Chapter 1: A Beautiful Stranger

Warona should've expected uninvited guests, considering they had graduated from college a month ago and now everybody was wandering to whatever place that had a sufficient supply of free alcohol and food. It didn't matter though. Feeding a throng of a hundred and more was none of her worries. She was Mr. Hans Sylvester's daughter after all. Why would she fret? He was the richest man in town.

The music was deafening, melding up into the chaotic atmosphere of conversing and dancing adults.

The clock had just struck one when Warona sat on the kitchen counter.

She contemplated over the cup of vodka in her hand, her locs shielding her from seeing the approaching girl.

"Are you going to drink that, birthday girl?", Celine motioned for the cup on Warona's hands, her yellow bangs wobbling as she swayed on her feet and let out an unexpected hiccup.

"No, I think I had enough of this shit", Warona offered the cup to her best friend.

Was it okay to make a stoned person more stoned?, Warona didn't care. It was her birthday party and even though she wasn't really into celebrations, she didn't want to ruin Celine's night.

"You literally just had one cup", Celine finished the drink in a single swig. "I swear I'm the one who's acting like the birthday girl in here"

Warona couldn't deny that the other girl was apparently right. Warona seemed to have thrown a party only to sit and stare at other people having fun. Apart from blowing candles, making a wish, sharing a cake(in which most of the icing sugar ended up on her face), opening a champagne and drinking under the influence, nothing had really happened.

"C'mon, let's go dance", the yellow head threw the cup away and grabbed her best friend's hand. Again, Warona couldn't deny that. "It's your birthday, you're the one who's supposed to have all the fun in the world"

Getting dragged out from the kitchen to the living room was like a transcending from an old dimension to a new one. Blinding lights, the music more high pitched. Bodies immersed into an ocean of pleasure and hot air. A mixture of alcohol and sweat almost made Warona puke her guts out but she still let Celine pull her amidst jolting bodies to dance. They weren't good at it, but it didn't matter as long as they could forget whatever happened by morning.

Losing track of time, they stepped down with dry throats. Warona scrunched her face at a familiar pain in her head, now she was sure Celine wasn't going to be the only one wasted. They dragged each other back to the kitchen and drank their stomachs down to a stupor.

-------------------------------------------------------

Warona woke up from a pile of bodies passed out on the kitchen floor. A wave of nausea hit her and she crawled all the way to the bathroom.

Her abdominal muscles contracted as it all came out through her mouth, making her wince in pain. While everyone else had a walk of shame, hers, she believed, was a walk of pain. Right when her body weakened to the point that she was sure her head was going to fall into the toilet bowl, someone's hand caught her hair back on cue. A perfect timing hero.

One last push, it came out in a whoosh.

"Here", a voice behind her said, handing her an open water bottle.

Accepting it, she rinsed her mouth enough times for the sour taste to disappear.

It didn't.

She was going to say thank you but when she finally managed to turn around, the words got stuck on her throat.

The most beautiful eyes she had ever seen were looking back at her. Never had she been blessed by such a sight. Plain delirium. Who was he?- she? and where had they come from, appearing at such a right time? They could be the devil for all she knew but there was something about them and it left her struggling for words. They were probably one of the uninvited. A mere stranger. There was no way she could leave that face uninvited if she knew them.

"I got some methanol gum, helps with the breath— if you want some, that is"

Their voice, a melody from the heavenly choir. Angelic and feminine enough to be considered a lady's. Warona didn't know what to think. Someone was trespassing her territory, in a good way.

It took her a while to register that they had just talked to her and all she could do was a nod. Their hand delved into the pocket of their letter jacket and held out a packet of methanol gum to her.

"T-thank y-you", she stuttered, shivering from the sudden touch of their hands.

They smiled. Now everything in Warona went down.

How could a person be so effortlessly perfect? This was too far beyond her. She prayed it wasn't one of those hangover fantasies. she hoped, really hoped, that the chills from the staring contest they were having weren't just her. Hell, she couldn't even remember the last time she hooked up with someone, yet here she was, pinning over a demigod.

"Ronnie! You up yet?", Celine's voice called from somewhere around the house, upstairs maybe?

Funny how the yellow head drowned in Vodkatinis only to wake up the most sober the next morning. Warona could barely feel her throat while her best friend was out there screaming as if she wasn't bombed to death last night. In fact, it was just a few hours ago. Warona started to think that Celine had some kind of symbiotic relationship with alcohol.

"Guess this is goodbye then", the angel muttered. That's all they said before pushing their hands into their jeans pockets and strutting off before Warona could even think of something to say.

"There you are!", Celine was finally sauntering into the bathroom. But Warona was still awe-struck by the dazzling party-crasher she just confronted.

"Hello?", Celine waved a hand over Warona's eyes, but the other girl remained unmoved. "Ronnie? You there?"

"Y-yeah?", she finally snapped out of her daze. "You were saying?"

"You're mind went AWOL there for a second. Anyway, I hope you had your little throw up session already cause I'm starving and you're my personal chef in shining apron"

"You really never think of anything else apart from yourself, do you?", Warona groaned, slightly joking.

"Of course not", Celine hugged her best friend, giggling. "How dare you say that. I think of me, AND my stomach"

"Ouch", Warona rolled her eyes. "I love you too, bestie. Thank you very much"

She shook her head, strutting into the kitchen. Celine made the wise move to chase people away, thankfully, and Warona was glad she had somewhere to step on despite of all the dirty cups on the floor.

The disheveled house brought her back to her now disheveled mind. All thanks to a certain beautiful stranger that could be nothing but the ghost of her imaginations.