all that."

Lizzie leaned towards Madeline's face and took a big whiff.

"Why are you smelling me? You want some gum?"

"You smell like the beer that's been laying around here." Lizzie's eyes then widened and pointed at Madeline with her finger. "You're drunk."

"Please, if I'm drunk, then you're Skippy."

"That made no sense to me."

"Sense is for the people... who sense. Or have cents. Whatever's smarter."

"Maddie, you told us not to get drunk yet you're the drunkest person here. I don't know what happened but if it's peer pressure, I expected more from you."

"Lizzie, don't fret." Madeline started to convulse into what appeared to be a dance move. Lizzie took a step back as Madeline shimmied her shoulders at such a random point of time. Madeline began to sing in an almost mumbled tone, "It's going down-down, baby, your street, in a Range Rover, sweet sweeper, baby..."

"You're not drunk. You're drunker than drunk. You're... a word I don't even know."

Madeline stopped dancing and giggled loudly.

"I think I'm gonna find girls so we can go."

Ross appeared, sprinting to Madeline's side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Hey, hey, hey. Who's leaving?"

"Me and Madeline," answered Lizzie.

"Whoa, you can't just escort people out because you feel like it. It's a party; have some fun."

"Yeah, have some fun," Madeline agreed, "unless you're square."

"But I'm not square-shaped," responded Lizzie.

"Alright, cool it, Lisa," said Ross.

"Who's Lisa? I'm Lisa?"

"Yeah... or whatever you go by. How about you leave and I will keep Madeline company?"

"No way, that does not feel right to me."

"But Madeline's having a good time."

"Super good," Madeline added.

"So why poop on the party?"

"Yeah, party pooper."

"I'm sorry," said Lizzie, "but Maddie's my friend and I'm not going to leave her with a stranger when her mind went to Funkytown."

"Can't a guy put a girl to bed in peace?" Ross muttered, looking over his shoulder.

"Did you just say 'put her to bed'?" asked Lizzie, squinting her eyes.

"What? No!"

"I hope you were talking about tucking her in and letting her sleep."

"Uh... yeah. That's exactly what I was talking about. Tucking her in and all that."

"Well, that's generous of you. Wait a sec, I'll write down her address."

Just when Lizzie reached into her purple purse, Andrea approached her.

"Hey, I found you," she said.

Lizzie took her hand out of her bag. "Oh, what's up, Andy?"

"Oh, that guy I was talking to earlier? He won't stop blabbing. And I'm starting to think he's racist."

"Well, you know what they say about racists... I'd tell you but it's too dirty."

"Then send me an e-mail."

"Okay."

"So what's going on, Liz' and Maddie?"

"Ross is gonna get me in bed," Madeline replied.

Ross clenched his teeth and shut his eyes tightly.

"What?" Andrea inquired with a changed demeanor.

"Yeah, he's going to tuck her in so I'm gonna give him Mads' address," said Lizzie.

"Well, don't."

"Why?"

"Because putting somebody to bed is not good."

"Is sleeping wrong now?"

"No! He's going to have... 'relations' with her."

Lizzie gasped then quickly turned her head to Ross. "You said you were gonna tuck her in!"

Ross shrugged. Then Madeline took his arm off of her so she could face him.

"Hey," she started, "if you wanna get with me, there's some things you gotta know. I like my beat fast and my bass down low. B-B-Bass down low." She started "popping" mindlessly around Ross while singing the song to herself.

"Madeline's a mess," Andrea commented.

To her surprise, the boy from earlier walked up from behind Andrea. He patted her shoulder to gain her attention. When she turned around, she rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"I told you not too long ago, I was getting a drink."

"But I'm not finished telling you my story."

"Who said I wanted to listen to your story, chatterbox? I'm a human and I got stories, too."

"Sorry, Princess Burrito. Sorry that I don't want to hear your Spanish mouth running when I got some things to say."

"What you say?"

"I said, 'Sorry, Princess Burrito'."

Andrea turned her head. "I'm sorry, couldn't hear you. Can you come closer?"

The boy leaned towards her ear. "I said you were a Princess--"

Andrea grabbed his bicep. She pinched it so hard that he dropped to his knees and squealed like a little girl.

