Like Gods

[13] partytime

The loud music shouldn't have surprised him as he, too, entered. Nevertheless, the blaring sound coming from the living room startled him. He walked farther into the house, past a hoard of footballers. They stared after him, some looking shocked and some grinning. He frowned, not understanding what the gazes were about.

"Did you see those glances?" Dylan asked Felicia as he'd caught up with her.

"Yeah, what was that about-...I think I know what it was about." Dylan followed her eyes across the room, his own finally settling on a familiar head. 

Chris was wearing his usual leather jacket, his back turned toward Dylan. He had a pair of devil's horns on the top of his head, and from under his jacket, Dylan could see a slip of a red shirt. Chris turned around, his eyes instantly connecting with Dylan's.

Dylan stared back, his heart making an unusual flutter. If it was the base or the intense staring contest, he wasn't sure. Chris's face broke out into a smirk.

Felicia let out a short laugh. "You're matching! How cute," she moved toward the kitchen, probably to get something to drink. "He's the devil, you're an angel, a forbidden friendship!" 

Dylan snorted a laugh as he tore his eyes away from Chris's, only to find that Felicia had already disappeared behind the mass of people. For a second, he contemplated following her, but he soon decided that she would probably find her way back in a while. 

A buzzing in his pocket brought Dylan out of his head. He took his phone out, looking at the screen and answering.

"Hey," Landon's voice sounded in his ear as he placed the phone against his ear, "are you there already?" 

"Yeah, Dylan shifted his feet, "where are you?"

"On my way."

"And the others?" 

"With me in the car," Landon said, and Dylan could hear the voices of the rest of the group. "Oh, we're here now, I can see your car. See ya."

"Cool," Dylan hung up the call, placing the phone back in his pocket. A tap on his shoulder made him turn around to find Felicia standing with a cup in each hand. She reached out one of them, handing him the cup.

"It's juice," she assured and he smiled. 

A few moments later, a hand landed on his shoulder and he swiveled around to find Landon, Shawn, and Jake standing behind him. Cole hadn't been able to get out of his commitment to go to the Big Apple, so it would only be the four of them.

"I take it Felicia picked your costume?" Landon laughed, giving Dylan a bro-hug and then moving toward the girl in question.

"Yeah," Dylan grinned, hugging the rest of the group.

"Angel, huh?" Shawn inspected the outfit before breaking out in a huge smile and turning to Felicia. "It fits him." 

"I know," Felicia smiled smugly, taking a sip of her drink. Dylan took a moment to look at his friends' costumes, too. Landon was clad in a basic ref tee and shorts, clearly not putting any effort into his costume, not that Dylan had either. Shawn had picked a little more creative option and gone for a pirate, and Jake was... himself.

Dylan followed the soccer team toward the kitchen when they were going to get drinks, but had once again lost Felicia in the crowd.

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At about twelve, the inevitable finally happened. As Dylan moved from the living room, toward the kitchen, a girl that he recognized as Jenny from the cheer-squad stumbled into him.