The old banged up car rolled up to their destination as Riley looked out of the window in the passenger's seat. There was blaring music coming from the absolutely stunning mansion in front of them with people already spilling out across the front lawn. The place was filled with laughter and a heap of students as Riley opened the door, stepping out with Kendra following.
"You ready for this?" said Kendra in a slightly louder voice as they made their way up the pathway to the front door.
"I think so," said Riley as she glanced at a couple on the lawn making out before her eyes wandered to a group of guys and girls who were laughing and drinking.
The front door was wide open and they squeezed their way past a crowd in the hallway, making their way inside, past the stunning grand staircase and straight through to the kitchen.
"Do you want a drink?" shouted Kendra over the noise as she headed towards the fridge, casually pulling out a beer.
"I'll just grab some water," said Riley as she made her way to some clean cups, stacked up on the large island bench.
Kendra leaned up against the counter, taking a swig from her bottle. "Let me guess, your brothers don't want you to drink."
"Well, I'm only eighteen, so I'm not really supposed to drink. Plus, my brothers would kill."
"It's not like your brothers weren't drinking at your age," Kendra shrugged. "But I won't push it. If you want to drink water then that's fine. If you want to drink alcohol, I'm cool with that too."
"And what about you?" Riley pointed to the beer in Kendra's hand. "Aren't you supposed to be driving us?"
"One and done. As always," she said, taking another swig of her drink.
Riley proceeded to fill her water from the water filter in the corner of the kitchen. She took one large gulp, pulling her face in slight disgust as the warm taste of tap water hit her taste buds. Not that she was fancy or anything but they could have at least put some ice in it.
They wandered through the house, past the crowds of people dancing and those lounging out on the arm chairs in the living room. She was surprised at the energy of the place as it looked like the party had been going all day.
"This way," yelled out Kendra over the music. She grabbed Riley's arm, pulling her past the pool table which contained a heated game of beer pong.
One of the guys knocked into her slightly as he jumped and screamed with his team mate, winning and becoming the victors of the game. Riley squeezed past as they both exited into the backyard.
The backyard was beyond stunning for a frat house and so was the inside, and as she stepped out onto the dark wooden deck her eyes were drawn to the turquoise water of the pool in front of her. The massive lap pool took up the full length of the house, easily accommodating the crowd which was perched on the edges or splashing in the coolness of the water.
The night was warm and it made the water even more inviting but Riley could never truly feel comfortable in any sort of bikini or swimsuit. She knew her scars would be too much on show and she longing look at the masses of people wearing bikinis and sarongs.
At that moment a large body flung over Kendra, gripping her in a large bear grip. "You made it!" screamed Zac as he stumbled a bit with Kendra in his arms.
"And you're drunk," replied Kendra, trying to get out of the death grip that Zac had on her.
"I'm not drunk. I'm just intoxicated by your beauty," Zac slurred.
"Ugh. And how many girls does that work on?"
"I only need it to work on one," he whispered into her ear.
Riley let out a giggle as she watched Kendra slap Zac over the head which in turn caused him to back away from Kendra. He didn't seem overly phased by the rejection though as he grabbed Kendra's hand in his. She could have sworn she saw a slight blush tint on the edge of Kendra's cheeks but it was gone before she had time to even mention it.
"Come on," Zac tugged. "We're over here."
Kendra grabbed Riley's hand before they were pulled in a line by Zac around the edge of the pool. When they reached the opposite side they came across a sunken entertaining area, with enough seats to house a football team, which was not an exaggeration since she was pretty sure most of the college football team was housed around this area.
Some people took up residence on the soft seating which extended around the entire edge of the sunken pit with a blazing fireplace in the center. Others were lounging around on the upper level above the seating, dangling their feet over the edge while more people sat on the soft plush green grass. The more energetic of the bunch were running around playing their own game of football on the lawn as the outside lights provided enough illumination to brighten the area against the darkness of night.
Zac skipped down the steps, missing several before landing semi-gracefully on the ground with Kendra following his lead, giggling as she jumped down the stairs. Riley moved behind them, taking the steps one by one as she followed them both to a spot on the corner. It was only when she moved closer that she saw one person she wasn't expecting.
Kain.
She didn't know why she didn't expect to see him. It made sense if Zac was here then Kain would be too. Those two, with their friend Reed, were like a pack in themselves. And wherever the pack went, you could be sure there were a bunch of girls hovering.
