Tess Tyler burst onto the balcony, gasping. She had forgotten how oppressing and superficial these Hollywood parties were. After five years at Yale (oh yes, she wasn't just a pretty face), she was all but to ready to give up the public social life forever. But one cannot simply fade into the background when they have grown up in the spotlight. And although she had discovered who her true friends were, who she could trust and who she couldn't, at the ripe young age of fifteen, civility and respect for her mother forced her to acknowledge those who weren't so genuine.

Breathing in the late night air, tainted with cigarette smoke and raucous laughter, Tess shivered. She felt smothered by the conscious need to be polite to those who she knew would turn and stab her in the back in second, without even batting an eyelid.

Have you ever gotten that feeling that you just need to run to somewhere completely different? No matter what happens if you do, it couldn't possibly worse than just staying still?

That's what Tess felt like. She needed to run. And she needed to do it now.

Restlessly, she scanned the ground laid out before her. The people across the road from the mansion she was currently imprisoned in had a bubbling blue pool, luminescent against the darkness surrounding it. It also didn't look like anyone was home.

That did it. Tess made her snap decision and strode back inside, bumping into a tall guy as she stomped down the huge spiral staircase, nearly sending him flying.

"Sorry," she mumbled, not even stopping. She wasn't really. She just said it out of courtesy. She hated being so goddamn fake all the time.

She mumbled a few farewells in passing, but didn't make a real exit. She slipped out the front doors and down the unnecessarily long driveway, then crossed the road and peeked over the fence of the neighbouring house. There were no cars in the driveway. All the lights were out. Maybe if she was really quiet, nobody would notice she was there.

Quietly unlatching the gate, she slipped into the pool area and looked serenely across the blue glowing ripples. Kicking off her high heels, she slipped her gold silk dress over her head and let it slither to the ground. She pulled various pins and barrettes out of her hair, shaking her naturally straight tresses loose of their primped and curled up-do. Feeling like a sudden weight had been lifted her shoulders, she took a deep breath and crept over to the pool's edge, staring down into the water.

The blue light that rippled and glistened across her goose-pimpled skin was uncomfortably illuminating. Biting her lip, Tess looked around. She wanted to stay as concealed as possible. She picked up her cell phone and opened it, using the light to tiptoe around the pool to the power box. Lightly opening the plastic cover, she reached inside and flipped the switch labelled 'light'.

Darkness. The only luminosity was the shine that emitted from her phone. She walked back towards the pool edge after putting her phone back, and delicately slid into the water. It was pleasantly tepid for such a cool spring night, and Tess revelled in the contrast of temperature against her skin. Taking a deep breath, she plunged into to water and pushed off the wall, gliding under the surface as the liquid encased her entire body in soft warmth. She came up for air and pushed her thick hair out of her face, smiling at the exhilaration of doing something improper and getting away with it.

"Little late for a swim, don't you think?" a deep voice called audaciously out of the darkness.

Gasping, Tess spun towards the direction of the noise. "I'm so sorry! I, um, I…"

She wracked her brain for excuses, but found none.

Surprisingly, the guy in the shadows laughed deeply. "Don't apologize to me. It's not my pool. I'm actually attending a party across the road."

"Oh," Tess breathed a sigh of relief, placing a hand on her frantically racing heart.

"Yeah, you should know about that, I'm pretty sure you were there not long ago,"

This stranger's voice had a tone of impertinence that Tess did not appreciate.

"Did you follow me here?" she hissed, taking a few steps forwards in the water, trying to see where he was. All she could see was a dark silhouette standing a few metres from the pool.

"When I saw you, walking with that much purpose and that much determination, I couldn't help myself. I had to know what was so important that you nearly pushed me down a flight of stairs," he shrugged.

"That was you?" Tess was taken aback, embarrassed. Now he was standing in front of her, she felt more inclined to be apologetic. "Sorry!"

"You said that before, but I got the feeling you didn't really mean it," he chuckled.

