Romancing the Afterlife

Heads Will Roll

Jonas did some investigative work. Standing around select places in the school, listening in on various conversations peers were having, trying to act casual like he wasn’t up to something. So many kids seemed to just be standing around the halls during the last couple days of school anyway. He actually made a friend or two just by chatting up people who had otherwise not paid much attention to him before, only to pry any information they had on the party. Originally he promised Cain he would find out for him, but now he himself was excited about the prospect of going to the party. He and Cain had never been to any high school parties. They once attended a school dance, but the night ended up being very boring for them. It had seemed a waste of money to just watch other people have fun. Most of the students knew nothing or chose to stay tight lipped on the subject, mainly because they didn't want to get themselves uninvited.

It was Friday afternoon and they still didn't know where Jacks party was. They sat around in a shed in Cain's backyard that the two of them had personally made cozy for their convenience. Originally Cain's parents had the shed built for storing tools and outdoor equipment. Over time they realized that they didn't have that much stuff in it, so when Cain showed interest in having it for his own recreation area, they moved everything to the garage. Cain and Jonas called it 'The Box', and furnished it with a futon and a small table. There was a soft light hanging from the top of the shed, powered by a long extension cord that led back to the house. They had a small square television they had hooked up a Super Nintendo and a cheap dvd plater to, as well as a radio that only got two channels. Along with a trunk filled with comics, a few board games, a few costume props and bunch of random things they had collected since they were 12.

The two just stared at the walls, disappointed and bored. Jonas kept shaking his head not wanting to believe that they were just going to miss it because they weren't cool enough to be invited. They both kept checking their f*******: to see if anyone was going to post anything that would help them figure it out, but there was nothing. If anyone connected to them did know they didn't share it on social media, perhaps to keep from notifying nosy parents their kids were going to get smashed. Every now and then one of them would gripe about it or comment to the other on how there was no point in them being there anyway, because it would probably just be like the dance, and Lucy would probably ignore or avoid Cain all night anyway. Besides neither of them had really ever drunk much before, and even if they did now who would drive Jonas' parents’ car home?

“Did you even ask Jacks where his party was?” Cain asked Jonas.

“What? No, that's crazy. He's not just going to give his party info to just anyone. You have to get invited by the people he invites.”

“That doesn't make sense.”

“Well, I don't think it has to.” Jonas said with a sigh.

The light of the sun was starting to abandon them for the night when a miracle happened. Jonas got a text. Jumping to his feet he literally shouted “Eureka!” lifting his phone into the air. One of the new friends Jonas had recently made while socially poking around the school was the infamous Justin Caldwell, known for doing whatever the hell he felt like. Justin was a class clown with a dark sense of humour. He rode the borderline of being likeable. Some people worshiped his wild behaviour and considered his actions amazing acts of anarchism that outlined the ridiculousness of conformity and social structure. Most other people saw him as a delinquent who mysteriously managed to graduate, but would ultimately just end up in jail one day. When asked about the party Justin had told Jonas, “I have no damn clue about 'the pre-college popularity drunken m******e', and if I did …...I'd crash the s**t out of it!” Jonas' current text message read 'I know where it is. Pick you up in 15 minutes. Make sure to dress nice.’

They didn’t fully understand why it was important to dress nice, but they erred on the safe side. Cain wore khaki pants held by a nice looking new brown belt he had borrowed from his dad, with a short-sleeved blue button down shirt. He had put an expensive hair cream in his hair to hold his wild black hair into a perfect part down the middle. In a rush to get dressed he couldn't find his dress shoes and had to compromise with his sneakers, which luckily were decently clean. Jonas on the other hand jumped Cain's back fence running through a back neighbour's yard to cross the street to his house, and was back in less than five minutes wearing a suit that looked a replica to the Men in Black even including a pair of shades. His nice shoes were a bit tight but he was dressed to impress. Cain wondered if he could see anything through the sunglasses at night. Justin arrived at the house in an old PT Cruiser wearing army green painters pants, a zip-up sweater and a beach hat. “Don't you two look dapper,” he said. He made no apologies, and purposely did not give them time to change.

