When Worlds Collide

Chapter 7

"Vera, this is a bad idea" I hissed. My blood pressure was on an exponential rise, and I was pretty sure I was close to throwing up.

"Relax, Ivan. You'll be fine. Stay close to me and for the love of God don't consume anything. I don't care what form it's in or who is giving it to you," Vera spoke over her shoulder to me as she strode up to the house moments away from vibrating right off of its foundation. Some teenagers were strewn around the front lawn, litter scattered around their feet of red solo cups and empty beer cans. The entire house was illuminated, silhouettes of people dancing back in forth in front of the windows, perfectly visible against the dark night sky.

"Can't we just play Monopoly? Jenga? I don't know- anything other than this!" I protested, jogging a bit to catch up with Vera, who now had her hand on the front door.

She sighed, cocking her head to the side. "Ivan, I think this will be good for you in a way. You seemed perfectly fine with the idea back at the house, but I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to. Since we walked all the way here, shouldn't you at least give it a shot?"

I let out a defeated sigh. This is what teenagers did, right? They go out and party and make bad decisions at three in the morning. This is where the culture is at. I had a pair of perfectly good legs I could always bolt the second things got too dangerous.

"I am going to go through her shit though," Vera added shortly.

"Vera!"

I should have known there was an ulterior motive behind going to this party. After all, this was the party of the same girl who played the lead role in Vera's violent fantasies earlier on in the night. I began to protest to Vera once again, but she was done discussing it. Vera had barged through the front door and plunged into the mass of sweaty bodies. I cringed, and went in after her anyway.

This girl had a nice house. It was large, and looked like it was impeccably clean before this party had happened. I winced seeing my dirty shoes on the white carpet, just a few steps away from a puddle of spilled beer. Vera immediately made a break for Chloe's room, and I saw her shove past a couple making out by the stair landing, before ascending the stairs and disappearing down the upstairs hallway. I assumed this was my signal to stay down here and keep watch. Rubbing my arm nervously, I lingered near the wall by the kitchen, watching as some girl was laying on the kitchen counter as another guy poured some kind of liquor on her stomach and proceeded to lick it off as the people around them cheered. Vera really needed to hurry, my skin was starting to crawl.

Eventually, I decided it was a better idea to stare down at the floor instead of looking around, in hopes that I could ward off my panic better if I wasn't being bombarded with the reality that I was actually at a high school party. My plan was working fairly well too, that is, before another pair of shoes encroached into my line of sight.

"Hey, wallflower. Start partying or stop taking up space in the house," the voice huffed in irritation.

Startled, I looked up to see a guy in front of me with his arms crossed. His eyes looked bored, if not a little unfocused due to the alcohol he was undoubtedly consuming just moments prior.

"O-oh uh- Sorry. I'm just- waiting for a friend." I knew my voice was shaking with nerves, wide eyes screaming scared and vulnerable.

"Here dude, on the house. You look like you're gonna shit yourself," the guy chuckled and extended his hand towards me. He was holding a red solo cup filled with a clear liquid, pushing it towards me in offering. I took the cup from his hand, mumbling a pathetic 'thank you'. I had no intention of drinking it, Vera's previous words were ringing through my head; I figured that by taking the drink the guy would finally leave me alone- only, he didn't.