The One Without Words

❀ chapter fifteen | into the lake ❀

I could've stayed around for longer, thrown the punches my fists ached for, kicked a ballsack or two, but Jack, who looked on the verge of vomiting, grabbed my arm. And then he—we—made a run for it. We crashed against party-goers, and they screeched as they spilled their drinks. Jack kept stumbling, about to fall face-first into Eli's parents' fancy leather couch, but I caught him just in time.

"Please don't tell me you're drunk right now," I said. But there were bigger problems to worry about: Seth and the others rapidly advancing. The crowd of people piled into Eli's living room had stopped dancing, stopped talking, and stopped drinking to watch. Eli's usual Mexican rock blasting served as the soundtrack to just us: me, Jack, the frat boy squad, and Eli struggling to catch up, yelling in vain as he tried to stop them.

I swung open the front door. Fresh air hit my face. Droplets of rain fell in a light mist, slightly blurring the view of the lake. Jack's hand squeezed mine so tight it started pulsing.

And then the door slammed open again. Seth, Mophead, and Douchebag stood in front of us. Jack stumbled backward, falling on his butt against the small dock below us, and since he was squeezing my hand in a serious death grip, I inevitably fell with him.

"Entschuldigung," Jack muttered.

Before the others could open their mouths to insult us, could raise their arms to pick us up and throw us in the lake—or worse—Eli pushed through them.

"Go," he said to me, frantic. "Get on the boat."

"What?" I stammered, glancing at the small boat floating nearby. "Isn't that your parents'?"

Eli ran to undo the rope tying it to the dock. "Just do it."

It was either hopping on or running away. And given how I could barely complete a mile in fifteen minutes, the boat was looking a lot more appealing right about now.

Jack didn't need to be told twice. He launched himself onto the deck, falling flat on his face. The guys howled in laughter. When I hopped on, I nearly fell into the water myself as it rocked violently, then steadied, then slowly floated away from shore.

"Look at them escape!" Mophead laughed, holding up his phone. "Man, this is gold content right here."

"Gonna put it on your failed vlog channel?" Douchebag mocked, and Mophead elbowed him in the ribs.

"Party's over," Eli said firmly. "Get out of here. I'd be surprised if the neighbors didn't call the police by now." Then, as if collapsing under the weight of his own frustration, he furled his hands in Seth's shirt and shoved him toward the dock. "And you. I'm so fucking tired of you using me."

Seth put up his arms in surrender. "It was just a joke."

"Why are you such a liar?"

"I'm... sorry."

"No," Eli snapped. "I don't want your half-assed apologies. You don't care. You don't care about anything but your stupid games. All that to prove yourself, yeah?"

"Eli..."

"Don't talk to me. I don't want you here."

"Eli, c'mon, bro—"

"Don't call me that. Ever. You chose them."

"Now you're acting like it's a competition?"

Eli pointed at Douchebag and Mophead, who had finally put away their phones. "They made it one."

Their voices faded as the boat floated away, but I still faintly heard Douchebag say, "Whatever. We're ditching this place. You got any other ideas?"

"I definitely do," Mophead said. "Seth, you coming?"

Seth, soaked in the light rain, torn in two directions. His head turned to Eli, then back to Mophead and Douchebag, then back to Eli. 

"Go," Eli said loudly. "I have to get everyone out of here before this gets worse."

Party goers were already fleeing the scene. Murky water in the night, darkness pierced by the lights along the shore. Houses in the hill on the other side of the lake, maybe a mile away from here. The distant boom of Eli's music. And Eli himself, watching the boat like a lost puppy in the icy drizzle of rain. I waved my arms and called out, "Now what?" but we had already floated too far away.

"I don't feel very good," Jack suddenly mumbled. The sound of his voice, slow and slurred, thick with an accent I'd never heard before, pulled me back to the present moment, where I only knew three things:

One: Jack talked when he was drunk.

Two: I had never been on a boat, let alone knew how to operate one, and here we were floating aimlessly in the middle of Lake Washington.

And three: It was going to be a long, long night.

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A/N: What did you think about this chapter? I have to say I'm proud of Romy and Eli for finally standing up for Jack. Do you think Seth will leave with his friends or stay and make it up to Eli? Song for this chapter is "Friends" by Chase Atlantic.  

♫ All of your friends have been here for too long
They must be waiting for you to move on
Girl, I'm not with it, I'm way too far gone
I'm not ready, eyes heavy now ♫