12

"Enough, idiot, your Roli doesn't exist anymore. Now she's my girlfriend. Mine, nobody else's. M. I. N. E," Kayler spelled it out, making his friends laugh.

"But she didn't break up with me..." Max insisted.

"If I didn't, I'm doing it now," I crossed my arms and yawned. "Goodbye, Dax."

"It's Max."

"See? She doesn't even remember your name," Kayler mocked.

Max seemed a bit disheartened for a moment; I felt a bit sorry for him.

"Max, how about we be friends?" I suggested. That way, everyone could be at peace. Kayler cleared his throat again for the umpteenth time that day. Max's eyes lit up.

"Best friends?" he asked.

"Yes, best friends." Not really, my best friend was Connor. He hugged me unexpectedly, but once again, Kayler pushed him away.

"Keep your distance, idiot," he pointed out, but not in a mean way. It's true, Max seemed like a teenager compared to the great Kayler Brown.

"Roli, you have to tell me so many things," Max said, taking my hand and sitting on my chair-bed. "For example, what happened with Will? Carla, Vane, and Kenzie. I haven't seen them since Mom moved here."

I sat next to him, having to endure Kayler's accusatory and angry look. He just sat in his chair-bed and didn't take his eyes off us for a second.

"Well, Kenzie is with a guy named Connor..." I started telling him the story of the girls until I couldn't anymore. What interrupted our conversation was my phone ringing with the music of the mysterious man. I stiffened and tensed up. A fear of hearing that hoarse and scary voice again settled in my chest. Maybe he was here. And he was watching me.

"Whose phone is that?" Max asked.

"Carolina's," Kayler passed me the phone, looking at me expectantly. "Aren't you going to answer, Cushi?"

I took it hesitantly.

"That music is the one Betty set for the masked man who made her do bad things," Max laughed. "Do you have a mysterious man around, Carolina?"

That was it. Now that idiot Max had alerted and made Kayler suspicious, I knew it from the questioning look he gave me.

God, help me out here.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Max," I said, putting the phone on silent as it kept ringing. Kayler looked at me suspiciously, knowing something was wrong. "Since yesterday, I've been getting calls from a number asking for someone named... think... Maria. I told them it's the wrong number, but they seem to forget."

I didn't believe myself either.

Max looked at me strangely; he didn't seem to believe my lie either.

"Anyway!" I exclaimed, putting the phone under the small cushion. "Who wants something to drink? I do."

"Guys, go get something to drink, will you?" Kayler told Darren, Frederick, and Kevin. Now I remembered their names.

"We'll be right back," Darren announced, standing up and heading off to wherever the drinks were. The other two followed him. I noticed several girls watching them.

"Roli, tell me, what have you been up to? It's been so long since we last saw each other," Max rubbed his hands together, always smiling. Kayler just watched us in silence. I stood up, smiling at Max, and sat on the edge of Kayler's chair-bed. He immediately put his hand on my leg.

"Well... I think I have a lot to tell you since we haven't seen each other since elementary school. We were, what, nine or ten years old?" I frowned. It was a long time ago.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter. We have all day."

I glanced at Kayler; he just shrugged, gently massaging my leg.

"After you... I didn't have a boyfriend until I was fifteen, and that was with Will. We were together for two and a half years..." I pressed my lips into a thin line, thinking about what else to tell him. I also noticed Kayler tensing up. "While we were dating, I..."

"Is it necessary to give details, Carolina?" Kayler asked in a deep voice. Uh-oh, he was getting angry.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Alright, Max, I'll tell you another day," I raised my hands in a peace gesture. Max looked at Kayler warily. "It's okay, Roli," he said.

"What is it with these guys and their nicknames for you? The idiot Rafael calls you 'Lina,' and now this guy calls you 'Roli.' I think they're getting too familiar. Or maybe I'm the one allowing it. This can't continue," my jealous boyfriend objected.

I looked at him with boredom.

"I've been calling her Roli for a long time..." Max defended himself.

"Here are the drinks," Darren handed me a glass with some liquid inside. I think it's vodka or something like that. They gave Kayler and Max a beer.

"We'll be over there," Kevin announced, and the three of them left. I think to look for some girls.

I took a sip.

"Now that I remember..." Max paused, thinking. "Rafael? The teacher?" he inquired.

I nodded, not understanding.

"He calls you 'Lina'?"

I nodded again.

"It can't be! It's you!" he exclaimed, and I had no idea what was happening.

"What are you talking about?" my boyfriend asked ahead of me.

"Rafael and I are friends, so he told me about a girl he calls 'Lina.' He described her as a pretty blonde," Max responded.

I watched as Kayler clenched his fists, holding back. "Do you know if Rafael came?" he asked.

"Kayler..." I interjected. I didn't want Max to tell him that Rafael was here because I remembered the messages in the WhatsApp group; Rafael was the one who told us about the party, so it's obvious he's around here. I have to warn him. "I'm going to the bathroom," I announced, standing up quickly and walking briskly towards the house. I looked for him in the living room, kitchen, and some rooms. He wasn't there. I only had to check the entrance. I went down the stairs quickly and headed to the front yard.

