Ryan's cottage is in a quaint little town around two and a half hours out of the city, and to my delight, we successfully drove almost the whole way there before Jordan started whining again.

"I've been trapped in this expensive ass car with you people for way too long," Jordan huffs, right after Ryan and I finish belting another obnoxious Katy Perry song.

We both laugh, and although Bryce is doing better at keeping his mouth shut than Jordan is, I can tell that he's contemplating shutting the radio off.

Some rap song that I've never heard before begins playing, but Ryan seems to know it as he begins screeching the words.

I giggle, leaning back in my seat and turning my head a little so I get a good view of Bryce's expression.

He's biting down on his lower lip, trying to keep his laughter in, no doubt. He's shaking his head a little though, surely more amused by Jordan's groaning than Ryan's 'singing'.

Jordan raps a fist against the back of Bryce's seat, asking, "Will you please turn the damn music off?"

Bryce teasingly seems to think for a moment, before reaching over to turn the dial on the radio down a little bit.

"Boo," Ryan huffs, and Jordan seems to be silently sending a prayer.

I laugh, wondering how I've ended up spending another Friday night in the car with these idiots. I think we're all kind of hungry and restless though, so I'm sure after we finally get out of the car everyone will settle down.

"Is there any food in here?" Jordan asks, and Bryce rolls his eyes at him.

"What, do you think I have a fucking refrigerator in here or something?" he replies, and I clamp my hand over my mouth to stifle my own laughter.

Bryce sneaks a glance at me from the corner of his eye, and I see a hint of amusement there.

"Where'd you get such a smart mouth from?" Jordan prods, and Bryce just shakes his head.

Even though it seemed like this car ride would never end, we pull up outside of Ryan's place a short few minutes later.

Jordan is the first one out of the car, flinging the door open the moment Bryce brings the vehicle to a halt in the driveway. Ryan follows right after, and joins Jordan at the back of the car. Jordan seems to be waiting for Bryce to pop open the trunk again like earlier, but after a second he tries to open it himself.

When it doesn't budge, Ryan walks around to the side of the car, seemingly about to open a door and ask Bryce to unlock the back, just as Bryce opens up the trunk with the press of a button.

"Shit!" I hear Jordan yell as it scares him again. I've never noticed how easily he scares.

Bryce is chuckling to himself as Ryan and Jordan grab their bags from the trunk, then proceeding to walk up to the front door.

"I do like that guy," Bryce comments out of nowhere, reaching to open up his door.

This shocks me a bit as I remember him clearly mentioning how obnoxious he finds my friends various times this week alone.

"Who? Jordan?" I question, and Bryce nods.

"Yeah, he's fun to mess with. If you decided to run off and marry him I would approve," he tells me.

"Why would I need your approval? It's not like you're my dad or something," I defend, realizing how my words could be interpreted after they've already left my mouth.

I hope that Bryce can let it slide, but of course he can't.

He winks at me, biting his lip.

Literally winks at me.

"Ew, Bryce! That's not what I meant," I groan, but he's already stepped out of the car, laughing like a maniac. I hurry out around to the trunk, pinching his arm as he wraps it around my shoulder.

"Calm down. God," he tells me, slinging one of his bags over his shoulder and carrying the other in his hand. I reach for my bag as well, closing the trunk after I pick it up, and we walk with his arm still around me up to the porch.

When we step through the doorway, Bryce drops his stuff in a pile on the floor, locking the car with his keys before shutting the door behind us.

"Where do you want me to put this shit?" Bryce asks Ryan, who's already disappearing down the hall to the kitchen.

He turns back around to face us, saying, "You guys can go claim whatever rooms you want upstairs. I advise you go do that now before everyone else does unless you want to be the losers that end up asleep on the couch."

Bryce nods, picking his bags up again before walking straight up the stairs. I follow him up there, watching as he goes straight for the room farthest away, in the corner of the hallway.

He opens the door, stepping inside and dropping everything on top of the bed before walking back towards me.

"I figured that being farthest away from the other rooms wil be quite beneficial when Jasmine and that Daniel kid are up having sex all night," he explains. "I'd rather not hear that."

