The bass of the speaker thrummed through my body, the beat causing a roar of approval through the mass of people. Several arms filling the air as each person belted out the lyrics as if their lives depended on it.
"You wanna get another drink?"
Jolting back into reality, I turn to face the owner of the voice, grimacing at the notion of yet another Whiteclaw entering my stomach. My liver pleading that I decline, while my tequila hazed mind encourages another drink. At seeing my expression she cracks a grin rolling her eyes, the purple hue of the room reflecting off her brown skin.
"So ginger ale?"
"You know me so well."
Smiling she links our arms leading us through the mess of tangled bodies in the direction of the kitchen. Ebony Davis, my best friend and partner in crime. Her stride long and fulled with the confidence. She was a current starter for the women's volleyball team, towering above me at a height of 5'10. Her aura drawing attention and demanding respect thus making it much easier than I expected to make it through the crowd.
Well a mix of that, and the fact that this is her boyfriends townhouse and she knows its layout like the back of her hand.
When we get to the kitchen the change in temperature is one I welcome with sweaty arms. Being out of the crowd makes the headache I've been ignoring surface yet again, and the change in lighting makes me realize I'm drunker than I initially thought. The rummaging in the fridge pulls my attention back to Ebony just in time for her to toss me a bottle of ginger ale, grabbing herself a Whiteclaw that she holds against her flushed cheek, before joining me at the counter.
Huffing out a sigh, I lift my hair placing the cool bottle against the back of my neck praying that it cools me down faster.
"You need to tell lover boy to turn the air up."
"He's just gonna say 'that's as high as it goes'," she mimics his deep voice before dissolving into laughter.
As if on cue, the sliding door to the backyard opens and a grinning Aiden stumbles into the house. His gaze set on Ebony as his smile somehow manages to grow even larger striding over towards us. Despite her claiming she's mad at him, her lips twitch into a small smile at the sight of him.
"Y'all are sickeningly cute," I mutter, a smile breaking across my face when Ebony gently shoves me.
"You still mad at me?" He questions pulling her into a hug, his 6'5 height managing to make her look small. His ivory skin contrasting against her darker skin tone. Wriggling in his embrace her nose scrunches as a half scowl dawns her face.
"Why are you hugging me when you're sweaty," she whines, grumbling when he tightens his embrace before finally letting her go. He swiped the hair tie off her wrist before tying his inky Black hair into a tiny ponytail that Ebony snorts at.
Finally turning to me, he smiles which I half-heartedly return.
"You look like you're about to puke," he chirps
"I just need to take a breather for a few,"
Nodding he tilts his head in the direction of the staircase.
"You can chill in my room if you want, may be a little messy but it's quieter up there."
Ebony looks back to me, eyebrows knitted with concern, her eyes swimming with the question 'do you want to go home'. But with the week that she's had, with both a econ exam from hell and a tough loss in their last game, the last thing I want is to end her night early because of one too many free tequila shots.
Smiling in appreciation I nod, peeling myself away from the counter. Ignoring how the room swayed in return.
"Just give me five, I'll be back down and want to hear something other than Dreams and Nightmares at this party."
"Text me if you decide you're ready to go, okay?"
Nodding, I start making my way to the stairs. Random couples take claim over a stair, basically knawing each others faces off, their annoyance apparent when I squish past them to get upstairs. The heat, the loudness, and the lighting of the house making my stomach churn in the worst way possible, fueling my desire to make it to Aiden's room. Until I'm hit with the realization that 1. this is my first time inside his place and 2. I have no clue which room is his.
Three doors greet me at the top of the staircase, one of which wears a sock proudly helping me narrow down the doors quickly. Chewing my lip, I stare at the two options left before doing what any logical person would do.
Enny Meeny Minny Mo that Hoe.
Settling on the right door, I blow a breath of relief when I'm greeted with an empty room. Shutting the door behind me, my head makes contact with the door and peace flows through me at the effective muffling of the music blaring downstairs. Glancing around the room I realize that Aiden and I have very different definitions of messy rooms. His bed was made, the grey comforter and sheets tucked neatly. His desk was devoid of clutter, each thing seemingly in its proper place, textbooks neatly stacked on the shelf beside it. There were several vinyls gracing the wall, artist ranging from Nina Simone to Young Thug displayed proudly. My examining of the room is cut off by the opening of the door behind me.
If there is one character trait that I'd have to admit to, it's that I have the nerves of a squirrel.
Possibly due to me being surprised, or the horror stories I've been told of random guys following a girl into a room at a party, I immediately reach for the closest thing to me and swing it at the direction of the sudden guest. An action quickly stopped by the person grabbing the object cutting its momentum. I look up only to be greeted not by some random creep at a party, but by none other than Noel Evans.
Aiden's teammate and housemate. I picked the wrong room.
His expression is nothing short of surprised to not only see me, a girl he's probably only met once in his room. But also to have been swung at by what I now realize is his own baseball bat. His brown eyes wide with shock. He was in a plain white shirt and Black joggers, his bookbag on his shoulder giving away that he was just getting home. I'm barely level with his chest, forcing me to need to look up whenever he's around, and his toned arms are currently outstretch holding the end of the bat that was inches away from connected with his skull.
