This is already the fifth chapter! I'm excited, because it's getting closer to the real action, and by that I mean some drama, but also some chemistry (wink). I will separate the party into two parts. So the second part is still yet to come, and hopefully I'll be able to post it tomorrow.
Read, vote, comment. Or you know, don't. But please do :)
Happy reading! :)
Chapter 5 – 7up and 7down part 1
It is seven thirty and I’m turning the key in the key hole. The door clicks open, and I’m the first one to enter our room.
I step on a flyer, and stop because I hear the noise of paper being crumpled. Anton pushes me forward and to regain balance I have to move further into the room.
“Wow, we have a secret admirer,” Anton jokes, and he doesn’t know that this sentence brings back memories: like how my best friend acted like a douche, and lied and pretended, and how I didn’t get the girl after all.
He picks the blue paper up and stares at it, trying to make sense of what is written on there. I sit on the edge of the bed, waiting for Anton to say something.
“Someone has a house near here,” he states, raising his voice just a bit at the end of the sentence, making it sound like a question, and I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to say.
“Is that a problem?” I ask, thinking it’s a good thing there will be no parties on campus. If it’s a private party, all should be good, shouldn’t it?
“No, it’s not. It’s kind of perfect, actually,” he shakes his head and scratches his neck. “I just didn’t know that someone lived here. I assumed it was just the college, and the campus.” He hands me the flyer and hops onto my bed. He rests his head on his hand and looks at me.
“It starts kind of early, don’t you think?” I place the flyer on the bed and glance at Anton, who has a dreamy look on his face.
“Hm?” he asks, raising his eyebrows. “Maybe it’s a sophisticated party where people drink champagne and play chess?” I roll my eyes at him.
“We should probably go to the library and lend a book, then,” I reply, annoyed. “You did want to read in the dark.” He wants to push me off the bed with his feet, but when he doesn’t succeed, he sits up and uses his hands to shove me. I stand up before he can do that.
“Don’t you dare question my sophistication!” he yells and pouts his lips, gesturing with his hands like a crazy person. “I’m totally sane,” he adds and can’t help but chuckle. He calms down, stares at the ceiling and occasionally lets out a snort of laughter.
“So, what can one do with 2 hours that separate us from a party?” I ask moving towards the window. I place my hands on the window sill and look outside. The view is of the campus, which is perfect when you have nothing else to do but watch strangers study or have a picnic or lay on the ground – watching strangers having a life.
“Two hours? Do you really want me to answer that?” Anton reacts, waving his hands in the air. “He asks what is there to do with two hours,” he mumbles to himself. “Two hours is a fucking lifetime.”
“I mean with these particular two hours,” I say and turn around, leaning against the window. I look down at Anton, who is refusing to answer, still gesturing with his hands. “We can’t exactly rob a bank; a) because we don’t have the skills-“
“Speak for yourself,” he interrupts.
“-and b) because there isn’t a bank near here,” I finish my thought and wait for him to add anything.
There is a slight pause, and then a wide grin appears on his face like he’s discovered the moon, and I think, god no, another one of his brilliant plans?
I remember we had a scavenger hunt, when I was still in high school. And although everything we had to do was written on the paper, things didn’t go exactly as planned. That was the day my nemesis asked the girl I liked out on the date, and she went, too. That was also the day I walked out on her because I couldn’t take being the other guy. The secret admirer always came first. The mystery was wondrous, and she wanted to discover her fairytale.
I wasn’t enough for her. I had never been enough.
“It’s quite simple,” Anton begins to explain his plan. And before I stop him, I want to hear it out. If there is a plan, I want to think of all the things that can go wrong, and then ruin it before he can actually bring the plan to life. “We need help, though.” That doesn’t make me feel better about it.
“So we get someone to help us, then make a mix tape,” he starts, “put all kinds of weird songs on there; sometime before that we have to find out whose party it is; then we sneak in to the house and insert the mix tape, turn it up to full volume, and make sure to hit play when the first groups of people arrive.” He turns to look at me, his eyes glistening with excitement, whereas, I’m not so sure about this.
“Have you done anything like this before?” I ask, and he shakes his head, I sigh. “It’s not a good plan.”
“What? I thought it was brilliant!” he looks disappointed, staring at the floor, sitting on my bed. “We could make a mix tape of love songs. We’d remove the button, so they can’t turn the volume down...”
“As good as it sounds, they can just pull the plug, and call someone to bring his lap top, and connect to the speakers,” I lay all the plot holes to the table, and with every new one, he shrinks down more.
“Fuck, I didn’t realize,” he mumbles, disappointed in himself.
“Yeah, well, it usually is that everything sounds better in your head,” I shrug and go sit down next to him. I nudge him with my elbow. “But we can still make that mix CD, if you want to.”
“You’d do that for me?” he asks with a puppy dog look on his face, and whimpers. I cover his face with the palm of my hand.
“Get out of here,” I chuckle, and Anton falls on his back. “Next time you think of a plan, don’t. You’re not very good at them.” I stand up and glance at him. He’s lying on the bed, supporting his upper body by placing his hands on both sides, holding his head up, so he won’t hit it against the wall. He kicks his shoes together and smirks.
“But I’m good with mix tapes,” he says and winks. And it’s true, so I feel the need to find Jocelyn.