"Call me a burrito again and I will turn your arm into ground beef," she threatened. "Then who'd be the burrito now, huh?"

She let go, feeling that the boy had enough. He scrambled up with watery eyes.

"That hurt," he said before walking away and holding his arm.

Coincedentally, Debra showed up just to miss the action. In her hands, she held a lighter with a sticker of a flame on it.

"Debra, what are you doing with that?" Lizzie asked frantically.

"It's Aiden's," Debra said sadly. "Skye was right. I was wrong. Does anybody know how to turn this on?"

"Debbie, you shouldn't be playing with fire," said Andrea. "You got to swipe that left."

"I feel stupid because I was about to get pressured into lighting Aiden's joint so I ran away. But for the life of me, I cannot turn this on."

"Maybe it's Jesus stopping you. Or maybe you just can't work it."

"But let's forget everything," insisted Lizzie, "because we should be mad at Ross."

"What did Ross do?" asked Debra.

"More like what was he about to do," said Andrea.

"Yeah, he was planning to have relations with Madeline," Lizzie answered the question.

"And she's drunk."

"Like Spongebob when he eats ice cream."

"You piece of Hitler," Debra looked at Ross infuriated.

"Come on, I don't completely understand what I'm doing wrong," Ross said.

Andrea's eyebrows slanted down towards each other.

"Are you pulling my girl trousers?" inquired Lizzie.

"You can't just get a girl intoxicated so you can have intercourse with her," Debra remarked.

"Yeah, this isn't Sixteen Candles," commented Andrea.

"Girls, ladies, boys with boobs," Madeline slurred. "There ain't nothing wrong with a new friend putting a girl to sleep."

"Were you gonna roofie her, too?" Debra asked angrily.

"The bad candy!" Lizzie brought up.

"Take it easy," Ross threw his hands.

"No, you take it easy," said Andrea, walking up to him. "In fact, you're gonna take it hard."

Lizzie and Debra began to crowd Ross with evil looks on their faces.

"Guys, what if he's claustrophobic?" said Madeline, walking close to Debra.

Suddenly, when Madeline spoke her last word, fire from Debra's lighter started to thrust out. Debra flinched once she saw the sudden, long flame. When the girls turned their heads, the fire hit a boy in the back. He automically freaked out and ran by others who caught on fire as well. The boy even brushed a pair of curtains that hang from the dining room window. The curtains did not hesitate to catch fire and send smoke into almost every room in the house.

"Pretty!" Madeline cooed.

My First Keg Party (Chapter 3)

Aimlessly, Skye roamed through the crowd of strangers unhappily, trying to find some space. She avoided any interaction once she came to the party and definitely desired to speak to her friends which she was not able to do. When she attempted to pass a corner, she accidentally bumped into an unfamiliar boy, making him spill his drink.

"Sorry," Skye said, almost straining to say it.

"It's okay," the boy bashfully smiled. "At least I didn't get any on me."

Skye tittered awkwardly. What became more awkward than her laugh was the constant staring of the boy.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

"I don't know," the boy answered. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't know because I'm pretty sure I don't know you."

"I feel like I've seen you before."

"Do you go to Laguna Beach High?"

"No."

"Then I still don't know you."

"Maybe you remind me of someone."

"Well, I don't know many people who look like me."

"I think I'm thinking of Avril Lavigne."

Skye scoffed and rolled her eyes.

The boy scrunched his forehead. "What?"

"Nothing. I love Avril Lavigne. I just don't think I look like her."

"Of course, you don't exactly look like her. You two just seem... similar. But to be honest, you're way prettier than Avril Lavigne."

Skye's eyes widened. That comment made her smile a bit. Then she started to notice how cute the boy was. His pale, smooth skin. His sky-blue eyes shining under his big, squared eyeglasses. His jet-black hair oozing from his gray beanie. He was the dream guy for Skye, which made her start feeling more like a girl.

"Thank you," she looked down.

"No need to thank me. It's the truth."

Skye looked up. She felt like looking into his eyes were making her blind. In a good way, of course. "My name is Skye unless you knew that," she tried to sound cool.

The pale-skinned boy chuckled. "My name's Jeffrey since you don't know that."

