Falling Up

16. The Party

The old banged up car rolled up to their destination as Riley looked out of the window in the passenger's seat. There was blaring music coming from the absolutely stunning mansion in front of them with people already spilling out across the front lawn. The place was filled with laughter and a heap of students as Riley opened the door, stepping out with Kendra following.

"You ready for this?" said Kendra in a slightly louder voice as they made their way up the pathway to the front door.

"I think so," said Riley as she glanced at a couple on the lawn making out before her eyes wandered to a group of guys and girls who were laughing and drinking.

The front door was wide open and they squeezed their way past a crowd in the hallway, making their way inside, past the stunning grand staircase and straight through to the kitchen.

"Do you want a drink?" shouted Kendra over the noise as she headed towards the fridge, casually pulling out a beer.

"I'll just grab some water," said Riley as she made her way to some clean cups, stacked up on the large island bench.

Kendra leaned up against the counter, taking a swig from her bottle. "Let me guess, your brothers don't want you to drink."

"Well, I'm only eighteen, so I'm not really supposed to drink. Plus, my brothers would kill."

"It's not like your brothers weren't drinking at your age," Kendra shrugged. "But I won't push it. If you want to drink water then that's fine. If you want to drink alcohol, I'm cool with that too."

"And what about you?" Riley pointed to the beer in Kendra's hand. "Aren't you supposed to be driving us?"

"One and done. As always," she said, taking another swig of her drink.

Riley proceeded to fill her water from the water filter in the corner of the kitchen. She took one large gulp, pulling her face in slight disgust as the warm taste of tap water hit her taste buds. Not that she was fancy or anything but they could have at least put some ice in it.

They wandered through the house, past the crowds of people dancing and those lounging out on the arm chairs in the living room. She was surprised at the energy of the place as it looked like the party had been going all day.

"This way," yelled out Kendra over the music. She grabbed Riley's arm, pulling her past the pool table which contained a heated game of beer pong.

One of the guys knocked into her slightly as he jumped and screamed with his team mate, winning and becoming the victors of the game. Riley squeezed past as they both exited into the backyard.

The backyard was beyond stunning for a frat house and so was the inside, and as she stepped out onto the dark wooden deck her eyes were drawn to the turquoise water of the pool in front of her. The massive lap pool took up the full length of the house, easily accommodating the crowd which was perched on the edges or splashing in the coolness of the water.

The night was warm and it made the water even more inviting but Riley could never truly feel comfortable in any sort of bikini or swimsuit. She knew her scars would be too much on show and she longing look at the masses of people wearing bikinis and sarongs.

At that moment a large body flung over Kendra, gripping her in a large bear grip. "You made it!" screamed Zac as he stumbled a bit with Kendra in his arms.

"And you're drunk," replied Kendra, trying to get out of the death grip that Zac had on her.

"I'm not drunk. I'm just intoxicated by your beauty," Zac slurred.

"Ugh. And how many girls does that work on?"

"I only need it to work on one," he whispered into her ear.