An hour later, Oscar heard a soft knock and voice outside his room.

"Os, are you ready to go?" Said Kim from the other side of the door.

Oscar closed his laptop, and walked over to the door. He opened it, to find Kim standing there, looking very grunge chic.

"Hey, nice outfit," Oscar said.

"Thanks," Kim said as she looked down at her Woodstock shirt and ripped jeans with fishnets layered underneath. She walked past Oscar, into his room. He was wearing a simple outfit of jeans, Vans, and a randomly selected flannel over a t-shirt. It suited him.

Oscar closed the door, and saw his reflection in the mirror on the back of the door. He turned around to face her. "So...." he paused.

"So, what?" she asked, and plopped down on the bed.

"So, are we going?" Oscar continued.

Kim sarcastically said, "Well, the party starts at 9:00 and it's only 8:55, so we might have time for a quick game of Yahtzee before we go," and laughed.

"Yeah, I'm ready, let's go," she said and promptly jumped off of the bed. She headed out the door and down the stairs with Oscar following close behind. They got into Kim's car and she turned on the radio, to a station playing "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne.

About ten minutes later the pair were parked outside of Serenity's house.

Oscar sat in silence and stared ahead. Kim looked over at him. "We're here," she said.

Oscar nodded. Kim continued, "So, you ready to go in?" Oscar looked over at her and nodded again.

They both got out of the car, and silently walked to the door of Serenity's house. Oscar knocked. After a few seconds, the door opened, to reveal a somewhat intoxicated Serenity.

"Hey, you came!" she squealed.

"Haha, yeah," said Kim.

"Well, come on in!" said Serenity while opening the door more and moving to the side so they could pass. She had a substance in her hair that looked like yellow paint but probably wasn't.

Oscar and Kim walked past her and were greeted with the musk of stale booze, and of course, hotdog water.

The room was full of people. All drinking and talking amongst themselves. There was quiet house music playing.

"This definitely isn't a 'small' party," Oscar thought.

Scanning the crowd for someone that he knew, Oscar's eyes fell on a boy standing at the opposite side of the room, nursing a solo cup. He noticed Oscar staring and a look of recognition spread across his face.

The boy began approaching him with his hand outstretched and Oscar stuck out his own. With a pat on the shoulder he said "Hey, Ethan, what's up man?"

"Just hanging out," the other boy said. "You guys just get here?" He asked.

"Yeah, why?" Oscar asked.

Ethan smiled and pushed the solo cup in his hand toward Oscar, "Then you're definitely gonna need this," he laughed.

"I never see you at these kinds of things," Ethan said. "Yeah, not really my my thing," Oscar answered.

"I can see that," he laughed. "Seriously bro you need this more than anyone here," he said, gesturing the cup toward Oscar again.

"You're probably right," Oscar laughed, taking it from him, having relaxed a little bit. Another guy walked by, towards the cooler that sat across the room and Ethan yelled after him, "Yo Jake! Hey, toss me a beer!" The other boy obliged and Ethan twisted the cap off, taking a sip.

Oscar stood back and took a look at him.

Ethan Cortez. Medium height and a decently handsome guy, with dark brown short cropped hair. His face featured a sharp jawline and broad nose. He was outfitted in a plain blue, round neck t-shirt, that made it no secret that he was much more muscular than Oscar could ever hope to be, but the way he carried himself exuded an air of friendliness nonetheless.

Definitely not the kind of guy Oscar usually hung around. In fact, the two had only met when they were paired up for a science project during sophomore year.

Oscar smiled, hesitated for a second, and reluctantly raised the cup to his lips. "To be honest, I knew this was going to happen," he thought to himself.

"I don't usually do this. You know, the whole party thing," he said to Ethan.

Ethan put a hand to his ear as if listening to something far away. "Hear that man? That's the sound of your life slipping away."

Oscar looked around. He saw people all around, laughing, dancing, drinking, living. It made him feel so small. Like he was missing out. So in a moment of desperation and absolute not-giving-a-fuck-ness, Oscar raised his drink, and chugged.