The Lawyer and The Stripper

05 | House Party 101

Chapter 5 House Party 101

The people around us seem to disappear as we continue to stare at each other. She remains frozen with her mouth slightly agape, but the wild surprise in her eyes distracts me as if she had just seen a ghost. Audrey discreetly elbows her side and she quickly looks away, pretending to search for a ball. I tilt my head and grin, finding her reaction amusing and confusing at the same time.

Her first attempt to shoot misses, as does her second and third, while all my balls end up floating in different kinds of alcohol in the cups in front of her. Midway through the game, Audrey issues a time-out.

“Camille, what’re you doing, girl? The ball has to go into the cup!” she scolds her player.

So her name is Camille. I grin.

We continue the game until Camille has cleared her cups while I am left with half of mine intact.

“Good job, right there, Gochino.” Pancho winds his left arm around my shoulder before calling everyone’s attention, waving his right hand vigorously as if his towering height doesn’t already scream ‘look at me’.

“Everyone, our new shooting guard. Watch out for him in the next UAAP season, if you ain’t busy eating the dust,” he smirks and I lower my head, uncomfortable with the attention. “Incidentally, this is his first attendance, so why don’t we show him what a house party is?”

Pancho shoves me away and I find myself surrounded by the other guys, eager to talk and show me around, Jerome being one of them. He opens his mouth to say something but ends up retching, and almost immediately the floor around him clears with a good five-feet radius, leaving only him and me inside the space. When he retches again, only then do I realize the urgent need to leave to avoid the contents of his gut hanging all over me.

A rough hand pulls me back just in time, giving Jerome the chance to run to the nearest sink – or toilet, or maybe trash bin.

“You gotta be quick around here, dude, otherwise you’ll be going home the next minute – wasted, dirtied, beaten up, or lucky,” the guy who saved me winks. He looks oddly familiar, though I cannot quite put my finger on where we’ve met. “Vince, by the way. We have a class together.”

“I thought you looked familiar. History?”

“That is correct, my padawan. Now, how about I give you a short introduction to House Party 101?” He has an easy air about him. His smile is congenial, the look in his eyes open and eager, nothing screaming malevolent, but I’ve been duped into these kinds of situations for far more than I can count, only to end up humiliated and left behind so, I decline.

“It’s cool. Just holler if you need anything. Pool’s over there, you’ve been to the kitchen. The second floor is off-limits, but there are two ‘make-out rooms’ that way, though making out is hardly the only activity happening there,” he gives me a sly grin, raising both eyebrows a few times.

“Oh, and the toilet’s right that way, too. And there’s another under the stairs, right behind that door where that i***t Jerome is vomiting,” he sighs, annoyed, a bored look replacing the smirk as he shakes his head lightly.

“Someone has to clean that up,” a partygoer chimes in as he hands each of us a bottle of beer. “Cheers!”

Vince chuckles, agreeing. “Yup, but that someone ain’t gonna be me. Bottoms up!”

They tip their bottles while I watch as they drain their beers. Vince sees me out of the corner of his eye and lifts my beer to my lips, tipping the bottle forcing me to drink with them, not letting go until I’ve consumed the last drop.

Wearing a triumphant grin, he drags me out to the backyard where there are more people, more lights, more skin showing especially by the pool area, and a whole new level of noise assaults my ears as we pass by one of the speakers.

“Welcome to House Party 101,” Vince says. I stand unmoving beside the backlit mobile bar, taking the awesome yet chaotic scene in front of me.

Have I really missed more than half of my college life hiding away every weekend? I wonder as I accept a glass of clear liquid with ice and a mint leaf garnish from a girl in a hot pink top.

“Enjoy, hotshot,” she winks and turns to leave.

The corner of Vince’s lips curls as he shakes his head. “Just your first night and you get hot looks from Camille and now a drink from Tracy. You lucky bastard!”

“They’re just being nice,” I say, feeling the heat rush to my ears, swirling the drink in my hand, focusing on the leaf drowning in the alcohol.

“You’re too modest, man,” he laughs. “That’s no way to act in these things, otherwise you’ll end up going home empty-handed.”

“I didn’t come here for anything,” I tell him before sipping on the cocktail. I shut my eyes as I welcome the familiar burn down my throat. The mint and sugar offered little reprieve though it helped mask the strong vodka taste.

