"Hey guys, what's up?" Andrew and Mike were the only two people that even looked at him from the group.

"Never see you outside of practice and games. Where do you spend all your time?" Andrew's question was short and to the point, Isaiah was surprised that he was speaking to him at all.

"Yeah, I'm around, I guess. A lot of schoolwork. I'm taking a lot of university prep courses this semester." It was true only recently had Isaiah really had time to breathe, he had been so bogged down in homework. This was another of the many reasons he didn't come to these parties, although it was a minor reason, it was one of the ones he would throw out there more often. It was probably the reason that most of the team thought he was a bookworm.

"So, you're not going for a football scholarship like the rest of us?" Andrew looked at him not surprised at all. He didn't think Isaiah was good enough to get a scholarship, and he certainly wasn't big enough to carry on into the university scene.

"Nah, I've already got academic scholarships lined up." Isaiah was pretty confident in his intellect and because of this was sure he would end up at whatever university he wanted. There was a bit of an awkward silence and Isaiah looked down at his feet, he wanted to go find Caleb, but he didn't want to be rude and just walk away either. Mike looked at Isaiah and could tell he was for the most part the cause of the awkward silence. He knew that Jonathan wasn't going to speak with him there and could also tell that Andrew was being unusually nice to him for the sake of public appearance.

"Caleb is in the house somewhere, I think; probably the kitchen," said Mike breaking the silence, "There's plenty of drinks in there for everyone too." Isaiah rejoiced inside that Mike was trying to shoo him away and put on a fake smile as he spoke.

"Thanks, Mike." Isaiah looked up at the house that was a decent distance from where they stood right next to the property line on the sidewalk. "I think I'm gonna go see about that. I'll see you guys later." Andrew and Mike nodded to him as he walked away. Isaiah let out a sigh of relief as he walked up to the house. He walked up the paved driveway, Caleb's house sat some distance away from where they were standing. The property was large and like the other houses on the street they were far apart from their neighbours, making it the perfect place for a party, the music could be loud, and no one would complain because no one would hear it loud enough to bother. There were people scattered in groups all over the property as he walked Isaiah began to realize why everyone came to the parties here because everybody else did. The groups scattered about were all different cliques of people, gothic, punk, hip-hop, the "smart kids", the jocks, and even those who were considered the "outcasts" of the school. Isaiah made it to the door and stared up at it almost intimidated to open it. He could hear the music blaring inside, something he didn't recognize but it was some kind of rap music. Isaiah exhaled and put his hand on the doorknob, turning it and walking in, the music seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks, it was so loud he could hardly hear himself talk let alone anyone else. He walked into the house, the large living room was packed with people, Isaiah couldn't believe that there were this many people there, word must have spread quickly after Jonathan's open display on the bus. Isaiah pushed his way through the crowd, seeing several familiar faces, most of which he knew from classes, but he did have a few fans amid all his time on the team. A few members of the team acknowledged him, others didn't, and a few of the girls that regularly hung out with the team gave him a random hug. He finally pushed his way through the crowd and made it to the kitchen door.

