I miss all of first period being in Dr. Harvey's office, and by the time I'm released, I don't even feel like learning anything. On my way out the building, I run into Nat, headed out for lunch.

"How long were you in there?"

"An hour and a half," I reply, "She made me explain why I chose every school I did too."

Nat chuckles, "She'll be back for you, you know?"

"Oh I know," I exhale, "Everybody wanna know what KJ can do for them. Nobody ever asks what they can do for KJ though."

"Shut up," she hits me, "Are we still studying tonight?"

"I've got work," I reply, "I'll let you know if I get out early though."

Soon enough it's time for NCT and I grab Layne before we drive to school in silence.

"Thank you," she says as we hop out the car. I assume it's for the ride.

"It's cool," I reply, headed toward the building.

"KJ," she hurries to catch me, my strides inherently longer due to our height difference, "I mean for last night."

"Ah," I shrug, "Yeah no problem."

I continue to class and she trails behind me.

"Aye Parker," a heavy hand lands on my shoulder and I jump.

"Lori," I watch as she leans on my locker, "Sooo... About Layne?"

"What's up?"

"I'm thinking about asking her out Friday," she explains, "Y'all are friends. Any tips?"

"Yeah I have one," I close my locker, "Don't do it."

"I thought you said I could have her?" she argues.

"Well yeah," I stumble over my words, "But now  might not really be a good time to shoot your shot."

"Because she's shooting her shots at you?"

"No!" I lower my voice, "Because she's going through a rough time right now."

"That's why I think a date would be a good idea! It'll cheer her up," she persists.

"Lori leave me alone!" I snap, "I'm not in the mood."

I take my seat, leaving Lori standing confused at my outburst.

"Are you okay, KJ?" Layne turns to me.

"Perfectly fine."

***

The day soars by and soon enough I'm dropping Layne at her house after NCT to head in to work.

"Aye," Chess nods at me as I pull on my work shirt, "How's it in the jungle?"

The jungle is Chess' term for 'the real world'. Ya know, the whole "It's a jungle out there" thing.

"It's good," I lie. I don't really remember too much of my day, "You?"

"Jungle-y," he jokes, "You and Napkin Girl a thing?"

I force a chuckle, "Nah, we're just friends."

"Right," he winks, "Friends."

"No, wrong," I don't like the emphasis he uses, "Not 'friends'. Just 'friends.'No winking. No smirking. No nothing. We're just friends."

"Whatever you say KJ," Chess smirks again and heads back to work.

The evening is slow and drags by, a table or two every hour, which is a generous number. On the bright side, closing will take no time. We're so slow that Chess let's me set up in the back doing homework, taking on the task of running front and back of house. I reach a conversion problem and pull out my phone to solve, seeing I have three missed calls from Layne. Shit.

I call her back and hear Big Bang playing in the dining room. Chess sticks his head back, "Uh, KJ?"

I jump up and follow him to the dining room where Layne is currently stretch on our floor.

"Shit." I scrape her from the floor and pull her into a booth, "Layne what's wrong?"

"Nothing right now," her words slur just a bit, indicating that she's under the influence. Of what? I don't know.

"Chess!" he appears behind me, "Is it cool if I leave out early and get her home safe?"

"Yeah for sure," Chess nods and I grab my bag from the back before half supporting, half carrying Layne to my truck.

"Do you think you're gonna throw up?" I question.

"What are you gonna do if I say yes? Put put me in the back?" I don't admit yes and instead help her into the passenger side before heading back to my side.

"Where are we going?"

"Home."

She grips my bicep, "Nononononono! My mom will kill me. No please no KJ."

"Where else am I suppose to take you?" she sure as hell wasn't coming back to my house like this. Bad enough to sneak a girl in my room in the middle of the night. Even worse to sneak a drunk girl home.

"Anywhere. I just wanna be anywhere else. Not home."

"Fine," I start my truck and drive around, my playlist playing in the background.

"You listen to a lot of Bangtan," Layne comments, half asleep, leaned against the passenger window, "Nerd."

"You seem to know a lot about what I listen to," I reply, "Which makes you equally nerdy."

She laughs a little, "Yeah... Caught me."

"Speaking of which--- Your ring tone for me is Sunset Glow?"

"It is," she gives me a sheepish smile. I keep it to myself that I think that's adorable.

We spend the rest of the drive discussing K-pop and avoiding talking about anything real. When my truck gets low on gas, I stop to get some, before driving down the street to a 24 hour dinner.

She looks at me to say something but I stop her, "You should eat something."

We get seated and are the only one's in the restaurant. I watch her scarf down a stack of pancakes, observing her.

"I can't eat with you watching me like that," she scolds me. 

