Nate realized his generosity had cost him half the pint of whiskey in less than a minute. He sighed, carefully replaced the lid, and slipped it back into his pocket. "Yeah, I'm Nate," he replied distractedly, looking around the room. He waved to the guy in the corner- Isaac, was it?- motioning for him to come on over. Might as well be friendly.

"I think this might really be all there is to it, guys," he said quietly. "I don't want to sound mean, but I'm not sure Cara has that much imagination." He sighed, gestured for the vodka. "Let me get a hit of that, then we're even." For this moment, at least, this one shining moment, Nate was one of the cool kids. He had always wondered what it felt like. Might as well enjoy it.

"Does anyone really know anything about her? Like, anything at all? Where she's from, what she does for fun, shoe size, anything?"