*This chapter is purely filler. It's about Miles and his new friends (particularly what is going on with Nick). I just wanted to write this, but it won't have any real impact on the story. The next chapter will be the last boarding school chapter, and the last one with these characters.

I only started connecting with other students at the end of my first week of school. It started up halfway through the week on January 3. I had had my first counseling session that Friday, which hadn't been as bad as I thought it would be, except for the fact that Dr. Reiss pointed out quickly and unapologetically that I had no friends. Not once did I mention hanging out with anyone, except maybe Emmett when we did homework together, and it became pretty apparent to me where the conversation was headed when he asked if I had a lot of friends at Degrassi. I said yes. I was too humiliated to admit the fact that I didn't really know who was my friend and who wasn't. I rattled off names: Zig, Zoe, Maya, Winston, Tristan, Esme and even Goldi. I worried that wasn't enough and added Vijay, Baaz, and Yael since I would say hi to them when they came over to game with Hunter. I might have mentioned Grace too. We hung out once or twice last Summer, and I don't think she knew me well enough to not like me yet. Dr. Reiss didn't know who these people were. He wouldn't be able to tell. At least I'd like to believe that he didn't. He remained adamant that I made connections at school anyway, so I found myself nosing my way into Emmett's business to the point of being obnoxious. I had to do what I had to do to fit in and move on, and that meant putting fears aside, potentially putting myself in a dangerous position.

"Emmet, my man! The man! Ladies' man!"

"Literally what, Miles?" He laughed, his eyes wide. My snapping and finger guns probably did the trick.

"You must know where all the…Parties are?"

"You party?" I shrugged. "That's news to me. You're quiet. And shifty."
"No, man. I'm the life of the party. This week has just been weird." Emmett was silent for a moment before returning to checking himself out in the mirror.

"Well you're cool, I guess. My friends and I are hanging out at Gary's dorm tonight. You know Gary?"

"There's a Gary in my history class."

"Probably him. Third period? He's always complaining about it."

"Yeah."

"Alright, so it won't be weird. I'm going over there in a couple hours."

"Yet you're fixing your hair now?"

"I'm always fixing my hair," he laughed, and I couldn't disagree. "But no. I'm swinging by one of the girls' dorms to invite Laura. Gotta look good."

"Ah, I see." I stood up and walked over to my dresser, reaching into the top drawer. I tossed a spray bottle this way. "Use a little bit of this aftershave," I suggested when he caught it and gave me a look. "It's good stuff. Guaranteed to make girls swoon." I smiled to myself, remembering how Zoe always complimented it. There was a time when she was one of my best friends. Emmett took a whiff and then, smiling and nodding appreciatively, sprayed some and patted his face.

"Thanks, man."

"No thanks necessary. I'm just glad you're bringing me out."

"Always room for one more. We're leaving at seven though, so don't make me late." I saluted as he walked out to go see Laura. I spent the next couple of hours debating whether this was actually the right choice. I was going to be surrounded by people I didn't know. I never considered alcohol a problem of mine, but I didn't know how much there was going to be, and I didn't know if other party favors were going to be involved. My leg couldn't stop shaking and I had to keep reminding myself that I could do this. I was only going to hang out. I wasn't going to drink or do anything. I just needed to acclimate myself to the school, get a couple of people in my corner, and get Dr. Reiss off my back. That was it. Emmett would be there, too, so I had someone who could help me if I needed it.

"Just man up, Miles," I told myself. "When did you become such a fucking loser?" The Hollingsworth pool parties used to be legendary and I was never afraid of them. Granted, they always led to trouble, but everyone had fun while they were there. People begged me to be invited even though they were always open invitation. A bunch of nerdy kids at a boarding school couldn't throw a bigger rager than me. I would be just fine. "Just get over yourself for five minutes and make a friend for fuck's sake!" I jumped up from my seat and went to take a shower and get ready.

Emmett came back eventually, overjoyed that Laura and her friends said they would be there, and after I gave him advice on how to act around girls, he patted me on the back and urged me out the door at a quarter to seven. He had absolutely no chill, but I wasn't going to hold him back. Honestly, it would be better to be one of the first people there so I could get used to people as they came in.

"So there will be like, ten of us?" Emmett said as we were walking over. "Everyone's really cool, you'll like them. But, um…" He got quiet for a second, so I stopped walking.

"But what?"

