[ON HOLD] Mayhem| Peter Parker

three. a dip in the lake

•CHAPTER THREE•
a dip in the lake

"I CANT BELIEVE YOU dragged me to the party."

Liz's house in the suburbs is— to put it simply— big. Hazel's mom dropped Regan and Hazel off only a minute ago, but four more cars have arrived since then and spilled out a fresh pile of teenagers. Regan thinks there can't possibly be any more to come, but lo and behold another car materialises and a new horde of people tumble out.

The teenagers are scattered throughout, some stood on the grass outside of Liz's house, chatting and mingling as others run excitedly up to the front door. Regan can hear the music even from where she stands, at the foot of a ramp that leads up the driveway. It's a nice night out, but the thumping music and animated people around are giving her a bit of a headache.

"You can't? Really? I thought you'd have learned by now that you're pretty easy to budge," says Hazel nonchalantly, beginning to head up the ramp.

Regan sighs but follows. "Can we at least not stay for too long? I've already told you, I have a lot I need to get done."

Hazel waves a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. But try to have some fun, won't you? Just take this one night to relax and tomorrow you can go back to being a stressed time bomb that'll explode any day now."

"As long as I explode before the Spanish test, I can deal with that."

Hazel hums, presumably ignoring her, and looks down at the big handbag that's hanging from her forearm. The murky brown material dotted with green flowers is something Regan never thought her friend would willingly be seen in public with. But maybe she's trying to broaden her style as they near their senior year— Hazel wants to go to Parsons School of Design, so switching things up a bit might be in her favour.

Once the front door is opened, they're immediately pummelled by the loud beat of the music blasting from giant speakers all over the house. The inside is crowded, from people sitting on the couch and talking to one another, to those walking around with red plastic cups looking for their friends; Regan feels a little claustrophobic at it, but plasters a smile on when Liz comes over, grinning widely in greeting.

"Hey, guys!" she says, clutching a red cup. "Cute bag, Hazel."

"Thanks," says Hazel, shooting a furtive glance at Regan, who doesn't let it go unnoticed. For about a second, she wonders if the bag is hers and Hazel just stole it, but it's a hideous thing she's sure she would never buy. But Hazel picks up the conversation again and hastily asks, "How are you?"

"I'm great!" says Liz. "It's nice to be able to have a party and relax a little from school, you know?"

"Yeah," says Hazel, nodding, "I'm hoping Regan can do the same. God knows she needs to just take a break for once."

Regan grimaces uncomfortably, but says, "Hey, Liz, you've got a really nice house." She still can't believe the sheer size of it and cranes her head to get a glimpse of an ornate crystal chandelier dangling from above.