My face hurts like a mother fucker when I wake up the next day. Ben fucking Hartley is feeling worse than I am, but he did manage to land a decent punch before I realized what was happening. Last night was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. That, combined with Kyle giving me a hard time when I got home last night, and the maximum of five hours of sleep I got last night make for my cranky mood when I wake up.

I pull myself out of bed, and I force myself to throw on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before I walk downstairs for breakfast. The Amersons have a personal chef, and it's become part of my morning routine to reject whatever Pier is cooking in favor of a Toaster Strudel. If I'm honest with myself, indulging in the Toaster Strudel is indulging more in the life of luxury than I'd like. We could never afford the things while I was growing up, so now that I can have them, I indulge. Sue me.

After I eat, I walk outside, and I climb into Kyle's Ferrari. It's a morning routine I do every week day. Having a conversation with the asshole in the morning is what I aim to avoid. I'm not a morning person in the least, and the last thing I'd want to do is have a conversation with him this early in the morning.

I glance at my watch after waiting in the car for what feels like longer than normal. My watch confirms it's ten minutes after when we usually leave for school. I give him another two minutes before I'm climbing out of the car, convinced I'm going to have to wake his ass up for school.

When I get inside, I knock on his bedroom door.

"One second," he says, and then I hear him talking to someone else on the other side of the door.

When he opens the door, he looks so far from put together it causes my heart to beat wildly in my chest. I try to tamp it down, but he clearly just got out of bed, and his bedhead goes straight to my dick. Sweat pants might not have been wise.

"I know," he says into the phone, "Ellie, I have to--," I can hear Ellie screaming at him on the other end of the phone, but I can't quite make out what she's saying.

Her voice is enough to help out with my dick situation, but Kyle still looks cute as shit this morning. He's wearing a t-shirt and a pair of black pajama bottoms. I don't typically see him in his pajamas, and I'm sure it's the shock that's having this much of an impact on me.

"Shouldn't you be dressed?" I ask him, my scratchy throat making my voice weak.

"What time is it?" he mouths at me, holding his hand over the speaker on his cellphone.

"You can't tell time either. How far can your privilege extend?" I ask to be an asshole, knowing the reason he's asking is because I'm knocking on his door in the morning, and that implies we're late.

He ignores my jab, and he pulls the phone away from his ear to check the time.

"Shit. El, I have to go. I'll call you back in the car," he tells her.

"You're hanging up on me right now?" she screams, and I have no trouble making it out due to the sheer volume it's yelled at.

Kyle takes the phone away from his ear, and he grimaces in pain.

"I'll call you back once I'm dressed," he tells her, and without a second's hesitation or waiting for her response, he hangs up on her.

"I'll be ready in five minutes," he tells me.

I can admit to being curious about what's happening between him and his girlfriend, but I also don't care nearly enough to ask. I don't respond to him verbally. I narrow my eyes at him, to make it clear I'm not thrilled about being late, then I make my way back out to the car.

He's true to his word, and we're on our way to school by the time five minutes pass. He's talking to Ellie when he climbs into the car, and the proximity makes it easier for me to eavesdrop than before.

Apparently, Kyle cheated on her. I'm surprised, but I probably shouldn't be. He's a spoiled rich douche who's never had to work at anything in his life. Why should he think a relationship takes work? For his part, he's denying it. He's telling her it never happened, but she's insisting it did.

When she loudly proclaims that the other chick sent her dick pics, I can't help but snort in laughter. The glare Kyle fixes me with is enough to make even me behave. I've never seen him so angry before, and I'll be honest, I don't love being on the receiving end of it.

"I'm telling you it didn't happen. If you don't believe that, it's not my problem," he says when we pull into the school's parking lot.

Then he shocks the ever-loving piss out of me by hanging up on her before she can respond. This morning has been one crazy thing about Kyle after the next. I never would have thought he'd cheat on his girl, and I really wouldn't think he'd hang up on her in the middle of explaining himself about such a serious topic.