Tess chewed on her lip. "Yeah, I didn't really. I was just being polite."

"Which is all well and good," he nodded frankly.

"But just…" Tess had to stop herself before she put her foot in her mouth and seemed to be rudely taking back her apology.

"Yes?" the guy prompted patiently.

"Just… I hate being so phony," she sighed, the water around her shoulders swirling.

"What do you mean?" She heard him take a few steps closer.

"I hate having to do things just because it's expected of me," Tess spat, tracing her finger across the edges of the tiles on the wall of the pool.

"Like what?" He didn't sound confused. He sounded like he knew exactly what she was talking about, but wanted her to say it out loud.

"I hate having to figure out whether someone's being genuine or sucking up. I hate the reputation I'm expected to uphold because of who I am and where I come from. I hate being polite to people who barely do me the same courtesy. I hate them!" she snapped. "I wish I didn't care what they thought!"

He paused before replying "Me too. But there's a difference between simply not caring and doing what you know is right."

"And how is anyone supposed to know what is right?"

"Didn't your mother ever teach you good manners?"

"No," Tess mumbled insolently.

"Oh," he scuffed his foot awkwardly. "Well, I guess you could kind of look at life like a game. And to get by in life, you have to play by the rules."

"Why should I? Sure, it's a game if you've got all the hot-shots on your side, but what if you're on the other team? It's not a game if you're the underdog," Tess retorted smugly.

"Hmm," The mystery guy chuckled, and took a few steps forward, but Tess still couldn't make his face out in the darkness. "I see you've read The Catcher in the Rye too."

"Yeah, I wasn't going to let you get away with plagiarizing that quote as your own! How stupid do you think I am?" Tess was enjoying winding this stranger up, seeing how many buttons she could push before he left her alone.

"I don't think you're stupid," The silhouette shook his head, dark curls bouncing. "I just underestimated you. You're giving blondes everywhere a bad name!"

"Yeah, well that's nothing new either," Tess's face fell as she realized she'd been judged by her looks once again; just when she thought this one guy had been different.

"Are you… sulking?" he asked, poorly disguising his amused tone.

"No!" Tess snapped. "I just thought that someone who seems so intelligent wouldn't be so superficial!"

"Well, maybe someone who seems so superficial shouldn't think she's intelligent and make stupid assumptions," he sneered.

"Excuse me?" Tess's jaw dropped.

"What? I thought you didn't like fake people!"

"I don't, but that's just being unnecessarily rude!" Tess was appalled at this guy's rapid change of attitude.

"What, so speaking my mind is suddenly insulting?"

"Yes! Even if you don't agree with people, some things are better just kept to yourself… oh," Tess felt slightly ridiculous as she realised she had fallen for his reverse psychology.

"See, that should give you some indication of right and wrong as far as courteousness goes," the dark shadow of his figure shook as he laughed. "How different do you think you are from all of those 'fake' people, really?"

Tess was speechless. She had never had such a peculiar conversation in her life. This mystery man, who she could barely see the outline of, was chatting about hypocrisy, of all things, while she was half-submerged in a pool she was trespassing in. Yep, it doesn't get much stranger than that.

And yet, she was wondrously intrigued. Who was this weirdo? And what gave him the right to talk to her like that? What right did she have to judge him? Tess's mind was spinning with curiosity that she'd never experienced before, and suddenly she wanted to know everything there was to know about this anonymous person.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

"Who are you?" he replied cheekily.

"I asked you first!" Tess retorted.

"I don't care! I asked you second!" he responded.

"What? That doesn't even make sense!" Tess was very perplexed now.

"Not a lot of things make sense in this big, bad world of ours," he replied, teasingly philosophical.

"You're very strange, you know that, right?" Tess wrinkled her nose in bemusement.

"Too strange to join you for your midnight dip?" he asked tentatively.

"Doesn't bother me. It's not my pool," she shrugged, curious to see where he went with this.

"Excellent."

