I have two different groups of friends at school: the smarties and the jocks. Everyone at the school has known each other for years. As the new kid, I've had the opportunity to put a foot in pretty much every clique. Each hate anyone not in their group, so it's fair to say I've made a few enemies, but I feel like most people like me. At lunch I eat with the soccer team. They're pretty high up on the social ladder and look down on basically anybody but the football players (the American kind) and the cheerleaders. "Hey, Nate, Coop's having a party on Friday. You should come. It's gonna be so much fun," Jack says through a mouthful of peanut butter jelly sandwich.

"Uh, I don't know, Jack…" I say.

"God, you're so lame, Nate," Ron teases. "There's gonna be girls, dancing, and booze. It's everything you could ask for."

There's no way in hell Sully will let me go. He's doesn't want me drinking. Plus, we're headed to Rome on Saturday, so I've got a double-whammy. "My uncle's not going to let me go. You know how he is."

"You're such a do-gooder," Liam shakes his head. "Just sneak out. It'll be like nothing happened."

"What if I'm caught?" I already know the answer. Sully would kill me. He's made it clear that alcohol is a no-no until I'm 18. And don't get him started on drugs. He calls them a senseless way to kill yourself. I usually bring up his cigars when he gets going on these rants of his. All he says is he had to learn the hard way.

"YOLO, man," Jack shrugs, chomping on Doritos.

During the day, I decide to ask Sully about the party. Maybe I'll get lucky. When I get home, I sit at the table and start with my math homework. This catches Sully's attention. "Oh, what's this? Am I dreaming?"

"No, I just don't want to procrastinate tonight."

"Okay, this could mean two things. One, you're sick." He puts a hand on my forehead. "You feeling alright, kid?"

I laugh and push him away. "I'm fine, Sully."

"Then maybe it's the other thing." He sits across from me and crosses his arms. "You want something from me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Denial only confirms my suspicions."

"Fine… Cooper's having a party on Friday and I was wondering if I could go."

He looks at me for a few seconds then says, "I'm not going to answer that, because I think you already know what my answer's going to be."

I sigh. "Can't you let me go just this once? I've stayed out of trouble, I've got good grades—well, better grades than before—so I think I should be allowed to go." Sully stays silent. "I know we're leaving the next day, but I can sleep on the plane. And I won't do anything stupid, I promise." Nothing. "Please Sully?"

He takes a deep breath. "Will there be alcohol?"

"Uh, I don't think so."

"Nate." He makes no effort to hide the warning tone in his voice. "I'm going to ask you again and I advise you against lying to me." I drop my gaze. "Will there be alcohol?"

"Yes," I mumble.

"I will now reiterate that I think you already know my answer." Sully stands up and pats me on the head.

I frown, annoyed. He treats me like some dumb kid who needs to be taken care of. I make the decision to sneak out. On Friday night, I wait ten minutes after Sully starts snoring and get up to steal the keys to the car. I arrive at Cooper's about half an hour late, but he's just happy I actually made it. Inside, everyone is either drinking, dancing, or hooking up. The crazy ones are doing all three. I find a few people sitting quietly in the corner, so I decide to join them. I have never met these people before, but they're accepting, so by the end of the hour, we're good friends. Then Jack and a few others on the soccer team decide that I need to drink something. "Drinking is like half the fun," they assure me.

I can practically hear Sully's disapproving voice reminding me about the dangers of alcohol. I shake my head to push the thoughts out of my mind and grab a red solo cup. I chug the beer and they all cheer. It's really gross, but it makes me feel better, so I have another. And another. And another. And I can choke down another, Jack tells me that Joan is having an even bigger party down the street and we would have a lot more fun over there.

