It was a Saturday night and Lucas was at a party. This was such a constant in his life that he wondered sometimes if he was on a carousel, going round and round and round. Another Saturday night, another party. No variation, just different brands of beer.

Lucas had developed quite a taste for the stuff. He found that beer made everything better. No matter what happened, there was always beer.

"Hey, let's play a game!" Said Callie, the host of this particular party. Lucas took another swig of his beer before standing up.

"Alright," He agreed halfheartedly. Callie smiled flirtatiously at him. Then her gaze went over his head.

He heard the sound of the front door opening behind him, the approach of someone new.

"Oh, hey," Callie smiled at someone behind him. He didn't bother to look just yet. "You're just in time. We're gonna play a game! You'll both need drinks. Lucas, get them drinks."

Lucas spun around and saw-

Maya and Riley.

Riley smiled in that fake way everyone does when they run into someone from their past. Maya kept her expression neutral.

"Hey, Lucas!" Riley greeted, brushing his shoulder a bit. Her touch made his heart pound in his chest. Not in a romantic kind of way, in an panicky kind of way.

"Hey, Riley, Maya..." He said quietly.

He quickly cut his eyes away from their's and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed another beer for himself and two for the girls. He then walked back to where they were now seated and handed each of them their drink.

Riley still had this childlike enthusiasm to her, he noticed. She seemed so excited to be at a party with beer and boys and no parents. Although Lucas knew, even now, she wouldn't actually drink the beer or talk to any boys. Same old Riley.

Maya, however, was leaned against the wall chugging her beer. Save some for the game! Lucas thought with a chuckle. He then wondered why he was chuckling. They weren't friends. His imaginary conversations with her would never be their playful banter in Mr. Matthews' history class.

Why was she drinking so much? He wondered if she drank to escape her problems, like he did. Or maybe she was like Tristan, who drank for the sole purpose of making bad decisions. He didn't want her to drink for any of those reasons. Or at all. He didn't know why he cared about her safety, but he did. He made a mental note to keep her out of trouble tonight, though he wasn't completely sober himself, and took a seat in the half formed circle of party guests.

"What game are we gonna play?" Lucas asked.

"Seven Minutes in Heaven!" Someone suggested.

Lucas hated the way his stomach lurched with memories at sound of the dumb party game. He made eye contact with Maya and instantly knew she was remembering, too.

"C'mon, that's so middle school." He said with a roll of the eyes.

"Okay," Callie started. "How about I've Never? You all know how that works right? You say something you've never done and everyone who's done it has to drink."

Everyone agreed and rearranged themselves into a more complete circle.

"Okay, I'll go first." Callie said. She bit her lip, thinking hard. "I've never smoked."

Lucas took a swig of his beer and watched as a few others (including Maya) did the same.

The game continued. Nothing particularly interesting happened.

"I've never been dumped." Said a girl named Amy.

Lucas had never been dumped. Mainly because other than his relationship with Riley, he'd never really had a girlfriend. Just a series hookups with strange girls at parties. He glanced up to see Riley taking a sip of her beer.

He didn't know what bothered him more; the look in her eyes, or the fact that his innocent little Riley was drinking.

"I've never lost my virginity." A girl named Amanda said, giving a virtuous little smile.

Lucas saw Maya drink from across the room. He didn't want to know that. Why did he keep looking at them? He set his bottle down on the floor and stood up abruptly.

"Hey, we're still playing!" Callie called after him.

He brushed her off, mumbling something about going to the bathroom, and walked out of the house's sliding glass doors.

"That's not the bathroom!" She called again, but he just kept walking into the cool night air.

Lucas wandered around in the darkness for a few moments before taking a seat on a stone bench by the swimming pool. He put his head in his hands, sighing deeply. What was up with him lately? Seeing Maya and Riley should't bother him. Why did he even care if they drank or if Riley was still upset about the breakup or if Maya wasn't a virgin? They weren't friends anymore. They were just strangers with memories.

"Hey." Said a soft, familiar voice from behind him. He whirled around and came face to face with Maya.

Lucas was speechless. He had imagined the day one of his old friends talked to him again a thousand times, and now that it was happening he had nothing to say. His throat felt dry and a knot was forming in his stomach.

"Mind if I sit?" She asked. He nodded slightly, scooting over to make room for her.

A thousand questions flooded his mind as he watched her light a cigarette. Part of him was thrilled that she was sitting with him. Part of him hoped they would be friends again. The bigger part of him knew he was being dumb. She held out a cigarette to him. Lucas had only smoked once, and he hated it, but he found himself taking the cigarette from her and lighting it on her's.

He took a long drag off his cigarette and immediately coughed, causing the blonde girl to laugh. Oh, how he missed that laugh of her's.

"Don't tell me this is your first time smoking, Mr. Party Animal." She teased. He laughed nervously.

"Why do you even do that?" He asked out of no where.

"Do what?" She asked, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows.

"Y'know. Smoke." He replied, scratching his neck awkwardly.

"Well you're smoking too, so you can't really talk, now can you, Mr. Perfect?" She said sarcastically.

"That's not... Never mind." He said, shaking his head. She tossed her cigarette into the pool before standing up.

"Good night, Friar." She said dully before returning to the warm house.

Lucas sat their, frozen to the stone bench. Why did she get so defensive? He wondered if that was his only shot at ever being friends again. Then he realized it was stupid to think he even had a shot. Would he ever move on from his middle school life?