Hey! Did you check out the Block Party? If you did, and now you're curious about Matt's point of view from Day One, I have included some of his memories from that day in this part.

Also, I added a few authors notes and a YouTube clip in the first part (now called Forward) to give you a feel for what I'm going for.  The Visual Cast List follows just after that and explains some of the cast changes I've made. And now, Matt...

Song of the chapter - Lithium by Nirvana

Five days. It's been five days since I broke up with Amber. The effort I've had to put into looking unaffected has been difficult. My crew expects me to be tough, a leader. Leaders don't lose their shit when they dump their girlfriend. Leaders are unaffected by sadness. But how could I be unaffected? I broke up with my girlfriend.

My girlfriend who was gorgeous. My girlfriend who never cheated on me, even though I accused her on many occasions, and did cheat on her, many times. My girlfriend who never yelled back, or called me out. The girl I set my sights on the first day of school, the one I thought I deserved. I had made it my mission to have her, claim her, and it worked.

Until I ruined it all.

Five days later and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I fucked up.

Leaning against my car, I glanced around at the slightly inebriated student body surrounding me. Cars were parked up close to the tree line, windows down and music playing. Radios had been synced up and the volume was just loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to draw attention to our gathering. It was an art form, and we had it perfected. That didn't make it anything special, however. It was the same bullshit every time.

"Shit, you need a beer, man. Here. Get loaded or something. You're killing my buzz with your fucking depression."

Pete shoved a cold can against my chest. It wasn't my brand, but whatever. I didn't care anymore.

"Eff you. The only depressing thing around here is fucking being here. God, this place blows." Shit, I needed to pull it together and stop letting the past week get to me. It was starting to show.

I popped the tab on the beer and started chugging. It wasn't the first time I got wasted on a Friday night in the lot, even though I normally avoided this place. I spent most Friday's since the season was over with Amber. And there was no way in hell I was bringing her here.

But now that we weren't together, I didn't have an excuse to avoid the crew's usual hang out.

"Since when were you a Coors drinker?" Courtney frowned. God this girl was annoying. She's a freaking stalker, already knowing my drink preferences.

"I'm drinking it cause it's here. Got something better?" Like a Jack and Coke... I went ahead and gave her my signature smirk. Her mouth was less annoying when it was occupied. She got up on her toes to reach my lips and gave me a kiss. She put all of her passion and energy into it, I have to give her that. It still wasn't as good as Amber.

Damn. I needed to get her off of my mind!

"Okay, horny" I joke as I pull away from her, slightly disgusted by the exchange, "save some for later." That brings a pout to her face.

Seriously. What is it with these pouty faced girls? I can't stand that bratty look, but Courtney throws one my way every fucking day. Rather than give her a hard time about it, I just shake my head and turn back to Pete.

"How much longer are we staying?" This place sucked. The loser lot at the back of the school had become this epic tailgate hangout years ago. The wooded area behind the lot was the perfect cover for underage illegal activities. It was just dark enough, just covered enough to keep authorities from investigating our business.

And there was only one rule: never talk about the lot.

The activities that went down here were never mentioned off site. It was our own personal Vegas. Without the gambling and strippers. Most of the time.

"Why do you always want to leave? This place is the shit. Where else are we gonna go? Know someone who's parents are out of town?" Pete responds with more venom than I expected.

"No. Whatever. Stay as long as you like, but I'm giving it twenty more minutes to stop sucking. Then I'm out." By this time Courtney had dragged my arm around her shoulder. And because the beer was kicking in on my empty stomach, I kept it there to steady me. I wasn't in to looking like a drunk ass.

Pete narrowed his eyes at me. "Listen, you agreed to come here at the beginning of the year. We made this place what it is, rather than just the effing losers and their pot parties. Our presence is what people are expecting, Matt."