Taking a seat at the far edge of the group next to Kendra, she took a glance over at Kain. Just the sight of him made her frustrated and her hand clenched at the red plastic water cup, causing the cup to flex in her grasp.
She looked at him with the girls sitting around him as he respectfully tried to keep their personal space, despite one leggy brunette trying her best to push her breasts up against his muscular chest. He laughed, engaging them all in conversation and paying attention to them.
He really did seem like an overall nice guy at most times. It was as though everyone liked him and he didn't seem like the typical popular guy that she was accustomed to in books and movies. He wasn't making out with anyone, despite some of his friends close by in a full on make out mode with different girls. Genuinely he seemed like a nice guy and she hated to admit it but he was athletic and very handsome. Yet it wasn't just about his good looks. Kain had this captivating aura that grabbed everyone's attention around him. You either wanted to be near him or be him.
Everyone except for her that was. And she was soon reminded why when, lost in her thoughts, she didn't realise she was staring at him until she felt her eyes connect with his. As soon as his eyes locked on her, his face darkened into a deep scowl and she could almost hear the huff of annoyance coming off him over the music and noise of the crowd around them.
Even though she just sat down moments ago she nudged Kendra, who was already stuck in a conversation with Zac. "I'm just going to the bathroom."
Kendra nodded, returning to her drink and heated conversation. Riley got up, still holding her water in her hand as she made her way out of the sunken firepit and back up the stairs to the main house. She didn't want to spend time agonising over Kain so even though she didn't actually need the bathroom she did want to enjoy the party a bit.
Making her way back into the house she pushed her way past the crowd and into the main living area. She watched as people danced in the center, smiling to herself at the atmosphere. She had never been around this many people before and the experience sparked a newfound energy inside herself.
As she was standing at the edge of the living room two guys passed her carrying what could have been nearly thirty pizza boxes between the two of them. They balanced the boxes in their arms, lifting them up over the crowd and the delicious smell of pizza surrounded Riley's senses. Her stomach practically rumbled in appreciation.
The guys put the pizza down on a table in the corner of the room near Riley shouting "Grubs Up!" over the loud music and started unpacking some of the boxes. They took a couple of large slices for themselves before wandering back into the crowd.
Riley inched nearer to the table, her stomach drawn to the delicious hot pizza and managed to grab a slice in between the frenzy of multiple people digging in. There was also a bunch of other food on the table which she only just took notice of. A mountain of crisps, a stack of cupcakes and some delicious fudge chocolate brownies that looked to die for.
After spending some time on her slice of pizza, sipping on the water in her other hand she couldn't resist and her hand reached out to grab a gooey, chocolate centered brownie. They were relatively large, but that didn't stop her from gobbling up the entire desert, her stomach now letting off a approved rumble of satisfaction.
It was nearly twenty minutes later when she headed back to the group and back to Kendra who had now finished her beer and was chatting with some people she didn't know. When Kendra spotted Riley she immediately excused herself from the group and headed over to meet her as she was climbing into the sunken fire pit.
"Where have you been?" asked Kendra. "I was just about to send out a search party."
"There was pizza," she said as her mind was distracted by three people who cannonballed simultaneously into the pool, causing those scattered at the edges to be drenched. Riley let out a giggle.
Kendra narrowed her eyes, reaching out her hand to pull her face away from the distraction. She looked concerned as her eyes connected with Riley's, noticing the slight tinge of red in the whites of her eyes.
"Have you been crying?" asked Kendra. "You're eyes are red."
"Don't be ridiculous," replied Riley as she moved out of Kendra's grip and proceeded back to the seats they were sitting in before.
She didn't even realise that Kain had been following behind her as he returned from grabbing a couple of beers from the outside cooler.
"Look who decided to return, not that we give a fuck," said Kain as he moved past her, slighting nudging her legs in the process.
Before Riley even had a chance to process what was going through her mind her mouth opened, letting out words she didn't even think was possible to flow past her lips.
"You'd need an erection for giving a fuck and it looks like you'd probably have a problem getting one."
She clapped her hands over her mouth as the chorus of "oooo's" and "burnnn" echoed out around her. Eventually Riley couldn't hold back, letting out the loudest laugh as Kendra followed suit, both of them in hilarious fits of giggles.