"Well, there's some drama going on with our group right now. It's really stupid"

"Drama? What, did two of you wear the same dress to the prom? Who wore it better?"

"Fuck," he laughed. "No it's not like that. Two of my friends, Nick and Wyatt, used to be roommates, but now they're not."

"What happened?"

"Beats me," he shrugged. "All we really got was that Wyatt wanted Nick gone, but neither of them will say why. Anyway, they don't talk to each other, but we can't just invite one and not the other, because we don't know what happened."

"So am I supposed to stay away from them?"

"If anything, I guess Nick is probably the problem, since he's the one who got kicked out. I don't know. Maybe Wyatt got jealous because his girlfriend and Nick are best friends."

"Weird." I started walking again, and we made it to Gary's dorm after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

What I walked in on was only the beginning of the night, apparently. Everyone was there, and some of the guys were already a little drunk. Gary told me the real party was going on somewhere downtown, but that wasn't until ten. I felt myself tensing up and my chest constricting, when out of nowhere Esme's voice popped into my head. Don't be such a square. Whatever tension I felt I knew would be burned out by alcohol, but I still wasn't sure whether it was a good idea. Laura's friend Chenelle gave me a beer, so I took it to be polite. I drank a little bit for the sake of appearances, but not even half of the bottle was gone over the course of the three hours I spent there.

I met a lot of people who seemed nice: Gary, Laura, Chenelle, Jackson, Katherine, and Whitney. Wyatt and Nick were absolutely bizarre. They had this way of sitting next to each other and interacting with every single person in the room except each other. I don't know who else noticed, but I couldn't help but be hyperaware because I didn't know anyone. I'd see them both talking to Katherine, who was apparently Wyatt's girlfriend, and Whitney while completely ignoring each other. I had introduced myself to both of them separately, and neither of them gave me any reason to dislike them. I tried to forget about what Emmett said, because clearly whatever their issue was with each other, it didn't affect the group at all.

At least, I thought it didn't affect the group. About two hours in, Nick was completely off his face. Everyone seemed a little tipsy, but clearly he drank way more. When he hastily made an exit looking like he was about to puke, no one followed him. I was surprised that the second he left, everyone turned to Wyatt.

"What's going on with him?"
"Seriously, is he okay?"

"Why did you kick him out?"
"What a fucking mess." Everyone was talking so fast that I didn't know who said what or even catch it all. All I really got was that Nick had been subconsciously ousted from this group because of whatever went down between him and Wyatt. But Wyatt wouldn't say anything.

"I should go check on him," Katherine said, but as she started to get up I shouted out that she shouldn't. Everyone turned to look at me like I was on something, even though I knew for a fact I was more sober than them. If Wyatt was really jealous of Nick and Katherine, then she shouldn't be the one to go see him.

"It's just…You know. He's in the boys' washroom?" She just gave me a blank stare. "And I have to pee anyway. I'll go."

I followed the hallway until I saw the sign for the restroom. "Nick?" I called out, walking in. I couldn't see anything except his legs sticking out of the stall, and the smell permeating throughout the washroom proved that whatever was in his stomach five minutes ago wasn't anymore. "Are you cool?" I made my way over to him and saw him resting his check against the seat of the toilet. I inwardly grimaced, trying to not be overtly judgmental. "Relatively cool, at least?"

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Uh…Miles. I'm Emmett's roommate. We met earlier, but you probably don't remember. Probably won't remember this either." He seemed to take that as a reasonable answer, nodding to himself before he started crying. Holy shit. Despite my better judgment I sat down on the other side of the toilet across from him. I didn't mean to peer down, but I did, and I saw the entirety of what he threw up. I reached for the handle and flushed it down before I got sick too.

"Everything is just…shit, you know?"
"Yeah, I know."

"Everyone's in there, hating me. I can fucking feel it even if they think I can't. Of course Wyatt is the favorite. No one seems to care that I was their fucking friend first!"

"Why would they hate you?"

"I don't know. I don't think Wyatt told them. He said he wouldn't, but I don't know who's loyal and who isn't."

"Is it because of Katherine?" I found myself getting curious, and I figured he would give me all the answers in his current state.

"Katherine? No. I love Katherine, but she's like my sister." He began laughing, and I was adequately freaked out by him. Emotional drunks were so annoying to deal with, even though I probably was one. "Why does it always have to be about girls, you know? Who gives a shit about girls?

