I looked up at him. He kissed me. I wanted to talk but I really couldn't. My lips were parted. Below me, a huge 17th birthday was going on. One that I didn't even want to happen. I felt like Lindsay from Freaks and Geeks when she had that party to impress Daniel. (only I wasn't trying to impress anyone) I didn't want it.

I leaned back into the kiss.

~a few hours earlier~

"We got like 3 kegs," Dallas told me. He ran a hand through his black hair before heading back outside to his dad's truck. "Come help me!" he yelled back at Molly.

The two went outside. I sat down on the bottom of the wall, letting out a major sigh. I hate parties.

A lot of people were coming according to Dallas. I only knew about 4 that he had named off. When I had told Jack about it ("Lame high school birthday party, You should go." were my exact words) he smiled so wide, for a spilt second his smile sparkled. ("Of course I'll go! Are the other guys invited too?" Sadly, I said yes.)
So make that five people I know.

Somehow, Taylor figured out about it. He confronted me about it in between 3rd and 4th period. ("Birthday party? Isn't your boyfriend invited?" He snickered, holding a piece of neon green paper [Flyers, Dallas called them] in my face. I snatched the flyer out of his hands. "What boyfriend?" I basically snarled) I had to let him go though. But I made sure to warn him of Jack and if he started anything, he'd have to leave.

Now, I was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, thinking where I went wrong in my life. I hated parties, and now I was throwing one.

"Macy, get your ass up and help! This is YOUR party after all." Molly snapped, carrying in a keg with Dallas on the other side. (Let's face it; Molly would break a nail if she had to carry one of those herself.)

"I didn't agree to it!" I argued, rising up. "You forced it upon me!"

She stared at me, dropping the keg. Dallas yelped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You never ask me what I want. It's all of the partying, all the guys, 'let loose'. You know what Molly? I hate it all! You and Dallas can do all the work. I'm putting my foot down." I turned away sharply before running into my room.

"What's up her butt?" Dallas said loudly.

I sat in my bed for 2 hours, watching nonsense movies. I heard the first batch of people come in around 8.

"Where's the birthday girl?" Someone I didn't know asked someone.

"She'll be here in a minute. I'll take that." Molly explained.

In about 20 minutes the house was full and people were still coming in. I stayed in my room, planning on telling Jack to let me stay with him in the hotel for the night. I knew he'd let me, but then I remembered the other guys were probably going to be over soon. I just wanted to leave.

The door opened and a couple making out stumbled in. The guys hand tried finding the light switch.

I let a groan out. "Occupied!" I shouted over the loud music. I stood up.

The girl looked shocked. "Sorry, dude! Wait, aren't you the birthday girl?"

I sinked back to the bed, crushing my butterfly pillow in my arms. "No." I lied.

"Yeah you are!" the guy piped up. "Dude, the parties amazing. Go out and enjoy it!"

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Don't get the sheets dirty," I ordered.

They were right; the party was radiant. It wasn't one of those gross high school parties were everything was a mess and red cups were everywhere. People were dancing, smiling, and having a good time. I let a small smirk play on my lips before walking around.

Did Taylor show up?

Did Jack decide not to go to the lame party?

"Thanks for coming out of your room!" Dallas put his hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged like it was nothing- Like he thanked me for saving the city and it was no biggie. "Yeah. Hey, did you see Taylor?"

Dallas put his fingers to his ear and came closer, trying to hear me. "What?"

"Did Taylor show up?"

He looked at me. "Di ylr hoe uno?" he repeated what I though I said.

I rolled my eyes. "Forget it!"

I walked around, mingling. A thought appeared in my mind. Were there any All Time Low fangirls at the party? If so, were they going to notice that the band was here? It wasn't a meet and greet, it was my birthday party.

"Macy!" A voice called behind me. I turned around.

"Hey!" I smiled. Jack and the guys were standing behind me.

"Happy birthday!" Jack shouted.

"Yeah! Hey, do you think it's illegal for adults to be at an underage party?" I asked.

Alex nodded. "Probably. Oh well, happy birthday!" he pronounced 'birthday' like 'birfday'.

I grinned broadly. The three guys filed out, leaving Jack and I.

"We gave the presents to some weird buff guy." He explained. Dallas.

I chuckled. "You guys really didn't have to get anything for me."

His eyebrows shot up. "Yeah we did! It's a birthday party!"

I gazed into his eyes. I didn't talk, probably freaking him out. He only looked back with a small smile on his face. God, I was in deep shit with this kid. "Thank you." I said finally.

"No problem." he said back.

Silence filled the space between us. Not the awkward type either, the kind that really made you warm. Where you know you cared about someone and you knew that they did too (At least I thought Jack cared for me)

"Just fucking kiss already!"

We both turned at the same time. Rian was smiling with those great teeth of his. He ran away.

"Sorry," Jack looked down. "He's an ass."

"You don't need to apologize," I took his hand into mine. I got nervous as I did so. "I really don't want to be in here. How cold is it outside?" I asked him.

He looked at my hand in his and then gulped. "Uh, pretty freezing. Why?"

I led him through the crowd. It parted like the Red Sea and as if we were Moses.

I walked outside. I realized how many cars were parked out there. It was like a stadium's on Thanksgiving for a football game, minus about a 1,000 cars.

"What are we doing?" Jack demanded, his voice shivering caused by the cold.

I looked over to the corner of the house. A silver ladder stood there. I unfolded it.

"Are we getting on the roof?" Jack chimed.

I looked back at him and winked. I climbed the ladder and found my way up. I felt the bass of the music under my feet, creeping up my spine.

"You do this a lot?"

I sat down and laid back. Jack followed my lead.

"Yeah." I said. I pressed my hands against my stomach. "Don't you?" I turned my head towards him. He did the same. His face was so close to mine, I felt his breath. I didn't mind.

"No, not since high school." He replied.

"Jeez, that makes me feel like I'm 5." I joked.

"Four years younger than me. Not that bad, kiddo."

I turned my head back up to face the stars. There wasn't any out. "Did you ever read Perks of Being a Wallflower?"

He shook his head. "What's it about?"

"Amazing book- read it sometime. I'll give you my copy," I offered. "It's about this freshman who's a loner, and this one group takes him under their wings and guides him through high school. It's way deeper than that."

"Sounds like any normal book." he spoke.

I turned my head back at him. "But it's not!"

He blew air out of his nose in a chuckle. "Whatever you say."

My face grew warm and I settled back on the rooftop. "I'm excited to be 18, you know that? 365 days. It seems like forever. I'll be able to do anything. Besides drinking."

"You know that if you do a really big crime you can be charged as an adult? So you are in a way."

I clicked my tongue. "Thanks! I'll keep that in mind as I'm killing someone." my voice was drenched in sarcasm.

He sat up and looked at me. "I'm just saying!"

I giggled and sat up to face him. The silence from when we were in the house suddenly came over us. He leaned and before I knew it, his lips were on mine. It was a quick kiss.

I pulled away and looked up at him. I was breathless. His eyes studied my face. I leaned back into him, kissing him.

His hands cupped my face. My hands were on his wrists. We laid softly back on cold roof, still kissing.