Citrus

C2: Are you this fun at other parties?

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The heat coming off the shoving bodies was enough to make me avoid the crowd. I pushed past multiple people towards the staircase, that Rylnn had put multiple chairs in front of. It was a silent "no entry" but I climbed over them, careful to keep from falling, which was a miracle in itself.

There was an immediate temperature difference, which had me pulling my collar away from my neck to feel the cool air upstairs. The marble steps were dim and my footsteps echoed loudly as I walked down the hallway. I quickly headed down the hall to where I know Rylnn's room is, passing multiple doors. The door to Rylnn's room, covered in stickers from when she was younger was wide open. I flip on the nearby lamp and the room illuminates. I do a mini double take when I see her room in full light. It looks like her closet threw up on her floors.

I try stepping around the piles, shaking my head because this happens every time Rylnn get ready. That's why I told her if she ever wants to raid my closet, she would do it under my supervision. MY thoughts are interrupted when I stop when I see a familiar red fabric lying on her bed. "That is mine." I mutter to myself before softly laughing.

I decide to let her keep my bodysuit so I can claim a favor in return. I walk into her closet and grab the green box that she hides beneath a pile of coats. After all the times I visited Rylnn's I knew what this box looked like and where it was hidden from memory. It has three bottles in it, one looking a little too deadly to be a regular drink. I avoid that bottle, I grab the green bottle with a fancy label in Italian.

Without delay, I turn the lights off and I quickly start making my way back into the hallway, shutting the door behind me. I start to turn to go back downstairs, when I notice that further down the hallway a door is slightly cracked and light is leaking out of it. My curiosity gets the better of me. My mom had invented a little rhyme when I was younger because of how curious I was, "Wren my little bubble, always getting into trouble."

I know that this door is normally shut, especially during parties. I walk towards the door, my curiosity slightly peaked. I push it slightly and find nobody in the room. I go to turn off the lights as my eyes catch what the room has inside. My lips part as I see all the musical instruments in the room.

There are plenty of guitars, hanging on the walls, along with photos of multiple rock band members and famous celebrities. There's a piano in the corner and two couches in the room. Off to the side, looks like another room with multiple dials and buttons. It's like heaven for music lover.

It looks like a recording studio a little bit and I stare in amazement. I knew Rylnn's father was a big fan of music, going out of his way to meet multiple bands. Rylnn has even told me that famous people have visited her house before but I never knew that Rylnn and her father had a room for pure music.

I can't stop myself as I walk further into the room, instead of doing what a non-snoopy friend would do and leaving. The bottle made a soft thud when I set it down against the table. I tell myself a quick look will satisfy me. It should only take ten seconds until I see a single electric guitar sitting by one of the tables. Immediately, I go to touch it.

It probably costs more than I could ever think about repaying if I somehow broke it. Breathing on it probably costs five dollars but I lightly drag my fingers down the tuning pegs. I bite my lip before lifting the guitar from its stand. I might as well go all out, I think as I sit down on the couch.

The body of the guitar is smooth, glossy, and bright red. My fingers trail lightly on the taunt strings. It made a distant ring, sweetly. I continue to strum, not having a song in mind. I've always wanted to learn guitar or any instrument, but I was terrible at it. No matter how much my father spent on lessons for anything, it never stuck with me. I was missing a music bone but it never stopped me from picking up an instrument. Or loving the talent that went behind it.

I strum some more and throw my fingers in a few random places. It sounded, but it was less pure than before, like it was missing something. I turned the guitar's face towards me, wondering what happened to make the sound change from sounding somewhat good to awkward in an instant. I sigh loudly at the guitar as if it's the guitar's fault I can't play it. I try push my fingers down harder, thinking that I wasn't pressing hard enough when the note still sounded mangled.

"If you want to play an F chord, you're on the wrong fret." My hand, which had been strumming lightly, spasms down the strings. A mangled sound comes out the instrument when my head whips up to meet who said that. Leaning on the once empty doorway was a tall boy. He had a empty cup in his hand. The arm swinging as if the wind was blowing. He wore black slacks and a white shirt. The sleeves were haphazardly pushed up to his elbows with a loose tie drooping on his neck. He was a kind of lanky with slight muscles lingering on him. His jaw was sharp, carved from non malleable marble. He had shockingly dark freckles against his tanned skin. His brown hair brushed the collar of his shirt.

He nodded towards my lap where the guitar rested, dangling in my loose grasp. The nod threw him off balance and he stumbled into the room. "You have to add your pinky."

Taking in his appearance, I was surprised to know I didn't know him. I had never seen him actually. In a small town like Samston, everyone knew each other. So I knew he wasn't from around here. He couldn't be from the little town of Ferning a few miles away, because I knew all the residents as well. Not as well, but I knew their faces. In this town, it was unlikely to meet new people, let alone have new people drive out to the middle of nowhere North Carolina.