There were a lot of people here too, talking and laughing. Since I was in a bikini, some men were looking at me lewdly.

"Hot mama," I heard an older man say. He was probably the age of his daughter, and he was acting like a pervert. Or maybe his poor wife was making him dinner while he flirted with others. Men, they had to be.

I turned to him.

"Hot mama? Did you know I could be your daughter's age? Don't you have a wife?" he fell silent. "I can't believe there are men like you, you should be more respectful, sir," I told him.

The others laughed at him, making an "uhhh" sound in unison. "The same goes for you," I said, looking at them.

They just laughed. I was going to say something else, but some barking caught my attention. It came from the sidewalk, a little way from the house, near a garbage can. There were three dogs barking at something and cornering it. I heard a meow, and then the dogs pounced on the poor cat.

Oh no.

I hurried over to the commotion.

"Stop!" I shooed them away with my hand. They let go of the animal and ran away. Except for one. "Get lost!" I picked up a small stick from the ground and threatened it. It growled at me a bit.

"GET AWAY!" I threatened again. Now it ran off. I left the stick on the ground and knelt down to the small, defenseless kitten. It was now injured and stumbling. My heart ached seeing it like that. It was scared of me.

"Shhh, it's okay, I won't hurt you," I whispered to calm it down. The kitten looked at me fearfully with its big blue eyes. Its chest was rising and falling rapidly. It wanted to run but couldn't move its back legs, dragging them instead. I couldn't leave it here; maybe those dogs would come back and finish it off. "I'll take care of you."

This kitten seemed to be a stray since it was next to a garbage can. Some heartless person must have dumped it here. Normally, I don't like cats, but there's something about this one that makes me want to keep it.

I picked it up and placed it on my lap, stroking its fur to calm it down. It still didn't trust me. I looked around, maybe its owner was nearby. Or maybe it really didn't have one.

"I'll take care of you, okay? We can't leave you here."

I held it with one hand while I searched for something to carry it in with the other. I found a box big enough for it. I put it in the box and kept stroking it, hoping it would trust me. But it was still hesitant.

"Carolina? What are you doing?" Kayler's voice made me turn to him immediately. "Ah... I..."

His gaze went to the box.

"What do you have there?" he peeked. "A cat?" he looked at me, not very convinced.

"Three big dogs hurt it," I explained. "I think it doesn't have a family since it was alone near this garbage can. Look at it, it can't move and it's injured. I can't leave it here because it might die, or those dogs might come back and finish what they started," I pouted a little.

Kayler thought for a moment.

"You're right, we can't leave it here," he took the box and petted the little cat. It closed its eyes at the touch. I think it approves of Kayler. "We'll have to take it to the vet tomorrow to get it treated. For now, we should keep it close."

I smiled like an idiot.

"Thanks, love," I gave him a small hug and a kiss.
•
After spending the whole day giving the kitten some milk and petting its injured areas, it was now night. The party was still going on and the place looked even more crowded. The pool had some kind of foam or something. There were many people swimming. The music was louder, and there were very drunk people already. It was a mess, so to speak.

The kitten had finally fallen asleep, still in the box we had next to our stuff. Kayler had gone off to chat with a friend, and I was with Max, but he went to swim with the others. Every time he asked me to join, I said no because I still didn't know how to swim.

"Caro, come see this!" Max had shouted to me. I shook my head. "Just come!" he insisted.

I sighed as I stood up, walking to the edge of the pool. "What do you want, Max?" I asked.

"Give me your hand, I'm getting out," he extended his hand for me to take. I didn't think badly of him; I simply gave him my hand, but I didn't expect him to pull me in, making me fall into the pool.

I let out a choked scream before falling into the water. Memories of the lake and the time I almost drowned came back to me. Still, I managed to reach the surface, splashing around.

"Have fun, Caro!" I heard Max say, smiling at me before going to another group. With difficulty, I managed to cling to the edge of the pool, hating Max to death. I was breathing heavily since I couldn't take much air when Max dunked me.

"No, stop, I can't swim! Stop!" Another scream nearby made me turn in that direction, noticing some guys throwing a boy into the water, despite him telling them he couldn't swim. When the boy fell in, splashing, it caused my hands to slip from the edge of the pool due to the water splashing. It blurred my vision, and I swallowed a bit of water but managed to resurface.

I was about to place my hands on the edge of the pool again when I felt hands on my head, immediately dunking me back underwater.

Someone was pushing themselves up using me!

I kicked, trying to remove their hands from me, until I finally got some air, but it didn't last long, as someone pushed my head underwater again. I felt the air leaving my lungs, feeling helpless, unable to do anything.

I closed my eyes and called out to Kayler with all my might in my mind, hoping he could somehow hear me.