"So, how was visiting boyfriend number two?" Troy asked you when you arrived back home after August had picked you up from the hospital and dropped you off. While you had wanted to hang out with August, he told you that he had some stuff that he needed to take care of and that he couldn't hang out tonight because of it. You were a bit sad to hear this, especially since you enjoyed August's presence.
Speak for yourself. You're literally Mary's second boyfriend.
Yeah, and who's fault is that?
I am not going to have a full-on argument with myself in my own mind.
"Mark's not my boyfriend." You sighed, feeling slightly annoyed. "He's hardly even my friend."
""Hardly?"" Troy echoed, raising an eyebrow and smirking a bit. "What happened to "not?""
"Don't even start it." You let out another sigh. "I'm really not in the mood to argue about this."
Troy shrugged. "Fine, that's fair." He then ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I better get up to my room. A very special someone is up there waiting for me."
"Who is it?" You asked, confused as to why Troy had someone over.
"Take a guess." Troy's smile immediately gave away who was up in his room right now.
"It's Mary, isn't it?" You resisted the urge to let out a groan.
"You better believe it." Troy's smile widened. "The only reason I came down here was to get these bad boys." He held up the pipes that the two of you used whenever you would smoke weed together.
"Why the hell are you stealing my pipe?" You asked him when you saw the two pipes.
"Because this one's the only one that I have." Troy held up the pipe that belonged to him. "Don't worry, I'll give yours back when we're done."
You better not let that bitch's lips touch my pipe. She more than likely has something and I don't want any part of it.
"You better." You told him, somehow managing to sound a little bit aggressive, even though you were pretty pissed about the fact that Mary may or may not be using your pipe. "By the way, can you do me a favor and not eat all of the food if you end up getting high? I understand that you get hungry, but you don't live on your own anymore and you have to share the food."
""If I end up getting high?"" Troy repeated, laughing a bit. "Don't you mean when I end getting high? I plan on getting higher than a kite tonight."
Go ahead. It's way better for you to do that than snort cocaine like you tried to do that one time and I had to stop you from doing it.
"You have fun with that, buddy." You lightly patted on him on the shoulder. "Just know this: everything and everyone has to come crashing down at one point, no matter how high up it is or they are."
"Been there, done that." Troy shrugged. "I've been smoking weed for a long time now. I know how this works."
"I'm just saying." You whispered as Troy began walking upstairs, his pipe in between his lips and his hands buried in his pockets.

*****

You've got to be fucking kidding me right now.
You woke up to loud sounds coming from Troy's bedroom. You glanced over at your clock and saw that it was a little past three in the morning.
You guys are seriously doing this at three in the fucking morning? Mary, you literally have school in the morning. Well, not like you'd actually do anything anyways, but still. And Troy, trust me when I say just about anyone on this planet would be better for you to be inside of than Mary. Like I've been saying, she probably has something.

