The year was 2011 and Jared M. watched silently as he ate his lunch in the school cafeteria. His hands tensed with anticipation as his crush Kerri Covington, the class celebrity moved from table to table handing out invitations to her “End of Junior Year party”.

           Kerri Covington was a classic blonde beauty. Her mother was a model and her father was extremely intelligent; truly a winning combo. And on top of being drop dead gorgeous and smart her father also happened to own one of the largest corporations in the entire world, Covington & Meyers Enterprises whose sudden breakthroughs in technology made her family very rich. Kerri Covington was only 17 years old and yet she was worth more in cash than every person in the entire school combined.

           In comparison to her Jared was a slouch. He came from a mediocre family of lawyers whose combined wealth over the course of 3 generations didn’t even equal half of what Kerri was worth by herself for just existing

           “Here you go Emily. Have fun!” said Kerri to a group of girls as she handed them a small pile of invites.

           She began to walk his way. Realizing that he was in the spotlight Jared quickly wiped the pizza bits from his t-shirt and tried to look nonchalant as she approached his table. In his mind if he seemed disinterested it would somehow make him more desirable to her. 

         “Hey Jared I am throwing a beach party this weekend. Are you coming?” Kerri said to the Jared who stared back awkwardly as he took a bit from his pizza.

         “Hey dumbass, she asked you a question.” pestered a short blonde girl from behind who he recognized as Kerri’s best friend Jenna.

          Unable to answer at that moment he held up one finger towards Jenna before swallowing the pizza and coughing.

           “I guess I could go” he said casually trying to sound cool, but failing miserably. “But… only if Tyreese and Mary can come.” he said confidently.

            “Sure! I do not have a problem with either of them.” said Kerri happily who placed 3 invitations on the table.

              “Woah. Woah. Woah! Kerri have you lost it? I mean, Tyreese? Sure it’s all good, he’s cool. But Mary? Hell no! She’s like a total freak.” Jenna insisted to Kerri.

              “That’s only because she said that you were a bad person… Once, and that was after you called her a stuck up bitch for not letting you cheat off of her paper.” Jared said sternly to Jenna whose face turned red from embarrassment.

             “Aww poor Mary, I feel bad for her she’s so shy.” exclaimed Rebecca, Kerri’s other best friend. “And besides she helped me pass my last Algebra one test, so I say she can come!”

              “Well… it is my party and I already said she could come.” said Kerri lightheartedly to the group.

            “And also Rebecca really? Algebra one in junior year” Kerri said disappointingly to Rebecca who was biting her nails with an empty headed look on her face.

             “Umm, Yeah. I’m like, not that smart Y’know.” She said cheerfully as she stretched her arms.

          “Anyways… So, yeah Jared now that I know you are coming I need your help with something. Could you stop by my place tonight?” Kerri said hopefully.

        “You mean the enormous house on the hill with all the fancy cars?” Jared questioned sarcastically so as to hide his overwhelming joy.

         “No. Actually I live in the garbage bin next to the house. Can you not tell?” Kerri said, returning his sarcasm.

          “I didn’t know you lived there too?” Jared joked back to her.

         “Alright Mr. Smartass I will see you later. Make sure you bring your sense of humor with you to the party this weekend.” she said jokingly as she winked at him and walked away.

          Jared was ecstatic, for him this was not only the first time he would get to go to a party, but for the first time he would have the opportunity to hook up with Kerri whom he was convinced had a crush on him. He couldn’t finish his pizza, he was so excited that he lost his appetite.

          “Jared! What was that all about?” said Tyreese as he sat down with Mary, Jared’s other best friend.

           “What did she want with you?” questioned Mary in a stern voice.

           “Nothing much… other than that we’re all going to her party this weekend!” Jared said excitedly before handing the two of them the letters.

            “Damn dude Nice! She must have a crush on you.” Tyreese complimented.

             “Yeah man. I’m gonna to try and hook up with her this weekend” Jared said proudly to the group.

             “You need a ride. It’s good though I know a guy.” Tyreese said

             “I don’t know about this. I mean Jenna really hates me and…” Mary said sheepishly as she played with her food with her fork.

              “Dammit Mary its ok. its Kerri’s party, not Jenna’s.” Tyreese reasoned to Mary who still was a little bit nervous.

              “And besides who gives a shit what Jenna thinks. She’s basically a carbon copy of Kerri, just not nearly as smart or wealthy… or good looking or nice or… well… just about everything.” Jared said to Mary.

              “Also If you’re not around chances are we’re gonna screw something up.” Tyreese joked.

               “*Sigh* alright I’ll come, but only because without me you two morons would end up dead or something.” Mary said sternly.

               The bell rang and the group separated for their classes. The rest of the day went by fairly quickly for Jared whose mind was on summer and of course Kerri’s kickass
party. When class ended Jared hopped on his bike and rode over to the Covington estate to help Kerri out with whatever she needed.

                As he approached the imposing stone gate of her manor he came across what appeared to be a doorbell with a TV screen on top of it. Pressing it he was surprised by a buzzing noise and shortly after he was greeted by the smiling face of Kerri.

               “I ahh… think I’m at the wrong house.” He joked nervously to her.

               “haha do not worry you are at the right place, come on in I will open the gate.” Kerri said from the screen.

               The sound of metal clanking was heard as the gate slowly opened.