Tess could just imagine the oddball grin spreading across his face, even though she really had no idea what his face even looked like. She waited expectantly as she listened to the rustling noise of him getting undressed. Oh no. Oh, Jesus. What if he took off all of his clothes? Would he do that? What if she was just going to let some pervert follow her into this pool? What would he do to her? No, no, no, he had better be wearing at least some god damn tighty whities before he even thought about coming near her.

"Are you naked?" Tess blurted out before she could stop and think about a more eloquent question.

"What?" he chuckled bewilderedly. "That's a little inappropriate, don't you think?"

"It really depends on just how appropriate you are!" Tess retorted.

"Chill out, princess, I'm wearing boxers!" Tess could hear the derision dripping from his voice.

"Yeah, well, I was just checking," Tess huffed irritably.

"Scared I'm going to be just a bit too big for your britches?" he asserted suggestively.

"More like I didn't want to be surprised by something I could put in a pencil sharpener, big boy," Tess snapped back scathingly.

"Ouch!" he laughed as he padded over to the side of the pool. "That hurt!"

"Yeah, better call the hospital for that third degree burn," Tess giggled, before stopping herself. Since when did she giggle?

"It's okay, I've got some cold water to put on it," he shrugged, sliding into the water about a meter from where Tess stood.

They both lapsed into silence, but it wasn't one of those horribly uncomfortable silences, where both people are waiting for the other to speak, while desperately thinking of things to fill the empty space between them. It was relaxed, like they knew the other didn't have much to say, but then, why would they want to say anything and ruin the easy atmosphere of a calm swim?

"So, tell me about yourself, Miss No-Manners," The dark stranger finally broke the peace.

"If you think I'm bad now, you should have seen me as a teenager, Mr. Rude. I used to be really horrible, you know," Tess bit her lip, turning to float on her back to avoid the look the stranger was sure to be giving her.

"Why don't I find that hard to believe?"

Tess's mouth dropped in mock insult. "Hey! Don't act like you know anything about me! I could be tearing you to shreds right now if I felt like it!"

"So why don't you?" he challenged.

"Because I don't want to. I learned my lesson long ago. Someone taught me to treat people how I want to be treated," Tess shrugged, flipping back over and breaststroking around in a circle.

"So maybe that's why you think you're being fake? Because you're polite to people who couldn't care less?"

Tess stopped swimming, and put her feet on the floor of the pool, chewing on the inside of her cheek contemplatively as the enigmatic male swam over to her.

"Yes. I think so," she breathed.

"Don't, then. Because personally, I think you're the most real person I've ever met," he replied, and she started at how close his voice sounded.

She reached her arm out to try and feel where he was, and her fingertips brushed lightly over his abdomen. With a swirl of water, his hand shot forward and grabbed her wrist, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she used the leverage to draw herself closer to him, her chest pushed up against his own. She could fell his heart beating just as quickly as hers, fell his hot breath on her face. It was one of those moments where you just throw caution to the wind and doing something impulsive and outrageously out of character, just for the thrill of it. That's what Tess was feeling when she felt for the strange boy's lips with her fingers, before colliding her own lips against them.

He responded almost immediately, wrapping his muscular arms around her back and pulling her tighter against her. She lifted up one leg and slung it around his hip for extra support, which he eagerly assisted by running a hand down her spine until he was cradling her upper thigh. She pushed mouth hard against his, and he obligingly opened her lips, letting her tongue slide into his mouth and wrestle against his own. But his eyes narrowed as he felt her smirk when she thought she had gained the upper hand.

Tess didn't think for a second that he was going to let her get away with that. Oh no.

He slid her hands down his sides, and ran them long her stomach, feeling her tense at his touch. She got a kick out of that. Leaving his lips, she started to kiss down the side of his neck, as he nipped at her collarbone. Gasping, she grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him away, before smothering his mouth again.