You groaned because you knew that you weren't going to be getting any sleep as long as Troy and Mary continued to basically scream their heads off to the point where you wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the neighbors filed a noise complaint against them.
You decided to pass the time by playing around with your phone. Once you turned it on and unlocked it, you decided that you would text August to see if he was awake or not. He probably wasn't, but you thought that you would text him anyways.
Hey, are you awake? I can't sleep because Troy and his girlfriend are having a grand ol' time in the room next to me and let's just say that they aren't exactly being quiet.
Much to your surprise, August replied almost immediately.
Sucks being the one stuck awake hearing that, huh?
You're making it sound as if you've experienced that. You added a smiley face at the end of the message.
I have. You and Julian weren't quiet when you guys were having a grand ol' time either. You're lucky that my parents were heavy sleepers, by the way. My mom would've gotten so pissed if she would've caught you guys in the act and my dad would've just been proud because he used to hook up with any girl he could.
Look, losing my virginity in eighth grade to Julian out of all people wasn't exactly one of my finest moments.
And you think losing my virginity was one of my finest moments? It was equivalent to watching two dying fish flop on top of each other. Also, I was in seventh grade at the time, which makes the whole situation even worse than it already was.
You couldn't resist letting out a laugh after you read August's text. Your heart skipped a beat when the sounds coming from Troy's bedroom completely stopped after you had laughed. Much to your relief, they started back up a moment later. The last thing you wanted was a naked Troy knocking on your door and asking you why you were awake, even though the better question to ask would be why he was up and making way too much noise.
Did you at least know who she was prior to taking her virginity?
Well, yeah, of course I did. Do you think that I allow myself to be inside just anyone?
I sure as hell know someone who does. You thought to yourself. You then found yourself looking towards the wall that separated Troy's room from yours.
You never know. You replied to August. People aren't always what they make themselves out to be.
That's so true. Mary, the girl who ended up taking my virginity while I ended up taking hers, while she remained true to herself for a while, she changed and let me tell you, she changed a lot. Seeing her now is like seeing a stranger rather than a girl I thought I knew really well back in middle school.
Wait, Mary... Please don't tell me that you mean...
Long blue hair, flower crown, dresses like she's ready for anyone with the male anatomy to take her home... Yeah, that's her. She's the one who took my virginity.
You almost threw up in your mouth a little when he said this. You distracted yourself from the urge to do so by typing your response to August, I'm so sorry. I thought Julian was bad, but I think Mary might be worse considering the fact that I'm almost dead certain that she has something, and not a good something either.
You may not believe me when I say this, but Mary was way different than how she is now.
You were about to begin typing, but you stopped when you noticed that August had started typing again immediately after he had sent his message. She used to be so kind and caring towards everyone. Her family has a lot of money because most of them are doctors, lawyers, and surgeons so they make more than enough money to support themselves. Plus, they run a very successful business so they constantly have lots of money coming their way. She always used to talk about wanting to give money to those who needed it because she had "more than enough" to spare. Even though she's changed quite a bit since she was in seventh grade, I think that she still has that desire to help people in need of money deep down, even if she doesn't want to admit it.
I highly doubt that, but okay. Whatever you say, I guess.
A few moments passed by without August responding. You assumed that he had fallen asleep and you were about to turn off your phone and attempt to get some sleep when he finally replied.
Hey, you wanna do something crazy?
Um... Yes, possibly? It depends on whatever the hell it is that you want to do.
I wanna sneak out and go to the park. I'll figure things out from there. It's already going to be hard as hell for you to sneak out after curfew and go all the way to the park. I would say to drive there, but you'll be easier for the cops to catch if you do.
Wait, won't it be hard for you to sneak out too?
Adults don't have a curfew, (Y/N). August added a winky face at the end of his message.
Curse you for being eighteen. I'm not even seventeen yet because I have a late birthday.
That sucks. I just turned eighteen a little over a month ago. He added not one, but two smiley faces at the end of his message.
I'm severely disappointed that your birthday's not in August.
Wow, I've never heard that one before. You imagined August smiling and rolling his eyes at that moment. He immediately sent another message, So, you wanna sneak out and go to the park or not?
I mean, I guess. Sneaking out to go and hang out with you would be a million times more enjoyable than listening to what's going on in Troy's room.
I don't blame you. I'll start making my way to the park and I'll see you then.
See you in a bit.
You shut off your phone and slowly climbed out of bed so that your floorboards wouldn't creak when you stepped down on the floor. You then tiptoed over to your closet and grabbed your hoodie and shoes before you sat down on the ground and started putting both of them on. After a few moments, you stood up and tiptoed over to your door. You winced as the door creaked loudly as you swung it open. Troy and Mary didn't seem to hear it because the noises they were making didn't stop. Instead, they got louder.
"Are you two going to be at it all night?" You asked yourself quietly as you tiptoed out into the hallway and down the stairs. "You know, you two are going to wake up naked and confused once the high wears off and you're probably going to end up feeling like shit because I have the feeling that you two smoked a lot."

