“Watch out!” Marissa shrieked and stumbled into Cassie, knocking her drink out of her hand.

As if this night could get any worse. Cassie looked down at her silk top, now totally drenched. The guy she’d been talking to cursed about the two tiny drops that had fallen on his boots, and Cassie rolled her eyes. He hadn’t been that interesting anyway, but he’d started talking to her and she couldn’t help but be polite as she’d been taught. And he had been kind of funny, but the multiple shots she’d done probably had more to do with that than any innate humor he might have possessed.

As the guy walked away, still cursing, a giggling Marissa clung to her, drunker than Cassie had seen her in ages. But then again, she hadn’t seen her at all in weeks, Cassie reminded herself.

She hugged her best friend back, trying to be happy about having at least one thing going right in her life.

So what if she’d caught Logan looking at her with more hatred in his eyes than she’d ever seen on a person? New York was a big city and Columbia was a big school. He clearly realized he had options, thanks to the ever-attentive Brittney, and wasn’t wasting any time moving on.

And so what if Spencer was officially the most douchey person on the planet? He couldn’t even stand to see her talking to another guy. ‘Saving’ her is what he’d said. Cassie snorted as she thought about his lame excuse to try yet again to claim what he still saw as his territory. She wished now she’d have thrown her drink on him for the second time that night, and avoided ruining one of her favorite tops.

At least she hadn’t slept with him, she reassured herself. Poor Marissa would be dealing with that emotional fallout for a while. For the handful of days they had left together, Cassie was determined to support her best friend in any way she could.

But not if that meant standing around drinking cheap alcohol and talking to random guys.

“Let’s go,” she said. “I’m totally over this party.”

Marissa nodded, her eyes bright.

“Let’s get food!” she declared. Cassie sighed, but smiled. She was so happy to have Marissa back in her life she’d gladly take her drunk ass anywhere she wanted.

Except for the tiny fact Cassie was about five drinks too wasted to be able to drive either.

“Who’s driving?” she yelled over the music, wondering if Marissa even remembered driving here in her little red VW. There was no way Cassie was driving that thing, not in this state, and not ever again, she’d decided. No need to tempt fate.

Marissa looked at Cassie in confusion. Clearly she didn’t realize quite how drunk they both were. Cassie sighed and tried to find someone who looked familiar in the crowd. There were faces she knew from school, from her summers at the lake, but who did she trust? With a pang, she thought of the last time she’d been at a party and wanted to escape and she’d called Logan.

But she wasn’t thinking about him. That was over. Brittney could have him.

After another final scan of the room, she realized she’d have to call her sister. It wasn’t that late, but she knew she’d get an earful in the morning.

What were sisters for?

“Cassie there’s someone here to see you,” Di called at her bedroom door barely 7 hours after Cassie’s head had hit the pillow. She groaned and rolled over. She’d been having a very nice dream about an afternoon she’d spent with Logan at the lake. Waking up and realizing it would never happen again was like a cold shower on a winter night.

“Who is it?” It couldn’t be Marissa or she would have just come right in herself. Then she remembered Marissa had slept over and was in the guest room. That brought a smile to her face.

“He says his name is Hekiki or something.”

“Hideki!” she said, and shot up in bed, her smile vanishing. She shot a glare at her sister. “It’s not that hard of a name.”

“Whatever.” Di rolled her eyes. “He’s waiting outside. I thought it best he not come in. Dad might think he’s the new landscaper.” Cassie glared at her sister as she floated out of her room. Had her family always been this awful? Or was she only just now realizing the extent of their messed up priorities?

Cassie jumped out of bed and ran to the front hall, in her rush not even bothering to put a robe over her thin tank top and sleep shorts. She flung open the door and shivered a little in the cold morning air. She couldn’t wait for a proper summer on the east coast with months of heat instead of a few measly weeks.

“Hey, Cassie,” he said, wide eyed as he took in her sleepwear. He cleared his throat. “Sorry-not-sorry to wake you up.”

Cassie huffed in frustration and crossed her arms over her chest. She stepped back from the door, and he followed her into the entryway.

“What is it?” She ran through the possibilities of why he might be there. Had she forgotten something at their house he was only returning now? At 8 a.m. the day after a party? That was just rude.

Or maybe Logan had a message for her? Her heart started racing.

“Does Logan…”

Hideki shook his head.

“He’s, uh, not doing too great. He doesn’t know I’m here, actually. He’s in the hospital.”

The floor must have dropped out from under her, because Cassie could barely stand.

“What? Why?” She leaned against the wall for support, her legs refusing to support her.

“Spencer beat the crap out of him last night.”

“Oh, my gosh!” She took a deep shuddering breath, her stomach threatening to release last night’s shots.

That must have been Spencer’s big plan for revenge for her. But he didn’t know she’d been with Logan. Who could have told him?

“He thought something happened to you, that Spencer did something.”

Cassie’s heart fluttered. He’d been protecting her? From what? She frowned.

“Why would he think that?”

“It’s a little complicated.” Hideki flushed. “I’ll let Logan explain it though. I can drive you over if you want. I mean, if you want to see him.”

“Of course I want to see him! Let me just change.”

“Cassie you can’t go see him.”

She turned and saw her dad standing in the hallway, blocking the route to her room.

“I’ll just…wait outside,” she heard Hideki say and a minute later there was the sound of the front door slamming. Cassie still hadn’t taken her eyes off her father.

“What do you mean I can’t go?”

“We have the party today. Your mother will be here in an hour. She’ll need your help getting ready.”

“Di is here.”

“We need the whole family together. It’s what people expect.”

The twist in her heart was familiar. She always did what they expected. She had to.

From down the hall Marissa appeared, bleary eyed and taking in the scene with a frown. Cassie couldn’t leave her friend here while she ran off to see Logan. She’d done that once before and it had just started a chain of events that had ended with a broken heart for Cassie and so much worse for Logan.

She shouldn’t get involved again. She had to accept things were over. They all expected her to stay and help them. So that’s what she should do.

Right?