𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 • 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚘

one

• Sidney •

Sidney didn't remember why he had let Cass bring him to this party. It wasn't his normal scene. He didn't drink and he didn't particularly like to dance. Whether that was because he truly didn't like it or because he was bad at it, no one will ever know. So he stood in the corner, sipping on a coke that he had found in the fridge.

Sidney wasn't the only person that Cass had dragged to this party, he was the only one that had arrived with her though. He knew that Mae was supposed to show up at some point, she was taking the train back home tonight so she was going to be a little late. She had invited another one of her friends too, Sidney hadn't met him. Cass had told him that his name was Nate or something, he didn't know, he hadn't really been listening.

Cass had a lot of friends from all over, meaning that most of them didn't know each other, which happened to be the case tonight. He'd heard a lot about Mae, but he had yet to actually meet her. He doubted he would too, and he would much rather wait for Cass to be done partying than make small talk with someone he probably wouldn't see again. She hadn't said much about the other one, though. Just a few details that she felt were 'essential' to know.

Almost as if on cue, he saw Cass pushing through the crowd, a boy being dragged behind her. "Sid! There you are!"

Sidney waved, taking another sip of his coke. "Hi, Cass. Having fun?"

"Oh yeah. This is Nick. He's not drinking or anything tonight so I thought you might bond over your sobriety." Sidney knew that Cass meant well, but building a friendship off of being sober was not on his bucket list.

"Hi, Nick. Nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out for a handshake, which was reciprocated awkwardly. Of course no one would shake someone's hand at a party like this.

"I'll let you guys get to know each other. I'm gonna go see if Mae is here yet." Cass wasted no time leaving the two behind, an awkward silence sitting between the pair.

"So, how do you know Cass?" Nick's voice was almost completely drowned out by the noise, so Sidney had to pay complete attention to understand what he was saying.

"She's my cousin. What about you?"

"Lacrosse game. My brothers play. Where did you get that coke?"

"The fridge." Nick nodded, and turned to go find the kitchen, leaving Sidney all alone again. He breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he didn't like people, it was just so draining trying to find something in common with a complete stranger.

When Nick returned a few minutes later, he sighed again, this time out of frustration. He had been planning on spending an hour or two by himself, talking to Cass every once in a while, and then leaving. No where had he planned to be stuck with some other guy who he'd never met before.

"Do you know anyone here?" Nick asked as he approached, a coke now in his hands.

"Just Cass. But she makes her rounds every 20 minutes or so."

"Wanna get out of here?"

"I'm her ride home."

"Come back for her."

Sidney shrugged, it couldn't be worse than this. At least if they were somewhere else he wouldn't have to worry about the noise or the massive crowd of being surrounding him. He needed a breather anyway.

Nick led him back to the front of the house, not seeing Cass the entire time. He decided to text her to let her know that he was leaving, and that she should text him when she was ready to go so he could come back to pick her up.

"How did you get roped into this?" Sidney asked once they were outside and the music became a dull thud from inside the house.

"Honestly, I have no clue. I can't even drive so I can't DD or anything." Sidney's car was up ahead, and he realized that if Nick couldn't drive, then he would have to. He's had his license for a little over a year now, but that didn't mean that he liked to drive.

"Were you planning on walking or expecting me to drive?" He'd meant it as a joke, but it came out way harsher than he'd expected. "Sorry, I didn't mean that to be rude..."

"No, don't apologize. There's a Taco Bell like two blocks away so I thought we'd walk there. If you want to drive we can, though." Sidney weighed the options. Either drive two blocks away and be able to control the temperature, or walk two blocks in the cool autumn night and risk possibly being mugged. He opted for the car.

An easy silence fell between the two after the got into the car, neither knowing quite what to say. The music played softly, just loud enough to ensure that they didn't have to talk. Sidney wasn't a fan of just sitting though, he usually like to talk to someone if it was just the two of them. He thought back to what Cass had told him about Nick.

She'd given him exactly three bits of information on him. He's from Somerville, like Sidney was. He and
his brothers recently started a YouTube channel. And he was also not drinking tonight. He didn't know how to start a conversation about any of the topics, and the last thing he wanted was to seem like he had looked into the boy.

Sidney opted to listen to the music, drive, and pray to God that Nick would have something to say soon.