Devil Town

Party-Crasher

     Devil Town by Robin Skinner, Cavetown.
A backstory.

  It was approximately 4 AM in the morning. Skye woke up. She was sweating terribly as if she just had a nightmare. Skye was neither in hers nor in Megan's house. Breathing heavily, she didn't have a single clue about what happened yesterday.

                                          ****
It was one of those summer nights when teens wanted to party all night and forget themselves, as well all their big and small worries.
Megan was sitting for hours in front of the mirror, looking and smiling at herself. Will was sitting on her bed, he was somewhat between bored and worried.
- Isn't it wonderful?
- Sure, whatever.
- Aren't I wonderful?
Will gave her an annoyed look.
- Always.
Megan laughed - I sure am.
Will stood up.
- I'm just concerned. What's all this? We weren't partying as often, before...You know.
- Oh, don't worry. I'm not trying to fill in an emptiness inside of me. And I'm not afraid this is our last night-She pretentiously looked at her own reflection- It's quite the other way around. I'm twice as fearless now.
- I really want to believe you.
- Look at us. Living our best lives, owning this big, huge house! Wearing clothes that cost the while fortune of these bats who only look for another chance to get drunk.
- I get it, right. You're still the Megan I know. I just don't want you to misuse this opportunity. You don't want me to call your father, do you?
Megan laughed very suddenly.
- Will, I don't even know what I want anymore - Will looked at her sympathetically.
They shared a look and both smiled.
- Yeah. You're right. I do want to party.
                                             ****
  It was getting dark and so more people were walking into Megan's house. The girl was rich enough to afford to keep up the desired status of a "cool kid".She could throw a party anytime she wanted. Megan lived alone, her father allowed her a taste of independence while she was in the last year of high school.
   This summer night was warm with a mild breeze. Most of the guests came underdressed, some of them were bringing their own drinks.
- Sup, Will.
- Oh, hey Chase. How's it going?-Will's the tone was relaxed and friendly, as usual.
- Fine, thanks. Hey, um...Could we talk over there, man? I need to ask you something.
- What...What is it?-Will was not nervous, but he knew where this dialogue was going if no one else could hear it.
- I brought some weed. Would that be ok? Just so we're cool.
- Just weed?
- Well, mostly, yes...
- What else? Chase, tell me or you're out.
- Just Some happy pills. You know, for myself.
- My God, man. I don't know.
- I should just ask Megan, then.
- Why? She'll agree, anyway. Just try not to poison any kids here, I beg you.
- You got it, W. You're the best.
  Will took a deep breath as Chase walked away."For fuck's sake..".He wondered if this was a teen party or more of a brothel with drugs now.
                                            ****
- Oh, hello there, darling.Ha-ha,true.
  Megan was greeting everyone who would walk into her door. She looked so ecstatic as if she was drunk already. It was mostly just a show, though.
- Oh, hey Chase!Right, this way. Thanks for the bottles!
   She was laughing and talking left and right until she saw who showed up at her front door.
- Well, I'll be damned! Skye!
It's not hard to tell that Skye and Megan were not exactly supposed to know each other. Skye was shy and not very outgoing, so it was a bit new to her to be friends with someone like Megan. However, this was far not the first time they met.
  They first acquainted when Dylan and Skye ran away from home. Guys didn't know where to stay, but luckily, they met Megan. Dylan knew her from when they were kids since his grandmother used to live here. He was also standing at the door, but Megan was way more shocked to see Skye.
- I can't even tell how happy I am you are here.
- Dylan, hey.
- Hot damn party, Meg.
- Can't argue with that. You guys deserve to finally have a proper party.
- I like to hear that.
- Enjoy yourselves. Just don't get too drunk.
- I'll keep that in mind.
- Oh, and if you see Will, tell him to keep an eye on everything.
- Will do.
Dylan and Skye went to the living room, where the main party place was taking place. It went fully dark by now and some of the first stars started to show up on a summer sky. The heat of the party only started to go on. Some people were drinking, somewhere playing truth or dare, somewhere making out in the bathroom. There were even people who were sitting outside on their cars while drinking. Most of them didn't get invited.
Will worried about Chase. He wasn't like this before and Will thought that it's a bad influence from Andrew. He just couldn't trust that guy. Meanwhile, Chase and Andrew were fully going on weed in the bathroom.
     - So, are you going to talk to Gabriella?
Dylan knew Skye for a while already, but he still couldn't get used to her company. They were polar opposites, but there still was something that always kept them together. It was the first or the second time they went to Megan's party together. Usually Dylan went alone and he was getting wasted and going crazy. But right now he was with Skye, and he didn't even know what to ask her. He brought up Gabriella, even though he didn't like her. She always acted cool, and in his opinion she was trying way too hard.
- I'm not wally in the mood to...
Dylan was clearly showing he's not interested in this conversation. He wanted to talk with Skye, but he didn't come here to just chat.
- Why not?
Skye started to stutter. She quickly found an excuse.
