No matter how many times you begged your parents to let you go to the party one of your classmates was throwing, they wouldn’t budge. They went on about how it wasn’t safe, how they didn’t trust random kids you barely knew, and blah blah blah. No amount of pleading or promises could change their minds.

When you told Natalie, she just rolled her eyes like it was no big deal. Because, of course, Natalie wasn’t the kind of person to let a little thing like “strict parents” ruin her plans. So that’s how you ended up here, on a Friday night, fully dressed up when you were supposed to be asleep, halfway out your bedroom window with Natalie standing below you, hands on your hips, helping you get down.

“I got you, don’t overthink it,” she says softly, her hands steady on your hips.