"Oh," I say, unexpectedly embarrassed, "I'm not playing." I put the guitar back into its stand. I prepared to make my escape from the room when he leans on the table with the bottle on it.

"Why not?" He crossed his arms. I stared at him, my attention going from the rocking bottle to him. He seems slightly buzzed, but not enough to worry about him losing his stomach anytime soon.

"I'm at a party." I say slowly, as if it was a new development. If we both were silent enough, we could hear the music still blasting from the stereos. Hell, you could feel the vibrations. He simply shrugged his shoulders at my answer. His eyes run over the guitar on the stand. He whistles lightly at it.

"Parties have music." He quips back at me. What was I supposed to do? Perform live music.

"I don't know how." I shrug. Even though this situation seems random, I lean back in my seat. His presence didn't cause me to want to flee the room. Because I consider myself a good judge of character, I relaxed back onto the couch.

The boy squints as he looks around the room. He says, "Everyone knows how. It's music. It's ingrained into us." He sits down on the other side of the couch slowly. I would have to be blind to not see his love for the instruments hanging in the room.

"You have music." He looks straight at me for the first time. My scoff at his statement was lost when his eyes met mine. They were serious, with a strong gaze that held me prisoner. My brain turned off as I stared at him. His eyes were clear, bright and emerald. They never wavered from mine.

His stare, slightly unnerves me. It pierced me, pinning me to the cushion I sat on. We sat, looking at each other. His gaze searched my face, taking in every detail. The music from downstairs drifted in.

"What are you doing up here?" I manage to finally speak, ruining the growing atmosphere of what I didn't know. He wasn't supposed to be up here. At least I was allowed to be upstairs unlike him.

"What are you doing up here?" He tossed back at me, leaning forward. His attention still on me. I decide to choice to ignore the question like he did.

I ask him in return, "Are you going to answer my question with a question?" I raise my eyebrows at him, also leaning forward. His answering smile, was like a flash of teeth. It was full of mischief as he said, "Are you?" I snort out a laugh, covering my mouth as if I could hide my amusement before looking towards the hallway. I point to where the wine bottle sat faithfully on the table. "Grabbing a bottle."

"Why, there is so much to drink downstairs..." He trailed off as he looked into his cup. He seemed a little sad that there was no liquid was left. His eyebrows furrowing.

"Oh, I'm not drinking it. Just playing errand boy." I run my finger over the bottom of my lip. It was a habit I adapted when I was younger. I can't stop it, so whenever I'm nervous about what I'm about to say, I rub my lip as if to find the words. His eyes track the movement, his face suddenly becoming stone. He quickly brings his eyes back to mine. Something passes through them before he smiles again.

"Oh but it's so much fun," he slightly slurs. He tips his head back and rests it there before it lolls back forward. I huff out a laugh.

"I would drink like the people downstairs," I say to him, watching in amusement as he once again checks his empty cup, "But I want a working liver when I turn 35." He scoffs loudly, and it is quickly followed by a hiccup. Watching him isn't like watching Chris try to do things drunk. For some reason this wasn't as hard to watch.

"Who needs a liver," His voice gets higher as he jokingly says, "Are you this fun at other parties?" I laugh again. I had heard that so many times throughout high school.

"Oh yeah just ask my friends," I say lacing sarcasm through every word. "Sorry, I must not be much fun." I add, dropping my head into my hand. I watched as he sets his cup down, finally breaking eye contact with me. I deeply breathed in without his gaze paralyzing me.

"How could I not be having fun. I have the attention of a beautiful girl." He said seriously. He sits up fully. He must have scooted over while putting his cup down, because he was now closer than before. His knees brushed mine. I open my mouth but nothing comes out. Heat travels up my neck as he stares at my expression, a smug smile wiggling onto his face.

"Oh," He tilts his head slightly, as if he is thinking, " Have I made you nervous?" He asks. His hand pulls at the loose tie, completely unraveling it from his neck. I look at the tie as I continue to rub my lip. I don't look at him as I say, "Of course not." Lying straight through my teeth. I tell myself that my flipping stomach is because I didn't eat lunch earlier today.

"Whatever you say, pretty kitty." He suddenly reaches over and grabs my headband. I feel him wiggle one of my tiger ears. I swear I get whiplash as I to look at him. He smirks at me. My jaw goes slightly slack. Weirdly, I notice he smells slightly of booze but mostly of men's deodorant. Like sandalwood or other men scents.

"I'm a tiger." I stupidly reply. It doesn't even occur to me to slap his hands away. To think that this action could be too forward. It's almost like my body gravitates towards him. His smirk only gets larger at my quiet reply.