It was a battle of wills, both wanting control, but neither relenting. Tess was much bolder than she would have been in any other situation. Nothing was holding her back. The fact that she didn't even know anything about this guy, not what he looked like, or what he was doing in this part of town, or where he was from, gave her an electrifying sense of reckless control. Everything and nothing could happen, and she didn't care. It was the most real she had felt in a long time.

Her breathing quickened as he hooked his index fingers into the straps of her bra, delicately sliding them off her shoulders as he kissed along behind them. He ran his mouth along her arm and across to the hollow of her chest, when he paused to suck lightly at the top of her breast. Tess threw her head back and dug her nails into his shoulder blades at the feeling of pure pleasure racing through her. His fingers edged lightly down her back and fumbled with the edges of her underwear, as she did the same to him, their mouths never leaving the others body for more than a second. And just when they thought they had reached the point of no return…

Tess's cell phone rang. Groaning, Tess pried herself away from the stranger and sloshed out of the pool, over to her clothes. Picking up the glittery phone, she sighed at the name on the caller ID as she flipped it open.

"Tess? Tess, where are you?" Her mother's voice rang out through the earpiece.

"I left, Mom! You know I hate those parties!" Tess scoffed.

"But sweetie, we were having so much fun!"

"No, Mom, you were having fun. I was mentally gagging myself having to listen to Traci Van Horn talk about the trials of a deviated septum," Tess ignored the snort from behind her.

"What was that?" TJ Tyler barked nosily.

"Nothing," Tess turned and glared at the figure in the pool.

"Well, honey, how about you come back here, and say goodnight to everyone properly, and then we can go and get something to eat at The Ivy. What do you say?"

Tess rolled her eyes at her mother's suggestion of hitting up a paparazzi hotspot. "Actually, Mom, I'm kind of busy at the moment,"

"Doing what?" TJ's voice turned cold.

"I'm having a swim with someone," Tess said nonchalantly.

"Who?"

"I have no idea," Tess grinned at the silhouette lazily floating around.

"Theresa Tamsin Tyler!" Her mother's rant was cut short by Tess snapping her phone shut, throwing it on her pile of clothes, and sliding back into the pool.

"I think your mom was about to warn you about stranger danger," the shadowy figure next to her chuckled.

"If she was, that lecture is way overdue. I'm a big girl now," Tess scoffed, running her fingers up his bicep, along his shoulder, and curling her fingertips into the curls at the back of his neck.

"My name is Nate, by the way," he added, drawing her closer and linking his fingers together at the small of her back, "Theresa Tamsin Tyler."

"Call me Tess," she giggled.

"Well, Tess, it's lovely to meet you," Nate breathed as her face came closer and closer to his. He couldn't help but deflate with disappointment as her lips went past his mouth as started to kiss along his cheekbone.

"The pleasure's all mine," Tess murmured seductively, her hot breath tingling Nate's cold, wet ear, "Nate."

Saying his name made her stomach drop and her muscles tense up. Sure, he was attractive and elusive when he was a mystery person, but now the personality had a name…

Gasping, Tess pushed off his chest and backed up against the pool of the wall.

"What? What's wrong?" The sincere concern in Nate's voice made Tess feel guilty, but no less horrified.

"I am hooking up with someone I have just met in a complete stranger's pool!" Tess exclaimed to herself.

"You're just realising this now?" Nate's expression became bewilderingly amused.

"No, no, no, you don't understand! I'm not the kind of person that does that! Ever!" She squeaked, dashing over to the pool steps and climbing out.

"Hey, wait! Tess!" Nate called. When she ignored him, he sighed, and resorted to something he hadn't been sure of until now. "I don't think we've just met!"

She froze, already halfway bent down, picking up her clothes. "What?" she snarled.

"You are Tess Tyler, aren't you? The Tess Tyler?"

"I think we've established that is, in fact, my name," Tess huffed.

"Then we've definitely met before. You might have heard of my band, Connect Three?" Nate grinned.

"Shit! I knew your voice sounded familiar! You judged Final Jam at Camp Rock one time, and I remember meeting you at some charity concert ages ago! One of my friends is actually Shane's fiancée!" Tess felt a rush of recognition and relief, so moved back towards the pool.