Caleb was sitting in the kitchen; the party was blaring in the living room, but he couldn't seem to get himself into the partying mood. Sheena's excessive amount of attitude was still taking its toll. He sat against the counter and looked at the cold beer in his hands, he had only had two, and he started to think maybe that had something to do with him not being in the mood yet. As an unset rule, he would probably have about eight for the night, if he wanted to have a heavy night and at this point he did. Even though Sheena was kind of bringing him down the fact that Isaiah was going to be there was something that made him feel a little happier. He looked up at the kitchen clock and Isaiah would probably be there any minute he had gotten off the phone about fifteen minutes ago. Caleb took a drink of the beer in his hand and drank half of it down almost instantly trying to hurry the process up a bit. He swallowed the last of what was in his mouth, it went down hard the fizz burning the back of his throat as it often did. Caleb wasn't particularly fond of the actual process of drinking he just liked the feeling he got from it, and he really disliked the taste of beer. The only reason he drank it at this point was that it was the easiest for him to get a hold of his father kept it in the house for easy access when he was home. His parents didn't mind him drinking at their house because they could see what he was doing having security cameras in the living room and kitchen. Caleb's father although he was a lawyer, had a bit of fancy for electronics and gadgets and he had all the money he needed to try out the latest security system or computerized mechanism like the one in Caleb's truck. If he wanted to keep the truck from Caleb, he would just use his computer and flick a switch and set a time and the truck wouldn't start. Caleb thought about Sheena for a minute. How could anyone that supposedly loved him treat him this way, she talked to him all the time like he was an idiot, if he was talking it wouldn't be worth saying? All she did was hang off him in public and in private unless she was trying to have sex with him or get him to buy her something with the credit card his parents gave him, then she was yelling at him or giving him some kind of attitude or calling him stupid. Thinking about it Caleb's eyes started to well up, it was something he felt that he really could not talk to anyone about. His parents were gone all the time with work, he didn't feel that his friends were the type of people he could show any emotion to without being teased or seen as weak. The only person that he could even come close to talking to about his feelings was his uncle Caesar who was also their housekeeper, but he still didn't like talking to him about this type of issue. Caleb wiped his eyes and just as he lowered his arm Isaiah walked through the door. Caleb was happy to see him, though he didn't really know why, he still had a distraught look on his face that he was trying to hide.

"Oh, hey man! Glad you could make it. Thanks for coming." Caleb reached out and shook Isaiah's hand with a smile on his face. Isaiah smiled back at him, happy to see him.

"No problem, dude. What's up?" asked Isaiah. Isaiah looked at him almost suspiciously as he pulled from the handshake.

"Oh, not much." Caleb tried not to seem distracted as he spoke, but it didn't seem like it was working.

"You okay?" Isaiah tried to look Caleb in the eye, but he turned his head quickly to look at the fridge.

"Oh, ah yeah. Just a little distracted." Caleb walked over to the fridge and looked in at the vast supply of alcohol. There were bottles and cans of all assorted brands and colours. "So, you want a drink?" he asked.

"Yeah, for sure. What are my options?" Isaiah walked over and stood beside Caleb glancing at the alcohol he had never seen so much alcohol in one place before.

"Oh, well…" Caleb glanced in at all the different labels. "Ha, yeah, take a look and see what you want, man. Everyone brought some." Caleb left the door open and walked back over to the counter to his original position. Caleb watched Isaiah closely while he chose his drink from the fridge, he caught himself staring as Isaiah stood up with a can in his hand and looked at the ground.

"Cool, thanks." Isaiah turned around and smiled at him as he opened the can and took a sip from the drink shutting the fridge behind him. The brief look of surprise on Isaiah's face from the taste of his drink told Caleb that Isaiah wasn't any more of a drinker than he was, probably even less. Isaiah walked over and stood about three feet away from Caleb and stood in front of him. "So, what's on your mind?" asked Isaiah. Caleb looked up at Isaiah clearly caught off guard that he was picking up on how distraught he really was.

"What?"

"You said you were distracted. By what?"

"Oh, just lady trouble. Sheena is moody today. I think it's that time of the month or something," said Caleb laughing it off.

"Ah, I know how that is." Isaiah blatantly lied; he had never had a girlfriend to compare the experience to. The closest thing he had was Casey and when the time came for her to start having mood swings, she would just disappear for a few days or make up some excuse not to hang out with him.

"Yeah." Caleb was uncomfortable with the topic and tried to think of a new subject quickly before it continued. "So, I don't think you and I have ever really talked in detail, but I do know some stuff about you." Isaiah and Caleb both smiled at each other staring for a few seconds.

"Oh yeah, like what?" asked Isaiah curious. Isaiah had never imagined that Caleb paid any attention to him let alone knew anything about him.

"Well," Caleb began feeling like he may be getting ready to take a step into the uncomfortable zone and he wasn't sure how Isaiah would react, but he kept going anyway, "I know you're a smart guy. Knowing that, I don't know why you decided to join the football team. I know you're taking a ton of university prep courses. I don't know how you do it all at the same time and still manage to do well in both." Caleb stared at Isaiah watching for any sign of him being offended but he didn't see anything. Isaiah smiled; his green eyes seemed to be shining under the fluorescent light that hummed above their head. Caleb repositioned himself against the counter and smiled back at him again, Caleb began to feel a deep comfort just being in Isaiah's presence. He still didn't know why but he enjoyed making this connection with him.

