A song I was unfamiliar with blasted through the speakers, banging brutally against my eardrums, capable of giving anyone a headache. "Let's go to the kitchen." Charmaine yelled, but I couldn't really make out for sure, it was my greatest guess from reading her lips.
It seemed like they had speakers in every corner of the house cause the volume didn't decrease as we made our way into the kitchen, which was self proclaimed as a make out spot by the amount of sweaty bodies locking lips as they slowly bounced and rocked to the rhythm of the music.
"Do you even know what this Naeem guy looks like?" I yelled over the music, barely able to even hear myself.
Charmaine nodded with a small smile, evidently not having heard what I said, before she turned back and searched the kitchen for a guy she's never met in person.
I suddenly felt someone place their hands on both sides of my shoulders, the action causing me to turn around instantly, coming face to face with a lean lightskin guy smiling down at us.
"Welcome ladies. Make yourselves at home." He smiled, and I could've sworn different expression flickered in his eyes as he glanced at me, but I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. "My house is your house."
"Rahime just texted me." Reiya said in my ear, shoving her phone in my purse that she was borrowing for the night. "Call me for anything." She smiled slightly at me before making her way out of the kitchen.
The thick air and hot temperature made me feel nauseous, which was what I expected to be the repercussions of going this far outta my element.
Naeem leaned down to my height spontaneously as I opened my mouth to speak, his pierced ear just a few inches from my lips. "I need to go to the bath-"
"There's one upstairs, third door by your right." I placed a hand on his shoulder as a gesture of appreciation, before making my way to the living room, sighing deeply once I finally find the staircase.
I blinked and stared at my sweaty reflection in disgust, the loud music and bodies that cramped up against each other to form one spec of matter was making me feel extremely uncomfortable.
Wasn't exactly what I thought my first party would be like.
The sudden fear that I was being watched by someone wormed into my conscious, causing me to haphazardly splash water on my face to calm down the dreadful clogging I felt in all sections my head.
I trudged back into the kitchen, after struggling through the drunken bodies once again. Glancing around the room, I was unable to find the familiar set of Sandy curls that Reiya and I had arrived with.
I let out a short humorless laugh, subtly caught off guard by such derisive behavior, knowing that the type of carelessness wasn't necessarily out of character for her when it came to others.
I rounded the kitchen Island confused. My eyes randomly land on the back door, in desperate need of some fresh air I decided to go outside, the calm and cool air refreshing me as it did right before we all first made our way into the house.
I typed Charmaine's name on my phone and placed it against my ear impatiently once it had started ringing.
"Baby girl." She greeted cheerfully, as though she hadn't just vanished and left me in the wind to fend for myself .
"Where are y'all?" I sighed letting my hand fall to my side in exasperation.
"Rahime is prolly breaking Reiya's back somewhere." You could from the deafening volume of her voice that she was screaming at the top of her lungs just to make sure I could hear her over the music.
"Where are you." I correct myself. Charmaine let out a loose giggle she answered. "I'm upstairs." It seemed like she was arguing with someone in the background, cause she would aggressively yell something incoherent right before responding.
"Just you and Naeem?" Hoping he had left her alone, cause I just knew his sketchy self was up to something.
"Nah, him and a few of his friends."
"Aight then. Where upstairs?" With furrowed eyebrows and a few moments of silence, I pull my phone away from my ear and stared at it in shock. She hung up on me.
I gazed at what she'd assuredly consider as experienced groundskeeping, admiring the flowers of the garden and the way that they were methodically put together, soothed her a bit as it reminded her so much of the garden she'd been grooming up since she was 13.
"Yo ma!" A deep tone called out, making my eyes to broaden in dismay as I unwilling turn in the direction the voice.
A group of about 5 grown men, probably in their late thirties, stood to right side of me, from the slur in his tone I could tell he was wasted. I knew they were watching way over my age, maybe a few years older than Reward, my brother, who was 26 at the time. "Lemme talk to you for a min."
My blood ran cold as I noticed him limp in my direction. I turn on my heels and promptly made my way back into the place I least desired to be in at that moment.
I wasn't really the kinda person who liked crowded noisy places, but graduating high school a year early, with enough credits to finish college in three years, was sumn I thought was worth celebrating.
I tried to dial Char's number one more time but she failed to pick up.
At that point I knew something was wrong, her ass was too much of a social worker to not pick up her phone, if she couldn't she'd at least follow it up with a text.
Or maybe she was already wasted.
It was almost as though someone was planning something and needed all three of us away from each other so they could-
A loud gasp escapes my lips as I collide with another random moving body.
The care taker in me instantly reaches for the correspondent of the impact, but I immediately put my hands up in surrender as his dark eyes lock with mine.
"Sorry." I chuckle nervously, the lump in my throat growing with every breath I took in his presence. He had this bored look on his face as he stared at me like I was an idiot.
I mentally facepalmed as I realized he probably couldn't hear what I said over the music.
I nod firmly, turning around to go backing away from Jahseh to go into the kitchen, his intense gaze making me feel like he had the capability to strip all my bodily aspects and stare down into my soul without trying.
"Unique." Naeem appeared in front of me, blocking me from moving past him, beads of sweat rolled down his face as he gave me a tattered smile. "You good?" He quirked an eyebrow in question.
No.
I shrug and dodge the hand he tried to place on my shoulder, lightly using my own to push his away. I give him a nod with a small smile.
"Baby girl!" Charmaine squealed loudly upon noticing my presence. "I missed you." She pouts wrapping her arms around me.
I huffed and wrapped my arms around her carefully, patting her lower back softly. From the stench that oozed from her mouth as she spoke I knew she was drunk.
"Hold on." She brought out lip gloss from the back pocket of her high lengthed denim jeans, and carefully applied it on my lips, her left hand resting on my left shoulder.
"Aight, now," She smacked her lips together, waiting for me to mimic the action. "Good girl." She cheeses once I do.
"Here." She then hands me a bottle of water. Which I gratefully collect and gulp it down gradually.
I blinked. And blinked again. It felt like the atmosphere turned slothful, Like it was moving at the steady pace of my heartbeat.
In the corner of my eye, I could see him standing there, watching me expressionless, he had his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, while his head was hung low, his dreads swathed over his forehead, it only furthered the knots I felt in my gut.
I stumbled in place, feeling like my left foot had been cut off, making it extremely difficult for me to stand properly on my own.
Inwardly I was freaking out, my eyes darted in all sections of the room, Charmaine lightly whispered something in my ear as made their way to the couch, my sense of thought slacked with ever step.
Once my body made contact with the couch, every aspect of me was slightly turning off, muffles of the music softly played in the back of her head as her vision blurred.
To this day, thats the last memory I have of what happened that night.
°•°•°
this chapter is bland and plain but the moral of it all is that she went to a party, excuse all the grammar mistakes💀
ight bye