You Never Walk Alone

13

More people started arriving and it was easier to squeeze my way out of the crowd. I just wasn't feeling the party a single bit. My previously fresh and clean body had so much sweat clinging to it, I was sire I was going to throw up.

I was looking for Jake to tell him I had intentions to leave when I met Hanson instead. He led me to the kitchen which was less crowded and the music not so loud.

“Have you had anything to drink yet?" He asked getting one of the few cups that were still there.

" No.“ I said. I wanted to say something, maybe brag a little about the drinks I made but I was glad because Hanson's next statement made me want to turn to dust.

"Well don't feel bad for missing out. The mix taste like sewage. I wonder who was dumb enough to make this. “

I laughed rubbing the back of my neck." Indeed, I wonder who was dumb enough. “

We stayed in silence, moving our bodies slightly to the music. I was no Michael Jackson but I could burst some moves on the dancefloor. I just didn't want to. Not my crowd you know. So, I just had to go with standing there and tapping my foot.

“What's with the attitude? It's a party for heaven's sake." Jake screamed throwing either of his arms on mine and Hanson's shoulders. He was wearing red coloured glasses I could only guess where he got them from.

“You're drunk already," I said throwing his arm off me. He lost his balance and Hanson had to bear his full body weight.

“That's the point of a party. Get a cup. Let's play truth or dare." He screamed the latter sentence and that got him mutters of approval all around us. I wanted to leave. I didn't like party games one bit. Just when I turned to leave, Jake grabbed my shoulders. “You're staying right here with me fetus."

We played the game in the pool area. There were still a ton of students so the 25 of us sitting in a drunken circle barely made a difference.

“God I love this game." Jake screamed -though very unnecessarily as we were a distance away from the music- right into my ear. I was sitting in-between him and Hanson and lest I forgot, Hanson smells amazing.

Vanessa got us the bottle and spun it. Landed on Kimberly. She was dared to jump headfirst in the pool. After a little hype, she totally threw herself in. From the way she constantly threw herself at Brandon, I wasn't surprised. Just my luck, the third round, the bottle landed on me. Ana wanted to ask but Jake interrupted her.

“I dare you fetus, to kiss Hanson." My smile fell and Jake's widened. There wasn't anything not mischievous about it. I felt uncomfortable and mind you, it wasn't because it was Hanson, but the thought of kissing someone for so many people to see rubbed me off in the wrong way.

“Come on. Do we need to hype you. Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Others joined the chsnt putting me more on the spot. I was tensed, angry and f*****g embarrassed. I didn't know how my palm collided with Jake's face but it did and that silenced everybody. Nobody said anything but state at me.

“I'm going to call it a night." I stood up to leave. Nobody followed me. I had almost made it to the front door when I realized I left my phone in Jake's room upstairs. I could've left it there but I didn't want any reason to talk to Jake anytime soon. I caught gazes with Hanson as I was heading upstairs and he still don't follow me. Did he think I had planned the whole think with Jake? That's thought greatly overwhelmed me.

Upstairs, I found my phone after a while of searching. It was in-between the bed and side table. I didn't make it downstairs because suddenly that large ass house felt very suffocating. There were more people in, the music was louder and the sweat was thicker. I took a 180 degree turn back to where I came.

The walls were thick so the music was pretty much muffled. I sat on the bed and after a while of idleness decided to watch a movie. Nothing good was on cable but Jake did have CD's. That was vintage and surprising. I inserted a random CD into the DVD player and some film came up. I was 2 minutes in when the door flew open.

Jake Demidov was standing there looking irritated. “What are you doing here?"

Normally, I'd have apologized and left the room but no, he made me mad and I wanted him to realize that. “Watching a movie in case you couldn't see."

“There's a party downstairs. Let's go back."

“No. You go ahead. I'm fine where I am. Snuggled up and content."

He shrugged and jumped on the bed. “Then the party's over for me as well. I was getting too drunk anyways." It was only when Jake's clothes touched me that I realized they were wet.

“Your clothes are wet. Why'd you go swimming with clothes on?"

“No. Fell into the pool . Sobered me a bit though. What are you watching?"

“Some 2002 film about robots. Pretty cringe so far."

Jake removed his clothes so he was only in a pair of shorts. He snatched the blanket I had wrapped round my body so I got another one. We watched in silence, save his constant grunting. “Look, I was an asshole"

My head turned so fast I had whiplash. “You're what?"

“What I did. Putting you on the spot like that. Ignoring your messages and calls. There's really no reason for you to care about me, so don't. Stop getting too worked up about me."

“Are you scolding me or apologizing?"

“I'm just saying. Let's watch okay?"

God CGI in 2002 was horrible. I didn't mind it though because in that moment, I felt warm and comfortable. It was a sad thing when I slept off and couldn't relish in the moment any longer.

***

I woke up because someone kept throwing up their guts in my dream. It turned out my dreams do come true because Jake was hunched over the toilet retching so hard his throat was going to be sore. I went to him to rub his back but he politely pushed me away.

“I'm fine."

“Yeah right. What do you need? Water will do right?"

“If you want to be useful, get me an ibuprofen in the cabinet over there. 2 pills."

I walked further into Jake's massive bathroom and opened the cabinet. There were a s**t ton of meds he could start Demidov Pharmacy with. “Which one is ibuprofen?"

I heard footsteps behind me. I turned and Jake's face was barely inches away from mine. He ignored me and reached out and got it himself. Even hungover,he smelt so nice. Maybe it was a rich people thing.

“This is ibuprofen fetus. Understood?" The one in a red bottle. Got it.

" I'll leave now. I have to meet Tee. We have a date today. “

" Who's Tee? “

" Someone special. “I teased. It was just my imaginations because there was no way Jake would be frowning at my statement. His eyebrows creased and his lip raised slightly.

" Oh. Enjoy then. Hope you choke on your muffin. “

" Shut up. “

I carried my phone and was ready to leave when Jake called me back. Not by my name of course." Fetus. “

" Are you going to stop calling me that?“ I asked through gritted teeth.

He grinned mischievously." Do you want me to stop calling you fetus? “

" Yes. “

" Then no. I won't stop calling you fetus. “

" Why'd you call me back? “

" Oh yeah. Call a cleaning service and order food for me. I could eat a horse. “

" You do that yourself. “

" No. You. “ He threw his phone at me and if not for my incredible catching skills, it'd have flown out the window. I called the cleaners and ordered food.

“Goodbye Mr. Demidov."

“Bye fetus."