Skye giggled. "So what brings you here to this party?"

"Richard, the 'man' of the house, invited me. We used to be next-door neighbors. Now he lives in this house which is sweeter than mine. But I am not that envious because he is just going to trash it later."

Skye felt like she was looking in a mirror. "You and Richard still communicate."

"Now and then. How do you know Richard?"

"Oh, I don't. But he goes to my school and apparently asked one of my friends to come and to bring friends so here I am."

"Don't take it personal."

"Oh, I don't. It's not a big surprise to me that my friends are hot."

"But you're so cool and chill. I feel like people ask you to parties all the time."

"Well, they don't. I'm not much of a party-goer anyway."

"Same here. I just drink as much punch as I can so the smell of beer doesn't get to me."

"Are you a recovering alcoholic?"

"I'm awfully too young to be an alcoholic."

"Who knows? You probably hide booze in your sock drawer."

"Well, I don't like to kiss and tell."

The two shared a laugh.

"So since you like Avril Lavigne, what other types of musicians do you listen to?" Jeffrey asked.

"Uh, let's see: I'm into Jack White, Nirvana, U2, Panic! at the Disco--"

"Oh, that reminds me. People say that I look a lot like Brendon Urie."

"I don't see it."

"Maybe if you squint your eyes."

"I still wouldn't see it."

"Well, eyes are eyes."

"What music do you like?"

"All the ones you named. Although, I would like to include My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy."

"Oh, I love those bands, also. I'm not bragging but I'm in a band."

"Really? That's cool."

"Thanks."

"Is it famous?"

"Uh, no. No, no, but I would like to get there."

"Cool. What is your position?"

"Frontwoman."

"That's pretty awesome."

"Yeah and I do the keys, too."

"I bet you're really talented."

"I mean I'm good."

"I got to see you play."

"Well, we did upload a few videos on YouTube. I can show you on my phone." She pulled out her black, touch-screen phone from her back pants pocket. She started to press away as Jeffrey gazed at her screen.

My First Keg Party (Chapter 2)

"Wow," said Madeline. "This soiree is… wow."

"I don’t know what ‘soiree’ means but thank you," said the brunet boy, closing the door.

"Ugh!" Skye uttered. "It smells like manure in here."

"Yeah, somebody took a dump around here somewhere," the boy replied. "Anyways, make yourself at home."

He walked quickly away from the girls.

"I hope I don’t step on it," Lizzie whispered to her friends.

"Let’s just watch our step, okay?" Madeline ordered. "So this is our first party with beer as the main component. Now we don’t have to drink the beer—"

"Because of the candies with fruit in them," Lizzie pointed.

"Right. But we shall enjoy this for as many hours as we can and we will be able to do that if we stick together."

"I agree," smiled Debra.

Not too long, a built guy with dirty blond hair confidently walked up towards the girls and tapped Andrea on the shoulders.

"Hey, has anyone ever tell you that you look like Jennifer Lopez?" he asked her.

"Are you blind?" Andrea responded, lifting her eyebrow up at him.

"A little bit."

"Then thank you," she grinned with arrogance.

She held the boy's hand, giving him permission to lead her away. Before he could do such, Madeline grabbed Andrea's shoulder.

"Hey, I said we need to stick together," she told her.

"You don't need me," said Andrea. She slipped out of Madeline's hand and let the stranger walk her away.

"I don't want to be rude but if Andrea's going to hit on somebody, I want to hit on somebody, too," said Lizzie. "In order for me to do that, I can't stick with you all."

"Well, that's offending, Lizzie," Madeline remarked. "I suggested sticking together so we could have fun easier. But if you want to separate, then go ahead."

"Okay," Lizzie smiled before bolting away.

"This party is tearing us apart," Skye commented sarcastically. "Maybe we should go."

"No," said Madeline. "Maybe they have the right mind. How else are we going to make new friends if we are constantly together?"

"But we don't need new friends if we have each other."

"Oh, Skye, once you become popular, you'll understand."

"Well, how do you understand if you're not popular yet?"

"I did my research."

"Yeah, because you're a nerd."

"A nerd with dreams."