He really seems to like mentioning sex, doesn't he?

"Gross," is all I say as I claim the room next to Bryce's. It has two double beds crammed inside, and Jasmine and I usually share.

"She better not plan on that," I realize, "as we have to sleep in the same room.

I decide on the bed in the corner, against the wall with the huge window carved into it. The curtains are drawn shut, so I pull them open to let some of the golden hour sunlight into the room. I feel Bryce walk up behind me, looking out over my head at the sky through the glass pane.

"If all else fails, you can come sleep with me," he offers. "And let's be real; they've been ogling each other all week. It's definitely going to happen."

"Great," I sigh, knowing he's right.

I wish I was as confident as Jasmine, doing whatever I wanted and actually having some fun while still in high school. I just overthink every single darn thing.

Meanwhile, Jasmine is gorgeous, and she has a great personality. Everyone seems to love her. I really do wish I was more like her, not as reserved and timid as I currently am.

"I'm not going to sleep in your bed," I eventually inform Bryce, and he smiles, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"Sure you won't," he teases back, and I spin around, shoving him in the chest. He doesn't budge one inch which irritates me, but I don't get another chance to shove as he turns me around again, resting his head on mine once more.

"Shh. You're a good height for a chin rest with these shoes on," he tells me, and I try and move to elbow him, but he wraps his arm around me, pinning my hands to my side.

"Ooh, she's extra feisty today," he whispers, his lips at my ear, and I turn around to look up at him.

His face is so close to mine that I can smell the hint of cinnamon on his breath, almost able to hear his heart beating in his chest.

"I'm about to get even more feisty if you don't let me go. I need food," I tell him, and he pinches my forearm before releasing me from his grip.

"All right, then," he says, strolling out of the room and leaving me behind.

"Rude!" I call out after him.

He keeps on walking down the stairs, but briefly stops to say, "Coming from the girl who keeps shoving my chest."

"Maybe I wouldn't shove you if you didn't give me a reason to," I defend, following after Bryce.

"Maybe you shouldn't take everything so seriously," he counters.

I gape at him. "I didn't come here for personal attacks, Bradshaw," I huff, watching as Bryce reaches the foyer of the cottage. He spins around to glare at me, folding his arms over his chest.

"Neither did I, Miss Brooks," he replies, and I expect him to continue walking away from me but instead he waits for me to catch up to him.

He actually did bring up something I've been wondering about since earlier this week; why did he agree to come with us?

I was already surprised enough when he first agreed, and I was even more shocked that he still came along even after his fight with Mateo. He's made it very obvious that he greatly dislikes Mateo, and he isn't shy about his negative feelings towards everybody else either.

I'm generally very confused by him, as there's a significant change in the way he acts when we're alone versus when we're around others.

With me he's always playful, making lighthearted jokes and sometimes even talking to me about theatre, something that everybody else I know is sick of hearing about.

Yet whenever anyone else is around, even if it's just my brother, he puts up a facade. He pretends like he doesn't care about what others think about him, but he must.

Though he clearly wasn't considering what people would think when he got into a fight in the school hallways, but then again, his persona seemed to shift when I took his hand and pulled him away from it all.

Dare I say, it seemed like he was guilty.

"Why did you come along, then?" I ask him, taking my shoes off when I reach the door. I place them on the top of an empty wooden shoe rack, lining them up neatly, noticing how Bryce is watching my every move so carefully.

He's smirking at me, and I feel a little nervous under his gaze.

"What's so funny?" I ask, straightening up and smoothing down my shirt. Bryce leans back against the stair rail, a faint twinkle in his eyes.

"Nothing. I just find it amusing how you always keep everything so organized. It's as if it pains you for things to be messy," he observes, and I feel a shift inside of me at his words.

"Hey, it's not a bad thing. It's cute, actually. I was just wondering why you're so selective," he says, stepping away from the wall and closer to me.

He reaches a hand up to hold the side of my face. He does this a lot, I notice.