"My mistake Tiger. Do you have claws?" He lets go of my ear and instead lightly grabs my hand, which had been toying with my lip. My breath left my body again. One part of my mind is yelling about how corny that line was and another part wants me to play along.

"Want to find out?" I say playfully but it comes off a little quiet. He rubs his thumb lightly over the back of my hand. I'm a little thrown by all this physical contact. His palm rubbed my skin slightly and I felt the rough calluses. I pulled my thoughts back, embarrassed that I noticed. I try playing it cool, but I have no idea how successful I am.

"So tempting..." He trails off as he looks down at my hand in his.

I lean back on my other hand and pointedly look him up and down. "What are you supposed to be...a clown?" I guess.

"Musician," He chuckles darkly and I feel my chest hitch at the sound. Before I can even come up with something witty to say, a loud crashing sound comes from the hallway as a voice echos off the wall. I withdraw my hand from his, scared by the sudden sound.

When another man rounds the corner and fills the doorway, I know the small barricade blocking the steps was a useless attempt. I snicker slightly at the sight of the same outfit as the boy next to me, on him, but fully assembled with a blazer over his shirt. I immediately thought he fit Rylnn's criteria. Bold, dangerous and moody.

The boy had pitch black hair that was slicked back and his brown eyes were narrowed. A lip ring was taunt against his scowling lips. His face could make a girl swoon. His friend marches over to where we are sitting. I would think that boy next to me would shrink back from the glare he was getting, but he lets a smile grace his face and yells, "Mica! Sit down, grab a drink." He gestures around as if there are drinks laying around and not instruments. His friend Mica, glares at him harder.

"I've been looking for you for thirty minutes. What the hell have you been doing, Kai?" Mica riots. It doesn't escape me that I'm just finding out his name, but have been getting cozy on the couch with him. I look towards Kai's face and decide that it fits his face.

"I've been preoccupied," Kai mentions while his eyes slide over to me. His eyes meet mine again. It was then that I realized how close our bodies. At some point, Kai hand slid his arm around the back of the couch, conveniently behind my body. Normally, I would find this move so cheesy and creepy, but when he threw a tipsy smile my way, I decided he was cute enough to let it pass.

I cleared my throat as I stood up, putting distance in between me, Kai, and whatever just happened. Mica looked at me, like this was his first time seeing me. His jaw worked back and forth and his eyebrows raised high. Then he looked back at Kai, who was frowning at where I had been sitting, "You? Preoccupied?" Mica questioned.

"None of us should really be in here." I ignore their exchange as I grab the bottle and motion towards the door. Mica looks down at Kai and huffs out a breath. "You're right." He drags Kai's arm over his shoulder while Kai protests. I have to hold in my laughter when I see his feet dragging and Mica rolling his eyes towards me.

"This is his first time getting f****d up." Mica explains to me. He smirks while reaching over to pat Kai's face, "Can't wait to see you tomorrow morning." Kai continues mumbling. He had no problem making sentences a few minutes ago I think.

I turn the lights off and shut the door behind me. I rub my arm as a silence settles. Kai's head rolls from one side to another. The short journey back downstairs is quick and amusing as I watch Mica pick Kai up in a princess hold down the stairs.

I walk through the gap in between the couches, which I'm assuming Kai made. I look back towards Mica and when I see Kai successfully on his feet again I say, "I should get going."

"Wait," Kai mumbles into his friend's shirt. He looks like he is struggling to say something and Mica mockingly pats his back. "I should record this." Kai groans some more.

"Sorry," I hold up the bottle, "I'm needed elsewhere." I start walking backwards, my gaze stuck on him no matter what. It was a weird feeling, like he might disappear. My eyes scan him one more time. Hanging limp on his friend but his eyes on me. It's endearing. It's only when my shoulder hits someone behind me that I turn around. I throw a wave over my shoulder and begin pushing my way through the crowd, no longer caring about the heat.

I shake my shoulders out, releasing tension I didn't realize was there when I arrive back at the ping pong table. Talon and Rylnn are yelling along to the song playing when they see me.

Rylnn, who obviously has had more drinks in my absence, squeals when she sees me. "Wren! Baby!" She whistles loudly, "Damn you look good." She drags out the word as she leans her head back onto Talon.

"Thanks love. What took so long?" Talon snatches the bottle out of my hand and immediately starts trying to get the cork out.

I look back towards the stairs, but people block my view. I beat down the twinge of disappointment as I turn back to them. I tell myself that, the entire encounter was strange and I should just check it up to a meeting with a drunk teenager. Before I can stop myself, I reach up and rub the same tiger ear from before. "I got distracted."

I quickly snatch my hand down before declaring, "f**k it, Talon we're spending the night. Pass me a cup."

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Thanks for reading this far!

Until next time- Jasmine