"Who cares." I certainly didn't. "We determine what we do, not these idiots." Saying that brought a pain in my gut, hadn't every decision I had ever made been determined by what these idiots would think? "Back off, Pete. I'll decide when I stay and when I go."

Pete had been trying to force himself into the top spot for months. Something came over him this year that put us at odds more often then not. Growing up he had always been my best friend, my wingman and second in command. But lately all we did was fight.

"Fine" he responded right before throwing back another beer. He wouldn't be sober enough to fight me much longer. At least for tonight.

I never intended on agreeing to make this lot a new hang out. First day of school, the guys had the bright idea to make our only Friday night of the season without a game, into an exhibition at the lot. Apparently I agreed. I have no memory of saying anything positive about the Friday night lot ritual.

That was another thing I could blame on Amber. I may not remember the discussion about the crews planned activities, but I do remember deciding to pursue Amber. It all happened at the same time. Just before first bell, she flew around the corner of the hallway in a rush to get to class.

My first thought was "she's smokin' hot" cause damn she looked good. More than good, drop.dead.gorgeous. The best part was that I could tell she had no clue just how smokin' she was. She had never looked that good before, the summer had been extra kind to her.

Amber was my new mission. She was the kind of girl I knew I could get comfortable with, the kind that wouldn't give me too much shit. I watched her walk down the rest of the hallway, thinking through my next move, and realized Pete was talking to me.

"Are you game, man?"

I had to play it cool, not letting on that I was daydreaming about a girl. Even though I hadn't heard what he was talking about, I figured it was fine, considering those were my boys.

"Yeah, I'm in"

"Okay, we'll meet up at my place on Friday before heading to the lot."

That's when I realized what he had said. But I still had to play it off like I knew what he was talking about, even though I had no interest in the fucking loser lot.

"Sounds good" I reluctantly replied.

If it hadn't been for Amber walking by at that exact moment, I probably wouldn't have to endure this place.

"Come on baby, I'm cold. Wanna hang in the backseat?" Courtney suggested in my ear. Seduction dropped off of every syllable. A week ago I would have been tempted to jump in there with her. Hell, forget tempted, I did jump into it with her, willingly. But now it feels like an obligation. Just another fucking expectation placed on me by someone else.

"Sure" I replied half heartedly. God, didn't she see through me? Maybe the physical distraction would help. I got in the car with her and she wasted no time, scooting over on to my lap. I kissed her with my lips, but she wasn't who was on my mind.

I thought back to the first conversation I had with Amber, that first day of school. I was pleasantly surprised to find Amber sitting in the front row of my English class. I sucked at English, hated it, but once I saw her sitting there it became my favorite class.

I broke every one of my rules for class - sit in the back, never raise your hand, cheat as often as possible - walked right up to the front row and took the seat next to her. I started talking to her, like I knew her, and she practically fell out of her chair.

Amber had been shocked that I would even speak to her, like I couldn't possibly have any reason to. She was sort of right, it was definitely out of the norm for me. She stumbled all over herself talking to me that day. I had even wondered if she had some kind of speech problem. But I do tend to have that effect on females.

She agreed to help me out with the class and we started spending time at the library. Once she was real comfortable with me, I took the next step and asked her out. Of course she said yes, but I hadn't planned on taking no for an answer anyway.

It was at the end of that first date when I really knew she was perfect for me. I pulled up to her house at the end of the night and shut off the engine. I turned to look at her, noticing that she was looking down at her hands. Most of the time, at this point on a date, the girl was looking at me, trying to let me know her interest. Not Amber. She seemed almost scared. It made me want to make her trust me.

I continued to gaze at her, willing her to just look at me. When she finally did, I felt something I had never felt before. I was actually nervous. How would she respond if I tried to kiss her? She seemed so hesitant, and I couldn't be sure exactly why, but I wanted her to want me. I wanted to wipe away every hesitation she had.

