head over heels | benny rodriguez, the sandlot

| chapter thirty eight |

After walking up the crystal-lined stairs, it only took one knock for the door to burst open.

Somehow the entire place was packed to the brim, and that's saying something since the house nearly stretched the whole block.

Two extremely tall and buff guys were standing in the entrance holding clipboards, each adorning a pair of goofy sunglasses.

"Hi?"

"Name?" The taller one of the two grunted out.

Diane quickly chimed in, "Oh, I'm Diane Harris, and this is Giselle Perlman, sorry we're so late."

The man began vigilantly and vigorously flipping through hundreds of sheets of paper, looking over at his colleague with furrowed brows every moment or so, before his face lit up. "Welcome on in, enjoy yourself and drinks are on the right."

We squealed in unison, "Thank you, sir!" I called out as Diane began to drag me inside.

As I said previously, the place was full, with hundreds of people filling every crack and crevice of the rooms like cattle.

"Jesus Christ, how many friends does Xavier have?"

"A lot apparently!" The girl shouted over the music as we made our way to the drink table and picked up a bottle of tequila. "Shots?"

"I dunno, seems kinda-"

"Please?" She begged, cutting me off as she latched onto my arm.

"Okay, fine, fine!" I gestured at her to release my arm, which she eventually did and I grabbed us two plastic shot glasses off a nearby counter.

Carefully pouring the liquids, I measured out one for each of us, grabbing a beer as well for a chaser.

"Welp. Bottoms up!"

We both picked up the little cups between our fingers, clicking them together before flinging our heads back and letting the alcohol trickle down our throats.

The potent taste of straight tequila made my eyes water, yet I drank every last drop as I felt my tongue sizzle, quickly taking a sip of my beer to eliminate the taste.

"Woo! That shit's strong," Diane yelped as she laughed her ass off.

"Tell me about it." I rolled my eyes, elbowing her as the taste slowly evaporated from my tastebuds.

We ended up taking one more just for safety measures when I saw someone lurking on the opposite side of the room.

"OH MY GOD," I yelled and whispered at the same time, poking at Diane's arm to get her attention. "D, look."

"What? What is it?" She asked, clearly concerned and confused based on her expression.

I gulped and let out a smirk, "Phillips!"

"Oh god Elle, I-"

"You shut it," I quickly poured her an overflowing shot of confidence, letting the substance drip down my fingers. With by ears slightly buzzing, I continued, "Just get your little ass over to that couch, or I'm dragging you over there."

"Fuck you, Giselle!" She cried through furrowed brows as we walked closer and closer. Finally, she accepted her fate and I gave her one last tiny shove of confidence.

"Good luck!" I called out across the crowd as she quickly vanished behind the mounds of teenagers.

I awkwardly glanced around at the people around me, and I could not find a single familiar face in sight. Guess it's just me, myself, and I.

So, as anyone would do alone at a party in the biggest mansion in town, I decided to explore.

After ultimately deciding I had drank enough for the rest of the night, I worked my way through several rooms, containing dozens of dining sets, antique sculptures and paintings, a couple of drunk people hooking up, some beautiful rugs, and several people passed out on the floor, I made it to a gold-plated staircase, where I made my ascent.