Neighbors at Night

5. Rafael

Zach told me the party would start at nine, so I showed up thirty minutes prior because I'd be a total dick if I arrived any later. Little did I know that the actual party didn't start until ten and he lied so we'd all help him set up. 

I'd been annoyed at first, realizing I could've had an extra hour to pregame, only for Zach to quite literally shove a beer into my face only fifteen minutes after I'd gotten there. 

I laughed, pushing him away as I grabbed the can from his hand. "You're lucky I like you," I told him as I popped the tab. 

I wouldn't usually pregame before a party but, since it was Zach's party, it was practically crucial. Every drink would be gone within the first hour (no matter how many we bought), so if people didn't pregame or bring their own, then they were screwed. 

I downed the entire drink in one go, sighing as I threw away the now empty can. 

"You've got to be joking," I turned to Kaden as he spoke, resisting a laugh when I noticed his expression. "You haven't even started?" 

"We still have more than an entire hour to get stuff done," Zach argued as he handed him a can. 

"I got the stuff out of the cellar," I contributed after seeing Kaden's eye roll. "All we have to do now is set up the tables and put everything on them." 

Zach's house was probably the largest of the group (followed by Ben's at a close second) and he even had a giant cellar you could get into through a hatch on the side of the house. His parents and the workers rarely went in there so it was the best place to store all the party stuff. 

The first few parties he threw we actually decorated the place, trying to make it relatively pleasing to the eye, so there was some small house decorations in there too. But after the table covers were quite literally ripped to pieces for the third time, we decided it wasn't worth it. 

Now we just used the foldable tables and the alcohol in there, which I'd brought outside roughly ten minutes ago. 

"See," Zach deliberately pointed at me, "It won't even take that long." 

Kaden glared at him, "You're just proving my point." 

"And what point is that?" 

"That you could've done this completely by yourself."

"Ladies, ladies," a new voice sounded from the beside us and I turned to see Theo walking into the backyard with a smirk. "¡Dejen de pelear!"

Zach sighed, resting both hands on his hips as he looked between the three of us. "Ben here?" 

We all looked around at that, somehow expecting said guy to come out of nowhere. Then again, he was sort of known for doing that. 

Theo laughed unexpectedly, "Probably still with Kai somewhere." 

Ben and Malachi were constantly meeting up to go off and do god even knows what, despite the fact that they were probably both the most introverted ones in the group. So I wasn't surprised in the slightest to hear that they were hanging out now; it probably would've been more shocking to hear that they weren't. 

Zach shook his head, although he had a small smile on his face. "Yeah, I thought so." 

"Whatever," Kaden interrupted with a gesture towards the yard, "Let's just get this over with." 

~~~

It was about three hours later when Ben and Malachi finally arrived. I was sitting on the patio, drinking what was probably my tenth beer of the night, when I noticed two guys slinking through the back entrance in dark clothing.