Somehow, I drive the car down the road without crashing. I park on the street and I glance at my watch. 2:30. I should be getting back now, my foggy mind concludes somehow. I go into the house to try and find Jack. It would be rude not to thank him. Then, I drive back to the apartment. I can hear my tires screeching, but I can't figure out what to do about it. All I can really think about is how Sully told that if I ever was drinking, I should call him. He promised to pick me up, no questions asked. I can't do that without him knowing I snuck out.

Sometime around 3:00 I sneak into the apartment. Or, I try to anyway. I make it half way down the hall when Sully says, "Where do you think you're going, young man?" I guess I didn't see him sitting at the table.

"Uh, to bed. I was just—"

"Just what? Getting a drink of water? Outside of the apartment?" He really doesn't sound happy with me.

"Sully, I can explain."

"I don't think I need you to. You snuck out to go to that party. You know, the one I said you couldn't go to? I'm guessing you had yourself a good time, too, since, from the looks of it, you had yourself something to drink."

"It's not like that."

"It's not? Did you drink?"

"Well, I—"

"Answer the question, Nate."

I look at my feet and swallow hard. "Yes."

"Then it's exactly like that. You completely disregarded everything I said."

"I'm sorry, Sully."

"No, you're just sorry you got caught." I bite my lip and shift my feet. He's never been this mad at me before. "Nate, I'm very disappointed in you. I thought you knew better than this. Go to your room. We'll talk about this in the morning."

I nod and slowly trudge down the hall. My head is pounding. I really shouldn't have had anything to drink. This is turning out to be a really crappy night. I don't even change out of my clothes before I hit the bed. It takes me awhile to fall asleep, but once I do, I'm out. Alcohol has that effect on people.

I probably would have slept the whole day if I wasn't for Sully. He opens the blinds and sunlight streams in, severely irritating my headache. I bury my head under the covers like an ostrich and groan. "Rise 'n shine, kid," he says.

"Could you maybe not talk so loud?" I whisper, holding my head. My mouth feels like steel wool.

Sully laughs. "Here, drink this." It's a tea that tastes sweet like honey and soothes my throat. I make a face at the bitter aftertaste. "Sorry about the crappy taste."

I shrug and look at him questioningly. Why hasn't he started yelling at me yet? "It's just the aftertaste that's gross." He nods and smiles. Unable to take the strained silence, I ask, "Aren't you mad at me?"

"Mad? Well, let's see. I wake up at two in the morning to find my kid is not his bed, scaring the shit out of me. Oh, and it turns out he went to the party I specifically told him not to go to. The cherry on top is he drove home drunk. So, no, I'm not mad. I'm furious." I can feel my face turning red out of shame. The guilty feeling is so much worse than my headache. "I mean, what the hell were you thinking, Nate? You could have gotten arrested or, worse, ended up dead in a ditch after driving off the road. Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn?"

"Sully, I truly am sorry about last night. All you wanted to do was keep me from doing something stupid and here I am, doing something stupid."

Sully sighs. "I know, Nate. I just—"

"No, wait, let me finish. Please." He nods. "I totally went behind your back and betrayed your trust. I really hope you can forgive me."

"Of course I forgive you, kid, but you can't keep doing this. It stops now, understand? I don't want to lose my faith in you. You're smarter than this. And I'm not trying to be mean. I just want to keep you safe. When we're out there taking out bad guys and stealing shit, I know I can protect you. If you're out there, driving under the influence, I can't help you. I don't think I could live with myself if anything happened to you. Next time I catch you sneaking out, there'll be hell to pay, but I'm an understanding man, so you're not grounded or anything this time."

"Cool, I should get into trouble more often."

Sully fake-punches me in the jaw. "You're lucky I like you."

"Who doesn't?" I laugh.

"Looks like someone's feeling better. Maybe I'll just open the blinds a little wider."

My head starts pounding harder at the thought. "No, please don't!"

"Then shut your trap and drink your tea." He scruffs my hair. "Maybe now you'll believe all my stories about alcohol."

"If all those stories are real, then you've got some issues."

Sully sighs, "Oh, like you don't know that already."