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disowned my mother.
    She didn't speak to our family. I'd never known her. Where would my prom pictures go? When I moved out, my mom was sure to turn my bedroom into a haven for two or three foster kids.

    "Maybe not seven," said Lilith, "but I'll definitely have kids. Everyone ends up doing it, even if they say they won't." She held up an empty beer cup. "I need more beer,"
    she announced. "You?"

    I didn't, but I chugged the rest of mine and followed her back to the keg.

    "I know you dream about birthing Toby's blonde brats," she said.

    "I don't," I said. "I don't want kids." Lilith was leaping pretty far into the future, wasn't she? Just because Toby was my high school boyfriend didn't mean we'd start...breeding. If it worked out that way, I guess it wouldn't be so bad, but--

    My thoughts were interrupted by a loud yell behind us. "Fight!"

    Great. I rolled my eyes. Lilith and I turned to watch as nearly everyone in the party rushed towards the struggling figures of two guys, illuminated from behind by the headlights. We moved forward too, carried by the tide of bodies.

    Why did guys have to resort to violence all the time? Civilization might have been created by a male-dominated society, but it sometimes boggled my mind to figure out how. I groaned, wondering if this meant the party was going to get broken up. I'd just gotten here!

    Next to me, I heard two girls talking.

    "Who is that guy?" one asked.

    "I don't know. One of the Jones' foster kids, I think."

    Oh God! Cameron! I knew it had been a bad idea for him to be here.

    Spurred on by the thought of dragging a beaten, bloody Cameron into the house, I pushed through the bodies that had formed a tight circle around the fighting guys. I shoved people out of the way. Ducked under their elbows. Finally, I cleared the mass of bodies, and I could see.

    But it wasn't Cameron.

    It was Jason.

    Jason was fighting with Eric Nelson.

    There wasn't much to see. Limbs flailed, occasionally making contact. They grasped at each other, one grabbing the other in what looked like a bear hug. Then the other would slip from his grasp and grab the other guy in a similar hold. I could hardly tell who was who. They moved so quickly. I yelled, but it didn't matter. Everyone was yelling.

    It seemed to go on an agonizingly long time. I didn't understand why no one was breaking this up. Didn't fights usually get broken up in just a few seconds? This one seemed to be dragging on and on.

    Eric leaned over and drove himself into Jason's midsection, head first. His arms wrapped around Jason's waist. Jason went down, but he held onto Eric's arms and Eric went down with him, collapsing on top of Jason.

    Eric was struggling to extricate himself, but somehow Jason flipped Eric over, turning the tables, so that now he was on top of Eric.

    Pinning Eric, Jason let loose on him, raining punches onto Eric's face.

    I could see now that Jason's face was bleeding, but so was Eric's now.

    Blood spattered the grass. Jason's fist connected with Eric's nose, and there was a sickening crunching sound.

    Now, suddenly, Toby rushed forward, pulling Jason off Eric and throwing him on the ground.

    "Break it up!" Toby said, and several other football team members, who echoed his words, soon flanked him.

    I ran up to Jason. He was half sitting, half reclining on the grass. He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. I collapsed on my knees next to Jason.

    "Are you okay?" I asked. "What happened?"

    Jason just shook his head, too out-of-breath to speak.

    I glared up at Toby. "What were you thinking? How did you let this go on so long?"

    Toby looked at me darkly. "Oh, of course," he said. "You're worried about him. What about Eric? I think your precious Jason broke his nose."

    "What happened?" I asked Jason again.

    Cameron appeared behind Jason. "It wasn't his fault," he said. "It was me."

    "You?" I said. "It was Eric." I had no problem believing Eric had started this fiasco.

    Cameron smirked.