"A lot of people…"

"Right. You must get a lot of them."

"Yeah, I've hooked many a girl in my time. A boy too." I don't know why I found myself being honest with him. It was probably because he wouldn't be able to recall anything either of said in the morning. But as soon as I had vaguely mentioned my relationship with Tristan, Nick's eyes changed, and out of nowhere he kissed me. Across the toilet seat. And he tasted disgusting.

It was weird, but it felt oddly sincere and was the first time I'd felt comforted since I'd moved. I found myself kissing him back, trying to ignore the taste and instead focusing on the moment. I was honest with someone. I was connecting with someone. I made a friend. And then I jerked away and scrambled to my feet, getting out of the bathroom and out of the door as quickly as I possibly could. I texted Emmett that Nick was fine, but I was feeling sick too and was just going to go back to the room. I didn't want to pull away, I didn't want to shrink back into myself, but I had to when Esme's voice rang in my ears again. Like I said, I need friends. I couldn't stand to be there, remembering what her idea of making friends was.

"Earth to Miles?" Emmett was looming over me. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, but I could feel him. "If you weren't feeling so hot, why did you go through all my shit and drink my booze?"

"What?" As I opened my eyes, I could feel my head cracking open as well. Massaging my fingers over my face and trying to calm my head down, I tried talking again. "What time is it?"

"It's almost noon. I was going to let you sleep, but at the same time, well…It's almost noon. I'll go get you some water. Try to remember why you thought being a fucking thief was okay before I get back." He slammed the door behind him, to get back at me presumably. It worked, though. The sound jolted through my entire body.

"Asshole." I managed to sit up, and as I planted my feet on the ground, my right foot landed on a glass bottle. It was one of many on the floor. "Oh, man. I guess I'm the asshole." I briefly remember going through Emmett's mini fridge after I got back from the get together. I didn't know what was racing through my mind- too much. I needed it gone. I drank it further down and down into my stomach. I looked down at myself. I was fully clothed, with no puke stains. I didn't have any calls logged on my phone either, so I probably just passed out. No harm done, except for the fact that Emmett would probably be pissed. When he came back in with water, I offered to pay for the case of beer.

"It's fine," he said. "Sorry the party was so shit though."

"What?"

"I'm just saying, if you'd rather ransack my stuff by yourself than party with us, we must be a horrible group."

"It's nothing like that. I was just a little overwhelmed meeting so many people at once, I guess. And then I was talking to Nick and-"

"Did he tell you what went on between him and Wyatt?"

"No…Not really."

"Not really?"

"He didn't." I chugged the water and ignored the rest of his questions. Eventually he got tired of asking. My phone buzzed with a text from Nick. Got your number from Gary. Need to talk to you.

He had to wait for about an hour for me to compose myself, but I met up with Nick in a barren corner of the library. Not many people went into the library on Saturdays, and even less wandered up to the third level, according to my new friend. He told me he would usually go there to study before going to work in the afternoons.

"Look…" He said after five minutes of silence. "By some reason unbeknownst to me, I actually remember everything that happened last night. I wish I didn't, but…I'm sorry I was weird. I'm not normally like that."

"I don't usually kiss people I first meet either," I said, trying to be comforting before I realized that wasn't true. "Oh wait. Actually I do."

"So we both made a great first impression," he laughed.

"I don't want to ask you a question you don't want to answer, but… Are you gay?" He was silent for a moment, before he nodded.

"No reason to deny it, I guess. Not after I threw myself at you. After I threw up." He winced. "I'm really sorry about that."

"Is that-"

"Why Wyatt kicked me out? Yeah. I didn't actually have feelings for him. I just came out, and he said that made him feel uncomfortable. He was the first and only person I've told before you." He looked down at his hands. "I thought he was my best friend."

"I'm sorry."

"He told me he wouldn't out me, but it's actually made things worse. Now everyone thinks I'm trying to fuck Katherine when I'm not."

"You could tell them."

"I'm not ready. I thought I was, but after what happened, I don't want to risk it again. I'd rather have fake friends than none at all." I thought of what I said to Dr. Reiss. When I made up my life at Degrassi.

"I understand that."

"So we're cool?" He looked up at me. I smiled and kissed him.

"Wow, you taste like mint now. Nice change."

"Shut up."

"We're cool. We'll keep things cool and casual."