Simplicity Of The Game

Chapter 16-Natalia

   Shit, where was she? Natalia whirled around to face a guy who was getting too close. She noticed his bloodshot eyes and sighed. He was too wasted to even be aware of who he was touching. She pushed him away from her and he wobbled away, falling flat on his ass. Some people around her noticed and laughed at him, others just rolled their eyes.

   The music was too loud.

   That was Natalia's first impression of the party as she and Sara waded through the throngs of sweaty half naked people toward the long tables at the back of the room designated for snacks. She wasn't sure where the music was coming from per say but the beats worked their way through the floor, up her legs and into her heart, making her heady and unbalanced.  

    She glanced at Sara, who was already swaying to the music, a small smile on her face. She was sure that was the liquor, the girl could barely smile on a regular day after talking with James. She shook her head. She didn't want to think about it, it was Sara's problem to solve unless she asked her opinion and her stressing about it would do neither of them any good.

   Sara bumped her with her hip to draw her attention. "Lets go dance!" She yelled above the music.

   Natalia shook her head with a smile. "You go ahead! Ill come later." She really shouldn't have come, the place was absolutely nothing like what pleased her. She'd come to try and do something different and to make sure Sara didn't go missing because of some creepy football player. Wasn't working out so great. 

   Natalia picked up a red plastic cup from the table and filled it with beer from the keg, sipping as she moved to stand to the side of the room. She glanced over the crowd, stopping on Sara dancing with some guy before continuing on around the room. What was she gonna do here for the next couple of hours?

   Her eyes flicked around the room, taking in the various faces. It wasn't as if she knew anyone, she'd only been here what, a week? So it was more for observation than anything. She leaned back on the snack table and nursed the red cup of liquid. It would be her only one, with Sara already half tipsy and no one else to watch her back.

   "Not exactly your scene?"

   Natalia jumped, turning to see Raleigh. Her voice had been extremely close to her ear, and she wasn't sure how she had gotten so close to her without her knowing.

  "Ah, yeah." She could praise herself for her enormous vocabulary. She tried again. "I'm not really one for large crowds, nor am I very good at dancing." Raleigh, on the other hand, looked as if she lived and breathed these parties, with golden hair braided and a tight little black dress that had people staring as they flowed through the party.

   It made Natalia want to shrink away. 

   Raleigh laughed, a sound she could barely hear over the party. "You learn to get used to things like this." She said, waving her hand gracefully at the people. "Give yourself time."

   Natalia nodded. "Shouldn't you be dancing?" She asked. It was a bit ironic to ask, but she had to anyways. She was sure the girl did fine on the dance floor.

   Raleigh tilted her head, as if considering her for a second. "You're right." She said finally, "We should be dancing." With that she grabbed Natalia's wrist and dragged her out to the floor. Now Natalia was certain she had said nothing of dancing herself, and that Raleigh had heard her say she couldn't dance.

   And why the hell was this small woman so strong?

   Raleigh finally picked a spot for them to dance and started moving. Natalia moved awkwardly with her, nerves making her chest tight.

  No one is going to do anything to you. She told herself furiously, Calm down. Where was Sara when she needed her? 

    Raleigh put her hands on Natalia's hips, moving them how she wanted. Her eyes said that this was the way to dance, and so Natalia followed her. The panic ebbed away, and laughter replaced it as she twirled to the music. It wasn't so bad.

   "There you go!" Raleigh laughed along with her."You've got it!"

    She wasn't sure how long she stood there dancing with Raleigh, but eventually she knew she had to find Sara and make sure she was doing alright.

   "You want me to come help you look for her?" Raleigh asked, tilting her head to the side so that she was close to Natalia's ear. Natalia considered for a moment, then shook her head.

   "No it's alright." She assured her with a smile. "Thank you for dancing with me." Raleigh grinned. "One day we should do something else fun." She said, before going back to dancing.

   Natalia frowned as she started making her way through the bodies. What did she mean? What else could they do that was fun that they both liked? She highly doubted Raleigh was into the same things she was, the whole reading manga thing already seemed a little far fetched.

   It was gross maneuvering through the disgusting amounts of human bodies that pressed in all around her. She more than once had to slap away the hands of a drunk male who tried to drag her into a grinding orgy. She bit her lip, vaguely considering standing on the outside of the crowd to try and let Sara find her but dismissed it. She wouldn't be able to in her state and some guy would most likely try to take her home.

    After a little more wading Natalia glimpsed Sara dancing with some nerdy looking guy who was more than a little handsy. She strode over, mouth already set in a scowl, and opened her mouth to call Sara.

   "Cops!"

   Now that was most certainly not what she meant to say. She turned towards the door where people started taking up the cry, moving to the side and trying to get out of the room as a group of men rushed into the room.

   Fuck. A police raid? Seriously?

   Natalia stamped down flaring panic as her body went cold. She had to get out of here. She couldn't be caught, they would call her parents and then everything would spiral straight to hell. She looked rapidly, recognizing that if she tried to leave through the opening she would be caught. Her eyes stopped on a closet door nearly hidden by the tables.

   "Red." She snarled, grabbing the confused looking Sara by the hand and dragging her back as fast as she could. She stumbled and grunted as people in their frenzy bumped into her and nearly sent her flying. Pulling the table away from the door and opening it just enough to fit through, she shoved Sara inside.

   Following her, she made sure to move the table back before shutting it behind her. Hopefully, the police would figure no one stupid enough to hide there. She glanced at Sara.

    "I will not be doing this again." She informed her tiredly, before turning around and leaning on the door. 

   She froze as her eyes met two more pairs.

   "Fuck. Not you." She swore.

    This night was going so well.