All I can do is blink helplessly at him for a moment, not sure if I can form a coherent sentence in this close proximity.

"You're avoiding my question?" I manage to finally say, and he gives me a strained, half smile, pushing my hair behind my ears.

"You should wear your hair up tonight. We're not at school so no one can yell at you for your piercings. And to answer your question, Blossom, it's very isolating being alone in that mansion all weekend. We really need to adopt a dog or something," he whispers.

"I see," I say. "And to answer your question, I think I'm just so picky and controlling of the little things because I'm generally always anxious and on-edge. I suppose it's nice to be able to distract myself even if it means focusing on minuscule things."

Bryce nods at my quiet words, and doesn't say anything back. He's just staring at me with a look of sympathy, his face so close to mine for the billionth time today alone.

Just like that, the front door bursts open

"The party's here!" Jasmine calls out, skipping into the room. She's changed into a fitted grey dress, her blue hair tied up in a bun atop her head. Mateo walks in right behind her, his line of vision instantly falling on Bryce and I.

His shoulders tighten as he catches Bryce's hand on my face, but Bryce promptly drops his hand without hesitation.

Ryan and Jordan come jogging into the room, Ryan already holding a beer in one hand. My friends seem to always forget that they're still two years under the legal drinking age.

Meanwhile, Jordan is holding a bag of ketchup chips, shoving a handful into his mouth. Jasmine seems to be eyeing the beer in Ryan's hand as well, but not in the disapproving way that I am.

"You started drinking already?" she pouts, walking straight up the stairs. Ryan shrugs at her and she rolls her eyes, vanishing around a corner. Mateo just leaves his bag by the base of the stairs, taking off his jacket and hanging it up on one of the hooks behind the door.

"What are we doing for dinner?" he asks, nodding towards Ryan.

Ryan shrugs at him, and I feel an awkward tension in the room already. It lifts a fair bit when Jasmine comes flouncing back down the stairs, one hand on her hip, but I feel the sudden urge to back away into the living room as they talk.

Bryce reaches for my arm and I flinch away from his grip, which confuses him as his brow furrow.

He looks like he wants to ask me what's wrong, but I'm just being ridiculous and scared of another argument breaking out.

"Which fast food places are around here?" Jordan asks, leaning against the doorway of the kitchen.

"There's food in the fridge from when my family was down last weekend but I doubt anyone here wants to cook," Ryan adds, and when there's a general silence from all of us at the mentioning of cooking, we compromise on sending Mateo and Jordan to go grab McDonald's.

I generally hate fast food, but I put in my order of just French fries which earns me a look from Bryce, and Mateo and Jordan head off.

We've all gathered in the small living room, Jasmine and Ryan chatting, laughing, and drinking beer on one of the couches as Bryce and I sit there watching them.

To my surprise, Bryce doesn't drink along with them, and I'm silently grateful that someone else here has some common sense.

"Are there any parties we can go to tonight?" Jasmine asks Ryan, and he thinks for a moment.

"I'll text Ethan. He usually throws parties every Friday," Ryan responds, and my interest in their conversation piques.

"Who's Ethan?" I chime in, and I see a small blush creep up to Ryan's cheeks.

At this, Jasmine takes note, and she shoots up in her seat with a sudden jolt of excitement.

"Oh my God, is he the guy you were telling me about yesterday?" she prods, and a smile grows on Ryan's face.

"Yeah, it is," he says. "He's super hot. I can't wait for you guys to meet him."

At the mention of Ryan's latest conquest, the three of us seem to simultaneously take notice if the fourth person in the room.

We all slowly turn to Bryce in unison, to find him texting on his phone, not at all interested in our conversation.

"Hey, Bryce?" Ryan says eventually, drawing Bryce's attention up to us.

"What?" is all he says as a response. He clearly has a way with words, as he's so soft-spoken and such.

Ryan seems to think the same as he rolls his eyes at Bryce.

"You're not by any chance extremely homophobic or anything, are you," he then asks.

Bryce quirks his head to the side at the question.

