Nate lay back in his head and stared at a picture on his dresser. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed his girlfriend's number. This was going to devastate her, but did Nate care? No. All he cared about was getting into bed, which is what attracted Nate to Tess in the first place. She was willing to sleep with him from the very first moment she saw him. Tess had fallen in love with Nate, which is why he needed to end it. Nate and Tess had been dating for a week, and already Tess was falling for him. Nate didn't do relationships. All he was interested in was fucking a girl, no matter who that girl might be. He didn't fall in love, he didn't date, really. When he had a girlfriend—which was often—he didn't take her out. They met over his house, or over hers, and quickly went upstairs. They didn't talk, they didn't waste time. That was Nate, the high school player, the playboy. Every girl in school knew him, knew what he did with girls, but every single girl still wanted to be Nate's next one night stand.

"Hey, boo!" Tess said with excitement as she answered the phone.

Nate didn't waste his time with idle chitchat. "Sorry, babe," he told her, "it's been fun, but it's over."

"We've only been dating for a week!" Tess protested.

"And it's been a good week," Nate replied, "but it's getting boring. I need someone fresh."

Nate hung up, knowing the waterworks were about to start.

That was how it always went. He'd tell a girl it was over, she'd cry and ask him what went wrong, that she loved him, he'd tell her he was bored and needed someone new, she'd never talk to him again. But Nate didn't mind. There were plenty of girls in the school who would jump at the chance for Nate to just look at them.

Now I can make my move on that hottie in homeroom, Nate thought, drifting off to sleep.

The next morning:

"Come on, Nate," Shane said, coming into Nate's room without knocking. Again.

"Go?" Nate picked his head off of the pillow to look at his brother. "Go where?"

"You, me, and Jason, we're going on a road trip," Shane answered.

Nate had put his head back on his pillow, but at the words "road trip," he sat up and stared at Shane.

"To where?" Nate wondered.

Shane smiled. "California."

"What?"

No way, this wasn't happening.

"Yeah, it'll be fun," Jason told him, coming into Nate's room, as well.

"Spending hour after hour in a car with my two older brothers is the exact OPPOSITE of 'fun,'" Nate protested.

"Oh, really?" Shane stared hard at Nick. "And what would be YOUR idea as a 'fun' time, Nate? Sleeping with every girl in your school? Or…wait. Have you already done that?"

"Shut up, you b—" Nate started.

"Nate!" Jason exclaimed. "What has gotten into you?"

Nate stared at Jason. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Jason began, "two years ago, you treated girls with respect. Now you jump into bed with the first girl you see. You're not the same kid—"

"That's just it, Jason!" Nate told him. "I'm not a kid anymore!"

"If Mom and Dad were here—"

Nate interrupted him. "Yeah, well, they're not here, are they, Jason? And if you forgot, they aren't ever coming back!"

"Nate—"

"Whatever." Nate lay back down. "Can you guys, like, go away?"

"No, Nate, we can't." Jason pulled the covers off of him.

"Whether or not you like it, you're going on this trip."

"And God forbid you actually have some fun."

Nate laughed bitterly. "Fun? With you two? On the other side of the country? Ha. I'd rather do math then go anywhere with you guys."

"What would you rather be doing, Nate?" Shane wondered. Nate smiled. "You know what? On second thought, don't answer that."

"I have a million other things I could be doing right now."

"A million?" Jason rolled his eyes. "Really? I doubt your school has a million girls."

Nate shrugged. "Close enough."

"And let me guess. You've done all of them, haven't you?"

Nate shrugged again. "Close enough."

"Maybe this trip will be good for you," Shane said.

"We're wasting our breath, Shane," Jason spoke up. "Nate will never change. It's who he is, and we can't change him. No matter how much we try." Jason shook his head and left the room.

"We just want our little brother back," Shane said to Nate. "This isn't you. This isn't who you are—"

"How do you know who I am, Shane?" Nate wondered, looking at his brother. "You're too far up your own girlfriend's ass to know anything that goes on in my life. Jason's life, too."

"Nate, I am not like you," Shane protested, appalled by what Nate had said. "Mitchie and I never had sex. She's still a virgin, and so am I."

Nate laughed. "Sure, you are."

"I am, Nick. Unlike you. Now drop it."

Nate pretended to yawn. "Whatever. Now, if you don't mind." He lay back down again.

Shane grabbed Nate's pillow. "Get dressed and start packing. We leave in three hours."

"I'm not going."

"Yes, you are, Nate," Shane said, fed up with how his little brother was acting. "One way or another, Jason and I are dragging you out of this house and into the car. This trip will be good for us. Even you. Maybe it'll teach you morals, and to treat girls with respect."

"Respect?" Nate just laughed. "Those girls chose to sleep with me. I didn't force them. Obviously they don't want 'respect.'"

Shane rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you and I are related." He started to leave. "Get dressed, Nate. I mean it. If you don't dress yourself, Jason and I will do it for you."

"You can't be serious!" Nate exclaimed.

"But we are, Nate. Now…get dressed."

"Get the fuck out of my room so I can!"

Shane walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. He slid down to the floor.

"Nate, what happened to you?" he wondered out loud to himself. "Where's the fun loving kid we used to know two years ago?"

"Hopefully we'll find him again on this trip," Jason said, standing in front of Shane.

Shane looked up at Jason. "Yeah," he agreed, "hopefully."

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