"We're going to a bonfire tonight," I told Cyrus as I handed him a plate to dry. We were always put on dish duty when our families had dinner. Our parents were in the other room having boring adult conversation and Cyrus and I would usually be in here making a mess of the soap suds.

"Since when are we invited to a bonfire?" he said with a frown.

"Since I ran into Declan at the supermarket."

"Since when do you talk to Declan?" He asked, his voice slightly rising.

"Keep your voice down idiot. And we don't exactly talk, not really..." I was lost trying to figure out the extent to our interactions, "Anyway, he was there with his friend Adam and they both told me to bring you too, so we're going."

The truth was that I had made up my mind as soon as he asked me to. It would be nice not to spend another Saturday night with our parents. Things had been a little slow in the new friend department for me and Cyrus was hesitant to spend more time with his teammates outside of practice.

"Come on, you know I won't go without you. This could be a really interesting development for the both of us."

"Are those words supposed to a comfort to me?"

I just nodded my head and he went on, "If Declan and Adam are going then that means Duncan will be there too. Do you know how hard I work not to sock that piece of shit in the face?"

"You're asking me if I understand the struggles of not punching somebody? Have you even met me?"

"You see my point though? I don't think anything good can come out of us going."

"You don't know that. C'mon, we can go for just a little. If we don't like it, we can leave."

He studied me for a moment, thinking it over in his head. "Fine," he eventually let out, "but I'm driving."

"Cool. Now go ask my dad, he'll say yes if you ask."

As he left I suddenly remembered something, "Oh shit Cyrus, speaking of cars!"

----------------------

I saw the bonfire from where we parked. As we got out of the car and walked closer to it, the crackling sound of burning wood blended with the sound of the waves crashing in the distance.

There was already a crowd of people I recognized from school. Someone had set up large speakers and people were dancing and balancing red solo cups in their hands.

"These bitches better clean up after themselves," I thought out loud. I know I was rough with people, but sea animals had my entire heart. Save the turtles or whatever the fuck.

"Yeah, I know how you feel about the sea turtles," Cyrus said reading my mind.

"We should all feel for the sea turtles. And the dolphins. And the jellyfish are pretty cool too from a distance."

"The jellyfish can kiss my ass."

"They already did, sucker." This was in reference to when Cyrus and I went to the beach together in the sixth grade. It was a perfectly timed moment when the waves ripped away his oversized shorts and a jellyfish did in fact sting him in the ass. It was more on the side of his upper thigh, but same thing really.

I offered my help, but he respectfully declined. His exact words were, "Get away from me you weirdo, you're not pissing on my thigh."

"Good times," I sighed.

"I'm glad one of us thinks so," he said sarcastically, "I'm going to grab us some drinks, try to stay out of trouble at least until I get back."

"You know I can't commit to those kinds of promises," I called out after him, but he was already on his way to the drinks.

Great, now I have to stand around awkwardly. I don't know why I couldn't have just gone with him.

"Rowena!" I heard to my left. I looked over and a smile came over my face as I saw Natalie come over to me. She was walking with some blonde kid who I assumed was her boyfriend. I couldn't remember his name for the life of me.

"This is my boyfriend I mentioned. Jeremy this is Rowena, Rowena this is Jeremy."

"Yeah, I know you, you're friends with Cyrus aren't you?"

Cyrus has never mentioned Jeremy before, so I wasn't sure if I'm supposed to like this dude or not. His expression was hard and he looked too moody to be dating someone like Natalie. Yet, she was as smiley as ever.

"Yeah I am, it's nice to meet you." I smiled with my response, but he didn't acknowledge me much.

"I'm going to find Duncan, you have fun." He gave her a kiss over the head and left us alone.

"I know he seems a little rough, he's usually like that with new people. Sorry about that." She let out a small nervous laugh.

"Hey, as long as you're happy."

"Right. So anyway, how long have you been here? Did you come alone?"

"No, I came with Cyrus he's around here somewhere." I was looking off in his direction and found him by the drinks. Only he seemed to be a little preoccupied with some girl who was smiling like an idiot at him.

"Oh, of course," I grumbled. Natalie followed my gaze and saw the both of them. She just laughed and took me by the arm. "Come on, let's go get our own drinks."

As we were walking over, I found myself looking around for Declan. He was the one who invited me after all, and I haven't seen him yet.

What I found instead was the energy of a teenage party. As we got closer to the bonfire and the drink stand, Natalie and I were weaving our way through people. Chatting people, screaming people, tipsy people, and people with their tongues down other people's throats.

There was also a subtle stench in the air. The smell that strangely resembled a skunk but wasn't an actual skunk, if you're catching my drift here.

"I don't actually drink so I'm going to grab a soda," she yelled over the noise, "can I get you one too, or are you looking for something a little stronger?"

I almost jumped on the 'something stronger'. But then I considered the last time I was drunk and harassed a stranger for staring at me.

Cyrus told me the next day that he was just an ad on a bus stop bench. I would rather not embarrass myself like that for the first time in front of a new crowd.

"A soda is fine with me," I said back.

"Okay. It's a little crowded up there, I'll just get something for the both of us. Do you want to wait for me by the picnic table?"

