I crossed my arms feeling uncomfortable and insecure in my own skin. Why did I agree to this thing? My eyes scanned the crowd and landed on my friend, who had asked me to come here. She was already in the arts and crafts section which made me smile, maybe this wasn't so bad.

I took a step forward into the many clusters of people who had also come to the event in the small building, the whole idea of this many humans being in one place made me anxious. It wasn't even just the body count but also the fact others were dancing with glow sticks and the music was loud. It almost felt like a rave instead of a sweet party like I had been expecting.

Suddenly a hand grabbed onto my arm making me gasp and turn quickly around. My face went dark red as my eyes met that of a boy around my age with dark hair and a shy smile that made my heart skip a beat. He had glow stick jewelry all over him which made him look silly and from what I could tell, he seemed to be alone.

"H-hi my name's Ryder. Sorry for spooking you i-i just saw you walking around looking nervous and I wanted to know if you'd m-maybe like to hangout? T-theres a place where you can sit and watch games."

He wasn't confident with his words but his stutter made him sound so cute! Was he asking me out though? Was that what this was considered?? Ugh why don't I know these things! "That sounds nice, it's kinda loud down here anyway. My name's (y/n)!"

I couldn't understand what he said in response so I just followed him when he started walking, yet again sorting the people and trying not to get injured in the process as we made our way upstairs. I tried to look for my friend but with no luck, hopefully she wouldn't be to upset with me.

When we got upstairs I felt way better, the lights were brighter making it easier to see and there was almost no one else with us. The music seemed quieter and in the middle of the large layout was a tv hooked up to a video game console. You could either watch or play.

"Wow Ryder this is so nice! Thank you! My head was going to explode if I stayed down there any longer."

"M-mine too. I don't usually come to parties often, I'm only here cause my brother...i-i don't even know where he disappeared to."

We sat down while he spoke and I couldn't help but feel a little bad for him, I kinda knew how it felt but at least I could always just call my friend and she would come get me. I could tell that wasn't the case with him...out of everyone at this place he choose me to talk to...I gotta do my best!

"I come to parties on average but that's because I have a friend who loves them. I honestly feel awkward whenever I'm in a place like this, like I'm a sore thumb sticking out of the swarms of preteens and teens."

He fiddled with his hands and glanced at the tv for a split second. Was he more interested in watching? "I feel awkward everywhere,...I'm really self conscious..."

I took a deep breath and placed my hand over his, which was a huge risk. I was completely prepared for him to pull it away and run off because I made things weird, but he didn't instead he waited patiently for what I was about to say. "You don't need to be self conscious, your super adorable and sweet. Even from just knowing you for five minutes I can tell your a good person which is hard to find. As long as your being you, that's beautiful and no one should say otherwise. If they do it's cause they're jealous."

He bit his lip and I could tell he wasn't expecting me to say that cause his face blushed. To think I had already made a boy turn bright red after do little time together, I felt proud.

"You have no idea how helpful that was...thank you. I...wish we could b-be friends."

"Why couldn't we? I can give you my number and we can hang out sometimes." I started to feel sad knowing I had just met this person and wanted a friend, maybe more but I got rejected. I obviously made a move to fast and I automatically regretted it.

"I live in California and I'm just here on a vacation...i-im sorry I should have said that earlier."

"No no it's okay! We can still text so that's cool." I probably sounded desperate but in that moment I wasn't thinking right and all I wanted was to get my phone out of my bag. It wasn't full or hard to manage, my phone just happened to be at the very bottom.

When I finally retrieved it and turned around I realized I was alone, on the couch with no one there. He had left me...wow that lasted long. Why am I surprised? This always happens and I blame it on time or emergency texts even though I know...they just leave.

"Hey (y/n) there you are. It's getting late so let's go home. You okay?"

I looked to my friend and nodded pushing any pain I felt deep down. Even as we drove away I wondered why he even bothered to talk to me...was it just a ploy to make me upset? Why target me off all people? Did he actually live in a different state or was that a lie?

We will never know...or will we?

The end!