Talk it out

Connor couldn't think of a reason not to. His last class was... well, he'd pass easily enough. He texted his agreement back. He headed out of the bathroom, and through empty halls almost at random. There were hours to go until Joan got out of her class. Somehow, he found himself at the lunch hall. It was almost empty, just a few isolated students chatting or working at the tables. He grabbed a soda and sat down at an empty table.

He drank it in thoughtful silence. At least his father's instructions were simple enough. He could make it for sixteen hours without anything else weird. He'd be at home for most of them, sleeping even.

"Hey!", cried Nate, appearing out of nowhere to slap him on the shoulder, "Up to much?"

"No." said Connor, "Just chilling. You know."

"Sure." said Nate as he found himself a chair, "Tomorrow night there's a party at mine. Short notice, I know. But the band has some guys in it who want to party, and they've got liquor, and my folks are out of town."

"Alright." said Connor with a sigh.

"Wow, you sound so keen!"

"Sorry, just... Dad, you know?" said Connor, realizing that hosting a house party was probably a first for Nate. Especially if no-one would be playing Dungeons and Dragons at it.

"I don't know. But I can guess it's a big deal for you, yeah. Do you think it'll be a problem? I mean, will he want you to be with him all evening?"

"I don't think so." was the best answer Connor could give.

Connor relaxed for the next hour, happy to hear the details of Nate's new relationship (which was, it transpired, a full two weeks old, and involving a level of intimacy already way ahead of Connor and Joan's two year status) and band (which sounded intriguingly terrible, in a bad movie sense).

Then time was up and Connor headed to the car park.