"Since we are separating anyway, I think I'm gonna go find Aidan while you two talk," interrupted Debra.

"Aidan, the pothead?" questioned Madeline.

"Hey, he doesn't do pot anymore."

"I don't know," said Skye. "Once a stoner, always a stoner."

"That is not true. He changed his ways."

"Well, look at Whitney Houston."

"Whitney Houston's dead."

"Yeah and you know why?"

"She drowned."

"In a bathtub. How do you drown in a bathtub? I'll tell you how: smoking that crack."

"But we're talking about marijuana."

"It's all the same," Madeline jumped in.

"It is not."

"Look, just find your Airhead Aidan," Skye recommended.

"He's not an airhead."

"Yes, he is because he's smoking pot."

"I'm just gonna go before my chi turns negative."

Debra took a breath then walked from her best friends, fading into the colorful crowd.

"Skye, I know you have gross feelings about teenage partying but this is how we're going to learn more about our identities," Madeline said, putting her hands on her hips. "Yes, it might be a stupid choice but we can't know how to be smart if we don't know how to be stupid."

"But you know stupid," Skye responded, "so you would've made a smart choice and not drag us here."

"I didn't drag you here; you willingly came. Don't blame me but if it makes you stay, blame me."

"Alright, I blame you."

"Now you're going to change your mind later and that's okay. Don't worry, I'm not going to change myself while I'm here. This party is a test and if I don't become popular, at least I stayed true to myself. And at the end of the day, I will still have my four best friends."

Skye smiled. "I still blame you."

"Like I said, you'll get over it."

Madeline swiftly turned ninety degrees and walked away from Skye, who still stood around for a while. As Madeline marched through the hysteria, she was stopped by a handsome boy sitting on a table who called, "Hey!"

Once she turned her head, the boy stood on the floor. "The name's Madeline, right?"

"Yesiree, it is," she answered, walking closer to him.

"I'm Ross. I'm a part of the football team."

"Oh."

"I've heard a lot about you."

"Really? Good stuff, right?"

"Oh, yeah, totally."

Madeline grinned behind a subtle growl.

"You're a part of the debate club. Kinda nerdy but you make it hot."

"Thanks, I make everything hot."

"Weird hearing that from a goody-goody."

"Goody-whatty?"

"You know. A goody two-shoes. A square."

Madeline gaped. "I am not a square! The last time I checked, squares do not have curves."

Ross chuckled. "Listen, take it as a compliment. Not all goody-goodies are hot. Consider yourself lucky."

"Why? Because if my virtue gets in the way, I can always rely on my looks? Well, let me tell you something: I should be lucky because I do rely on my looks. I'm just not going to hear that from you."

"Look, if you don't want to be a goody-goody, just lighten up a bit."

"Oh, I lighten up. People call me 'Light Bulb' because I always lighten up. Look at my skin. Light!"

"I don't believe you."

"Then let me prove myself."

"Fine. I want to see you drink alcohol."

"Why?"

"Because alcohol is for people who lighten up, Light Bulb."

"Okay. Where are the Brewskies?"

"Uh, I have a beer right here." Ross picked up a red cup from the table. He handed it to Madeline who looked right away into it.

"Did you drink from this?"

"Yeah, what's the matter?"

"I don't actually like to share cups with people because of the variety of germs that--"

"Fine. Give it back, square."

"Oh, do squares do this?"

Madeline chugged the whole cup of golden alcohol, letting it all trail down her throat as she slowly tilted her head back. Once she was done, she scrunched the cup to notify its emptiness.

"Oh, yeah!" she uttered after wiping her lips with the back of her hand. "That was good as I enjoyed your backwash."

Volume 3: My First Keg Party (Chapter 1)

It was a breezy night and the girlfriends passed by streetlights and fire hydrants as they walked together down an unfamiliar sidewalk. They were dressed nicely for a house party that they were heading to. They chatted about the beginning, middle and end of their results of attending the party.

"Can’t you believe this is our first party together?" asked Madeline.

"We’ve been to other parties before," reminded Skye.

"Yeah, but it’s our first keg party."

"And that’s good news because?"

"All of the cool kids go to the keg parties. So the fact that we were invited makes us cool kids."