“That’s what they all say. Anyway, don’t let me cramp your style. Go, my fledgling, mingle. Just a tip though, be sure you don’t take a lot of drinks from strangers. I mean, sure, you’re a six-foot-something ballplayer, but I can’t guarantee that people don’t drug drinks here. I’d hate to see you passed out naked in one of the rooms.” With that, Vince nods and leaves me speechless, wondering if I should regurgitate the drink I just swallowed.

“Thanks for the early warning,” I say under my breath. What an asshole.

Two hours and a spinning head later, I finally see Ace holding back a rabid-looking Jaxx who is kicking a guy on the floor, knuckles on his left hand bloody. Jaxx breaks free, jumping on the guy and starting another pounding spree. Ace struggles to break them apart, just as I struggle to make my way to them, cursing Seb for not being around, when a body crashes into me, almost making both of us fall.

The alarm for my friends outweighs the concern for whoever the drunk girl is in my arms. Without so much as a glance, I look back to the fight to see a group of guys helping Jaxx’s fallen opponent, Seb already standing between Jaxx and the gang, and Ace barely restricting Jaxx in a bear hug. Even if Ace and Seb worked out, it seems it would take more than them to control an underground fight club champion on a rampage.

Once I’m certain that drunk girl is steady on her feet, I take a step towards the Jaxx but she takes a step in the same direction. We both take a step back and repeat the same misstep, still standing in each other’s paths. My annoyance, however, is short-lived when I see the fear in her clear light brown eyes and realize that she is nowhere near drunk.

“Camille?”

Instead of looking at me, her head snaps to her back before stepping forward, trying to push past my chest. In her panic, she doesn’t acknowledge or recognize me.

“f**k, I’m sorry. Excuse me.” She sidesteps, brushing past my shoulder and quickly disappearing into the crowd. Half of me wanted to follow her, to make sure she is alright, to offer help, but the moment I move towards her, Seb’s curses ring like a battle cry calling for back-up.

“Goddammit, Jaxx! What the f**k is wrong with you? Don’t you f*****g hit me, you bloody bastard!”

“If you don’t let go of me, I will make f*****g sure you’ll end up a bloody bastard!” Jaxx growls before his eyes focus back on the half-conscious, dark-haired guy who is being carried away. His left arm flies out of Ace’s grasp.

“f**k you, Diaz! I will f*****g kill you!” Jaxx threatens, his index finger c****d like a loaded gun and pointed at Diaz.

“What on earth is going on?” I ask, grabbing Jaxx’s left arm and pinning it behind him, preventing him from throwing a punch at Seb’s face.

“You should know better than to stop me, A,” he says, gray eyes bulging like the veins on his neck.

“Jaxx, stop butting your ass against my c**k. You’re hurting me, man!” Ace cries and we all freeze. Jaxx slowly turns his head back, disgust slowly replacing the fury that once marred it. Looking at his back pocket, an unopened bottle of beer is sticking out, mouth pointing between Ace’s thighs.

“You are f*****g gross, Ace,” he says.

“You had a weapon yet you hit him with your hand? Stupid caveman.” Ace sighs and leans forward, resting his hands on his slightly bended knees, before cupping his crotch, scowling. “f**k, I was this close to taking that chick from UP home. Now I need some f*****g ice for my poor cock.”

Looking from a grimacing Ace to Seb who is stifling a laugh, I am torn as to how to feel. I want to laugh with Seb – I don’t care for Ace’s privates – but I could not do it with the way Jaxx is glaring at me.

“Cara,” he says, snapping out of his anger-induced haze, and jogging away, neck craned, eyes darting, searching. The two follow Jaxx out the door leading to the backyard. Once again, I am torn about whether to follow them or to search for Camille and make sure she is safe.

Would it make me a bad friend if I didn’t go see how Cara was? Would I sleep more soundly if I checked on Camille first? She seemed afraid of something, or someone, and it seems no one is there to protect her. Would Cara hate me, though? What would the guys think of me if I didn’t follow them?

Vince’s warning rings in my head. I can’t guarantee that people don’t drug drinks here. I’d hate to see you passed out naked in one of the rooms.

Cara is safe now. But is Camille?

To hell with what other people think, Aiden, I convince myself and stepped the other way before the little voice in my head could change my mind.