"Hello," I Lied.

Nate

Let me tell you; waking up with your face pressed against cold glass is not fun. But that's exactly how I found myself after the exhausting ride to Stanton. With ANOTHER face smashed into the other side of the window. Pulling back suddenly, I stare at the face before breaking into a shit eating grin.

"Rachel?!" I practically scream. Bolting out of the car, I hold my best friend in a hug I didn't know I had in me. Screeching in happiness, we dance around what seems to be a parking lot. Calming down, we catch our breath, staring at each other with awe.

"Nate, you've changed so much." She says softly, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. Losing my smile, I look down.

"Is that bad?"

"I don't know yet." We look up with small smiles, happy to be with each other, but feeling a bit awkward at the same time. Looking back to the car, I notice its empty interior.

"Where's dad? And Kyle?" Rachel laughs, pointing to the hotel before us. I gape at the simple awesomness of it; it's huge! There must be at least twelve floors! I've actually read that they don't allow thirteen or something because of superstition, but who knows? I don't care about that! Give me floor thirteen, room thirteen, hell!

"I'm pretty sure your dad said that Kyle went to see his friends, but your dad's 'taking care of business'," she said, raising her fingers in quotation marks.

"I don't know where to start! I mean, there's so many people I want to see, and there's so many things I want to tell you, and I want to know about everything that's happened since we left, but.." I pout sadly, "I have to take a shower."

Rachel laughs again. "That's what the room is for. Your dad gave me your room key. If you want it, you have to come get it!" Taking off, I stare after her as she runs to the entrance. Gaining my senses, I give chase.

Rachel outruns me, and I'm about to give up when she suddenly stops in front of a door. Running into her, we topple against the wall, laughing. Calming down, she opens the door and lets us in.

My clothes are already on a bed; well, what clothes I have. I hope I can get some shopping done while I'm here. Rachel pushes me into the bathroom. "Get clean, already! We're gonna go see everyone else after this!" I peel off my stinky clothes and hop in the bleach white tub, turning on the shower.

After getting clean, I look down at my dick. It's been neglected, lately. I want Jack, bad. Poor, poor dick. While I cradle it in my hands, Rachel bangs on the door. "Stop touching yourself and get dressed, already!" How does she...? Oh, to hell with it.

Turning off the shower, I climb out, smearing the mirrors fog. I dry off with a tiny towel sitting above the toilet and ask for Rachel to throw me some clothes. After I get dressed, we head outside. "So, where to? Who do we see?" She sighs, grabbing my hand and swinging it enthusiastically.

"I dunno. Let's take a walk to Randy's place. After he moved out, he got a house down by the park, and now Janie's living with him, too. Ricky moved to Europe or something, and Cassie and Kiersten finally declared their love for each other."

"Cassie's boyfriend was kind of mad that she turned out to be lesbian, but he got over it pretty fast after they made out for him. It ended up in a weird threesome. So what's been up with you, Nate?"

Gaping at the information overload, I stare at her. Rachel laughs. "Yeah...thing's have been weird since you left."

"I'll fucking say." Walking along, swinging our clasped hands, I sigh heavily. "Well...I'm sorry for not telling you before, but.."

"Yes?" She asks, looking me in the eyes.

"Rach, I'm gay." We stop walking, and she stares at me for a minute with a serious look on her face before bursting out in laughter. I glare at her, pissed. "What? This is how you react? I mean, hell, Rachel, if you don't believe me or something, then-" She stops me, putting her hands over my mouth. After a minute, she tries to talk through her giggles.

"Nate, of course you're gay! I mean, it's always been kind of obvious, but I was hoping you were just pan sexual or something. All those times I flirted with you? I wanted to be with you, but I mean, it was pretty obvious that you're gay!"

I cross my arms, huffing. "Well...wait. It's obvious? Does everyone know?"

She shakes her head. "No, well. Yeah. But not really. I mean, they know, but they don't know. You know?" Tilting my head in confusion, I look at her with wide eyes.

"No, I don't know."

"So.." She starts, grabbing my hand again as we resume walking. "Whose the lucky guy? What's his name? What's he like?"

Laughing at her interest, I answer, "His name is Jack. He's gorgeous, smart, funny, and amazing. He has some anger issues...and his family is really fucked up. Kind of like mine, but with a lot more...freaky stuff."

"When did you guys start dating?"

"Well..I mean..It gets kind of confusing. We're not, like, officially boyfriends yet, I guess. We only met like, awhile ago. Dad and his...uhh...dad, they met for something, and then we kind of got to know each other a little. And then, I dunno. Things get kind of messy." I don't want to mention the car crash, the prostitution, the sex, the memory loss, the broken bones, or the dead guys. It's kind of blurry.

"Ohhh," She says, a look on her face like she knows something I don't.

Shaking her hand, I ask, "What? What is it?"

"Nothing. Let's just go see Randy. Or do you wanna see Kiersten and Cassie? I'm pretty sure they're home." We decide to go see the lesbians and walk downtown.

On the way there, we stop by a drugstore and get Klondike bars. They're freaking delicious. Walking up to a small house with a bright pink door, Rachel knocks on the window.

"Cassie? Kiersten? Are you home?" A sudden scream from inside the house causes us to jump, and I drop my ice cream.

"Dammit. What was that?" Rachel shrugs, knocking again. A series of loud footsteps lead to the door before it creaks open. A tall blond woman with a large, disarming smile stands before us in her purple lacy underwear.

"Oh, hi Rachel. And who is...OH MY LAWDIE, IT'S NATE!" Screaming, she grabs me in a tight hug, bouncing up and down before wrapping her legs around my waist. Rachel stands to the side, obviously used to Cassie's screaming hugs. "Kiersten! KIERSTEN!!!" She screams, jumping off of my and running back into the house.

I look at Rachel, who laughs quietly before gesturing into the house. I walk in slowly, Rachel following. We stop in the living room, which has a wooden table carved into the shape of a playboy bunny. The couch has pink satin draped across it, and there are candles everywhere.

Suddenly, Cassie and Kiersten run into the room. Kiersten, with her short frame, is wearing a bathrobe with the playboy bunny emblem. Her giant boobs bounce inside the robe and she grabs me in a hug, giggling.

"Nate! Oh, my darling, where you been? Come on, into the kitchen! I made cookies!" Laughing, we all head to the kitchen as Kiersten pulls chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. "Here you are, my lovelies!" As Cassie sits on Kiersten's lap, I notice how nice Cassie's strawberry blond hair contrasts Kiersten's Carmel brown hair.

"Wow," I exclaim after taking a bite of Kiersten's cookie. "I didn't know Mexican's can cook!" Laughing, I fake a pout as she punches my arm.

"Guys!" Rachel shouts. We all look at her. "You do know what this means, right?" Everyone starts to shake their heads until Kiersten jumps up, too, grabbing Rachel in a side hug. "PARTY TONIGHT!"