It is completely possible for 2 people to go to the same school and never cross paths until absolutely necessary, Shia and Ryder are very aware of each other, but a reason to meet has never occurred to them until now. Until a fateful party brings about 2 completely different people who've been looking for each other in all the wrong places.
"These guys go to school with your roommates?" Omar asks as they exit the car in front of the brightest house on a dark street
Ryder nods "I need you guys to be fucking chill ok? Don't get around college girls and act like dickheads"
"Yo speak for yourself," Terrence says, "we're not the ones that run away every time a girl says one word to us."
"Exactly " Jesse nods adding, "worry about yourself bro, you're the only one not here for pussy."
Ryder groans at the thought, that's all his 3 best friends cared about... pussy. A word Ryder found so vulgar but came out of Jesse, Omar, and Terrence's mouths way too often.
The 4 friends walk into the college party and that might be the last thing Ryder remembers. Spending his time watching his friends have fun, Ryder drinks until the courage hits— the liquid courage that is, and now he was in his element. Drunk enough to have fun but not enough to still feel the dread, so he keeps drinking until he feels nothing, it's a pattern. Some people drink to feel something because their whole existence felt numb, but Ryder Andrews drank because he feels too much, and for once he just wants his insides to feel as good as his outsides feel.
"And he was telling us to chill?" The 3 friends laugh at their friend making a fool of himself on the dance floor, holding the biggest bottle of vodka he could find. An average 16 year old probably shouldn't be standing upright after consuming half a bottle of 80-proof vodka, but Ryder wasn't your average. Lost in their own worlds Jesse, Omar, and Terrence forget Ryder, but that's how it always goes and Ryder can't really blame them, he knows he sometimes becomes too much when he drinks.
As he wonders the party after losing his friends and avoiding his nagging roommates, Ryder finds an empty corner to rest his head for a while. With blurred vision and a tricky mind, Ryder tries to focus on the fast-paced movements happening all around him, but nothing is slow enough for him to focus on. Until a dark figure slowly passes by, this one slow enough for him to reach out and grab. Unsure what he's grabbing Ryder feels the figure come towards him as their arm is firm in his grasp.
"Are you real?" Ryder mumbles feeling the pit of his stomach starting to rise "What?" The distorted voice responds as he lets go and rushes away. With weak legs and wobbly knees, Ryder pushes his way through the house until he finds himself back outside. The first hint of fresh air he's getting since he entered that party, the minute Ryder inhales he hunches over upchucking every shot, sip, or beer he had that evening. It all came out violently,