"What?" he asks me when he turns and sees I'm staring.

I shrug, feigning indifference to his weird behavior, and I climb out of the car to go to class.

When the last bell of the day finally rings, I'm ready for it. The lack of sleep I got last night really isn't ideal for the camping trip with my buddies that starts tonight and lasts all weekend, but it's not a fun trip for me. It's work.

Ben decided last night, he was going to jump one of Holland's guys at a party for students at the closest high school to the one I attend. The guy Hartley jumped is the other school's equivalent to me at my school. He gets his supply from Holland, and he sells to his entire student body. Hartley, the poor bastard, didn't know the backing the other guy had. Hartley only knew that a student was selling where Ben wanted to be, and Ben wanted the profits the other guy was earning for his own.

Holland, as a result of the news, sent me to get in the middle of the fight as soon as he heard it was happening. I went, and I reported back to Holland about what was happening.

Hartley has been a pain in the ass since I started this bullshit arrangement with Holland, and tonight, he's supposed to be put away once in for all. Holland would have let him continue to sell on his turf for a while, but when Holland found out the asshole made a move on one of his guys, he made an arrangement for the asshole to get caught by law enforcement. The whole thing is supposed to go down tonight on a camping trip with half the school in attendance.

I meet Jasper by his car when the final bell rings, and I climb inside. He has my things in the back of his car because I brought them to his house last night, planning ahead for today.

"Your face looks awful," Jasper says as soon as he sees me.

This is the first time he's seen me today since we don't have a single class together.

"Thanks," I chuckle, "so who all is going this weekend?" I ask, climbing into the front seat of his truck and settling in.

I already know the answer, but I'm making casual conversation. As much as I hate to admit it, I hope Jasper doesn't get too wrapped up in all of this. While I can't be certain, I'm fairly positive the guy sells for Hartley. I'd warn the guy if it were possible to do without tipping off Hartley and everyone else. As it is, it's out of the question.

"It's turning into a big thing. Apparently most of the school will be there," he tells me.

My mind instantly flashes to Kyle. I resist the urge to ask about whether or not he'll be there.

"Should be fun," I muse.

I've been unable to get my mind off of Kyle's fight with his girlfriend all day. It's a ridiculous thing to be dwelling on, so I flat fucking refuse to ask whether or not he's coming this weekend. The thing is, I wouldn't have pegged him for the type of asshole to cheat on his girlfriend. It's possible it didn't happen, but Ellie sounded fairly certain of it.

I try my best to put it out of my mind while we drive the couple of hours it takes to get to the campsite. When we arrive, I start to unload the back of Jasper's truck. I brought a shit ton of blankets because I hate sleeping on the hard ground. I figure it's better to unload all of my gear now, so all I have to do later is set up my tent. It takes a couple of trips from my campsite to Jasper's truck, but eventually, my cooler, my blankets, my bag, are all in the area I booked for myself for this trip. I leave the tent in the back of Jasper's truck to deal with later. My area is pretty secluded. It's far enough away from the group where I can have privacy if need be, but it's close enough to be part of the fun if I don't mind a walk. I'm a guy who likes my privacy, so I don't mind the walk.

Once I have Jasper's truck unloaded, I finally look around the campground properly. The area is beautiful with a lake right next to our campsite. The cops are coming tonight, and while I don't want to be arrested for underaged drinking, I want even less for Jasper to notice my lack of drinking, and point out to me when this all goes South for who I'm assuming are his guys.

So, I might as well make the most of this. Worst case scenario, I get arrested and Holland bails me out within the hour. Problem is, almost as soon as I think I may be able to make this a fun weekend, Ellie's shouting alerts me to her presence, and when I follow the sound of her voice, I have my answer as to whether or not Kyle is coming.

"You were just going to show up without me?" Ellie shouts.

