Never Been Kissed

Ch.27 ↬ J

Mom smiled at me. "Don't you look dapper, Joshua."

"I don't think people say dapper anymore, Mom," I told her in that usual teenage drawl with the usual teenage attitude.

Dad chuckled. "You driving?"

"Yeah, but I'll be drinking. I'm crashing at Vincent's afterwards. He's not drinking so he's going to drive us."

Mom raised her eyebrows, poised to speak, but I beat her to it.

"I'll make sure he doesn't drink, don't worry, Mom," I told her, touched by her motherly concern though it was a mother's prerogative to worry and instil advice like that. "I'll be back in the morning. And I'll stay safe and everything else you're about to tell me." A smile tugged at my lips.

"Enjoy tonight. You've earned it after the exams," Dad said. "Call us if you need anything, okay?"

"I will. See you in the morning."

"Enjoy!" Mom called out as I was ambling toward the front door, mere seconds before Dad played the movie again.

It had been a stormy few days in Riverside, and today was no exception to that. The rain had been constantly on-off until today where it hadn't seemed to cease entirely. Thunder rumbled occasionally through the sky and lightning struck, but I'd not seen much activity bar the rain for a while now. Due to that, I jogged from my front door to my car, having to examine the rain's damage to my hair in my mirror.

Not too bad. Okay. That was okay. I could deal with that.

The party was being held by a popular senior who also just happened to be our leading quarterback. His parents regularly went out of town and left him housesitting, so what does he do? Like the popular student, he threw kickass parties and invited just about everyone, the house virtually quaking from the vibrating speakers emanating the music and new alcohol stains as well as students hooking up in the multitude of bedrooms.

And I was not left disappointed when I arrived.

Having parked a few blocks way, I definitely did not cherish the usual stroll in the evening light to the party, despite the torrent of rain having calmed temporarily. The sun had been absent all day with gun metal clouds barricading it, casting Riverside darker than it should have been for early summer. Pacing to the senior's house, I kept my gaze low.

Thunder rumbled through the sky. It was quiet, seemingly far off. As I passed two houses, thunder roared through the sky again. It was only minorly louder this time.

I glanced up just in time to witness and almost perfect strike of lightning mar the sky, giving the gunmetal clouds a dark purple hue. It was beautiful, truthfully. Secretly I always adored storms. Though I would never admit to it, I'd watch the lightning and listen to the thunder well into the night when I should usually be asleep.

Vincent was latched to Jenny's hip by the time I entered the extravagantly large house with its plush décor and over the top property portraits adorning the walls. The music pumped so thunderously through the speakers that I could feel the vibration of the beat against my heart and it masked the sound of the thunder. It was never a sensation I particularly liked, and if I had my way, I'd turn the fucking music down. It was some sort of club remix. I didn't know the name of the song.

Waving me over, Vincent tapped Freya on her shoulder and nodded his head in my direction. With her hazy expression—she was distinctly inebriated already—her lips slowly morphed into a grin. Great. She seemed like a clingy drunk. I didn't like clingy drunks.