Lia looked at me with a raised eyebrow, sure she wasn't expecting such a detailed answer.

"I've seen a lot of movies." I defended myself before she spoke the words she was formulating in her mind.

"Then do it for me, you know I love going to parties and we've never been personally invited to Rita's house before." We will have a good time.

I looked at her for a few seconds, many times I wondered how we got along so well if we were so different. Many could define us as polar opposites but we were poles that could not bear to be separated. With a smile I nodded and agreed to go to a party where I was expecting nothing but wear and tear and fulfill the role of a babysitter for Lia.

That my mother gave me permission was not difficult, I was almost as excited as Lia to see that I would go beyond the garden. Unlike my best friend, it took me less than twenty minutes to get ready, I managed to convince her not to wear makeup and, after almost an hour of preparation, we got into my mother's truck so that she would drop us off at Rita's mansion. Cass. This was almost an hour away from my house but five minutes from the mall. When we were about to arrive, my mother drove through a cobblestone road that had lamp posts all over it, it looked like a road to heaven. We got out of the truck in a small private square that was in front of the entrance of elegant black bars that were open wide to make way for a perfectly trimmed meadow and, above it, a huge white wooden house that seemed to shine almost as much as the sun. Music made the walls vibrate and alcoholic teenagers invaded the patio.

"I'll pick you up at one, and Lydia ..." I looked at my mother through the window of the car that was about to close. "Try to have fun."

I buffet in response and said goodbye with a reluctant wave of my hand.

Upon entering the house a strong smell of sweat hit my nostrils. Rita came over to greet me but withdrew almost instantly to go talk to a boy who was trying to drink the water from one of her majestic vases.

"I'm going to get something to drink, Ly!"

I looked confused at Lia who walked away before I could offer to accompany her, I decided to move from the threshold of the entrance door, where I had stayed for a few seconds admiring the situation I was about to enter, since the blows of the young people They were getting in and out of there getting more and more annoying.

In the main room, Rita had moved the furniture around to make room for a makeshift dance floor and had left a couple of chairs for the exhausted dancers to rest. I found an empty one and did not hesitate to own it. I wasn't going to risk being sucked into that sea of ​​sweaty bodies that moved as if hypnotized by the music.

"Not if I can help it."

I smiled at the memory of one of my favorite parts of my favorite book "Pride and Prejudice" but the boy in front of me misinterpreted it and thought I was smiling for his company.

—I am Stefano Fiorentino.

Of course, another popular who had the need to speak to me, didn't they have something better to do? Although all I wanted was to be calm waiting for Lia to bring the things to drink, I answered Stefano because there was still some education left inside me.

"I suppose it is not necessary to tell you my name."

Stefano smiled causing his eyes to crinkle.

"Your name is very well known lately."

"Yes, I still don't know how to cope with fame."

Stefano gave a hoarse laugh that caught me.

"But I'm telling you something that is not very well known." - I nodded for him to continue speaking - Nobody knows if the famous Lydia Simons has a boyfriend.

And poof! Yes, this was how boys ruined what could have been a fun conversation.

—Well, I tell you from a very reliable source, that she doesn't have a boyfriend and never has. But that she is proud of not having succumbed to that temptation.

-Oh yeah? And you don't feel like experiencing what it could be like to have a boyfriend?

I was silent for a few seconds, like I was really analyzing his question, then shook my head.

"No, the truth is that I'm pretty good like this."

But Stefano did not give up.

"I'm sure you would like to try it with me."

I rolled my eyes, did guys really think this was a good way to win over a girl they had never talked to before?

"I already told you that I'm perfectly the way I am, pretty green eyes aren't going to make me change my mind."

"Well, I'll prove you wrong."

A sneezing attack invaded me at that time, surely there was a dog in that house.

-You're good?

"Yeah," I sneeze. "It's just that I had an allergic attack to cliché phrases."

Stefano gave another hoarse laugh that once again rubbed off on me.

As called by our laughter, Rita came up to us and gave Stefano a hateful look and then a cynical smile at me.

"Lydia honey, I just saw Lia, it looks like she was looking for you ... She looked a bit dizzy so if it was you I would go find her before she falls into bed by mistake."

Worry began to invade me, I had to find Lia, I couldn't take that long looking for a few things to drink. After thanking Rita for telling me about Lia and absentmindedly saying goodbye to Sefano, I ran in search of my best friend. The music was louder than when we had arrived and it seemed that the house had also been filled with a little more teenagers who were crowding in every corner. I could not take two steps without colliding with a sweaty body, I felt little by little that I was imprisoned among so many people and my claustrophobic terrors began to flood me, I needed to get out, I needed fresh air, but I could not move. The oxygen seemed to be depleted between the bodies and the sweat, when I managed to get close enough to a half-open window, I remembered Lia. I couldn't leave the house without her, I went to the stairs to try to observe everything from above and see if I recognized her black hair among the sea of ​​people. Head spinning, I climbed the first few steps and looked around the room. When I was about to go back to the first floor to check if he was not in the bathrooms, I heard a scream that made my blood run cold. It was Lia's voice, it came from the second floor, which was dark and, according to Rita, empty, since we were not allowed to go up. Without thinking twice or stopping to see if it was really a scream that I had heard and not noise pollution from the music, I ran to the nearest room that was empty. I opened doors and more doors until I finally found one that was locked and from which I could hear a second scream, this time he was content, drowned, as if they were preventing him from screaming. With all the force that I could I pushed the door but it was locked. Despite that I did not give up, I could hear Lia's crying on the other side of the door and the tears began to invade me too. I felt helpless, my best friend was suffering and I was not able to help her. I pushed and pushed until I fell flat on my face exhausted and almost given up.

- Get off the floor, Lydia.

New chapter begins without promo

I looked at Stefano who was holding out his hand to me, I accepted it and he helped me up. Then he yanked the door open. I ran into the room and found Lia being crushed by a boy who was touching her roughly, I didn't recognize him but I pushed him in a monstrous way forcing him to separate from my friend who was trembling and her face bathed in tears. Stefano went to the body of the boy who was lying on the floor after my blow and kicked him out of the room. I threw myself on Lia, who was semi-naked and trying to cover her body with her thin arms that wouldn't stop shaking.

- Easy, honey. Everything is fine.

I stroked her while she cried and cried. She did not speak at any time, she did not scream, she did not look at me, she only dedicated herself to crying and shaking.

When the tears stopped and the tremors subsided, I helped her sit up and then up.

- You are better?

Lia looked at me through her tousled hair. Her eyes were red and inflamed. The face was just as flushed and red and the lips were irritated. She had traces of makeup all over her face and her clothes were messy, wrinkled and torn in places.

- She didn't do anything to me, Lydia. I looked at her in silence for a few seconds, her voice sounded exhausted and she seemed to be on the verge of becoming hoarse. "She didn't do anything to me, she couldn't." She hasn't done anything to me.