"WINTER!!!" Maple's loud voice rings through my peaceful deep sleep. Well once peaceful sleep as she jumps on my bed causing me to fly off the bed as Katara bolts from the bedroom.

     Untangling myself from the sheets, I glare at Maple. "How are you this bubbly on a Saturday morning," I pause to look at the clock. "ESPECIALLY at 9am?" I chuck a pillow at her which she catches with ease. Frowning, I say, "I hate you."

     With a smile on her face, she replies with, "Oh, I love you too Winter!"

     Smiling to myself, I jokingly tell her, "Oh, go to hell."

     "We have to get you ready!"

     "No leave me to sleep."

     "Get up!"

     "No!"

     "Yes!"

     "No!"

     "Yes!"

     This continues on for the next 5 minutes before Maple finally hops off my bed. "Your getting ready whether you like it or not young missy." 

     "Fine mom." I reply with a giggle.

Several hours later (Yes your hearing that voice from spongebob saying this. Your welcome 😏)

     "OH MY GOD LOOK AT YOU!! YOU LOOK AMAZING!!!" Maple squeals.

     Looking at myself in the mirror, I realize I do look good. My usual rats nest of a thing called hair is in a nice messy bun while my face is highlighted in natural makeup. The light blue strapless knee length dress fits my curves just right while the tan sandals make the silver nailpolish on my toes pop.  “Dang Maple, I do look amazing!” I pull her into a hug. Whispering in her ear, I say, “If anything happens at this party, I’m skinning you alive and hanging your hide above my bed.”

     Maple chuckles. “Ok Winter. But I needed to get you out to more than just homecoming and the holiday dance. Just because you’re autistic and horrible at being social doesn’t mean you can’t go out and live a little girl!” (Not making fun of autistic’s at all)

     "Oh shut up. Don't we have a party to get to?"

     Maple looks at her phone. "AHHH IT'S 6:00pm!!!!" Grabbing my arm, Maple drags me out of my bedroom, down the steps and out the front door barely giving me time to lock it.

     "WHY ARE WE IN SUCH A RUSH?!?! I THOUGHT THE PARTY DIDN'T START TILL 7?! And Ashton's house is only like 17 minutes away!"

     Throwing the key into the ignition and starting the car, Maple peels out of my driveway. "Oh sweet, innocent Winter. That's just a, what do you call it, estimate. The actual party starts earlier my dear."

Time skip

     Maple was telling the truth. We arrive at Ashton's place in less than 10 minutes thanks to Maple's erratic driving. Did I already ask how she got her license? Anyhow, pulling into his driveway, a large mansion looms over us. There are teens already lining the lawn while music blares from the house.

     "Come on Winter!" Taking me by the arm, Maple drags me to the front door. With a swift knock, the door opens and there stands Ashton.

     "Hey Maple, you made it!" He pulls her into a hug. "Come in." He lets us into the house

     "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

     After shutting the door, he turns to me. "And who's this?" He looks me up and down, searching every inch of me as he takes a drink from the red SOLO cup in his hand.

     "My friend Winter. You know her from school."

     His eyes widen as he almost spits out his drink. "Winter Hood?"

     Crossing my arms, I glare at him. "Yes it's me. Now if you would excuse us." I take Maple by the arm and pull her away from Ashton, leading us deeper into the crowd.

     A voice echoes out from behind us. "Damn Winter, you clean up good!" Rolling my eyes, I look at Maple.

     "So where does the fun begin."

     With an evil smirk on her face, Maple leads me towards the kitchen.

1 hour 30 minutes later (sorry for all the time skips)

     It's about 2 hours into the party and I’m starting to get a little tipsy from the alcohol. Maple and me slowly make our way through the sea of teenagers in front of us. "Hey Winter, wanna dance a little?" Excitement shimmers in her eyes.

     Smiling, I sit the fruity drink in my hand down. "Sure why not?"

     We make our way onto the dance floor while the current song is finishing up. Tonight Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae starts to blare through the speakers. I don’t know if it's the alcohol in my system but one look at Maple and I know things are about to go down. Blocking out my surroundings, I start singing and moving my hips with the beat. A few minutes later, and my surroundings start to flood my senses again. Looking around, I see my classmates looking at me with their mouths open. My face proceeded to turn 5 shades of red as I get ready to leave the floor. That's when I see Ashton climbing onto the stage at the front of the dance floor. Grabbing the microphone from the DJ, his eyes are locked in me. With a smirk on his face, he taps the mic, getting everyone's attention.

     “Everyone give a round of applause for Winter Hood! That’s quite a voice you got there girl and you got some moves too! Once again, everyone give a round of applause for Winter!”

     Everyone starts clapping for me as Ashton hops off of the stage. A hand on my shoulder spinning me around scares the heck out of me. Maple now stands in front of me with her hands on her hips and the best serious look she can manage on her face. Bursting out laughing, I ask, “What?”

     “Who are you and what have you done with Winter?”

     “I know Maple, I don’t know what got into me either. I think it was the alcohol.”

     Suddenly, her eyes grow huge as she looks over my shoulder. Before I can ask her what’s wrong, there's a hand on my shoulder again. “Wanna dance?” A voice says in my ear. Wait, I know that voice. Turning around, I see Mason.

     “What do you want?” I ask.

     “I just want to dance with you. That's all." He says with a smile.

     I look at Maple who gives me a thumbs up. "Fine."

