Choose a starting point for your story with Van

34,395 words

Before It All Changes

You find yourself at a late-night gas station with three people who matter more to you than you've probably ever told them—Stacey with her infectious energy and faded band tees, Cass with her leather jacket and guarded heart, and Van with his mischievous grin and quiet loyalty. The fluorescent lights cast everything in a sickly green glow as you all wander the aisles, the kind of aimless wandering that only happens when you're trying to stretch out time that's already running out. It's one of those nights where a simple errand becomes a memory, where every joke and every quiet moment feels weighted with the knowledge that come September, these four won't be together like this anymore. The store is nearly empty except for a tired cashier and the four of you, and there's an electricity in the air—something unspoken, something about this being the last time.

When leaving town means leaving them behind

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Last Night, Hidden Away

On the night before college scatters you all in different directions, you wake up in an unfamiliar room with no clear memory of how you got here. The person who brought you—someone with a reason you don't yet understand—made one request: don't panic. Then Van shows up with a guilty expression, a skateboard under his arm, and an explanation that doesn't quite make sense. He's supposed to keep you calm, keep you here, keep the secret. But watching him wrestle with that responsibility, you start to suspect he's questioning whether he should have agreed to any of this.

He promised not to tell. Now he's wondering if he should have.

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Rooftop Goodbye

It's the last night before you and your best friends scatter to different colleges, different cities, different lives. Van has orchestrated something special—a rooftop adventure that's reckless and perfect and exactly what you needed without knowing it. He's picked the lock on the old water tower, scaled a fence that probably shouldn't be scaled, and somehow acquired snacks from a 24-hour convenience store using charm and a fake ID. As the two of you sit overlooking the sleeping suburb that raised you, with the mixtape he made specifically for tonight playing softly between you, the weight of impending goodbye hangs in the air alongside the stars. This is what Van does best: he makes the ordinary moments feel legendary.

When the best night has a countdown timer.

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Headlights and Honesty

You've snuck away from the group with Van, finding yourselves parked in an empty lot at the edge of town—the kind of place you've both retreated to a hundred times before. But tonight feels different. The easy banter you've relied on all evening keeps fracturing, and you're starting to realize he's been performing the whole time. When he finally stops grinning and turns to face you, there's something sharp and wounded in his eyes. He's about to confront you with something he's been holding back, and the version of Van you're about to encounter isn't the charming rebel everyone knows—it's the real one underneath.

When the last night stops being funny.