Rockin' Romeo and Jammin' Juliet

Choke Me, Daddy

Chapter 38: Choke Me, Daddy
((Playlist: Dance Hall Drug by Boys Like Girls))

An hour later, they all met back at the Hussy. Lys was holding Jonah's hands and dancing around in the parking lot; Jonah, surprisingly, did not look uncomfortable for once. Dave was shoving cookies and a slice of cheesecake in his mouth while Evan was leaning against the car, casually holding a wad of napkins to his bloody face. Mikayla was on Maksim's back, piggy back ride style. Lilith had her arms crossed, grinning to herself and looking fierce. Sophie was holding Jackson's hand and swinging it around happily.

Jackson twirled his keys around on his finger. "Where to next?"

Maksim put Mikayla down and put his hand up excitedly. "My house! We can have an after-party!"

Lys raised her eyebrow in surprise. "You're allowed to?"

He nodded, smiling widely. "Yes! My host family said they're going out tonight, and that I could have a party! They want me to experience the true American culture of a house party!"

Jackson pointed his finger in the air. "To Maksim's house we go! But you'll have to tell me how to get there."

They all piled in (Dave jumped into the trunk once again) and they drove off. When they reached Maksim's host family's house, they were greeted by a fluffy cat and a note on the table that read, 'Hi Maksim! We got some snacks and drinks for you and your friends. We'll be back late tonight. Izpriecājies!"

Evan opened the freezer and put a bag of peas on his face. "Ah, that's better."

Lys and Mikayla began to raid the kitchen. "Damn, dude, your host family bought a lot of food."

Dave poked his head into the living room. "There's an X-Box and a Wii in here?! Your host family is lit!"

"Uh, thanks?" Maksim picked up the fluffy cat, which Lys immediately took out of his hands and began to cuddle.

Jackson and Sophie leaned against the counter while Dave set up the Wii, Maksim and Mikayla set out the snacks, and Lilith found a speaker and played rock music. Evan got his face cleaned up, but kept the frozen peas on his bruised eye. He slid next to Lilith and pointed to his face. "I look like such a badass."

"You look like you got your ass handed to you," she replied without looking at him.

"Nah." He waved his hand in denial. "I look cool. Like that guy from Fight Club."

Sophie munched on a chip. "It's okay, Evan, we still love you even if you're bad at fist-fighting."

"See? Someone appreciates my chivalry." Evan wrinkled his nose at Lilith. She just rolled her eyes and cranked the music up.

Jackson and Dave started up Super Smash Bros on the Wii. Lys sat down to watch, still lovingly snuggling the cat. Jonah sat down next to her with a plate of vegetables and dip. He was the only one eating them, as everyone else showed much more interest in the bag of Doritos and the pizza bites that Mikayla and Maksim were working on putting in the oven.

By the time Mikayla came and flopped down on the couch next to Sophie, round one of Smash Bros had already begun.

"Dave, this is the worst idea ever. We're NEVER going to finish this!"

"Who are you kidding, it's a marvelous idea!"

They partook in an eight-player smash - which meant all of them sans Maksim, who was still in the kitchen - where each person had ninety nine lives. Each of them were Jigglypuff.

"I- fuckin'- hate- Jiggly- puff-" Lys chanted as her Jigglypuff bounced on top of Evan's Jigglypuff. Off to the side, Sophie kept putting hers to sleep as she button mashed, and Dave kept accidentally running off the edge of the battlefield. Mikayla just kept jumping around, clearly with no idea of what she was doing.

Maksim came in and sat down next her her with a glass of what looked like ginger ale. "Who's winning, babe?" he asked, kissing her on the forehead.

"Lilith," Jackson said, clearly frustrated. Sophie poked him in the ribs, amused.

Lilith didn't even remove her eyes from the screen. "I love Jigglypuff," she deadpanned.

Forty five minutes and half a pan of pizza bites later, they were still heatedly pitting their Jigglypuff skills against each other. Maksim downed his fourth glass of ginger ale. "How long is this going to take?"

"As long as it takes for me to eat your souls." Lilith countered, bumping Evan's Jigglypuff off of the platform.

Mikayla handed her controller to Maksim. "Want to take over for a bit, babe?"

"Uhh, sure," he handed Mikayla his drink, "I'm not very good at this though."

"You don't have to be, we're all Jigglypuff. Nobody is good as Jigglypuff," Jackson said. Of the couples, he and Sophie appeared to be the second-most disgusting. He and Sophie sat snuggled up on the couch, and he had one arm around Sophie's waist as Sophie leaned into his shoulder.

The first most disgusting couple, of course, was Lys and the cat. She had not let that fluffball go the entirety of the night, and she probably didn't plan on it. At least Jonah didn't seem to mind. He and Lilith were neck and neck for the lead, surprisingly.

Mikayla - a member of the third most disgusting couple - took a sip of Maksim's drink. "Maksim, what kind of drink is this?"

"I don't know, some kind of American soda?" His words sort of slurred together.

She put a hand on his face. "Are you drunk?"

"Drunk?" He scowled. "No, no, drinking age in Latvia is 18. I'm drinking soda."

Dave took the drink out of Mikayla's hands and took a swig. He nodded, voice lilting upward. "I'm pretty sure this isn't soda."

Evan's eyes lit up. "Ooh, let me have a sip." When the glass got to him, he nodded approvingly. "Ahh, that's champagne. Cocaine. Gasoline. And most things in between-"

Lilith scowled at him as she power-kicked Jonah's Jigglypuff off of the platform. "Get out of here, Brendon Urie. No one asked."

Evan shoved his controller into Dave's hands. "Play for me, I'm getting that champagne."

"It's not champagne!" Maksim insisted, though his words were obviously slurring. "And drinking age here is 21. That's illegal."

"You're already drunk, my dude," Evan shrugged, grabbing the half-empty bottle. "Besides, this is part of the classic American teenager experience. Almost all teenagers here drink underage."

"But-"

"Shhh." Evan pressed a finger to Maksim's lips. "Don't speak. Just let it happen." Evan took a swig. "Besides, I got beat up tonight. I need a drink."

"Champagne me, Evan!" Lilith called as she punched two other Jigglypuffs off the platform.

"Me too!" Jackson accidentally launched his Jigglypuff off into space.

Evan grabbed a bunch of plastic cups off the counter. "Alright, everyone gets some." He passed the cups of champagne around.

Sophie gave it a sniff and took a tentative sip. The bubbles shocked her, and she itched her nose. "Woah. I've never had alcohol before."

Lilith snorted. "You're joking."

"Nope." She took another sip as she mashed buttons randomly.

Lilith threw her champagne back in one gulp like she was doing a shot. "You're so innocent it's ridiculous."

Jackson smiled at Sophie. "I think it's cute."

Lys wrinkled her nose. "You guys are gross. It's illegal."

Two hours later, they finally finished the round of Super Smash Bros. By that point, everyone except Lilith and Dave had quit playing and were off doing other things. Mikayla and Maksim had vanished and were presumably making out; Sophie and Jackson were cuddling on the couch; Lys and Jonah were playing with the cat; and Evan was taking pictures of his bruised face.

When Maksim's host family got home, everyone got their stuff together and piled back into the Hussy to go home.