Roman's p.o.v. 

"SHOTGUN!" Remus hollers as he makes a run for the car. Remy rolls his eyes and Janus shakes his head. 

"You get shotgun all the time. Let your brother sit up front." Remus looks at Janus, offended that he said anything. 

"You want him to sit up front?" 

"Yes. Now get in the back. You're sitting next to me." Janus says as he climbs into the backseat. Remus rolls his eyes but I can see him smile as he climbs in next to Janus. Remy is the last one to climb into the back. Guess that means I'm sitting up front next to Virgil. 

I open the door and climb into the front seat, immediately buckling my seatbelt. Virgil's the last to climb in as he turns the key into the ignition. It's an old car, but it runs surprisingly smooth. He puts the car into reverse and backs out of the parking spot and we're driving to the party. 

"MUSIC!" Remus shouts. 

"You know driver always gets to pick music. We all know you hate Virgil's music, Remus." 

Remus huffs. "Why can't we play the one album we all like? Sure it's kinda depressing, but in one of the songs he sings 'wanker' and it's funny." He cackles and I can hear Remy facepalm. 

"You are a literal ten year old prepubescent boy." He sighs before adding, "But the album is good." 

"VIRGIL PUT ON THE GOODS!!" Remus hollers. 

Virgil looks in the review mirror and glares at Remus. He gulps and adds to his previous statement. "Please." 

Virgil's face immediately goes back to his casual face and reaches for the phone in the cup holder. He puts in his handprint and the phone unlocks. He hands it to me, not taking his eyes off the road. 

"Your City Gave Me Asthma." He says. 

I look at him, confused. "What?"

Remus and Remy laugh. Janus just sighs and whacks the two on the head. "It's the album name." 

"O-oh." I say, my cheeks turning red with embarrassment. I've barely spent any time with them and I was already making a fool of myself. I quickly open the music app and type in the album name. I see the album pop up and press shuffle.  

An upbeat guitar begins to play. I listen to the music and the words. Well, I try to. The three in the backseat are screaming the words at the top of their lungs. Virgil turns up the volume, I'd assume to drown out their singing.

The singer has a British accent, which compliments the song nicely. For such an upbeat song, it sounds rather sad. I look over at Virgil, who's mouthing the lyrics, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he drives. 

We listen to a few more verses. It's actually a pretty good song. I turn to Virgil and ask loudly over the music, "What's this song called?" 

He looks at me, his eyes meeting mine for a split second before he turns back to the road. "Losing Face, by Wilbur." He says back to me, matching my volume. 

I turn to look behind me and Remus has his arms around Remy and Janus. They're singing at the top of their lungs, closing their eyes. They really seem to like this. I can't help but smile. After listening a bit more, I begin to sing the small parts I could pick up on. 

We listen to all seven of the songs. As soon as the last one ends, Virgil parks on the side of the road next to a large house. There are a ton of other cars parked around as well. Music's blasting from the inside. Remy hops out of the back and hollers. 

"THE PARTY IS HERE, BITCHES!!" He struts into the party, not waiting for the others to catch up. Janus and Remus climb out of the car, followed by Virgil and I. We stand side by side and look at the house. My eyes are wide. You see high school parties like this on tv, but I've never seen one in real life. 

"Awesome, right?" Janus says and smirks. I nod, but don't take my eyes off the house. Remus slaps my back hard. I wince in pain and hit him back. 

"Stop being a weirdo and go inside already!" Remus shouts and skips in. Janus and Virgil follow. I stand there for a second more before running inside. The smell of alcohol and smoke is overwhelming. The lights are dimmed and there are groups of other kids huddled around in different spots. 

I catch back up to the group and stay close. Like I said, I've never been to a party before. So I don't know how the hell I am supposed to act or what the hell I'm supposed to do. Remus is already having a chug contest with one of the popular kids. He wins, obviously, and smashes the bottle over his head. Instead of freaking out, everyone just cheers him on. The preppy boy scoffs and walks off, clearly upset that he lost. 

Janus is near the front, cheering Remus on. He has a beer bottle in hand and raises it to his victory. I turn to see Remy downing a shot before walking over to some nerdy kid who I've never seen before. He leans on the wall and is clearly flirting with the boy. It seems to be working, and the two continue to chat. They eventually walk to the drink table. 

I look around for Virgil. He's a little harder to find. Especially because the lights are really dim and he's wearing all black. I finally find him, however, in a corner near the edge of the room. He has a cigarette between his lips and his arms folded around his chest. He inhales and closes his eyes, before exhaling a large cloud of smoke. 

I walk over to him and casually lean my back against the wall. I look up at him and watch as he continues to smoke. He doesn't even acknowledge my presence. He just continues to look out at the party. 

"You people watching?" 

He looks down at me like I'm crazy. "What?" 

I blush, feeling embarrassed again. "Nothing, don't worry about it." I quickly look away. From the corner of my eye I can still see him watching me. He eventually turns back to face everyone in the crowd. I try to think of something to talk about with him. 

"Can I have one?" I ask, motioning to his cigarette. He looks back at me and smirks. 

"These aren't good for ya, you know." He says. I shrug. I've seen every psa about drugs known to man. I remember all the drug and tobacco use lectures we got in health class back in middle school. I don't know whether I actually want to try one or if I'm just trying to be cool. He looks at me for a moment before shaking his head. 

"Nah. If you're not certain, I'm not giving you one. Don't do shit 'cause you want to look cool. It's stupid and you'll just wind up miserable." 

I look at him. He makes a good point, but I can't help but feel like he's treating me like a little kid. "Ok, then why do you smoke them if you don't think they're cool?" 

Virgil thinks for a moment. He looks at me, then back at the crowd. He inhales and exhales again, more smoke filling the air. He finally turns back to me. "I have no respect for myself or my life. Anything that'll poison me faster works for me." 

My eyes widen. He notices my response and turns quickly back to the crowd. "So you smoke because.." 

"Cause I hate my life. Yeah." He says, bluntly. For being so depressing, he sounds so casual. I can't sense a bit of sadness in his voice. He's opening up to me, but at the same time he's not letting himself be vulnerable. It's like his thoughts are open to the public, but his emotions are locked off. Every time he's looked at me or any of his friends, it's been with that same blank, intimidating expression. 

"Well...I hate my life too." I said. He looks down at me and smirks. I feel my face heat up. His smile is adorable. His dark blue eyes are staring at me, and he has slight dimples. 

"No you don't." He says simply. "It might suck now, but you don't really hate it." 

He looks back at the crowd and this time doesn't look back. I watch him for a minute more. He was right, I didn't really hate my life. But it does suck right now. I walk off without saying bye and head towards the drink table.

I need a temporary solution. 

∆

Word Count: 1463
(Let me be clear: Drugs are B A D. Don't do them. o-o Don't. I am not promoting drugs. Do. Not. Do it. .0. Anywho, hope you enjoyed. -Manzana)