The High 5

Chapter 6: Advent Misfits Part 2

Along with the Red Velvet Rum, four of the Five had brought with them to their private party upstairs: 27 cups of various pudding flavors, 12 mini sandwiches of assorted ingredients, 4 cans of fruit punch, 4 bottles of water, 4 blue solo cups, and a bag of large marshmallows.

Sun, Rion and Mace all sat in bean bag chairs of different colors while they played a video game on a silver flat screen TV. Aivie sat in the space of a bay window that had a purple cushion, and she gazed at the illuminated night sky -- there was a full moon out tonight.

The boys were playing a game where it was one versus the other in a test of pure strength and no weapons. Whoever the loser was in each round, they would have to dip a marshmallow into their cup of Red Velvet Rum, and eat it in one go. Rion hadn't eaten any rum coated marshmallows, Mace had eaten two, and Sun had eaten three.

Aivie didn't feel like playing any video games. She felt like interrogating the red-haired stranger, or Kite, or the mysterious entity in space, or anyone who could give her answers really. And she would do some interrogating but her instincts -- something she rarely ever felt the presence of -- were warning her that it wouldn't be such a good idea. So instead, she took turns sipping from her cup of rum, and then from a water bottle.

She hadn't opened her can of fruit punch in over 30 minutes, so Sun came over and asked if he could have it. Ingesting alcohol (no matter how much the amount) always made him quite thirsty, making him crave any cool or sweet beverage, causing urgent needs to go to the washroom.

And so, 15 minutes had passed after finishing his second can of fruit punch, and he had a desperate need to relieve himself. He left Rion and Mace to their turn in the game, and Aivie to her devices at the bay window, and decided he would not be drinking again for the night.

Because Sun had been to the Ceroz home on more than one occasion before, he knew precisely where to find all of the bathrooms. He journeyed past a silk carpeted intersection, all the way to the other end of the hall.

The bathroom door was wide open, and just as he was about to step in, he saw Cassandra walking a straight path through the intersection. He waved at her and called out her name, but she hadn't noticed him. There was something cupped in her hands, something stealing all of her attention. Sun guessed that it might be drugs, and for a second he contemplated going to convince her to be sober for just a night, but he knew she would be hard to sway her. She hadn't lifted her head once as she disappeared into the upper hall.

Sun sighed, and returned to his thoughts of his bursting bladder. He made it one step into the washroom, when the door of the room opposite of it flew open. He couldn't bring himself to turn around as he heard the voice that emerged from the room.

"Fancy meeting you here, Sunshine," Bel said.

Sun went still. When he was 4 years old, he saw a bee for the first time. Serena had told him that if he stayed still, the bee would go away, and it did. When he was 15, he had asked her if staying still could work in other situations. Serena's answer had been good enough for him: 'I believe so'.

Bel didn't seem to be buying his performance. "Mmm, it must be something like fate that we're crossing paths again. You know, I hardly ever see you away from your little crew. You'd definitely shine brighter solo, Sunshine."

Sun tried to ignore her. Serena had told him when he was 14 to ignore people who threw insults at him, because they weren't any different than children who threw rocks at animals.

"Come on, Sunshine. Here I am, taking time from my pleasurable activities to talk to you, and you won't even give me the time of day." She walked up to him, with no shoes on so Sun didn't hear her move, and she placed a hand on his shoulder.