Mortified, I release the bat as if it burned me. A flood of apologies pouring out of my mouth only to be cut off by his laughter.
"So not only do I get the pleasure of coming home to a random ass party, but I also get attacked for coming in my own room," he chuckles dropping his bag at his desk before turning back to me. Amusement swimming in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry. I thought this was Aiden's room, so I was caught off guard to hear someone else coming in," I mumble connecting my gaze with his before swiftly switching my focus to the tips of my shoes.
"If it was anyone else, I'd be pissed. But you aren't exactly a stranger so I'll give you a pass," he quips before choosing to sit on the futon in his room, switching the small television I never noticed on.
"I'm guessing the party isn't really your vibe right now if you're up in some random dude's room right?" He questions glancing in my direction before motioning that I could sit down.
An invitation that I chose to pass on.
"You know, you're weirdly chill about a random girl being in your room."
"You're not wrong. Especially because said random girl tried to kill me with my own bat."
"I wasn't trying to kill you."
"I'll forever be scarred by that bat. You know that was my lucky bat. If we lose next game, I'm blaming it on you tainting it with murderous intent," he quips smiling at my embarrassment
He had a nice smile. His teeth straight and white, framed by his full lips. His eyes shining with amusement and a dimple digging into his right cheek. His hair was cut short with a nice fade that I'm sure any barber would be proud of doing.
"Again, I'm really sorry for flipping out like that," I repeat, a small smile building on my face from his teasing.
Nodding, he gestures for me to sit again which this time I accept.
"It's all good. Like I said, you aren't exactly a stranger so no hard feelings," he shrugs, flipping through channels before settling on watching My Wife & Kids.
"We only crossed paths once though."
"Yeah, you and Ebony came to one of our games, and you seemed kinda crabby because it was cold," he grins glancing at me for a second before returning his focus to the screen.
I remember the day he was talking about, and I was in fact crabby about the weather. It was about two weeks ago, Ebony forced me to go with her to Aiden's baseball game despite the fact it felt like it was two degrees away from being below freezing. Aiden had came over to greet us after the game with Noel in toe. I remember being extremely dry with my introduction to him as I was more concerned about getting to the warmth of my apartment than I was with having a glowing introduction to the attractive catcher for the team.
I had assumed that he wouldn't remember me afterwards any way, so I brushed that poor interaction to the back of my mind.
"I was just really cold that day," I mutter, internally cursing at how quickly that situation bit me in the ass.
Lesson learned.
He chuckles glancing back down at me before nodding.
"You never really answered why you left the festivities downstairs."
I turn away from the tv to already seem him looking at me, his full attention on our conversation now. My eyes trail down from his to his strong jawline before traveling down to the single gold chain that compliments his dark skin before I reconnect my gaze with his.
"I just needed a breather for a few. The tequila was getting to me for a second."
"Tequila will do that to you," he nods in understanding
His gaze roamed from my face, to my hair which was currently frizzing from the heat, the twist out that I did earlier in the week reaching its shelf-life. It traveled to the white crop top that hugged me in all the right place, down to the ripped jeans that Ebony claims makes my ass look great before landing on the white airforces that didn't have a crease in sight.
His mouth opens to continue the conversation, but is cut off from the flashing of my phone. A text notification from Ebony coming across the screen.
Hey, I'm ready to head out if you are, I don't want to stay if you aren't feeling well.
Looking at the time, I realize that I've been up here for thirty minutes as opposed to the promised five, and guilt fills me at the thought that she was ending her night because of me before my phone pings with another notification.
Plus I want food. :p
I snort, before thumbs upping her message and pocketing my phone. Noticing that my demeanor shifted Noel stands up from his seat turning to me as I do the same.
"Heading out?"
"Yeah. Ebony is ready to go."
Nodding he follows me over to the door of his room before he stops over by his desk.
"Well, even though this isn't necessarily how I expected my night to go, wasn't as bad as it could have been."
"Thanks for letting me hang out in here for a few. And again sorry for almost hitting-"
"Almost killing me," he quips and I roll my eyes.
"Almost hitting you with your bat," I correct causing him to chuckle.
Opening the door I turn back to say goodbye right as another text from Ebony comes through to let me know she's waiting outside at the car.
"Ilena," I turn back to see Noel leaning at his doorframe, his height becoming apparent yet again.
My gaze reconnects with his and for a second my heart stutters at the sight of him.
"You know your 0-2 for good encounters with me right?" he smirks, his eyes glinting with humor.
"In my defense, I didn't really expect to see you again after the first time."
He laughs, a full smile coming across his face. One that I find myself mirroring.
"Well next time let's make it a good interaction, yeah?"
Smiling I nod before making my way out of the house thats crowd is slowly starting to thin out meeting a drunk and sleepy Ebony at the door. She tosses me her keys before stumbling over to her car and plopping herself into the passenger seat, chanting about her need for a Taco Bell quesadilla. Even with her drunken babbling, there's only one thing ringing through my mind.
There's going to be a next time.