I reached up to touch her cheek and she leaned into me, pressing her warmth against my palm. Then, without thinking much more about it, I leaned in to her, touching my lips to hers. I felt her sigh, then she relaxed a bit more. I brought my hand to the back of her head, weaving my fingers into her long curls. Slowly, she allowed me to kiss her deeper, angling our heads more to the side so I had better access to her mouth. It was amazing, I felt so close to her. She gave me everything in that first kiss and I heard myself breathe her name.

"Amber..."

Then I felt the sting of a hand leaving its mark on my cheek.

"Fuck you, Matt."

I opened my eyes and was shocked to see Courtney staring back at me with an angry glare. Shit. I forgot where I was, so wrapped up in my memories. Now I had to do some major damage control.

"Sorry, babe, force of habit. Come on, it won't happen again." Shit.

I lean towards Courtney, trying to kiss her annoyance away, but she jerks away from me and starts to climb out of the car.

"Forget it, Matt. Come try that again when you get the frigid bitch off your mind." the venom just drips off every word she says. I hadn't noticed how jealous she could be.

As she gets out of the car, Pete is standing next to his car smirking.

"Done already? That was quick"

"Your friend here is still too hung up on that bitch." Courtney rats me out. Fuck.

"Oh yeah? I didn't figure you for the type to get so whipped." He laughs.

"Fuck you both. I dumped her, not the other way around. Just trying to break bad habits" I was doing a crap job of damage control. It felt like I was digging a deeper hole for myself.

"I'm out of here." It was better if I just left.

"Heading back to Ambers?" Pete smirks. "She is a hottie, so I can't really blame you."

I level a glare at him, "Bro code, man. You keep your damn hands and your filthy mind off of her."

Pete raised his hands in mock surrender. "Wasn't planning on it, just admiring the window dressing."

Sure. I know that look on his face. That's one of the reasons I went for Amber, she had been untouched by the disgusting male population at this school. Yeah, some of them were my best friends, but that's how I knew they were disgusting. Effing pigs.

I said nothing more as I got in my car and drove off. Pete must have given me an unconscious suggestion because before I knew it, I was parked down the street from Amber's house.

There was hardly any more reason to deny it. I was a piece of shit. I blew it by dumping her, now I was paying the price.

Sitting there watching her house, I fell to a new low. There was a car parked in front, one I didn't recognize. It was a completely restored Mustang, which I knew no one in her family owned.

This was a fucking nightmare. I wanted to bash my head into the steering wheel. I wanted to scream. How could she already have moved on? She wasn't even that upset at school all week, never glancing in my direction or making eye contact. Didn't I mean anything to her?

Just as I was about to really lose my shit, her front door opened and some girl walked out. I was relieved that it wasn't a guy. Now I didn't need to go unleash my frustration on some dude trying to move in on her. But I did recognize this girl.

What the hell was Amber doing hanging out with her. She was bad news, one of those loser punk girls with piercings. Damn, and she was Nico's girlfriend. That fucking psycho better not do anything stupid.

The bitch got in her car, and just when I thought she was driving away, threw it into reverse and sped back in my direction. Shit.

Her car stopped inches from mine. And then the crazy bitch glared at me. Never said a word, just glared. I glared back, a fucking dare if I ever saw one. Then she took off.

I needed to get out of there, quick. I didn't want Amber to find me outside of her house. I peeled away, louder than I intended damn it. But the message was clear. I needed to watch out for her, girlfriend or not. I needed to keep Amber safe.

^^^^^^

I did it!!! Friday updates are the bomb and I got one in for ya! Please add your vote! It really helps so much.

I had planned for this part to cover more than just a week, but things worked out differently so, yeah. The next part is in Matt-Garrett-Amber order (sorry for another Matt so soon but it WILL be eye opening) and should cover more time than just a week. But who knows, right?

Matt is...well you know. So here is Lithium because it's just the craziest song ever, makes no sense, and is all over the place with its emotions. Just like Matt.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]