     Grabbing my hand, he leads me onto the dance floor giving the DJ a thumbs up. All Eyes On Us by Jon Langston starts pounding through the speakers.

     'She's my ride or die

     All eyes on us'

     Ignoring him, I start to move with the beat, singing along once again.

     'I buy the beer

     She calls the shots

     Pouring that sexy right on the rocks

     Just like stars up in the sky

     We're burning just as bright’

     Looking at him out of the corner of my eye, I see that he's got some good dance moves too. I smile slightly to myself. Wait, what am I thinking? I shouldn’t even be dancing with him for fucks sake.

     'It ain't nothing like the way we party

     But we can dance to it all night long

     Everybody gonna try to copy what we've

     got going on going on'

     He looks at me and starts walking over.

     ‘I buy the beer

     She calls the shots

     Pouring that sexy right on the rocks

     Just like stars up in the sky

     We're burning just as bright’

     Before I can react, he takes my hand and starts spinning me around.

     ‘I play the songs

     She cranks it up

     Partners in crime

     We're kicking up dust

     Just like Bonnie had her Clyde

     She's my ride or die,

     All eyes on us’

     I laugh while this is happening. Putting his hand on the small of my back, he leans me back before pulling me back up.

     ‘Yeah, everywhere we go it's like we're

     putting on a show

     Bottles popping, bass is dropping, we can't

     get enough

     All eyes on us’

     Yeah, we’re definitely putting on a show here. He spins me again as he keeps me at arm lengths

     ‘I buy the beer

     She calls the shots

     Pouring that sexy right on the rocks

     Just like stars up in the sky

     We're burning just as bright

     I play the songs

     She cranks it up

     Partners in crime

     We're kicking up dust

     Just like Bonnie had her Clyde

     She's my ride or die,

     All eyes on us’

     He looks into my eyes starting to pull me back towards him.

     'She's a little bit of hip-hop and country

     I'm a little more rock and roll

     When you mix in a little bit of whiskey

     We sound like a radio'

     We end with his arms around my waist and mine around his, looking into each others eyes. The background noise starts to echo in my ears. Cheering, clapping, unwanted wolf whistles. "Wow." Is all I can say.

     Smiling at me, he says, "We should do this more often."

     "I don't think that's going to happen any time soon after the way you treated me at school." Smirking, I pull away from him and walk over to Maple.

     "Oh come on that was just a joke!" His voice echoes out from behind me.

     Looking over my shoulder, I give him a little wave. "Sure it was and pigs are flying. Hey Maple, wanna go see if there's any flying around outside?"

     Laughing, Maple drags me towards the backyard.

     Once outside, I look at her. "I don't see any do you?"

     "Nope. I don't see a single one. Hey, I'm going to get a drink. Will you be ok out here?"

     "Yeah. I'll be good."

     Sitting down on the porch swing, I lean back and close my eyes, breathing in the fresh air. I soon feel Maple's presence beside me and open my eyes. Taking the drink from her, I say, "Thanks girl. Hey, thank you for making me come to this party. This has actually been fun."

     She goes to reply but we are cut off by a sound.

     'Bang, bang.'

     Looking at each other our eyes grow wide. "That wasn't what I thought it was, was it?" But my question is answered by the sound of gunshots. 

     "ASHTON'S INSIDE!" Before I can stop her, she takes off running back through the door.

     "MAPLE NO!!!" Running in after her, all I can see is chaos. "MAPLE!!!" I scream while fighting my way through the crowd. 'WHERE IS SHE?!" I think in my mind. Suddenly, I see her darting out the front door. I run after her, not caring about what's happening around me. Making it out the door, I look for her. "MAPLE!" My eyes scan the yard and driveway but there's nothing. Not her, Ashton or her car. Realizing she's safe, I relax some. But it doesn't last long. The gunshots are getting louder and more frequent. Without thinking I take off down the driveway, my sandals pounding on the asphalt. 'Get to a neighbor's house! Have them call 911!' I think but looking around, I realize we're in the middle of nowhere. I pull out my phone and start to type in 911 but only make it as far as typing in the last 1 before a hand snakes around my waist causing my phone to hit the ground. "HEL-!" My cries for help are cut off by a hand over my mouth. Tears flow freely down my face as a muffled sob escapes my lips.

     "Cloth now!"

     I recognize that voice! It's Mason! I start to fight against him and manage to nail his manhood. I take off down the driveway once again. "HELP!!! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!!!" I am pushed to the ground as Mason gets on top of me. (Not in that way you perverts) "MASON NO!! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!!" My pleas are cut off my a cloth being shoved in my mouth. Hot tears continue to flow freely down my face as he handcuffs my arms behind my back.

     "Relax sweetheart. It'll be ok." I let out a muffled yelp as I feel a sharp pain in my arm. A drowsy feeling washes over me. I fight the feeling. "Don't fight it Winter." 'Fuck you.' "Relax Winter. If you cooperate things will go a lot better. I will drug you even more if you don't stop." The feeling becomes too much to handle. Mason gets off of me and picks me up bridal style. The last thing I remember is being put into the back of a van before everything fades to black...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I finally got the chance to update Falling for you guys. Just so you guys know, about the autistic part, I swear I am not making fun of anyone who has it or has a family member who has it. I myself have it so I kinda wanted to show that I relate to Winter. She's like me in a way.

If you like the book and want more, leave a comment below! Thanks for reading, Peeps signing out. Peace!