- Well, I don't...I...She seems busy, so...
- I thought you guys were dating.
- What!?-Skye was very embarrassed because of this. She didn't like discussing her private life - We Just kissed, that's all.
- Well someone's a player.
  Dylan's eye caught a bottle that was standing on the table. He completely forgot about his promise to Megan. Dylan took a sip from the bottle and went up to some teens that were sitting on the couch. Skye wondered how he could know each and every one of them. Dylan left her alone, which wasn't a surprise, but she still felt alone.
There were a lot of plastic cups filled with alcohol on the coffee table. They all were a different color. Pink meant "taken", green meant "single" and blue meant "it's complicated". Megan loved this idea, and she put a sticker below the cups, where each color was explained. Skye sighed. She took a blue one. She stood there for a while, sipping wine from her cup. Skye noticed that Gabriella was there, too. She also had a blue cup. Skye immediately tried to avoid her. She was sure that in Gabriella's eyes she was annoying and nervous, if not worse.
   It began to get seriously hot in the room, everyone was busy with something. A couple was making out on the couch in front of everyone. Some guy got drunk and started to flirt with two girls at the same time. A group of friends started to dance, and everyone was having fun. Skye felt like she didn't belong here. She was standing in the corner near a staircase. Skye felt something bad was about to happen, but she had no idea what. To avoid any trouble, she casually grabbed a bottle of sparkly wine and headed upstairs.
While going upstairs, she heard Megan screaming at someone for breaking something. It's unpleasant to get a big mess in return for throwing a big party, but it was the whole point of parties in general. Megan was probably worried about her dad being mad. He sent people to check on the house once in a while.
It was so much quieter upstairs. Skye walked around the corridor and found an empty room. It was big, clean and expensive. Skye instantly recognized it was Megan's. In the middle of the room, there was a big studio mirror with lights. Skye looked in it. She changed so much in just a few weeks, as well as her life. Skye looked around.
There was a huge wardrobe, a big and fluffy canopy bed, and an expensive computer. There was also costly colorful lightning everywhere.
Skye dropped on Megan's bed. She looked up on the wall. There were a lot of pictures. Mostly pictures of nature and stuff, but there was also a photo with Kelly and a few more photos with her and Will. Skye thought it was very sweet. Maybe Megan wasn't as tough and cool as she shows herself, after all.
Skye got lost in thought again and so she got scared when someone suddenly opened the door. It was William.
- Will? what are you doing here?
- Same question here.
Skye just now realized he has more right to be here than her. She should be downstairs right now.
- Oh, I just...
- That's fine, don't worry. I get it.- He sat down next to her- Partying isn't always fun.
- It's... It's not that.
- Oh...- Will got more serious- You miss home?
Skye didn't answer at first.
- Sorry for the question...
- No,..No, I don't, if being honest.
- Right, well, that's good. I guess it's healthy to change surroundings sometimes.
- You can't even imagine.
Will scoffed.
- Hey, could you...Not tell Megan I was here...?
- Relax, she won't be mad. She would be angrier with me, I always hang out here without her consent.
- He-he, Ok.
They were sitting in silence for a while. Skye wanted to ask something about Megan but didn't find the right words.
- Hey, uh... I didn't want to ask, but Dylan seems even more distant. Did something happen?
Skye started to recall previous events connected to him. She didn't think of anything that could get him upset.
- I can't remember anything that could be serious enough. I don't think that anything happened to him, at all. He probably tries to act more sincere, he always says he wants to change.
- I don't know. Maybe he is worried about running away? I mean...His father.
- I doubt it. Dylan barely ever worries about something. He just does whatever he wants.
- Don't be so biased. If he wants to change, that already means something.
- I guess. But it still looks like just a window's dressing.
- Give him a chance.
After a few seconds, Will stood up.
- Hey, I still wanna get drunk. You should come, too.
- Oh, I just remembered! Megan told us to ask you to keep an eye on everything.
- Damnit! Alright, I'm going downstairs.
- Sorry, I just thought Dylan already told you.
- No, it's not you. I'm angry at Megan. She should've told me herself. Alright, I should check on Chase...See you downstairs.
Will walked out of the room right after. Skye was still sitting on Megan's bed for a moment. Skye thought about Megan and then Dylan, and that maybe they do have something in common with her after all.
Skye eventually left the room and was about to go downstairs, as someone decided to catcall her.
- Hey, beautiful! Where you goin'?
Skye became frustrated and wanted to leave even faster. But when she was going past the group of the same guys, one of them grabbed her by her arm.
- Relax, I'm not biting- a grin appeared on his face. Skye thought he was disgusting.- Here, chill with us.
- Hey... You want to take candy, pretty? Come on, daddy will share. I bet it's not your first one, anyway.
Skye never took drugs before. At first, she was madly furious, but he didn't even let her come to her senses. Somewhere, deep down inside, she knew she wanted to.
****