"Of course not," he replies. "Why the hell would I give a shit about other people's love lives?" he responds, and Ryan let's out a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank God, because I'm gay as hell," I hear Ryan say quietly, which makes Jasmine laugh out loud.

"You're not very nice either," I comment, directed at Bryce, and it makes him raise an eyebrow at me.

"Wow Blossom, I'm so hurt," he replies blandly, raising an eyebrow at me.

I narrow my eyes at him, and he shakes his head, turning back to his phone. Him and my brother both seem to be glued to those things.

"Do you ever put your phone down?" I ask him, and just like that he shuts off the device, setting it down on the table in front of him.

"Yes. Do you ever stop judging my every move?" he counters, and though his tone is harsh I see the smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"No, I don't," I tell him, and he sighs at me, leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling.

All of a sudden, Jordan and Mateo come walking into the living room, brown paper bags in hand. They both set the bags down on the coffee table, and everyone begins searching around to find their food.

We all eat quickly, as Ryan did in fact hear back from that Ethan boy who was apparently eager for us to come down to his place. Ryan said it's a cottage much like the one we're currently staying in, an ordinary house that his family just only stays in occasionally.

Jasmine told me that my jeans and sweater weren't suitable for a high school party, so she dragged me upstairs to see what else I had packed to wear.

I predicted that something similar would happen as I was rummaging through my closet, so I tossed a cherry red dress in the bag as well. It's certainly too short to be wearing out as November inches closer and closer, but Jasmine insists that I'll be fine. She drags me into the bathroom to apply a coat of lip gloss to my lips, as well as using a curling wand to fix up the ends up my hair. I'm then handed a hair tie, and she insists that I put my hair up in a ponytail.

"Great! Bryce is going to fall even more in love with you now!" Jasmine exclaims, winking at me as we grab our jackets from the room we're sharing.

I freeze suddenly, staring blankly at her as she gives me a cheesy smile.

"Is that seriously why you've been so insistent on all of this?" I ask her, having to chase her down the stairs as she was smart enough to begin running already.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like—"

My sentence is cut off as I run right into Bryce's chest.

"Woah, what're you doing?" Bryce asks me as he stabilizes us both both before we go tumbling down the stairs.

"I am so sorry," I apologize, but instead of teasing me for being clumsy per usual, I notice how he's staring at me with a newfound intensity, his eyes dark and his mouth hanging open a little bit.

"Damn, you look good," he breathes, and I feel myself blush profoundly.

"Thanks," is all I manage to whisper, and he nods, walking past me and continuing up the stairs.

I then notice Jasmine leaning against the door, an even bigger smile now on her face.

"I told you so," she mocks, pulling her jacket on over her shoulders.

I further notice that everyone else is standing there as well, meaning that they all witnessed that exchange between Bryce and I as well.

I suddenly want to curl up in a corner and die.

Bryce returns a moment later, wearing a light denim jacket.

"Let's head out," he says, breaking the silence between us all, and just like that we're off.

The moment we walk out the door, Jordan starts complaining about how cold it is, and Bryce quickly shuts him up, telling him that he should have put on a heavier coat.

Jasmine also complains about how we're walking rather than driving, and I tell her that it's only a few houses down, and that she shouldn't have worn heels if she knew they'd bother her this much.

Ethan's cottage looks almost identical to Ryan's from the outside, but the moment we step inside, it's a totally different atmosphere.

I'm instantly reminded about how much I hate house parties.

It's not even that late, but people are already drunk out of their minds, people who all don't look any older than us, meaning that it's totally illegal for them to drink.

I should have put up more of a fight before agreeing to go to this party.

The lights are dim apart from awful fluorescent strobe lights coming from the living room, and people are grinding on each other already, not something I want to be watching.

A perky redheaded boy with bright blue eyes walks up to us as soon as we enter, and by the way Ryan's breath seems to catch, I can only assume he must be Ethan.

My suspicions are confirmed when Ryan and him hug quickly before turning back to us.

"Guys, this is Ethan. Ethan this is Jasmine, Mateo, Jordan, Lexi, and Bryce," he says, introducing us all.