"I said no," I hate being a dick to my closest friend, but sometimes, in times like this, it's necessary.

I've tried to calmly explain to Nick why I have no interest in going to the party at Jasper's house tonight a million and one times now, and it's getting old.

"It'll be fun," he complains.

Maybe it could be if it weren't for who I am. Jasper hates my fucking guts, and honestly, I'm not too fond of Jasper either. He and Bryant are thick as thieves, and I don't find that surprising. Jasper has a thing for Ellie, and as long as I'm with her, he's not going to want me at his house, and I'm not going to want to be there.

"I'll grant you the guy could have a little more grace over losing Ellie to you, but why should that stop you from having a good time?" he asks.

Here's the thing, I party. I'm not a stick in the mud, and I like to have a good time, but I've never ran with the stoners at our school. Nick smokes, but he only does it socially, and he doesn't ever buy it. The people who are going to the party tonight are stoners through to their bones, and I'm not judging, but it's not my scene.

"Consider it a favor to me. Your girl is going you know?" Nick asks.

He throws it out there as if I already know, so I play it off like I do, but truth be told, I had no idea she would be going. Why she wouldn't tell me something like that is fairly sketchy in my opinion.

"We can hang out at my house," I suggest because Nick usually jumps at the opportunity because I rarely have him over.

I avoid having guests at the house while my father is home, but he's on a business trip for a couple of days, so I'm all right with having him over.

"I want to go to this party. I think I've got a shot with Nikki," he tells me.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Nick has been trying to close the deal with her since our freshman year.

"Let's flip a coin. Heads we go to Jasper's, tails we do whatever lame alternative you cook up," he suggests.

"You're serious?" I ask him incredulously.

I don't know why he wants to go to this party so badly, it sounds miserable to me, and most nights he'd agree.

"I really think I can get with Nikki if we go," he tells me.

"You realize how ridiculous the two of you would be as a couple, right? Nick and Nikki? Honestly, it's probably why she's turned you down so much," I joke with him.

She's turned him down so much because Nick is known for being a player and Nikki is a sweetheart. She's playing it safe in the dating department, and honestly, it's been pretty funny watching my player buddy try to jump through hoops for the one girl.

"Fine," I agree, "we can go, but you owe me," I warn because it's a big ask.

"Sweet!" he fist pumps the air and immediately starts texting someone, likely Nikki.

When we get to the party a few hours later, things are in full swing. I can say what I want about the guy, but Jasper throws raging parties, and he always have. I avoid them most weekends, but he has them almost weekly. His parents are love birds apparently, and they go out of town every weekend to keep the romance alive. Why I know so much about his family life is beyond me, but the entire school knows why we have a house to party at every weekend without supervision.

As soon as I walk into the house, I smell weed. I do my best not to be disappointed about being right. This is exactly the type of party I thought it'd be. At least it's not just a small group passing a joint around a table because Bryant's here. He's out on the house's sunporch, which is right next to the living room I'm standing in, and he's seated at a table next to Jasper. They are, in fact, passing a joint around the table, but there's a lot happening in the room where I'm standing, so I don't feel the need to go out there and make things awkward.

As soon as I walk in, my eyes land on Bryant, but I search the room for Ellie. I find her in the kitchen, so I tell Nick I'm going to go get a drink, and I join her.

"Hey beautiful," I try not to put any accusation into my tone when I see her, but this is a sketchy situation to find her in.

Without missing a beat, she throws her arms around my shoulders and leans in to kiss me.

"I'm glad you made it," she chirps against my lips.

"Oh yeah?" I ask, doubt seeping into my tone.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asks me, "lets go out onto the porch," she suggest.

Fuck that.

"Let's hang out in here," I suggest.

"In the kitchen?" she asks, turning her nose down at the idea.

"We'll block the drinks for other people," she complains.

"Then the living room?" I suggest.

"I want to smoke, come out there with me. You don't have to smoke, but I want to," she says.