After you successfully managed to get out of the house, you began running to the park. You originally planned on walking there, but you realized that it would take too long and that it would be better just to run as much as you could so that you could get there faster. As you were running, you heard your phone ringing. You pulled your phone out of your pocket and saw that August was calling you.
"Yes, I'm on my way." You said to him as you soon as you answered his call, already anticipating what he was going to say. "Are you on your way?"
"Yes, of course I am." August replied. "By the way, you look like you're in need of a ride and better running skills." He teased you during the last bit of his sentence.
"How the hell do you know that I'm running?"
You let out a scream as you heard the sound of a car horn honking. You stopped dead in your tracks and heard the sound of a car window being rolled down and laughing.
"Damn, I got you real good." You recognized August's voice immediately. "I was going to surprise you and come pick you up from Troy's house, but now I guess I'm picking you up from the sidewalk."
"You almost made me have a heart attack!" You turned to face him. His head was peering out the window and he had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. You had never expected August to be the type who smoked.
August shrugged. "I had to get your attention somehow."
"Whatever." You laughed a little as you rolled your eyes and walked to the passenger side of August's car before you got into the car.
"Do you mind if we take a detour?" He asked you as you strapped in your seatbelt.
"Where the hell are we going to take a detour to at almost four in the morning?"
"You'll see." August smiled.

*****

"Augustus, you better drive away right now." You said to the brown-haired boy, who had a smile on his face. Normally, you loved seeing him smile, but you didn't like it this time.
"Come on! Are you really going to judge me for this?" August asked you as he rolled down his window and threw his cigarette out the window.
"Yes! I'm really going to judge you for this!" You exclaimed. "You're about to go through the drive-thru of Taco Bell at nearly four in the morning and you're completely sober!"
"I'm not the only sober person who has a four in the morning Taco Bell run." August defended himself as he stopped the car and began studying the menu. "Plus, I'm in a severe need of a burrito."
You sighed and shook your head. "The people that I know. One minute, I'm listening to the guy that feels like he's my older brother rather than my friend have a grand ol' time with a cheating whore and the next minute, I'm in the car with a guitar player who apparently thinks going to Taco Bell at nearly four in the morning while being completely sober is a sane thing to do." You couldn't help but smile a bit, no matter how hard you tried to hold it back.
"Hey, I really want a burrito, okay?" August defended himself once more. "By the way, do you want anything?"
"No, I don't want anything." You shook her head. "Unlike you, I don't want to be stuck in the bathroom at the mercy of fast food."
"Whatever." August shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"There, you got your burrito." You said to August as he drove away from Taco Bell. "Are you happy that your life choices have led to this oh-so-magical moment?"
"Hell yeah!" August stopped the car as he pulled his burrito out of the bag. "I fucking love burritos!"
"I'm starting to question whether or not you're actually sober." You looked over at August, who was happily enjoying the burrito that he had bought.
"If I wasn't sober, do you think that I would be driving right now?"
"I don't really know. I imagine that someone who makes a four in the morning Taco Bell run just for a burrito makes some pretty questionable decisions in his life." You teased him, smiling a bit.
"Do you want to go to the park or not?" August teased you back. "Because I very well could just take you home so that you can go back to listening to all of those noises that you heard while you were texting me."
"Don't even go there." You laughed as you rolled your eyes. "Just drive and eat."

*****

"Another detour?" You asked August as he turned down a street rather than continuing to make his way to the park. Due to the fact that it was dark outside, you couldn't tell what street he had turned on. "At this rare, it'll be time for us to go to school and we won't even have time to go to the park."
"Look, I need cigarettes." August ran a hand through his hair. "I smoked my last one while I was coming to pick you up and the guy who gets them for me works really early and this is the only time that I can get them from him because he immediately goes to sleep after he gets off of work."
"You know, adults can buy their own cigarettes." You teased him for what felt like the millionth time tonight.
"Yeah, um, you see, I don't do this thing called being an adult." August looked over at you after he had parked his car on the side of the road. "Besides, he's more than happy to buy them for me as payment for giving him guitar lessons."
"Yeah, okay, just get your cigarettes so that we can go to the park already." You were starting to feel slightly annoyed by August and you swore that you were going to go off on him if he ended taking yet another detour.
"Don't worry, I will." He got out of the car and you did the same, wanting to get up and stretch. "And I'm more than happy to share, by the way."
You shook your head. "They're all yours. I don't do cigarettes."
"Damn, you're missing out." August pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head and put his hands into his hoodie pockets. "Oh well, that just means that there's more for me." He shrugged as he began walking towards a house that was across from where he had parked his car.