I turn some of my attention to my waffle, "Sorry that I'm worried about you."

"Awwww," she mocks me, "She really does care."

"Of course," I smirk, "I may be an asshole, but I'm not a heartless asshole."

Our check comes and I pay, fighting off protests from a now, more sober Layne. It's around three in the morning by the time we head back. She's not quite sobered up, but not nearly as bad as she was earlier.

I stop my truck in front of her house, pausing and taking a breath, "For future reference--- I'd rather you turn to me before you turn to---"

"Amsterdam?" She giggles.

"Yeah," I unlock the truck and fix my eyes on the dash, unable to look at her.

"Thank you," she climbs out my car successfully, placing a light kiss on my cheek. It's light enough that I wouldn't have even noticed had I not been watching it happen. Before I can respond she's gone, my cheek still burning long after she's gone.

I pull into my own drive, going through the front door, hoping to be as quiet as possible.

"Kaylie Jane Parker," I jump at the sound of my full government, not having expected anybody to be up.

"Why are you creeping in at this ungodly hour, young lady?" My dad sits at the kitchen table, clearly having waited for me.

"I couldn't sleep so I went for a drive," I lie.

"It's probably really hard to sleep when you don't even bother coming home to try," he catches me, "You're still in your work uniform."

I look down, having totally forgotten. He waits for a better explanation, but I can't offer him one.

"Remember--- That truck is a privilege," he stands, apparently letting me off with a slap on the wrist. I exhale a breath I didn't realize I was holding and head to my room, stripping off my work clothes and collasping into bed.

***

Another shit night of sleep carries me to morning and I roll from bed, admittedly a little slow, forcing myself to muster the necessary fucks to hand out throughout the day. 

It's too early for school and too late for sleep, so I change into some sweats. It's been a while since I went for a run seeing school, work, and now Layne, were eating up all my time. 

Twenty four hours was getting to not be enough for me anymore.

"Hey!"

I turn to see Dil jogging to catch up, "Morning."

"Hey morning," I continue my run, Dil falling into pace with me, "Haven't seen you since you and your crazy sister stalked me to my job."

"Psst. You work at a neighborhood joint. Expect neighborhood people to visit."

Right. "Fair enough."

We jog in silence for a minute before turning around and heading back. When we reach his house he pauses, "Hey KJ? Can I ask you something?"

"Will I have your children? Yessir," I joke.

"Is there anything going on between you and my sister?"

This again. "Nope. I drive her places and she works my nerves. Simple."

"Does she know that?" Dil questions, "Sorry if I'm intruding. Its just y'all seem to have gotten close fast. Also she snuck out your room just recently too. I tried to ask Layne about all of this and she told me to fuck off. I don't know I'm just being a protective older brother I guess."

"I understand. But me and Layne are super platonic. Plus, she's not my type."

"White?"

"No. Female."

"Ah, strictly dickly," He nods, "Totally get it. I'm the same way."

"What?" I don't get it at first, then I do.

Dammit. "Nice chat, Dillion. Enjoy your day."

"As to you Ms. Parker," he mocks a bow and I jog to my house, showering quickly and heading to school.

***

I actually beat Beck to my car and we go through our routine: Coffee, Nat and then class. I struggle through all my classes that day, only barely absorbing the information fired at me. As soon as the lunch bell rings I bolt to my truck. The faster I can get through NCT, the faster I can return home to my bed. I could sleep for days at this point. I swear it.

I knock back a back up energy drink and head to Layne's house, where she's waiting outside for me. She climbs in and glances at my messy back seat, "Classy. I bet you get a lot of girls with this ride."

"Don't you know?" I take another sip from my drink, "All the bitches love me."

She turns back around and buckles up.

We grab lunch at Jack in the Box and pull into the lot behind the classroom instead of the student lot.

"Why are we parking here?"

"Why not?" I grab my uniform bag and head to class.

"KJ!"

I turn and one of my classmates, Nikole or Nik, run up to me, "Yo what's good?"

"You busy this weekend?" she hands me an invitation, "Birthday coming up. You down?"

"Yeah," I nod, my introverted soul not fully committed. Teens? Alcohol? Partying? Wasn't really my scene. But I'd promised myself I'd try this year.

"Really?" she seems skeptical.

"I'm so down," I let the lie roll off my tongue. I was semi-down. A shade of down, if you will.

"Bet." I pocket my invitation and watched as the rest were dispersed through the crowd. I especially notice the way she hands one to Layne and the Sociopath, who at some point had become best buddies.

The bell rings and everyone finds their seats, quieting down. As Graves goes over that day's lab I struggle in keeping attention on her.

All I want is to sleep.