"You're right you know" he leans back again "we are going to peak I mean obviously not you but I won't be Nathan Skylar forever."

"Seeing as that is your name I think you will be" "But the reputation I have here won't follow will it?"


"And what reputation is that, mysterious bad boy with a cool leather jacket?"

Realizing I just complimented him he smirks and I look away "you think my jacket is cool?" "I think you know your jacket is cool" and so is he, and his cool car, and amazing body.

"You know what else ends after high school?" He asks and I wait for his answer "trying so hard"


I scoff "you are drunk, this was the easy part Mr. Popular." He doesn't look like he's having fun which is weird because this is his atmosphere, but he did always act like he was too cool for school so maybe this is just another act.

"Then why not relax and worry about that later?" "Is that what you've been doing?"


He shrugs "all that is future Nathan's problem"

Shutting my notebook "why do people keep saying that?! The future isn't as far away as we think it is, it'll all catch up to you. Can't wait to see when future Nathan's problems can't be fixed by that cool jacket"

Sitting up he leans in my ear "you're kinda bitter you know that?"

Turning my face to his our faces are close and I look into his eyes opening my mouth about to apologize for being so close "yo Nate!" We hear Tristan's voice, turning around we see him and Mia coming towards us with his arm around her shoulders. She gives me a grin probably because I'm sitting so close and talking to Nathan Skylar "Mia and I are taking off-"

"No, you're not" I stand up scolding her

"Riley" she takes my arm pulling me away "calm down I know what I'm doing" "Leaving with him is a bad idea Mia get a clue!"

"I've got one don't worry about me"

"What about me? How will I get home if you leave?"

"I'll take you" We turn to Nathan and Tristan waiting "Come on babe" Tristan calls her

She turns to me "have fun" wiggling her eyebrows then going off with Tristan. "Guess you're stuck with me" he grins walking away.

I follow him to the drink table and he grabs a beer "guess I'll be taking myself home" I whisper watching him drink and flirt with people.

Waiting for forever for Nathan to be ready to leave I finally give up, walking over to him flirting with a girl as he caressed her thigh against a wall "are you ready to leave yet?" I ask and his eyes move from hers to mine "we do have school in the morning so..."

"What's the hurry we're seniors"

"With exams still and you may have time for fun but I don't"

"He's busy nerd why don't you stand over there and wait?" The girl he's standing with rudely says to me

He moves his hand from her thigh "take a lap Sage" she looks at him in disbelief "walk away" he points and she shoves him walking away bumping me in the process. "You really want to go?"

"Yes"

"Then let's go" he walks away and again I follow behind him. We barely make it outside and Nathan bumps and stumbles on people and things

"There's no way you're driving" "Did you drink anything?"

"No"

"Then you can drive" he hands me the keys

"Are you sure you want me to drive your baby?" We stop in front of his very expensive car

"I trust you" he climbs in the passenger seat "and if you do anything to my car. I'll pound you." Standing there I stare at the beautiful car waiting for me to get into it, what the hell am I doing? "Car's not gonna drive itself you know" getting in I buckle up and start the car.

Driving to Nathan's house I look over at him and he's passed out "so what about future Riley?" Guess not

"What about him?"

"Will he look back and regret any of this?"

"I have nothing to regret high school wasn't special for me so no I guess not." Getting to his house I help him inside his giant mansion "are your parents home?" I ask as he takes off his jacket

Chuckling "I haven't seen my parents in over a year" he walks away "Why?" I follow behind him

Walking into his kitchen I watch him open the fridge and grab a water bottle "because they're moguls who couldn't be bothered by little things like their child's life." He drinks his water

"You live in this big house alone?"

"Isn't it great?!" His expression doesn't match his words "abandoned rich kid pretends to be ok" sounds like a cry for help.

"Are you not ok?"

"I should be, right? I have my friends, all the attention I could possibly ever want, and stuff that'll never leave me"

"But no parents"

"You're lucky you know that? Yeah, school sucked for you but you went home and it got better, right? At least there you have people who appreciate you. I come home every day to this, emptiness and more emptiness." He wouldn't be talking to me this much if he wasn't drunk but drunk or not I feel bad, it's obvious his popularity did nothing for him

"Does anyone know?"

He nods "everyone just thinks it's cool, your parents don't want you, you're so lucky! That's what everyone says. They don't know how ignorant they fucking sound!"

"Everyone wants you, Nathan"

"They want Nathan Skylar mysterious bad boy with the cool jacket, no one wants this broken Nathan with no parents to love him." His bad attitude is what made him popular, everyone knew he was a tortured soul but no one ever bothered to figure out why. "You want to know what future Nathan's problem going to be? Being in the real world alone, with no parents or anyone"

"If being alone scared you so much then why didn't you just learn to be alone?" "Spoken like a true loner"

"What would you know about being a loner?"

"I may not be one at school, but when I come here it's a different story." "Why are you telling me all of this?" I ask

"Honestly, because I know after tonight we're never going to talk again, you'll graduate and become

something great like a doctor or

whatever the fuck, and I'll be a distant memory, some guy you went to high school with."

"If anyone's going to be some guy you went to high school with it's gonna be me, you'll be off somewhere being rich and I'll be here busting my ass trying to make it at something."

Slamming his water bottle down on the counter he smiles "then let's change that" "How?"

"Let's not be just some guys who went to high school together, let's be more." I give a questioning

and concerned look "I know how weird this sounds coming from me, okay? But I'm very drunk right now and having you here is better than being alone"

I could be doing less "fine let's be more than some guys who went to high school together."