You sighed as you leaned against August's car and began waiting for him to get back. You hoped that he wouldn't take his time getting the cigarettes because you were starting to get really tired and you felt as if you were going to fall asleep at any moment.
"Wait, what the hell is going on?" You asked, becoming confused as you saw that almost all of the lights in Mark's house were on. "Mark told me that he wasn't supposed to get home from the hospital until tomorrow and yet the light to his room is on."
Suddenly, you heard screaming and yelling coming from the house. Since you were a fair amount of distance away from the house, the yelling and screaming was muffled and you couldn't make out what anyone was saying. You wondered if you should get closer to the house to see if you make out anything before you decided against it. After all, what was going on in there was none of your business.
Right?
Mark had been your friend at one point and it seemed like you two were slowly on track to at least getting along again. Besides, yelling and screaming, especially at four in the morning, had never happened at Mark's house whenever you had hung out with him or while you were staying with him before you went to stay with Troy.

Curiosity eventually got the better of you and you crept over to Mark's house, hiding beneath a window so that no one would be able to see you. Now that you were much closer to the house, you were now able to make out what was being said.
"How the hell am I just now finding out about this?!" It took a moment for you to realize that the voice belonged to Tom, Mark's older brother. "I can't believe you've sunk down to this level, Mom! I thought you were better than this!"
"What else was I supposed to do?" You instantly recognized the next voice as belonging to Mark's mother. You thought it was quite scary to hear her yelling and sounding so angry, especially since you had always known her as a quiet and gentle woman who had quite a close relationship with Mark. "Your father is dying as we speak! I have to go everything in my power to make sure that he gets better!"
"Well, has it ever occurred to you that Dad may not want to suffer anymore?!" Tom snapped. Even though you were outside of the house, you could feel the tension quickly rising. At this rate, it wouldn't take very long for any of them to fall off the edge and completely snap. "You've been keeping him alive with chemo and all this other bullshit for almost a year now! Also, he's hardly gotten better in that amount of time and you rarely allow him to be home! You just leave him to rot away in a hospital bed while he's alone for most of the day!"
"Well, I'm sorry that I can't spend twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week with my husband because I have to work and support my son so that he can have a roof over his head, food on his plate, and clothes on his back!"
"You don't work! You quit your job to go and hang out with the girl's parents in their hot tub while you drink wine!" You wanted so badly to intervene, but you knew that it wouldn't serve any purpose. Besides, they'd probably only get angrier to find out that you had been eavesdropping. "Why are you doing this to these poor kids? And, more importantly, why do you think it's okay for you to get in on the life of luxury that they worked so hard to have when you just used the "Please help me, my husband's dying and I really need money to help pay for his treatment" excuse and instead of using their money as an extra little boost, you're using as much of it as you can possibly get and you're wasting all of your last paycheck on stupid shit like that goddamn virtual golf simulator you just bought! You know you could just get off your lazy ass and go outside and, oh, I don't know, play the real sport!"

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. You never would've guessed that any of this was going on. But, then again, Mary's comment about how Mark wanted her money and how "business" was a better word to describe their relationship was now proven to be entirely true. Although you had previously thought that Mark was a gold digger and that he only wanted Mary for her money, it seemed as though Mark's mother had influenced him to get into a relationship with her so that she could get the money for not only his dad, but for herself as well. You were almost certain that you hadn't found out the full story yet and that there were still things that hadn't yet been revealed.

