Love In Design

Chapter 11 - Search

OWEN

Where the hell is the house? It wasn't on any of the four streets I drove past and so to see not in this one either. Usually when I don't have directions, I figure it out from the amount of people walking towards a particular direction, but there are barely people around. Maybe it's on that one across the road, cars are parked even on the corner.

A car leaves and I take the opportunity to park in their spot. Once I turn the motor off, I hear bass thumping so I must be close to the party. My reflection on the mirror says that I could pass for a college student so feeling confident, I leave my car.

The music coming from the giant house becomes deafening once I enter it. Glancing behind me I see the front yard is already littered with plastic cups and a few drunken kids have passed out on the steps. The living space downstairs is crowded and I'm sorry for the foolish parents who are probably out of town while their kid throws a party for what seems to be half of the students in town. My eyes scan the room, maybe I'll get lucky this time. To blend in better, I walk into the kitchen to get me something to drink. I stop in my tracks at the sight of a well-known face... Nathan. Before I can turn around, he sees me and waves at me.

"Hey, Owen! What are you doing here?"

"Just checking the party out. You know, the usual. What are you having there?" I motion with my head to his cup.

"This? Oh, this is just water. I don't drink alcohol, but if you want, I can get you a beer. Just stay away from whatever is in that big jug. Rumors say body fluids were involved," he shudders at the thought.

"Beer is fine," I continue scanning the room and hope the time I'm spending socializing with Nathan won't make me miss my purpose.

"Here you go," he gives me a bottle.

"Thanks. Do you know the people here?" I ask after taking a pull of the cold beer.

"I know a few of the adults hanging around as I grew up in this neighborhood. The rest are just college kids I've never seen before. I rarely come to these parties. They make me feel sort of old, but I needed some distraction. And, oh man, you wouldn't believe the things I saw in the rooms upstairs. You wonder what sort of upbringing these kids had," he smiles and shakes his head.

I feel a twinge of pain at his comment, but then get an idea. "Can we go upstairs to check things out? Mess around with the kids?" I raise my eyebrows playfully.

"Sick man! Come on, let's spook kids doing the naughty."

We slither our way around the people in the room. From what I see, many of the kids didn't even make it upstairs and are short of taking their clothes off during their heavy make out sessions. This continues up the stairs where kids make out in the hallway. Nathan opens the first door and laughs at the kids caught in 'the act' who try to cover themselves with whatever they find. I try to keep up and laugh as well, but truthfully, I don't find it funny at all. My heart races faster with each door we open.

"See? This is what I mean when I wonder about their upbringing. I think this one is barely in college," Nathan opens the door wider for me to see inside.

Pushing Nathan out of the way, I rush to the girl laying naked on the bed, her blonde tangled hair all over her face. Fury runs through my veins when I notice the bruises on her skin. I grab her clothes from the floor and look around for something to cover her. Nathan watches me from the door frame with a puzzled face.

"Stop staring at her, or I will pull your fucking eyes out! Find something to cover her!" I bark at him.

"Dude! What the hell is wrong with you? It's just a girl!" He says, but gets a blanket from a chair and covers her with it.