Ryan, Kaitlyn, Dave, Makayla, and some other people who weren’t invited have crashed the party. Not just crashed it, but ruined it. They’re standing off with Aiden, Noah, and Julian, who are refusing to let them venture any farther into the house. Annalisa must’ve been talked into not leaving the party earlier, because she and Charlotte are there as well, albeit a bit off to the side, but all my friends appear relatively sober. The rest of the partygoers are standing around with undisguised excitement, watching the scene unfold.

“Come on, Ryan. We’re just trying to have a good time here, no need to start problems,” Noah insists, trying to guide them to the door to leave.

“And like I asked before, I’m not invited to my own stepbrother’s birthday party?” Ryan shoots back, his eyes dark and calculating.

“No,” Aiden asserts, with authority in his voice. “And you’re not my stepbrother.”

I’m about to push through the crowd to stand with my friends when Aiden’s sharp eyes meet mine. He gives his head a discreet shake, accompanied by a stern look I know all too well by now: Stay out of it.

A lot of people have their phones out and are filming on that stupid app S-Live Time in anticipation of a fight breaking out.

I’m torn between wanting to back up my friends and needing to stay off social media. In the end, needing to stay off social media wins, because keeping Tony away from me means keeping that monster away from my friends.

“Why don’t we ask my dad to settle this disagreement like he used to when we were kids?” Ryan pauses. “Oh wait, we can’t. Her white-trash brother killed him.” He gestures to Annalisa, and people in the room reflexively take a step away from her.

There’s something different about Ryan. He looks like he’s taken the death of his father really hard. He had just gotten Greg back from prison, and then he was killed. Ryan barely got to reunite with him, and it’s obvious that’s affecting him. Even though I hate Ryan, I can sympathize with him. I also lost my dad at a time when our relationship was strained, and even with everything that went on after, his loss still hits me. I don’t know what Ryan’s relationship with his father was like, but it’s obvious he cared about Greg, and I get it.

Ryan’s face is unshaven, and looks tired and drawn, but at the same time hardened. His hair, which is usually styled in a short ponytail at the top, looks rushed and messy, and the sides that are usually shaved have grown out. His normally hostile brown eyes are ice cold. Maybe the last shreds of kindness within Ryan were buried with his father, and all that’s left are the parts that hate everyone with a burning passion.

Julian steps closer to Ryan.

“You watch what you say to her,” he threatens in a low voice.

Ryan all but ignores him. “Where’s the other little bitch who’s always here?” He directs this at Aiden.