"What harm is coming out of this?" Much to your surprise, the yelling and screaming got a bit quieter. "We get money to pay for your dad's treatments and Mark gets a girl that will help him finally move on from Amy."
Just then, their voices returned to a normal level and it was extremely difficult to hear them.
"Mom, you realize that Mark doesn't like Mary that way, right?"
"I don't see why he wouldn't like her. While we were seeking financial assistance, she stepped up right away and seemed to sympathize with us. Plus, she seems like she's a very nice girl and she's very pretty. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, she looks a lot like Amy. I can't believe it took me a long time to notice that."
Your eyes widened as you realized that Mary did indeed have a striking resemblance to the blonde-haired girl that had met such a tragic end. Even though it was more than likely a coincidence since there was at least one person out there that looked like any given person, it was still strange that Amy and Mary looked like each other.
"You know, out of everything that's going on right now, the thing that I fail to understand the most is why you made Mark stop being friends with (Y/N)."
"Wait, what?" You whispered to yourself as you looked up and saw the silhouettes of Tom and Mark's mother in Mark's room. You were too shocked by what you had just heard to wonder why they were in there.
"She's a really nice girl and her and Mark got along really well. You didn't have to force him to stop being friends with her. She didn't do anything wrong."
"Mark can't have her in his life while Mary is around, especially since they have to make everyone think that he's dating Mary. Plus, it's not pretty when you have two girls fighting over the same guy."
"Yeah, but I don't think that (Y/N) has feelings for Mark. I think that she only sees him as a friend. Well, I guess not anymore since she must think Mark suddenly stopped being her friend just to be with Mary."
"Good. Let her think that. It'll keep the truth from getting out. Once your father gets better and we don't have to get extra money, Mary and Mark can break up and no one will think twice about it because high school relationships typically don't last."
"There you are. I was wondering where the hell you went."
You nearly let out a scream as you heard August's voice. Once you realized it was just him and not a stranger, you calmed down.
"Can you do me a favor and not scare me like that?" You asked quietly, not wanting Tom or Mark's mother to hear you.
"Well, can you do me a favor and not run off like that?" August asked just as quietly. "I thought that something really bad happened while I was away."
"You worry too much." You scoffed a bit as you stood up and began walking back to August's car. "Trust me, if something was wrong, you'd know right away. I can yell and scream loud enough to wake up an entire neighborhood if I wanted to."
"Yeah, um, can you not do that unless you're in serious danger?" August asked, laughing a bit. "I really don't want you getting caught being out way past curfew. You'll get in trouble and I'll get in trouble too for being with you and allowing you to stay out."
"Don't worry. I won't rat us out." You laughed a bit as well. "I really don't want to deal with all of that shit."
"I'm glad we're on the same page." August smiled as the two of you got into the car at the same time.

*****

"So, tell me." August said to you when you arrived at the park. Even though the sun was starting to rise and you had been up pretty much all night, you felt wide awake as you stared up at the sunrise while resting your head on August's shoulder and feeling his arms wrapped tightly around you. "What were you doing hiding underneath the window of Mark Fischbach's house?"
"I heard yelling and screaming and curiosity got the better of me so I got closer to see if I could make out anything they were saying."
"Did you?" August asked, raising his eyebrow slightly.
"Yeah, I did," You nodded. "I found out a lot of stuff, actually."
"Like what?"
"Nothing important." You lied, shaking your head. You already weren't supposed to know about any of the stuff that you now knew about so you thought that it would be better if you kept it to yourself so that it didn't spread around like wildfire. "I hardly even remember it now, honestly."
Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that August didn't seem like he was convinced by what you had just said and you were worried that he was going to continue to question you. But, thankfully, his facial expression changed so that it now looked like he believed what you had just said.
"If you're starting to forget it when it happened not that long ago, it really must not be that important then." August shrugged slightly.
"Yeah, it really wasn't." You shrugged slightly as well. "I'm not sure why I stuck around the house as long as I did."
"Man, school's going to suck tomorrow." August yawned and removed his glasses before he rubbed his eyes. "I feel like I'm going to pass out at any second."
"It's funny that you say that because I'm wide awake." You laughed a bit. "I don't feel tired at all."
"How the hell-"
"Don't worry, I'll more than likely end up falling asleep in class."
"We are definitely stopping to get coffee before school." August yawned once more as he closed his eyes. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up at a time where we'll have enough time to stop and get coffee and still make it to school on time."
"I will." You promised. "Sweet dreams, pret-" You immediately stopped yourself. "August."
He didn't seem to notice that you had almost called him "pretty boy." In fact, he didn't even react at all. You were amazed that he had fallen asleep in so little time. He was just a bit more tired than he made himself out to be.
"No matter what, there's only person who will have that nickname." You whispered to yourself, smiling a bit as you pulled out your phone and unlocked it before pulling up Mark's contact information and pushing the "Edit" button. After you had done so, you changed "Ugly" back to "Pretty."
"And after all of this new information has come up, they've earned the nickname back."