atmosphere // jschlatt

[twenty one] silence, fiend!

After half of the group came back from the beach, everyone split off into new groups and hung out in different rooms. Sam, Dave, Travis, Joko, and Amanda all hung out in the TV room, while Ted, Josh, Cooper, and Noah hung out in Carson's room. Altrive, Schlatt, Charlie, and Charlotte hung out in the kitchen chatting. Mason walked around with his camera, trying to get footage for his vlog, but everyone was either too drunk, too high, or too tired to be funny.

Charlotte leaned against the counter next to Charlie, with another full glass of wine in her hand. She swore she'd stop drinking for the night, but one more couldn't hurt.

Schlatt sat on the counter, munching on a box of crackers he found in the cabinet. Altrive and Charlie were blabbering on about a video game he had never played before but tried his best to stay looped in the conversation. 

Mason walked into the kitchen, camera in hand, and walked right up to Schlatt. "Hey Schlatt," he began, putting the camera up in Schlatt's face. "Did I ever tell you I liked 'A Tribute to Minecraft?'" Charlie giggled from the side, making Chuck giggle as well.

Schlatt, already done with Mason's nonsense, stared at the man with a blank expression. "You are so high right now," Schlatt mumbled with a bit of food stuffed in his cheek.

"Have I ever told you I liked 'A Tribute to Minecraft?'" Mason repeated himself.

"No," Schlatt replied in a monotone voice.

"Good," Mason stated flatly then walked away. Schlatt rolled his eyes and hopped off the counter, then left the kitchen to follow Mason. Charlotte, Charlie, and Altrive watched the man as he walked up to Mason, grabbed him by the neck, put the man in a headlock, and gave him a noogie. Mason squealed and dropped his camera onto one of the chairs in the living room into Travis's lap.

"Ooo!" Travis said, then took the camera and draped the strap around his neck. He looked through the camera, and continued the recording and pointed it at everyone in the living room.

Schlatt finally let go of Mason, who complained about his hair, then he rolled his eyes and walked upstairs to join the other boys. Carson walked past Mason and teased him jokingly, earning a fake whimper from Mason, then Carson laughed and followed behind Schlatt.

"Don't you just love these guys," Charlie said to Altrive and Charlotte who stood near him.

Altrive and Charlotte both chuckled. "Sure do, bud," Altrive replied.

"Wouldn't trade them for the world," Charlotte added.

"Awww, now that's sweet," Altrive coed, earning a nudge in his side from Charlotte.

Schlatt, Carson, Ted, Josh, and Noah sat around Carson's bedroom. Schlatt sat on the floor, leaning up against the wall, facing the other boys standing near him. Josh laid in Carson's bed, completely exhausted and ready to go home. Noah sat on the windowsill chatting with Josh, Carson sat on the end of the bed, and Ted sat on the floor leaning against the bed, facing Schlatt.

"Are you serious, dude?" Ted asked the man sitting in front of him.

"Yeah. I'm serious," Schlatt mumbled a reply. His head felt like it was spinning from drinking a whole glass of wine. He was as lightweight as lightweights can get.

"That's heavy," Carson muttered and looked down at the floor.

"Are you gonna tell her?" Ted asked, just above a whisper.

Schlatt took a deep sigh and looked away from the two. What was he to say? He was getting feelings for a woman he just recently met, and he couldn't deny them. "I don't know," Schlatt stated.

The two other boys looked at one another briefly, then back at Schlatt, who stared out the open bedroom door into the hallway.

Schlatt could hear Charlotte yelling Charlie's name from downstairs, followed by the man's cackle. Then he heard a smack of two objects hitting another and a male scream.

Carson looked towards the doorway, confused, then let out a wheeze-filled laugh. "Sounds like someone just died," he said in between giggles.

"I'm gonna go check it out," Ted stated, then got up from the floor and stood up straight. He stretched out his arms, almost touching the ceiling, then walked out the bedroom door. He met Altrive in the hallway, patting the high man on the back, and the other guy went into the room Ted had just occupied.

Ted walked down the flight of stairs and noticed everything was normal in the living room and kitchen. He looked around, confused until his eyes met Amanda's who sat on the couch next to Dave.

"I think someone got smacked by a ping pong pallet," Amanda told Ted, pointing to the doorway leading to the lounge.

"Huh?" Ted asked, but then turned to walk into the game room.

And just as Amanda said, Charlie was sitting on the floor, fake sobbing, as Joko stood above the man menacingly with a ping pong pallet in his hand. Charlotte crouched over, resting her hands on her knees, and let out a loud, hideous cackle.

"What the actual fuck is going on?" Ted asked while chuckling.

Charlotte stood up straight, glanced at the tall man, then began laughing loudly again.

Joko turned his body to look at Ted, then pointed at the man sitting on the floor in a fetal position. "Charlie is cheating!" Joko yelled loudly, catching Ted mildly off-guard.

"How do you cheat at ping pong?" Charlie yelled back.

"Silence, fiend!" Joko turned quickly to Charlie and stuck the pallet close to his face, making Charlie flinch and cower in fear once again.

"Alright, that's enough," Chuck stated after she had calmed down. "Charlie, get up," she demanded. "And Joko, knock it off." Ted looked over at the girl as she spoke. Her hands were placed on her hips, and she looked at the boys with a stone-cold face. Ted couldn't help but agree with some of the things Schlatt had told him about the woman and her striking features.

"Fiiiine," Joko said with a huff, then helped Charlie stand up from the floor. "Well now that Ted is here, wanna do doubles?" Joko spun the pallet in his hand and asked the group.

"Yeah, I'll play," Ted said, then searched for the nearest available pallet.

"Sounds awesome," Charlie stated and searched for one as well.

"But I call dibs on being on Chuck's team," Ted said as he pointed his newfound pallet at the other two boys.

"Awwww man! I don't want to team with him!" Charlie replied and pointed his thumb at Joko standing beside him.

"Too bad, Charlie," Charlotte said. "Maybe it'll teach you two to get along," she suggested.

"Okay, mom," Charlie gave in. Ted and Charlotte simultaneously turned to look at one another, then Ted put his hand up to high five Chuck, which she returned with a smirk.

The four friends began their ping pong game. They laughed and joked, and definitely were not playing the game the way it should.

Although Charlotte was not very good at ping pong, she and Ted miraculously beat Joko and Charlie. The two friends hollered at their victory, making the two boys pout.

Ted grabbed a hold of Charlotte's torso and spun her around, very excited over their victory. Charlotte laughed and held onto Ted tightly as he spun her, then put her back down. They pulled away, and high fived another once again.

"Rematch?" Ted asked Charlie and Joko from the other side of the table.

"You're on."

{word count: 1301}