"Yeah, this is why I don't come to many of these parties," said Isaiah.

"Many?" Caleb stood up straight and took a sip of his drink. "You mean any!" Isaiah shook his head agreeing with Caleb who was being rather enthusiastic.

"Okay, I'll give you that!" he laughed. Just then a girl walked through the door and walked over to them. She was dressed rather scantily in a low-cut shirt, showing off her cleavage, and a short frilly skirt. It was clear to both of them that she was only there trying to get with one of their teammates, she almost looked like a shorter version of Sheena.

"Hi Caleb," she said. The girl was not very smart, her personality seemed to be close to that of Stephanie and Caleb had in his head summed it up in one word, ditzy. "Awesome party! Thanks for letting me come." Caleb shot Isaiah a glance and then looked at the girl, clearly having no idea who she was.

"Hey, no problem." Caleb was almost unsure as he spoke, not sure what to say. "Happy to have you here." She smiled at both of them then walked over to the fridge and grabbed a couple of bottles from the bottom shelf. Looking at them one last time she giggled and walked out of the kitchen. Isaiah stared at the door for a few seconds then looked at Caleb with a confused look on his face.

"Who was that?"

"Pft. Hell if I know! I guess she's been here before though!" Caleb laughed. Caleb gulped the last of his beer and grabbed another one from the fridge. He was starting to feel better, he wasn't sure if it was the alcohol doing it or if it was the conversation with Isaiah that made him feel this way or if it was a combination of both. "Well, I guess I better go and keep up my appearance."

"Okay. Maybe I'll talk to you later."

"For sure." Caleb turned and walked through the door back into the living room. Isaiah followed closely behind him. Caleb stepped out into the living room and clapped his hands in the air getting the attention of most of the room. The playlist that had been going on had ended because the music was not playing. "Alright biotches, let's get this party started!" Caleb grabbed a remote control off a small end table sitting by the door and the music started to play again but louder than before. The crowd began whooping and hollering and Isaiah shortly followed through the kitchen door. Casey emerged from the crowd and walked up to him while Caleb seemed to disappear into the crowd.

"Thanks for ditching me, asshole," Casey leaned into Isaiah and spoke into his ear over the music. "You could have at least called me."

"Sorry. I just wanted to get here and get it over with. I was nervous about coming." Isaiah crossed his arms as he spoke into her ear. Casey looked at him not believing him.

"Sure," she said sarcastically. Casey figured Isaiah was just trying to get more time around Caleb, she had noticed them both come out of the kitchen. She was sure he was confusing his excitement for nervousness. Casey looked around at the crowd, this was certainly the most people that she had seen at one of these parties. The only people that she even recognized were the guys from the football team. "Wow, there's more here than I've seen in a while. Word travelled fast, I guess." Isaiah nodded his head in agreement then leaned into her again.

"Did you talk to Jonathan? He was asking about you earlier."

"Yeah, I talked to him already. I'm going to his house after the party, whenever that'll be." Isaiah looked at Casey surprised that she would go home with Jonathan just like that.

"I don't know. I have a feeling Caleb isn't about to keep this going all night. Sheena's been a huge bitch lately. He seems really stressed about it but only time will tell, I guess." Isaiah leaned in closer and cupped his hand around his mouth, so she could hear him better. "Seems pretty interested in sparking up a conversation with me though. I don't know what changed." It was true Isaiah didn't realize what was any different in their situation than before.

"Really? Did you get to the part about you joining the team just to get close to him?" Casey smiled widely at Isaiah waiting for a response. The look on Isaiah's face changed to panic obviously worried about who might hear her talking, even though she wasn't lying.

"Not quite and keep your voice down!" Casey looked around at the people standing close to them, most of which were heavily involved in conversations of their own or were dancing. The music was so loud she was sure she could scream at the person standing next to her and they still wouldn't hear her unless they were trying.