✨assassins and parties✨

•Chapter 17•

"THAT ASSHOLE! HE TRIED RAPING MY OWN DAUGHTER! LET ME GO I WANT TO TEAR HIS LIMBS OFF HIS BODY" Kwnna yelled, flailing around, trying to get out of Henry's firm grip. We were currently sitting in the living room, talking about what happened in Jake's house. I apologized to Luke for slapping him, since I felt way too culpable not to do so.
"PEACE AND QUIET! PEACE AND QUIET" Emily tried making herself audible enough for Kwnna to hear, since she was absorbed in getting her anger off her chest. Maria went up to her and flicked her forehead.
"I'm fine! I'm alive, see? I was saved and I'm completely fine, so please stop yelling" she said, sighing and sitting down on the fluffy couch, stuffing her mouth with popcorn. Henry slowly let go of Kwnna and she inhaled and exhaled heavily. After a moment of silence, she seemed rather calm and collected. Thank goodness.
"We should workout. It'd help us reduce our stress and salve our anger and anxiety. What do you think?" I suggested.
"I'll come" Mike said. Wow. How bolt of the blue.
"Anyone else?" I asked. Mary, Jennie, Luke, Henry and Maria sat up, nodding their heads in treaty. Emily's house had a basement gym established. It was equipped with a variety of modern gym apparatus. The manifold fitness accouterments were considerably mind-boggling. I connected my dated, broken screened phone to the speaker system Emily's home ownership had. Loud music was blasting through the speakers attached into the ceiling, being invisible. The air-conditioners were automatically turned on the moment our old and rusty shoes, which had gone to many journeys, touched the cement floor, covered finely by a thin layer of special red fabric. Gym mats were situated on the far right corner, next to the weights and dumbbells, hidden by the treadmills. This place could be considered paradise by someone, who loved working out. The combination of the chilly air gently caressing my exposed ankle skin and the high in volume background music, sparked a sense of enthusiasm in me. We had a copacetic and brilliant time trying to enhance our figures' shape by doing vigorous exercise, our adrenaline rushing through our brains.
At one point we were all laughing our heads off because Henry and Luke were convinced that, doing over three hundred crunches would be cushy and effortless. Well, let's just say that they looked like cockroaches, which were fighting to stay alive after being sprayed with insect repellent. It was a hilarious sight. I'm pretty sure that my abdomen was more firmed-up by all the laughter rather than the exercise I did. Two hours or so passed and we were done for the day. I felt exhausted and my muscles were sore. I was pretty sure that I'd feel stiff the next day.
"Y'all should go take a shower" Jane said. As if it wasn't obvious already.
"And after that wear your swimsuits. We're going swimming at my household's indoor pool" Emily said, beaming with happiness. I went to my room and took a leavening shower. After wearing our beachwear and flip flops, we followed after Emily to the underground, indoor pool. It was quite big, loungers encircling it. There was a artificial "beach" bar nearby the pool, where Emily would prepare beverages for us. There were fake palm trees behind the chaises and the tiles had the color of sand. Led lights were hanging from the ceiling, blinking in different colors. Emily dimmed the big lights, established in the ceiling, leaving the led lights to brighten the room. The pool's lights slightly turned on too. Emily then turned on the speakers and put on a playlist with a diversity of songs from various music genres.
"PARTYY" Alex shouted, falling face first into the pool, splashing us all with its surprisingly warm water. The rest of us didn't waste a second and joined Alex into the pool, diving in, splashing each other with its crystal water, having competitions to see who would hold their breaths for a longer time. We were feeling as if we were living our best lives. Nothing mattered at that moment. The only thing that did matter was that we were forming a stronger bond and making new memories.
The bright flash of the recently bought, brand-new Polaroid Matina had used to capture herself and everyone else blinded all of us. Matina was excitedly waiting for the picture to come out as the rest of us were blinking rapidly.
"Oh look the picture came out!" Matina said, picking up the square item and showing it to us. It showed the girls smiling cheekily with their eyes squinted shut, while the boys had their lips pursued and making weird grimaces. Our laughter echoed through the room, as it slowly died down. We were now all relaxing and telling jokes.
"My turn!" Kwnna said. She cleared her throat.
"What do you call a magical dog? A labracadabrador" she said, hysterical laughter coming from the same person, following the joke. I slapped a hand on my forehead and slightly giggled.
"Why don't we drench off and go watch a movie? We could make some food too. I'm starving" Flora said. We all agreed. I honestly hadn't noticed my stomach purring until food was mentioned. We grabbed our things and went straight to our rooms, taking showers or baths, wearing our pajamas and coming down the stairs, our presence greeting the living room. Mike and I were looking for a movie to watch. Kwnna and Henry were in the kitchen along with Anna,Jane and Flora, having a small food fight and flirting here and there. Alex and Matina were sitting on the couch shamelessly flirting, Alex whispering sweet nothings in the said girl's ear. Mary and Jennie were also sitting on the couch, but they were braiding each other's hair. Emily sat on the armchair, looking weirded out.
"What's wrong?" I asked her. She looked at me.
"Luke said that he has something for me and told me to wait for him here" she explained. I had a weird and bizarre foreboding about this. Luke suddenly came down the stairs, giving Emily a rose.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, you—" he started reading his far less than romantic and cheesy poem, when Kwnna interrupted him.
"VIOLETS ARE NOT BLUE! THEY ARE PURPLE! GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!" she yelled, coming out of the kitchen and then entering it again, acting as if nothing happened. Luke's expression was priceless. His poker face had made Mike and I die of laughter. Mary and Jennie weren't paying attention to what was happening around them, being lost in their own little world. Alex and Matina were trying so hard not to laugh, while Henry,Flora,Anna and Jane were dying of laughter along with Mike and I.
"I'm done. Keep the flower" he said, leaving for his room. The food was finally ready and the movie had been picked. We had planned on watching a horror movie, which proved to be more boring than scary.
"Let's play truth or dare!" Mike said, gorging with the food he had been offered. We played a few rounds boringly, nothing extreme happening, when Maria dared Henry to do something rather embarrassing.
"Henry, I dare you to sit on Luke's lap and act as if he's your boyfriend" she said. I audibly gasped, slapping a hand over my mouth and stupidly laughing my head off, the other team members doing the exact same thing. Henry had a blank expression on his face as he got up and placed himself on Luke's lap. Luke on the other hand was going along with it grabbing his waist and such. It was hilarious to watch. Team F suddenly entered the house, interrupting our game session.
"Finally!" Henry said, abruptly getting off Luke's lap. Luke tried chasing after him, calling him names like "babe" or "honey", but Henry wasn't having any of it.
"Fine, I'm breaking up with you" Luke told him, hugging Emily.
"There was a letter in the mailbox" Blake said, seriousness lingering in his words.
Kwnna grabbed the letter, opening it and reading it out loud.
«I hope you haven't forgotten about my party. Please bring all of your friends there. The more people we are the better it'll be. I can't wait to see you there
-CEO Bruce»
Our excitement and joy we had developed over these past  hours disappeared into thin air and were replaced with fear and anxiety.
What was even waiting for us?

To be continued...