Kyle responds, and he looks livid, but he's far enough away from me I don't hear his response, and I pull my gaze away from him so I don't see much of it either.

I have mixed feelings about him and his girlfriend having a spat, and I hate having any feelings about it at all. I look around for his Ferrari, thinking maybe I missed it when I first arrived, but I don't see it. He must have driven with a friend of his.

"Looks like trouble in paradise," Jasper muses.

"Hmm?" I feign ignorance.

"Your brother and his girl," Jasper explains.

"Ah," I say noncommittally as I pull a beer out of the cooler in the back of Jasper's truck.

I crack it open, and I grab the cooler, wandering off to find some other people I know. Talking about Kyle isn't high on my list of priorities. Ignoring my need to obsess over his fight with his girlfriend and everything that's going down in a couple of hours, on the other hand, is. I sit down on a log next to a few of my teammates from the football team. One of them is telling a story, so I settle in, and enjoy my beer.

Unfortunately, it doesn't last long because Ellie walks over and sits next to me on the log.

"Your brother's a dick," she complains.

Thing is, Ellie and I don't talk. I take a pull of my beer, in no rush to respond to her.

"Not my brother," I point out.

She shrugs.

"He might as well be," she says.

I drink the rest of the beer in my hand in a couple of swallows, and I crack open a second.

"Where's Wanda?" I ask, wondering where her closest friend is and why she's not talking to her instead of me.

"She's trying to hook up with Nick this weekend," Ellie tells me, which is more information than I bargained for.

"Which means, I can't be around her because Kyle and I just broke up," she says in a shaky voice, and a glance at her tells me she's about to fucking cry.

I did not sign up for this conversation. Also, what the fuck? They broke up? That hits me harder than it should because he's been with her as long as I've known him, and now he's suddenly single? I down the beer in my hand, and I try not to think about the new information.

"You broke up?" Jasper asks, and I can smell the trouble from a mile away when he asks.

Jasper's been trying to get with Ellie for as long as I've known him. This camping trip is far more drama than I anticipated. All I wanted was a chance to chill out for the weekend. I was honestly hoping that'd be away from Kyle, and here we are.

"Can I talk to you?" Kyle appears from behind me.

He sounds mad, but he also sounds like he's trying not to let it into his voice. I recognize the tone well because he's a passive mother fucker, and if I weren't so combative with him, the two of us probably wouldn't fight constantly. I take another drink from my beer.

Kyle never stands so close to me. We respect one another's space, but right now, trying to get a conversation with his girl is more important than my space because he's right behind me, and I feel his heat like a fucking furnace on my back. I drink from my beer again, and it empties it, so I open another. Third beer in as many minutes might not be wise, but this weekend is more stressful than I anticipated, and right now, I'm feeling a little on edge.

"Bryant," he mumbles, and I turn to look at him.

My heart pinches the second my eyes land on him. He looks miserable.

"What?" I ask him, hoping my tone doesn't come out harsh, wondering if he's about to ask me to move over so he can sit next to Ellie.

I'd probably do it if he asked me to right now, which wouldn't be my usual reaction. He looks wrecked, and why his emotional turmoil has any bearing on me is beyond me, but I feel queasy looking at the look on his face.

"Can I talk to you?" he repeats, and I realize he was talking to me earlier.

"Me?" I ask, double checking I'm hearing him right.

"He sure as shit doesn't want to talk to me," Ellie complains.

I look to Kyle to argue with her, but the glare he turns on her is confirmation she's right. Though why he'd want to talk to me is beyond me. My heart drops to my feet, wondering about why he'd want to. The two of us don't talk.

"Sure," I agree, surprising even myself, but I take another swig of beer in order to calm myself down.

I follow him through the trees and towards the water. When we reach the water's edge, he turns to look at me. The look on his face tells me this eye contact is killing him right now, and it causes me to become anxious.

"I need to know what happened to your eye," he tells me.