"Yeah, Mitchie!" Nate laughed, and Tess joined in. "I knew recognized you from somewhere! I just couldn't put my finger on it!"

"Wow, small world," she sighed, sitting down on the closest deck chair. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you. Moral obligation," Nate shrugged, still smiling, and pushed himself up and out of the pool. "So I was thinking, seeing as you're not the kind of person who makes out with random people while trespassing in a pool, maybe you wanted to go out for dinner sometime instead?"

"Really?" Tess was taken aback by his forwardness.

"Yeah, really. Honestly, Tess Tyler, I'm strangely infatuated by you," Nate's voice turned serious as he slowly walked towards her.

Tess narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher his indistinct facial expression. Reluctantly, she shrugged. "Sure, why not? We've already made out, we might as well go on a date, and do this right."

"Does that mean I have to wait until the date to kiss you again?" Nate smiled, crouching down next to the chair she was sitting in.

Tess laid her hand on his cheek, grinning slyly. "Luckily for you, I'm a little fuzzy when it comes to the rules of courtesy."

Nate grinned too, and leaned in to close the gap between their lips. Barely millimetres away, they were suddenly interrupted by the porch light flicking on. Tess's elation at finally seeing Nate's face clearly for the first time quickly vanished at the realisation that perhaps the owner of the pool was home after all.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" shouted an old man in his pyjamas from inside the house.

"Crap!" Nate grabbed Tess's hand, pulling her from her seat.

Somewhere between laughing and crying in exhilaration, they picked up their clothes and took off through the gate, the old man screaming something about calling the police behind them. Tess winced as the rough concrete of the driveway cut into her feet. Noticing she was falling behind, Nate slowed down and took her by the hand as they began to run down the street. Gradually, they came to a halt, gasping for air. Panting, Nate looked at Tess, who was doubled over, completely out of breath. She looked up, met his eye, and the both began to giggle. Before long they were in wheezing fits of laughter at the absolutely ridiculous situation they were in. They were standing in the middle of the road, in their underwear, soaking wet and on the run from the law.

"Jesus, Christ, this is just embarrassing!" Tess puffed.

"I think it's pretty fun, personally!" Nate laughed, before his face dropped and his eyes widened. Grabbing Tess by the shoulders, he pulled her over to a hedge by the side of the road and pushed her down behind it, crouching down beside her.

"What?" Tess snapped angrily, before Nate covered her mouth with his hand, and pointed silently to the police cruiser gliding along the street.

Tess gasped, creating a vacuum and sucking Nate's hand into her face. Despite herself, she began to giggle quite hysterically.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god, what the hell am I doing?" Tess was practically hyperventilating by the time Nate removed his hand.

"Well, you're hiding in a bush with me, so we don't get arrested for trespassing and indecent exposure at the very least?" Nate said it more of a question than an answer.

"No! I mean, this whole night I have been totally out of my comfort zone! Why on Earth would I do that to myself? I was very comfortable where I was!" Tess hissed, burying her face in her hands, letting her hair fall across her eyes.

"Were you really? I know I wasn't. But I met this amazing girl tonight, and I think it's fair to say it's been uncomfortably the best night of my life," Reaching up, Nate tucked her damp hair behind her ear, twirling the ends around his finger.

"Really?" Tess mumbled towards the ground.

"Absolutely. Except maybe the first part. I could have introduced myself a bit less awkwardly," Nate chuckled.

"Do you think we could just start this over? No pools, no awkward introductions, no hiding in bushes? Just two strangers meeting for the first time?" Tess bit her lip and met his gaze uncertainly.

Untangling his finger from her wet, blonde tendril of hair, he smiled and extended his hand politely.

"Hi, my name's Nate."

"Hello, Nate. I'm Tess."

I love me some Ness :)
You know what else I love? Reviews!
Gracias to Serendipity545 for being a brillz beta.