At half past eight, AJ got off the phone. Again he sat and simply thought. His conversation with Nick had left AJ feeling frustrated. He thought that in the end the only thing that would end up happening would be Nick's heart would be ripped out and trampled by Cassie. Nick spent nearly an hour going through the details of the day he spent with Kevin and Cassie. He found every little thing she ever did "cute" or "perfect". He even went so far as to say he thought he loved her.

As the conversation wore on, AJ felt something gnawing at him on the inside. Trying to identify it, he decided it was just a foreshadowing of Nick's broken heart. He tried to convince himself of that, but deep down he knew it was something more than that. There was something about that he truly disliked. Something about her seemed fake and dishonest. It was this that he was thinking about until his thoughts were interrupted by his mother's voice telling him it was time to go. They left for Dylan's house a few minutes later.

Dylan Burke was a short but muscular senior who had been a part of AJ's play group when they were toddlers. His dad was the CEO of some big company and often had to travel for his business. Mr. Burke usually took along his wife and left his only child Dylan home alone. It was at these times when Dylan would throw a party. And a party by Dylan was usually accompanied with plenty of booze to go 'round.

There are people, like AJ, who get invited to every one of Dylan's parties, but there is also always a handful of people that change. The first time someone gets invited, their actions that night decide if they will be added to the group of regulars and invited back or shunned by all of them. For the most part, AJ would stick to a small group of the regulars that basically has Dylan's closest friends. Sometimes he would move out of the group, but never really knows anyone else, especially not the "newcomers". The best part of only interacting with the small group of his closest friends is that he doesn't have to worry about the consequences of his behavior. They all have a mutual understanding that whatever happens inside Dylan's house, whether under the influence of alcohol or not, stays inside the house. This reason alone could be one of the major reasons why he satys only with his trusted group of friends. The people Dylan spontaneously invites make AJ a little nervous once everyone starts drinking.

With the whole Nick and Cassie situation beginning to develop as a new, and pointless, stressor in his life, AJ was set on having a good time no matter who was there. As he sat in his mother's car and fiddled with his seat belt, he began to feel bad about his behavior. He knew he shouldn't drink because it was bad for him, illegal because he was underage, and most importantly because he knew he should face his problems instead of avoiding them.

About halfway to Dylan's he decided his feeling were sparked by his mother's presence and brushed the aside. He usually didn't feel this way because he wouldn't normally go with the intention to drink. He was always into partying and having a good time so whenever his life got complicated he would feel like he couldn't have any fun without hitting the bottle. Again, he thought to himself about what a great time he was going to have, no matter what happened or who was there.