She’s not outside, and she’s not in the cafeteria. Anton wants to give up on the search party, but I keep pulling to move his feet. It’s not like there’s anything else to do. So we go to the library.
There are a few people, some of them reading, some of them writing on their lap tops, and the library lady sitting behind her desk. It’s weird to be standing at the door of the library when I’m nowhere near to being the guy who reads, or even researches for his essays.
Anton brows are furrowed, and it looks like he has no idea, either, what to do in that place.
“It’s like a whole new world,” he whispers, leaning a bit closer to me. I bite my lip and start walking towards the aisles. They provide the perfect opportunity to disappear in between them and give the camouflage you need, so people don’t notice you. Anton follows me.
I see the row of computers that line at the back of the library. I move slowly in the aisle, peeking through the books, hoping to see someone familiar.
“Damn, I want ice-cream,” Anton mutters under his breath, and I chuckle. “It’s serious,” he confirms, clutching his fingers into fists.
“I don’t think now’s the time to eat your feelings,” I shake my head, and take another step. I can’t see all the computers, because the aisles of books conceal my view.
“I can’t help but be delicious all over,” he snaps, his tone playful, and I give him a look. He wiggles his eyebrows up and down, and I roll my eyes.
We’re almost at the end of the aisle.
“Are you stalking?” A voice asks and I jump on my spot. Anton has grabbed hold onto the hem of my shirt. “Did I honestly just scare the two of you?” Jocelyn laughs, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Well, you did sneak up on us,” Anton excuses himself, and immediately, Jocelyn’s expression changes. She clearly can’t stand him.
“Actually, we were looking for you,” I say, and she raises her eyebrow. “Since there’s still two hours to the party-“
“And you wanted my help,” she smiles, and when Anton tries to be friendly, too, Jocelyn frowns. Anton’s smile disappears immediately. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing to do. You could either read, or take a nap...”
“A nap!” Anton’s eyes go wide in surprise, or at the brilliance of this idea. “But no, you had to plant this stupid plan inside my head. I could’ve been sleeping.”
I look at Jocelyn and roll my eyes, to which she smirks.
“Whose party is it, anyways?” I ask the question that has been bothering me. Even though I don’t know anyone on campus, besides Anton and Jocelyn, hearing a name wouldn’t hurt.
“There’s this kid, Bruno Vincenzo,” she explains, turns around and starts walking towards the back aisles, so we’d move farther from the front desk, and the people occupying some of the tables. “I wouldn’t recommend you thinking about friending him, because well, some people aren’t worth having their names your list,” she sends me a devious look, “he’s trying to make up lost time.”
“What do you mean by lost time?” Anton asks, curious. He pushes past me to go walk beside Jocelyn.
“He spent a year in juvy for killing a man, but finished his year there, since it’s almost like the criminals have more rights than the rest of us,” Jocelyn continues, and I notice she doesn’t mind answering Anton’s questions, now. Or maybe she’s really into telling stories, which makes me curious.
She stops and looks at me, then at Anton. “Also, I’m a compulsive liar. And none of it is true.” She let out an angelic laugh, and glances at the clock. “But you wasted thirty minutes altogether, so I’d say it was worth it.”
Anton sighs. “Disappointing,” he mutters and Jocelyn shoves him playfully in the shoulder.
“Come on, we can go linger near the house,” she says and gestures for us to follow her. “I know the owner.” She winks foxily.
We get to the house, which is about a mile from the campus, and Jocelyn pulls out keys from her pocket, jiggling them between her fingers. She glances at us over her shoulder and winks again. “It’s been two days and I have told six lies already,” she says, unlocking the door. Anton is admiring the architectural side of the house, noting the berry bushes in front of the house, and the wildly growing dandelions that give the house a nice touch, not making it seem unorganized.
“This girl is on fire?” I ask and follow her up the front steps. She has pulled the door open and is waiting for us.
“Yeah, I’m flaming, and radiant!” She agrees and throws the keys on the table. “What music do you like?” She’s inside the house, yelling from the other room. I walk in, leaving Anton outside.
I find her in the kitchen, three glasses on the kitchen island, and she’s in front of the fridge, trying to figure out which drinks to serve.
“Beer would be fine,” I interrupt her thoughts and sit on the bar stool. She smiles at me, and then pulls three glass bottles of beer. “Aren’t you worried there will be shards of glass if you have glass bottles at your party?”
She smirks. “Glass is only for the VIPs. I will make sure to get rid of it by tonight,” she shrugs and hands me one of the bottles. She has already opened them. “Well, we are going to play spin the bottle, so I’ll hide them in my room.”
“How many people are coming here?” I ask, wondering if it will be hundreds of students, or only the chosen few.
“Definitely 30, possibly a little over, but I have faith in everybody to behave. They can go outside if they’re feeling a little uneasy,” she explains and goes to find Anton. She gives him the bottle, but he doesn’t come inside. “I can lock the doors I don’t want strangers entering,” she assures, and I am a bit worried they’ll trash her home, but she seems so relaxed about everything.
“So, any music goes?” she raises her eyebrow, gulping down some beer.
I shrug, then give a half-nod. "Actually, do you have 7up? I'm not crazy about the beer," I shyly ask, and she throws her head back, laughing. But it's kind, not mean, and she goes to the fridge again.