"You've got a ride home worked out?" Nate's father asked him that night in the car.

"Yeah, my buddy Patrick is coming to get me. He's out at a different party."

"Alright, good," the older Thurston said, nodding to himself. Nate could tell his dad was happy to have him out of the house. The man worried. Too much, maybe. Nate didn't have the heart to tell him this was more to sate his own curiosity than to be a social butterfly. Nate knew he would probably just get a cursory snack, look around the house, then make some lame excuse and call Pat (who was actually just playing WoW at home) to come pick him up. Because the other people just didn't interest him.

"This is the place? I remember this house from when I was a kid," the older man said as they pulled up in front of the house. "Thought they tore it down years ago."

"Thanks, Dad," Nate said, undoing his seatbelt.

"Hold on a sec, son," his father said, before going into what was obviously a prepared speech, probably worked out years ago. "Listen, your mother and I think you're at an age where you know what's wrong and what's right. That said, I want you to make responsible decisions." A slight smile came over his face. "But I also want you to have a good time. You only get to be a kid once. So, uh, don't let your mother know, right?" he said as he slipped a pint bottle of Seagram's Seven whiskey to his son. "This will be our secret," he said with a jocular wink. "Just keep it inside, and be careful about sharing with your friends. Don't get them in trouble with their parents."

"Thanks, Dad," Nate said, a little surprised as he climbed out of the car. "That's, uh, pretty cool of you." Maybe the old man was a little more on the ball than he thought.

"Have a good time," his father called as he pulled away, leaving Nate alone at the curb. He took a glance up at the looming old house, then shook his head and walked up the leaf-strewn walk to the door, the whiskey nestled safely in his hip pocket. It looked like he wasn't the first person there, that girl from class was already waiting at the door. 

"Helen, right?" he asked as he came up behind her. "How you doing?"