Fuck. I'm not lame enough to complain about her smoking pot. She can do whatever she wants. I don't judge people, but I really don't want to be around Bryant and Jasper if I can help it.

"Fine, lead the way," I tell her, forcing a smile.

When I step onto the porch, everyone at the table is having different conversations. Nobody looks yp at Ellie or I. I sit at the table, in the only two open seats. It leaves me right in the center of the pot smoker's circle, but whatever. I guess there are worse things in life than second hand smoke.

For example, as I pass the joint over to Ellie as soon as it's handed to me, Bryant snorts in derision. My stomach pinches into a knot even though I wish the asshole had no effect on me. I glare at him.

"Something to say?" I ask.

"Just wondering why you're out here," he tells me, and his tone is casual, as if we're not in the middle of an argument.

If I do what I want to, and I go off on him, I'm going to look like the lunatic in this scenario because he's perfectly calm.

"Probably here for the same reason you are," I tell him, trying to keep my anger out of my tone, and honestly failing.

"I'm not out here to pass judgement on people trying to relax," he tells me.

And there it is. Bryant's hidden talent is making me look like the spoiled , rich dickhead I've spent my entire life trying not to be.

"I don't care if people smoke," I argue, my voice betraying how well his words landed.

"No?" he asks, casual as ever.

I narrow my eyes at him.

"No," I snap.

He takes his attention off of me long enough to take the joint from Jasper who just took a hit off of it. The asshole doesn't even take a hit off of it before passing it to the next person. He also doesn't turn his attention back to me, apparently content ending the conversation there. My face is heated with frustration and embarrassment over the judgmental attitude he's accusing me of. I wasn't judging people, but his accusations make me feel like he was.

"You look nice, El," Jasper says after the joint makes its way around the table again to Ellie.

"Thanks," she smiles.

I glare. What else is there to do when someone tells your girlfriend she looks nice right in front of you? Jasper has wanted Ellie for as long as I can remember. I might consider calling Jasper on his bullshit for a change, but Bryant's phone ringing distracts me from my anger. He pulls it out of his pocket, and when he checks the screen, there's something on his face that snags my interest. He seems upset about something, but I couldn't tell you what when he refuses to talk to me about even the smallest details of his life.

Whatever it is causes him to excuse himself from the room. I turn my attention to Ellie once he leaves the room, doing my best to distract myself from the look on Bryant's face when he left the room. When Ellie proves to be a piss poor distraction, I excuse myself from the room in favor of finding another drink.

I walk through the house, where the living room is a bit of a system shock after the quiet area of the stoner den. There's loud music playing, and drunk people everywhere. When I get to the kitchen, I make myself another beer, and I drink half of it before I refill my cup. This party's putting me on edge like I knew it would, and if I hadn't rode with Nick, I'd already be gone.

Instead of returning to the stoner den, where I'm fairly certain I'd lose my temper if Jasper kept trying to get into Ellie's pants right in front of me, I wander in the opposite direction as the noise. I'm almost completely away from the party's noises when I hear someone whisper shouting behind a closed door. It only takes me a second to realize it's Bryant.

"Don't fucking tell me that, Nathan," he snaps, sounding angrier than even I've ever heard him.

My stomach drops as the seriousness of his conversation settles over me. There's a small crack in the door, so I glance inside and find him on the phone. His anger is radiating off of him in waves.

"Then sell it, but you're the asshole whose shoulders this lands on when you don't manage to," he tells someone on the other end of the phone.

The reality of what this conversation likely means crashes down around me, and I feel slightly dizzy. I certainly no longer feel in the mood to put up with Jasper fucking Scott or his tendency to hit on Ellie right in front of me. I don't bother eavesdropping on the rest of the conversation Bryant's having. If that's what it sounds like, I don't want to know about it. Instead, I find Nick and crush his plans for the rest of the night with my demand that we leave.