Scott pulls his white Honda Civic up to the curb outside of the address Skylar sent me. Kira sits beside him in the passenger seat, smiling at me through the rear view mirror.

"Go get her tiger," Scott smirks, putting the car in park.

"Stop," I groan holding my head in my hands. "You promised no embarrassing me."

"That's why I'm getting it out my system now."

Kira snacks him on the chest. "Leave him alone. It's his first date."

"It's technically not a date," I argue.

"Well, it's your first crush," she corrects herself.

I silently thank Kira for stopping Scott and get out of the car. I speed walk to the front door and do a quick once over before ringing the doorbell. Do I look okay? I'm wearing my lacrosse jersey like I'm supposed to and tan pants. Do I smell fine? I took a shower after practice. Is my hair okay? I put gel in it. Hopefully, she thinks I look okay.

Why am I so nervous? This has never happened before. Is she really making this big of an impact on me already?

I take a deep breath and ring the doorbell. I wipe my hands on my pants nervously just as the door opens.

A middle aged woman with brown hair and brown eyes stands behind it. This has to be Skylar's mom. She looks just like her.

"Hello," she greets cautiously.

"Um, hi. My name is Liam. I'm here to pick up Skylar. I'm taking her to the bonfire tonight," I explain nervously. Obviously, she didn't know I was coming.

Her face breaks into a smile. "Hi. Please come in." She opens up the door wider and steps out of the way.

I smile and step in slowly. "Thank you."

She smiles and turns towards the staircase. "Skylar! Liam is here!"

She turns back towards me. "It's nice to meet you Liam."

"Nice to meet you too Mrs. Brinley."

"I'm sorry for acting so surprised at the door. Skylar didn't tell me anything about this bonfire."

"Oh? She didn't?" I'm slightly disappointed. Do I really mean nothing to her?

"No. She didn't. Maybe she just doesn't want me to know. It's a teenage thing." She waves it off.

"Liam?" I turn to see Skylar coming down the stairs. She looks beautiful as always.

"Hi," I say. "You look nice."

She smiles. "Thanks. So do you."

Mrs. Brinley smiles at the both of us. "Well, you too have fun. Skylar, don't be out too late."

She nods. "I know." She heads for the front door and I follow.

"Nice meeting you Mrs. Brinley!" I call before closing the front door behind me.

I walk out towards the car and Skylar follows. I don't say anything and neither does she. Maybe this night won't be great. Maybe it will just be awkward.

I stop in my tracks when I hear a low growl behind me, followed by the sound of bones hitting one another. I turn around and there is one of Kate's berserkers standing in Skylar's front yard. My breath catches in my throat and I close my eyes, trying to make the vision go away. When I open them, the berserker is standing right in from of me. I'm about to yell for Scott when a hand touches my shoulder.

"Liam? You okay?" I turn to see Skylar standing behind me, her hand on my shoulder. Scott and Kira look at me with concerned expressions from the car.

I turn back around to check for the berserker but nothing's there. "Yeah I'm fine. Let's go."

I open the car door for Skylar and close it as soon as she's in. Scott shoots me a concerned look as I get in the car. 'I'm fine,' I mouth to him. He nods but doesn't look totally convinced.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
By the time we get to school, the bonfire is already set and the place is packed with people. Scott and Kira disappear almost immediately after he tells me to be careful.

"You want to go find Mason?" I ask Skylar.

She nods. "Sure."

I turn and start walking, searching for my friend. I finally spot him sitting a picnic table alone. "Found him," I say and make my way over with Skylar following.

"Hey," I greet Mason and we do our traditional handshake.

"This is Skylar." I nod toward her.

Mason gives me a knowing smile. "Hey."

"Hey. You're in my Spanish class right?" She asks.

"Yeah I am." Mason answered.

There were a few seconds of awkward silence until I found a way to remove myself from the situation.

"I'm going to go get a drink. You guys want anything?"

They both shake their heads.

"I'll be back." I push through the crowd and head to the drink table. I keep my hearing up though so I can listen if Mason and Skylar are talking.

"I can't believe you agreed to come with Liam," I hear Mason say.

Really Mason? You have no faith in me? The thought of him not believing I can get a date hurts.

"Yeah. I can't really believe it either," Skylar says back. "He's not my type."

Mason laughs and Skylar joins in. I sign and grab a bottle of Coke along with a cup of vodka and head back to the table. I plan to get drunk tonight. Hopefully, it will help me to not think about the berserkers and to get my mind off the fact that Skylar doesn't like me and she probably never will.

When I get there, Mason and Skylar are sitting on top of the table, still laughing.

Mason's eyes grow wide when he sees the vodka I have. "You're seriously drinking vodka?"

"I'm trying to get drunk all right?" I sit next to Mason and open up the bottle of coke and slowly pour the vodka into it.

"Are you sure you want to get drunk?" Skylar asks, concerned. "It doesn't seem like the best idea."

"I'll be fine," I answer, taking a sip.

"You know what?" Mason asks. "This is good. I want you to get so drunk that you're stumbling all over the place because maybe then you'll be so drunk you can tell me what's really going on."

I look at the ground, guiltily. I know Mason only wants to help. He's my best friend. But I just can't tell him. Not yet.

Skylar looks between me and Mason, confused. I nod as if to tell her everything is okay. She nods back in silent confirmation but she doesn't look convinced.

I take another sip of the coke and vodka. It burns as it goes down my throat to my stomach. Mason and Skylar both stare at me and don't say anything. I finish my drink in no time and stand up, setting the bottle on the table.

"I'm going to get another drink," I say.

"Liam, you just drank a whole cup of vodka. I don't think you need anything else to drink," Skylar says, her eyes wide.

I know she's just trying to help but something about her looking after me makes me angry.

"I'm fine," I snap. I glare at her and walk away.

"I'm starting to regret coming tonight," I hear Skylar say. "I didn't come to watch him get drunk out of his mind."

"Yeah I know. He's usually not like this. He's been acting really weird for the past few months," Mason says.

I sigh and push my way through the crowd.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Seven drinks later, I was stumbling around the table and slurring every single word I tried to say to Mason and Skylar. They kept asking me if I was alright and I kept replying I was fine. I was so drunk I could barely remember where I was. I could barely remember who I was.

"Liam, we need to take you home." Skylar placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine." I push her hand off my shoulder roughly.

Skylar looks at Mason pleadingly. "Get Scott."

Mason nods and leaves to go find Scott.

"No," I groan. "Don't get Scott. He'll be so mad at me."

"He will know what to do," she insists.

"You know," she continues, "when I asked you if I was going to regret this and you said maybe?"

I nod. I'm afraid if I open my mouth I will throw up all over this table.

"I do regret this." She stares at me long and hard. "You've barely talked to me the whole night. I was concerned about you getting drunk and you just pushed me away. You can't push everyone away."

"I'm not pushing people away," I growl. "I don't need you to look after me like I'm some child."

"Well, you're acting like one," she snaps back.

"Then just leave me alone then."

"Fine. I will." She stands up and storms away, disappearing into the crowd.

"Skylar! Wait!" I yell.

She doesn't even look back. I sigh and lay my head on the table. What have I done?