"Yay," Lizzie smiled, "now I will totally understand that Echosmith song."

"What if I don’t want to be cool?" asked Skye.

"Too late," Madeline said. "You’re already cool."

"Well, that sucks."

"It shouldn’t. We’re going to be the newest celebrities in the Hollywood we call, ‘Laguna Beach High School’."

"Good," Andrea pulled down her shirt by the edge. "Now maybe it will be easier for me to capture some dulce. Mami is hungry."

"I have a Snickers bar in my purse," said Lizzie. "Maybe you could give your mom that."

Andrea scrunched her forehead. "No, it was a figure of speech."

"So your mom is not hungry?"

"How would I know she is?"

"Is your family out of food?"

"Speaking of family," started Madeline, "do our parents know we are out here tonight?"

"I asked for permission," Debra replied.

"It took a lot of pleading for me to go," responded Andrea.

"I snuck out," Skye admitted.

"I told my mom and dad I was going to get cat food," said Lizzie.

"You don’t own a cat," Skye smirked.

"Exactly."

"Yeah, I told my parents that if they let me go to the party, I would wash their car once a week for a month," said Madeline.

"You’re actually willing to do a chore?" questioned Andrea.

"Hey, it takes hard work to become a celebrity."

"But you’re not a celebrity," said Skye. "We’re not celebrities. We’re just five girls going to Richard Keaton’s keg party."

"Yeah, but Richard Keaton is the captain of the swim team. I don’t know if you’ve heard but that is a big deal."

"No, I get it. ‘Oh, Richard Keaton can swim. We should worship him like a god.’"

"Hey, if one of us drowns, we would need someone to save us."

"Um, we are teenagers, sixteen or over. I think we should already know how to swim."

"But what if you’re someone like Debra?" asked Lizzie.

"What if you’re someone like me?" Debra questioned with a short giggle.

"Somebody told me that black people couldn’t swim."

Debra’s face relaxed, showing a different attitude. Andrea slapped her hand over her face.

"Who told you that, Lizzie?" asked Madeline, blinking rapidly.

"My television," answered Lizzie.

"Well, that is not true."

"Oh, then sorry, Debra."

"Hey, it’s all good," Debra smiled.

"Wow, you’re always so calm, Debra," Skye commented.

"That’s just me. Of course, if someone different said that to me, I would’ve slapped the headlights out of them. But this is Lizzie; she means well."

Lizzie grinned innocently.

"Ooh, we’re almost there," Madeline alarmed, looking at the big house across from the girls. "Man, his house is so nice."

"Too bad he’s going to trash it," added Skye.

"Hey, as long as we don’t have to clean it up for him," said Andrea.

"Are we going to drink beer?" asked Debra.

"That is up to you and the rest of us," answered Madeline.

"We should stay away from the alcohol," insisted Andrea. "Because the fellas like to play around with the roofies. And I know that I do not want to be a part of that."

"Well, who would want to be a part of that?" asked Madeline.

"What are roofies?" questioned Lizzie. "Are they, like, candies?"

Andrea stared at the night sky. "Yes," she replied after a pause, "they are candies but they’re the bad type of candy so you don’t want to mess with them."

Lizzie scrunched her nose to herself. "They do have fruit in them?"

Andrea huffed. "Yes."

"Ew."

"Look at the cool kids," Madeline said, observing the teenagers hanging outside the house. "We are going to be one of them in seconds."

"You mean a bunch of B.O. ridden, cigarette smoking, beer goggled bums?" asked Skye.

"Yeah!"

"Madeline, I thought that you didn’t want to be part of ‘the bad crowd’."

"I don’t… unless it makes me popular. Besides, a girl can fake it."

"Girls always do," Andrea informed.

It did not take long for the girls to arrive at the house, being inches away from the door. Madeline volunteered to ring the doorbell. Just only a couple seconds, the door was opened by a semi-buff boy holding a red cup and sporting brown, scruffy hair.

"Hey, I know you guys," he first said. "Missy and the other ones."

"I go by Madeline," she smiled.

"Whatever. Come on in."

He opened the door wider so the girls can step right in. They immediately walked into a frenzy of individuals and decorated mess on the floor.