The two were leaning back and forth, erratically falling into each other in the back seat of his car. Justin drove like he was practicing for a virtual reality version of Grand Theft Auto. It was scary how good he was. The front passenger seat had been reserved for Justin's backpack. It was not the sort of bag one took to school but more the sort for camping. Cain suggested slowing down or not changing lanes so much several times, but Justin ignored him or simply couldn't hear him over the booming bass of White Zombie. Somehow police interference was not an obstacle to Cain’s amazement. Maybe Jonas not being able to see through his shades was a benefit for him, allowing him to be more excited than terrified. Jacks McRoyce had gotten his parents permission to bring a few friends to their family cottage on White's pond; it was in Walker County 45 minutes north of Raccoon Hill. They made it in 34 minutes, but took another 15 minutes trying to find the right address.

McRoyce's graduation house party was already well in commencement when they arrived. It was quite the packed house, inside and out. Approximately half the graduating class of Spoons high was in attendance, along with several people who didn't go to Spoons. This included Bruce Holden who had graduated two years earlier. It was a large cottage that easily could house eight guests comfortably, and was a decent distance from neighbouring eyes and ears. There was a huge banner across the front that read 'Grad party 2016' which someone had taken the liberty of scribbling 'Party til you die!' on. The refrigerator was stocked with food and mostly non-alcoholic drinks, which they didn't need because there was a giant keg in ice on the kitchen floor along with 3 coolers for any alcohol guests brought with them. There was a variety of different cans and bottles were shoved in the ice. There were big speakers in nearly every corner of the cottage and a few outside, all hooked up to a laptop that someone had plugged their Ipod into. There was a small disco ball in the living room. A few of the lights in some rooms and the hallways had been replaced with black lights. Tiki torches illuminated the outside deck and dock. The dining room table had been moved to the side with food on it, and everything else was removed to give people space to dance.

Jacks had aimed to throw a party that would be remembered for a long time. He would not be disappointed by the results. By the end of the night there would be a massive amount of consumed alcohol, a variety of induced narcotics, several silly antics performed, seven public and six private videos recorded, four human female drink tables used, twenty voluntary and two involuntary acts of indecency, seventeen pieces of property broken, sixty-three individual cases of vomiting, nine brawls (three by the same two people, one involving Bruce), a minor animal attack, and one 9-1-1 call. The party would go on to not just be remembered, but commemorated in tragedy.

Lucy Little had arrived at the party on time, which meant she was early. Jacks and a few of his friends had only finished setting everything up an hour before. She had traveled in her friend Jane's car with her other friend Danielle, and her somewhat friend Amber. Amber was more like a friend of a friend. In Lucy’s opinion she wasn't the most upstanding human being, or dignified woman. Her and Lucy clashed in opinion on a lot of subjects. She was shallow, arrogant and a bit untrustworthy. On the Spoons popularity scale (figurative) she was considered higher than Lucy. Mostly because she concentrated on being liked. She spent twice as long as the average high school girl on her looks. She spent all her time being a part of social gatherings, and not so much on studying. She often played meek or vapid towards guys she liked. Which was the part Lucy liked the least about her. She took pride in the amount of physical interactions she had engaged in with guys that often involved someone different than the last story she had boasted to her friends. Although there was a fair likelihood of her embellishing these stories, because when the truth didn't seem enough she lied. Most of Spoons or even Raccoon Hill had been led to believe that she was rich, when truthfully she was just spoiled. She was bad for spreading gossip and rumours, especially when they involved others’ dating lives. The only reason they hung out with her was she had never stabbed any of them in the back, as well as having parents who didn't get involved enough and let her have a den to herself so she could host guests.

