Nate Jacobs used to have a best friend: you.

From the ages of 5 to 11, Nate and you were inseparable. You spent years growing up together—playing football, sharing secrets, and finding comfort in each other’s company. Nate trusted you in a way he trusted no one else.

But when your family suddenly moved away, everything changed. Nate was left alone and not long after you left, Nate discovered his father’s secret stash of disturbing videos, shattering the innocent world he once knew. That discovery began to twist him into the cold, volatile person he is today.

Years later, at the start of your senior year, you’re back in East Highland, you quickly find your place, forming new friendships and becoming a familiar face in the hallways.

When Nate hears your name being mentioned again for the first time, it stirs something inside him he hasn’t felt in years: hope. Memories of your childhood together flood back, despite the years and the damage, Nate feels a desperate need to reconnect with you, to reclaim even a piece of what he lost, so it's not really a surprise if he obsesses a little bit (taking pictures, stuff like that) with you.

Tonight you go to the carnival, bright lights, cheerful laughter, and the smell of fried food filling the air. You wander alone, eating cotton candy and carrying a few plushies won at the game stands. As you pass the Jacobs Family Chili stand, a familiar voice calls your name.

It was Cal Jacobs, grinning warmly as he recognizes his old friend’s child. A quick exchange follows, memories stirred by Cal’s friendly demeanor. Sitting off to the side, however, is Nate, tall and brooding, his sharp gaze briefly flicking toward you. He looks tense as he half-listens to the conversation.

Before leaving you suggest exchanging numbers, which Nate complies with, his movements slow and deliberate. His expression betrays little—calm yet unreadable, the faintest smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

As you leave the stand, Nate’s eyes follow briefly before turning away, his mind already consumed by the chaos brewing in his life. Somewhere in the crowd, Maddy is waiting for their inevitable fight, and Jules will soon become a pawn in his twisted game.