C5 Five

An hour later all four of us girls are dancing on the makeshift dance floor in the living room. Olivia and Courtney have sobered up a bit and are using their best moves to lure in the opposite sex. Quinn on the other hand has opened up more from the alcohol. As my head is moving to the beat of Calvin Harris I notice someone who is probably going to get her ass kicked if Olivia finds out that she's here. I look over at Olivia. Oh yeah, she knows. Her face turns into one of complete drunken rage. She slowly starts to stalk towards where Penelope is and I scramble to grab her arms.

"Liv, Liv, Liv, Olivia don't do this you're not thinking straight," I stand in front of her but she just lightly pushes me to the side. Courtney and Quinn stop dancing once they realize what is about to happen.

The crowd starts parting ways when they see Olivia's face. Penelope looks our way, the smile on her face slowly fading.

"Olivia this is the alcohols actions, you don't really want to hurt anyone," Quinn tried reasoning. By now we had reached Penelope.

"Hey girls, what are you doing h-" Penelope didn't get to finish her sentence due to the punch Olivia gave her.

"Crap!" Quinn and I wince at the thud heard. Courtney just shakes her head putting her palm to her face.

"Liv!" I scold loudly, tugging her arm. That was a little dramatic.

The room goes dead silent.

"Mother of hell that hurt like a bitch!" Olivia shouts as she cradles her hand to her chest. That sobered her up. "I so did not think that through."

"What the fuck Liv?" Penelope shouts with a hand on her nose. I try to inconspicuously lean closer to her trying to see if she's bleeding or not.

"Did you really make out with Zach today by the fountain?" Olivia demands.

"Is that what you do? Punch and ask questions after?" Penelope snaps backs. People around us are all huddled up trying to listen to the confrontation.

"Don't answer my question with a question. Now answer the damn question!" I look at Olivia's face trying to understand the range of emotions crossing it.

"Oh, my God so what? The whole school knows how he acts, why is it such a big deal if we made out? Just because you guys regularly hook up does not mean that he is yours to claim," Penelope groans slightly.

Olivia slowly backed down, her sober thoughts dominating her alcohol induced ones.

"It's still the bitchy thing to do Penelope, you know how Liv feels about Zach yet you deliberately went after him in front of everyone," I reprimand her.

"I don't see why you have a problem with it Charlotte, two of your closest friends are the school's biggest sluts," Penelope sneers at me.

My expression goes blank and I feel absolutely no remorse when I step up to her, punching her in the same spot that Olivia had hit her. Gasps erupt around the room as Penelope reels backwards grasping her, now definitely bleeding, nose.

"Stop fucking punching me!" She shouts in pain.

I take a step forward and grab a piece of her clothing, pulling her face closer to me, "Don't you dare talk about my friends like that. Sure, they may have been with a lot of guys but at least they're loyal, geniuses and know when to draw the line. You on the other hand, will never amount to much." I push her away and she stumbles back.

"Burn!" Olivia shouts. I turn around and slowly walk over to the girls, the music is turned back on, trying to lighten the rooms' general atmosphere.

"You punched her," Courtney says with her mouth wide open.

"Your fist actually connected with her face," Quinn says equally shocked.

"And it was awesome!" Olivia shouts putting her arm around my shoulder.

"She deserved it, no one talks about my friends that way," I mumble as we all turn to watch Penelope walk out of the house with a napkin, that is slightly stained red, pressed to her face. She glares in our direction. Olivia gives her a small wave while simultaneously flipping her off. Once she was out the door I slumped against Olivia cradling my fist, "You're right. That hurts like a bitch," I pout to Olivia.

"My poor little brawler," she returns my pout, gently patting my head. We slowly make our way back to the kitchen while the party springs back into action like nothing happened.

Chase rushes to me as I lean against the counter inspecting my aching knuckles. He takes my hand gently looking at the slow swelling taking effect.

"You need ice," he mumbles quietly, turning around heading towards the fridge.

"I'm fine Chase. It's just a little swelling, I didn't break my fingers," I laugh off the pain. He ignores me as he brings me an ice pack.

"What were you thinking Charlotte? You could have seriously hurt yourself," he said with a little aggression.

"Chase come on, don't be ridiculous. It is not like her nose is a brick wall," I explain with a breathy laugh. What is his problem?

"She wishes her nose was a brick wall!" Olivia shouts across the room, causing laughter and cheers to fill the air. I let out a little giggle at my drunk best friend.

"Someone like you isn't supposed to go around punching other people," Chase said exasperated.

"I'm sorry, someone like me?" I ask slowly getting aggravated.

"Yeah aren't girls just supposed to not talk to each other for years or some shit? Men are the ones that punch and then we just get over it," he laughs at his own comments.

"Are you shitting me right now? That was the most pathetically sexist line I've ever heard," I spit out.

"That's not what I meant-" he tries to explain before I cut him off completely.

"Are you sure, because that's sure as hell what it sounded like?" I angrily state.

"I'm just saying that you're usually the bigger person in these situations. What happened to walking away from fights? And you're drunk right now so you're not thinking properly," he tries to save himself from his earlier words but he can't help but roll his eyes at my attitude.

"You want me to be the bigger person?" He nods his head slowly, "Fine, this is me being the bigger person." I push off the kitchen counter and walk over to my friends, indicating with my facial expression that it is time get the hell out of here. Chase stands frozen behind me with a shocked expression like he didn't see that coming. Sensing the tension in the room, Olivia jumps into action.

"Alright losers, I'm out of here," Olivia pulls the peace sign as she walks out of the kitchen, only to return a few seconds later to grab a bottle of vodka off the counter and repeat her exit, "Someone call me a cab!"

"Quinn grab a bucket! I think she's going to need it on the way home!" I yell over my shoulder trying to catch up to Olivia.