The moment they entered the cottage Lucy and Amber went their separate ways. Danielle went with Amber, and Jane stayed with her. Amber went to the kitchen for a drink, and Lucy headed out the back to thank Jacks for inviting her and offer help if he needed it. Jacks took Lucy and Jane for a little tour around the cottage. The place was a lot bigger than it looked from the outside. Lucy hoped one day she could afford a house like this to vacation in. Other than any last minute party tweaks Jacks and his friends had made, it seemed a very classy place. There was a beautifully bricked fire place that looked inviting, even though in summer it was probably too warm for it. The paintings on the walls were interesting and not basic or morbid. Each bedroom had a subtle theme, giving a suggestion on what type of person the room was meant for. Some were clearly for adult family, one was clearly Jacks, one was for children, but then there was one that seemed to convey 'welcome guest', while a few others suggested ‘less welcome or surprise guest’. These were the rooms Jacks had put his mood lighting in, with a few complementary condoms and bottles of water on the bedside table. It seemed a bit much, but also somewhat responsible. When Lucy probed about the cost of the house, Jacks felt forced to admit that it had been passed down from his grandfather's brother, so he had no idea.

By the end of the tour it was clear Jacks was doing more than just showing off. He had revealed to them where the hidden key was to the master bedroom, not for bedroom use but for exclusive access to the attached bathroom. It was “need to go” information that he was strictly sharing with them, or to be more specific Jane. If Jane hadn't realized he was into her from his constant search for her reaction in every room, then she was oblivious. Lucy sent the boy to get them drinks, while she conferred with her friend on her interest gauge. Jane didn't have to say much to show she was more than content with him. When Jacks came back with cans of some fruity coolers for them, Jane gave Lucy a nod and she excused herself.

More people were joining the party every few minutes and simultaneously the music volume was increasing. Lucy helped herself to some flat bread and hummus and a few other items before all the food was gone, as it likely would be soon enough. She took her plate and her orange creamcicle flavoured drink and went to sit down in the living room. Several people said hi to her on their way in, including Avery Neilson who she hardly knew and was surprised to see there. It was beginning to get hard to hear people if they weren't right next to her, but she received a lot of waves, nods, excited screams and enthusiastic hugs. She had already participated in two selfie friend shots. She continued to watch the flow of people coming in while occasionally nibbling on her food. She was waiting to see Bruce appear with his friends, because that would be when the party really started.

Bruce was always looking forward to the next fun time. He and his friends though not quite drinking age, drank almost every weekend. They weren’t too stupid about it; they usually kept their partying under the radar. Bruce did almost everything with his boys with the exception of hanging out sometimes at Spoons high. He would drop by on his lunch break from work, or on Fridays whenever he felt like it. He liked to visit Lucy and use the school fitness room, for which he had an ongoing arrangement with the head of the physical education department. He was a mechanic’s assistant and fixed random things for cash on the side, mostly kids’ bikes. He wasn’t the smartest person, but he was definitely one of the fittest in Raccoon Hill. It was a point of pride for him. Most of his pictures on social media featured him topless. He had a sense of humour about it though, which he expressed with a tattoo on his back shoulders that read “100% prime beefcake”. He also had a tattoo of a scorpion and a snake fighting on his upper left arm. He believed it represented the fight to succeed amongst all the things in life that wanted to tear him down. No one was sure which one was supposed to be him, but no one asked either.

Lucy thought he was a cool guy. He was older, he had a real job, and he had his own place that he shared with his friends. He was always nice to her and complemented her, and generally had a positive outlook. He drove and owned a black pick-up truck that was his pride and joy. He was always improving on it somehow, and made a point of keeping it really clean. His friends knew you didn’t make a mess in his truck. Plus he was pretty sexy, and it made her look good to be seen with him, even if they were mostly just friends. It made other girls at the school jealous. It made Amber jealous.