I nodded my head instead of shouting in her ear and we went our separate ways. The table was in clear eyeshot of the rest of the party, but it was where the crowd wasn't. It sounded a lot better than staying with the crowd I was shoving through right now.

Somebody out shoved me. What the fuck is up with people at this school shoving into me, I thought on my way down. I landed in a lawn chair, only the chair wasn't empty.

The guy I was sitting on had to blink a few times to realize, "Oh hi there, what's your name?"

"Um, Rowena, but judging by the state of your breath I don't think you're going to remember it tomorrow anyway. Nice to meet you though," I said with a sweet smile, moving to unwrap his arms from around my waist.

He tightened his grip on me. Not painful, just firm. "Wait, but we hardly even met. I'm Connor, I'm 6'1," he stopped to wink, but it was more of a deep blink. I had to stop myself from smiling at how ridiculous it looked. "I wrestled an ostrich once because it stole my sunflower seeds."

"You know, that actually sounds like a very interesting story. I'm just going to stand up on my own two feet so I can hear the rest." I forced my legs up and ripped his arms from around me.

He stayed down in his chair, but he took my hand with both of his. "So anyway, it was one of those drive-through safari rides-"

His words were cut off as someone shoved his hands off of mine, pushing him back into his chair. "I don't think so Nelson, go bother someone who's interested."

Declan stood over him with a steady expression on his face. His black button-up shirt was three buttons open from the top, exposing some of his toned chest, and his sleeves were rolled to his elbows.

Connor looked like he was getting ready to say something, but then he just slumped back into his chair with a gruff.

Declan looked at me then, nodding his head in the other direction. I walked past him and he gently placed his hand on my lower back to guide me away from the crowd.

We got to the table I told Natalie I would meet her by and I finally turned to face Declan.

"You didn't have to do that, he wasn't really bothering me. A little touchy, but I thought he was actually kind of nice."

"Oh yeah, real nice. So nice that Coach Clarke kicked him off the team for sexually assaulting a girl."

"Oh," was all I could think to say.

"Don't worry, I'm well aware you can handle yourself," the corner of his mouth turned up in a half-smile, and then he shrugged, "I just thought I owed you one after earlier today."

"I guess that's fair," and because I thought it was fitting, I added, "Thank you."

"Why were you alone anyway? I thought you were coming here with uh-... with ..."

"Cyrus," we both said at the same time. "Yeah, I did. He was caught up with some friend of his the last time I saw him."

I looked for Cyrus in the same spot he was in the last time I checked. He looked up at me, seeing who I was with, and then he raised his eyebrows at me, silently asking, "Are you good?"

I nodded my head at him and then I switched my gaze over to Natalie from a couple of feet away from him. She looked at me with her mouth gaped open and an animated expression on her face. "Oh my god," she mouthed from where she was standing. I silently beckoned her to come over, but she just vigorously shook her head.

"So, you and Cyrus. That's like a platonic thing, am I right?" Declan said, bringing my attention back to him once again. There was a light wind in the air that brushed his hair to the side.

"You are. Why do you want to know?"

He cleared his throat and put a serious expression on his face. "Very important research purposes. School project, you know how it is. Thank you for participating."

"On a Saturday night? You're very devoted."

"Yeah well, there's a lot of pressure to keep my grades up. I am trying to stay on the team and all."

"Right, right. So skipping classes helps you because..."

"I never skipped Row Row I was tardy, there's a difference."

I laughed at him, "You can't call me Row Row."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It sounds like you're barking at me. All I can hear is Scooby-Doo."

"I think Row Row is cute."

"I'm allergic to dogs." I scrunch my nose. "Hearing you call me that makes my nose itchy."

He crossed his arms and his sleeves became a little more snug around them. "What if I called you my girlfriend instead?"

"You don't even know me."

He waved his hand in the air, dismissing my comment, "Easy fix, what's your favorite cereal?"

"Raisin Bran," I deadpanned.

He gagged, "I take back my offer."

I feigned offense, "You see? How would this work out if you can't tell that I'm so obviously joking? There's no trust here."

"Alright, then what is your favorite?" I don't know how often he tried to sway girls over with the discussion of cereal, but I guess I could humor him for a bit.

"Cheerios."

"Not even honey nut?" he whined, and I stopped myself from snorting at how that sounded. But then he spoke my thoughts when he said, "Hah, honey nut."

"Wooow, ten points for maturity," I said, acting like I didn't just think exactly what he said.

"Alright alright, we can work on the nicknames. How about sugar lump?"

"Lump of sugar?" I asked in slight disgust.

"Or is it plum? Nah you're right, too cringe. How about sugar smacks?"

"I'm ignoring you now." I turned to walk away, somehow knowing he would follow after me.

"Dandelion?" he continued, ignoring my comment, "Sweetcheeks? Butter biscuit. Aloe Vera. Honey buckets of oats."

"Bunches," I corrected, "honey bunches of oats."

"So you like that one?" he asked, slightly impressed with himself.

"No! And what is up with you and cereal?"

A/N: AYYY NEW BANNER TO THE ADDITION!!
Ofc, all thanks and credit to CoffeeGirl_10

This was one of my longer chapters so thanks for bearing with me :) I have an extra chapter pre-written so I will be giving another update this MONDAY!!!

Also, the playlist for this story is now posted!

Thanks for reading and I hope you'll be back next week❤️