“A little,” I admitted. Any number of things could go wrong tonight, but I’d already decided it was worth the risk. We looked for any cameras around the exterior of the house, and finding none, Manson texted the group to let them know.

“Ready?” he said. He was about to walk into a party where half the people used to bully him relentlessly, yet he didn’t seem worried in the least. Considering I was a bundle of nerves, I was amazed he was so calm.

The two of us were going to walk in there and shatter the entire vibe. Despite how nervous I was, I sincerely couldn’t wait to see the look on Danielle’s face when we did.

“Ready,” I said, and I reached over to ring the doorbell.

The music grew even louder as Candace opened the door. The smile on her face instantly froze when she saw us.

“Oh, Jessica, wow, hi!” she said, her enthusiasm poorly faked. She had a red plastic cup in one hand, and she sounded tipsy despite the early hour. It was only 4 pm, the party was just getting started. But she’d never been able to handle her alcohol very well. “I had no idea you were coming. I, uh…” She looked at Manson, her eyes combing up and down his body in a slow appraisal. “You brought a plus one…cool…”

Manson had exaggerated his outfit on purpose. It was closer to what he used to wear in high school, back when he had the mohawk and everything he put on looked like it had survived a cataclysmic event. His tight acid-wash jeans were covered in patches and ragged holes, his Black Flag t-shirt similarly thrashed. But my favorite part of the ensemble was, obviously, the boots.

They were large, and laced up to his knees, with a thick sole that made his already tall height closer to Vincent’s. It made me look particularly small beside him, dressed in my pink crop top and jeans.

“Yeah, it was a spontaneous decision,” I said, smiling as I pulled Manson along behind me into the house. Candace was looking at us like I’d allowed an extremely dirty dog to walk in. “I really needed a night out. Work is killing me. You know how it is.”

I turned away from her with a little wave. Top 40 songs were blasting from the sound system, and people were gathered in every room, yelling to each other over the music. The kitchen was crowded, bottles of liquor and open pizza boxes littered across the countertop.

People looked twice as we passed, and when we stepped into the kitchen to get ourselves drinks, a group of guys who already looked wasted spotted us.