               “Nice.” Jared said, impressed by Kerri’s wealth.

               Riding up across what he swore was a small plantation he arrived at a huge front door almost triple his size. As he walked the enormous door opened and he could see Kerri standing there waiting for him.

               “Welcome to my humble abode.” she joked as she spun around in a circle across the polished marble floor of the entrance hall.

               “So what did you need me for again?” Jared asked.

               “Oh nothing much. I just need your help sneaking liquor out of the house” Kerri said to him, grabbing his hand and heading to a doorway on the right.

               They entered what appeared to be a living room of some kind. Across the room sat an enormous television that was playing Barney for a baby who was sitting on a
carpet. To the child’s left was a blonde haired woman who he could only assume was Kerri’s mother.

               “Kerri honey, please introduce me to your friend, and also say hello to your little sister Nicole” said Kerri’s mother.

               “*Grunt* fine mom” Kerri said in an annoyed tone.

               “Mom this is Jared he is from school, Jared this is my mom she is from… here. And that is my newborn sister Nicole. Oh yeah and hi Nicole” Kerri said quickly.

               “Hello Mrs.Covi… wah!” Jared said as he was yanked by Kerri and dragged across the carpet.

               “You two have fun now. And also Kerri dear I took the liberty of fixing that problem with your room.” Kerri’s mother said.

               “Hey I wanted to introduce myself.” Jared said to Kerri who continued to push him forward.

               “Do not bother Jared we got to get the booze and the other things while my father is out. We do not have time for this” Kerri said.

               They entered a hallway with two doors one was made of wood and labeled “Pantry” and the second made of metal and labeled “Laboratory”.

               “Ok you grab the bottles of Smirnoff and the two 24 packs of naddy light and stuff em in your bag and I’ll go in my dad’s lab and get the cool party stuff.” Kerri ordered as she ran across the hallway her designer sandals making a loud clapping noise every time she stepped.

               Jared quickly stuffed the bottles of Smirnoff and the beer in his backpack and left the room. He then saw Kerri return with a large heavy looking duffle bag.

               “Jared check this out.” Kerri said excitedly as she unzipped the bag.

               Jared was expecting some kind of super expensive device but when the bag was opened he was surprised to see that the bag was filled with plain metal canisters about the size of a soup thermos. Picking one up he noticed the tops of them had a red strip running across it and printed on the side in industrial print was simply “US.367.SV”. There was also a single, larger container with a green strip running across It.

               “What the fuck is this Kerri?” Jared said as he picked up one of the surprisingly
heavy canisters.

               “Special effects. For the party.” Kerri said plainly as she checked his bag for the booze.

               “Are you sure that these ‘special affects’ are safe!” Jared questioned loudly as he carefully placed the metal cylinder back in the bag.

               “Shhh.” Kerri said as she looked around to see if anyone else was around.

                “These gas canisters are supposed to be fun, just a little something to lighten the mood. If it makes you feel better according to my father it is a completely harmless, but fun byproduct of a failed experiment. I mean I have seen him spray it at parties before” Kerri
reasoned.

               “And what happened at these parties?” Jared said with concern.

               “Absolutely nothing, well nothing terrible that is. There are no side effects.” She said with an innocent smile.

                “All it does is smell really good, and glow in the dark, which is why I want to spray this at the party. “She said with enthusiasm.

         “I hope you do not think I am weird or anything, I just want to throw the best party ever.” Kerri said innocently her head tilted slightly to one side.

         Jared loved that look on her face; so sweet and innocent and yet so seductive. This was the moment he had been waiting years for. He was definitely not going to screw this up.

          “I suppose you’re not weird, I mean for a billionaire girl that is”. Jared said confidently.

           “Well that is certainly a relief.” She said happily.

            “Thanks for helping me by the way.” Kerri said as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

             “Whoa!” Jared said as Kerri leaned in further.

             “And do not worry there will be plenty more where that came from at the party.” Kerri whispered, her silky soft lips brushing up against his ear as she spoke.

             The next day Jared packed his clothes and made his excuse to his parents before heading out to Tyreese’s house to meet up with the group. Taking his bike he arrived at Tyreese’s house just in time for the trip.

              “Yo Jared you ready to party.” said a voice who he recognized as Rob, Tyreese’s older brother.

              “Hey I didn’t know you were coming” Jared said to the tall college freshmen as he approached the beat up looking Ford Pinto.

               “Hell’s yeah I’m coming. Who do you think was gonna drive you idiots to the party.” Rob said smugly as he grabbed Jared’s stuff and threw it haphazardly in the trunk.

               “Hey be careful! That bag has beer in it.” Jared protested as Rob threw multiple bags on top of his.

               “Dude it’s fine. Besides I got waaaayyyy more booze in these bags.” He said while waving a large duffle bag. “ Now get your dumbass in the car we gotta split before my parents know where were really going.”

               “Where’s Tyreese and Mary?” said Jared as he hid his bike in the bushes nearby.

               “There in the back now c’mon.” Rob said as he started the car.

               Jared opened the right side of the car and took his seat in the yellow Pinto with Tyreese and Mary. Mary of course was complaining that she was in the middle,
and Tyreese was yelling at his brother about stealing booze.

               “I hope the destination is worth the journey” Jared said softly to himself before
putting in his headphones and falling asleep in the car.