The night carried on and Danielle came by and replaced her alcoholic soda with a beer, knowing that Lucy didn’t really like sweet drinks like that. They chatted for a bit about shopping at the fancy mall next week and Jane possibly hooking up with Jacks McRoyce. They both agreed that if it meant spending more time at this cottage, they fully supported them being together. After that Amber and another girl from their school came by with a bottle of Goldschlager and encouraged them all to do two rounds of shots. Then Amber encouraged the rest of the group to go watch a high wager game of horseshoes outside. She decided to take a walk around herself, saying hi to a few people, and slapping some guy who got a bit handsy (accident or not). She didn’t see Bruce or any of his buddies. They were always fashionably late. She finished off her beer and grabbed another, heading into the dining room/dance floor. It was pretty tight in there; she stood off to the side of the room and out of the way. She wasn’t really in the mood or drunk enough to dance quite yet, but she enjoyed watching everyone else. Two guys kept trying to make space to show off their cool moves, but it wasn’t really working out for them. A bunch of the girls from her basketball team had their own little circle going, and when their song came on they managed to pull her in to shake her body and wave her hands in the air.

Her new beer quickly became her old beer and she headed back to the kitchen to get another replacement. She took her new drink back to the living room. It was a totally different crowd from before. Justin Caldwell was here now, shouting about taking it all to the next level and then throwing several people what looked to be tiny joints. She wondered who bothered to invite him, before realizing the obvious. No one did. It was then that she noticed the two sore thumbs sticking out. An awkward looking guy dressed in semi-formal leaning on the back of a couch looking around for something to do or someone to talk to, and the very formally dressed guy next to him trying to hard to get everyone who was passing through to acknowledge him with a finger gun or high five. It was oddly amusing. She was amazed Cain even came; she didn’t really expect him to when she had mentioned it to him two days ago. For a moment she considered quickly dodging out of the room before he noticed her, but she thought it might be a bit callous if she spent the whole night trying to avoid him. Instead she walked over to the window and looked out at all the hijinks people were up to outside, waiting to see if he’d even have the balls to approach her. She noticed a crowd beginning to form outside, but it was hard to tell what was going on.

“Lucy.” He said her name confidently and from a distance that he was neither invading her space to whisper, nor shouting from across the room. She turned to see him standing behind her on her left, looking out the window as well.

“Hey Cain,” she said trying to sound genuinely surprised, “You made it.”

“Yeah, I said I was coming, didn't I?” He waited for a response, but she didn't have one. “So what do you think is going on out there?”

“I don't know, probably something stupid.”

“Yeah probably. You want to go check it out?” And with that they started making their way through to the back door. Cain led the way, without pulling on her or turning back to check she was even following. She was not prepared for this version of Cain. Their few interactions in the passed few years had been short, awkward and sometimes uncomfortably embarrassing (more on his end), but at this moment she was seeing a different side of him. As they stepped out the door the air instantly became less stuffy and toxic. They moved off to the side and just stood on the deck together

“So I see you and your friend dressed for the occasion?”

“Huh?” he looked down at himself in the buttoned shirt and khakis, “Oh, yeah Jonas and I came with Justin ....we didn't have enough time to change. He got us.”

“Bastard,” she said laughing.

“Yeah,” he agreed smiling, “I left my tie in the back of his car and I undid this top button” he pointed, “and un-tucked my shirt too. Kind of a relaxed semi-formal look I guess.”

“Well maybe lose one more button” she said undoing the next button on his shirt, revealing a bit more of his neckline. “There, now it looks more relaxed and on purpose. Your friend is ready to be the next James Bond though.”

“Jonas is dapper as f**k. I think he thought we were going to prom.” They both let out a soft chuckle, looking around only to come back and meet eachother’s gaze and stay there. It was the first time he had ever been able to comfortably look her in the eyes, though he already knew they were a light greyish blue. It was the first time in a long time he had been looking at her without her feeling at least a little creeped out. He wasn't looking into space, like some weird daydream he was having about her with a goofy smile on his face. He was looking at her with admiration and sweet content. This was the first moment since she arrived at the party that she actually felt like she was enjoying herself. She didn’t just see weird Cain Lewis. She saw the way he was looking at her. It was pure intentions, as if he was looking into her and not just at her. No one had ever looked at her like that, or maybe she’d never noticed, but every look from other guys always looked like hunger. Cain looked amazed by her, and it gave her chills.

“You seem so different. Did you like take some sort of confidence pill?”

