Man, this is not fun.

Don't get me wrong, I've been to some fun parties, but recently I've developed a certain distaste for them. They're apparently a place for socializing but even fail at that. This is made obvious by the way Theo has to shout in my ear every time he wants to say something.

"You like parties, right?" he yells above the music.

I force a smile. "Yeah!" There's no point in complaining to him when I'm already here.

"Wanna meet some people?" he asks.

I hate people but okay. "Sure!"

He brings me to his senior friends, who all recognize me from the fight video. Theo seems proud to be seen with me. I try to be friendly but it's hard when all they want to talk about is my five-minute "girl fight." Pretty soon, they forget I'm even there.

"I can't believe she let a junior beat her ass. She got fucking rocked," one of Theo's friends says like I'm not right next to him.

"These chicks think they're so tough until a guy tries to fight them. I would've taken both of them easy. Theo's girl and Kenzie." A guy with a scar on his eyebrow asks. I look at him with disbelief. God, the misogyny. I give Theo a look like "you better shut your friends up before I do."

"That the other chick in the video?" Blue-eyed guy asks, still oblivious.

"Yeah. She's mad thick, bro." Scar-brow's eyes shift to me. "But maybe Asian chicks are the move. They got that exotic energy."

Ok, ew. Sir, please get your yellow fever away from me.

"You are fucking disgusting," I say, walking off. Theo chases after me.

"Wait! Jennie!" he says. "I'm sorry if my friends made you uncomfortable. But they fuck with you, I swear."

"It's fine." It's fine as long as I never see them again.

"It doesn't seem fine," he says dubiously. "Forgive them, please? I'll talk to them later."

I look into his brown eyes, which plead with me, and nod. I can't blame him for how his friends act. "Ok. Thanks for coming after me," I say.

He grins. "Of course. I gotchu." With that, he says, "Can I get a hug?"

I embrace him loosely and pat his back. He gives me a smile and I realize for the first time that there's jewelry on his teeth.

"Let's go meet some more people," he says. "I want to show you off."

---

When Theo drops me off at home, I'm exhausted. My social battery has been drained completely. I think I've met every senior boy in the school at this point.

"You're home late," Nico greets me from the couch. He's dressed in grey sweats and a hoodie, and his hair is damp like he just showered. My lips quirk up at the way his hair hangs in his face as he takes a bite of ice cream.

I take a look at the clock. It's almost one AM.

"Yeah. I was socializing," I say with disgust. A small smile forms as I stretch out my arms. Being home has already improved my mood.

He laughs. "Oh yeah? How'd that go?"

"Everyone wants to meet the best fighter at CV," I say sarcastically. He laughs even harder at this. "Seriously, you don't know how lucky you are to be in the same room as me right now."

He lifts his eyebrows. "Are you cracking a joke right now?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes, Niccoló. Get over it."

He smiles and nods to the couch space next to him. "Sit down, Jennifer. I bought some ice cream that's actually good."

"Rocky road?" I ask, sitting next to him. He always liked rocky road. He smells like shampoo and I can feel the warmth coming from his body.

"You'll be mind blown," he says, extending the blanket to cover my bare legs next to his. He hands me his spoon, which I make a face at, but take nonetheless.

The movie plays on and I think it's about zombies or something, which is the exact type of movie I don't like but I still watch it. When I wake up on the couch in the morning, the ice cream is in the freezer, the spoon is cleaned, and my blanket is tucked in.

A/N: happpyyyy fridayy! hope everyone's doing well and thank u for reading :)