“I think I'm just really high. Justin was burning something in the ashtray in his car, and I don't think it was incense.”

“Surprised you aren't more anxious.”

“Is that what's supposed to happen?” he randomly lifted his hands to his face for a moment. She noticed now how red his eyes were. “I've never been high before I don't think. I guess once you've seen your life flash before your eyes in the backseat of a car, nothing seems as intimidating anymore.”

“I think you’ll be alright” she said smirking at him, and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“I’m more than alright, right now.” She was speechless but not from awkwardness, she knew what he meant and took it as a compliment, it was more surprise that she too felt more than alright. She smiled and tried to think of something to say, but he spoke first. “Is Amber bi?

“What? Why would you say that?” she was a little offended by his sudden change in subject. She relaxed a bit when he pointed behind her and she turned to see that the crowd they had originally come out to investigate, was gathered round Amber and Kaitlyn Taylor making out fiercely. Someone had set down a towel for them and they were kneeling and kissing eachother with their hands on the other's face. Kaitlyn had recently proclaimed to be swearing off men for good. Most of the crowd was male, and of the females Danielle was one of them standing off to the side enjoying the show like the rest, and not interfering. Several phones were being held out, capturing the moment. “She's just feeding into the male fantasy, she just wants guys to think she's bi-sexual.” The two girls were still aggressively kissing and hands had begun to wander. “At least I think that's the case.” She was kind of astounded by Amber's actions, was this really her showing off or was it the effect of too many shots of Goldschlager. “You know what? Excuse me for a second,”

Cain watched as Lucy walked away into the crowd around the two girls. She started talking to her friend who had been watching, but their conversation quickly turned into an argument. Lucy seemed to have won the argument a few seconds later, as the two of them then broke up Amber and the other girl and waved everyone away. Lucy shouted at everyone still standing around them “Show's over. Get your kicks somewhere else.” Most of the crowd dispersed as Lucy and her friend walked Amber Ackles passed him and into the house. He chose not to follow them, or interfere. He was starting to feel a little ill anyway.

Cain leaned on the railing of the deck, enjoying the view out toward the water. He also felt it helped his balance, and if for some reason he needed to puke he was somewhat in a position to do it discreetly into the bush below him. He watched as others ran around and enjoyed themselves. A few people were even swimming off the dock. Many plastic cups and cans had already been abandoned and were scattered around. Someone in a hooded sweatshirt walked by and patted him on the shoulder, “Glad you could make it Cain.” Cain struggled to remember where he had seen the guy before as he continued walking away. Just as he went out of sight it hit Cain, it was Kayl Morgan! He was about to run after him, but Jonas arrived and handed him a drink. “Figured you could use a drink.”

“Not really.”

“Well hold it then, it'll make you look like you belong. So you struck out again did you?”

“What? No.” Cain said taken aback.

“Well then where is your lady of destiny?”

“She took Amber Ackles inside because she was making out too hard with Kaitlyn Taylor.”

“Oh yeah, I saw them inside, Amber and her went to talk it out in one of the rooms. Wait! They were making out?!” Cain nodded. “And you saw it? Them making out?” Cain nodded again. “Oh wow, I mean like s**t, how did I miss that?”

“I'm sure, you'll be seeing a video of it soon enough.” He said without enthusiasm. His mind was more preoccupied on if he was going to be seeing Lucy again. He thought of going inside, but his buzz was turning on him a bit. He took a drink of the beer in his hand and a few seconds later threw up in the bush, while Jonas laughed at him.

Jonas took Cain for a walk around outside, all the while complaining about his dress shoes hurting his feet. Cain told him about the moment he had with Lucy, and Jonas was mildly impressed. He recommended giving her space and time, so that the next encounter during the night would seem more casual. It made enough sense to Cain to listen to his friend's more theoretical than experienced advice. They sat in a couple lawn chairs and finished their beers. Some of the other teens sitting in neighbouring chairs were nice enough to pass their pipe over to them, but they both decided they'd had enough of that for the night and politely declined.