Don't Stop The Music

- twenty -

CHAPTER XX

- afterglow -

Esther could never get over how big CC's house was. She'd only been there twice, for the afterparty, and both times she'd only gone out of politeness, because the rest of the committee had pestered her to come. Invariably, she'd had spent her time circling the food table, refilling her cup of orange juice and accepting compliments about her set and left when CC looked drunk enough that he wouldn't yell at her if he caught her going early.

As her feet crunched in the gravel driveway, she could already hear the loud music blaring from the inside; feeling the bass throbbing beneath her shoes. It was always roughly the same crowd: pretty much everyone from Musical Theatre, some of the people who performed at the show, most of the backstage crew, and then a handful of others Esther didn't recognise, probably from the audience.

The hallway was a cacophony of light and colour. It was only a couple of days into December, but the bannisters were already wound with sparkling lengths of tinsel, draped over the tops of paintings and bookcases, and strings of fairly lights hung from the walls of the rooms, periodically fading in and out of colour, changing the room's aura from soft blues to pinks, vibrant greens and then back again.

Before she realised it, Esther found herself at the food table. Orange juice, she thought, getting a cup. Freshly squeezed, as always. Only CC would provide freshly squeezed orange juice at a house party. Where even was CC? She had half a mind to track him down and congratulate him, just so she would have something to do, but knowing him, he would be drunk by now, and he was a little wild when he was drunk.

She finished the glass. Someone told her they really loved the set. She smiled, thanked them, poured herself another one. And then, just to shake things up, she wandered into the sitting room, the one with the TV and the ceiling-to-floor shelf of jazz CDs and beanbags and a grand-ish piano in the back corner. Someone was playing a slightly messy version of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme on it; all loud chords and hands dancing across the keys, talking to someone next to them at the same time. People were slouched on the beanbags and crammed onto the sofa with drinks in their hands, watching a group of people playing Cards Against Humanity and talking very loudly and screaming with laughter. The room was bustling, the heat muggy and choking. Who even were these people?

"Esther!" someone shouted at her. An arm was flung around her shoulder, pulling her down onto the sofa. "It's great to see you! What is that, orange juice?"

"Yes?"

"What?" A look of shock passed over the girl's face, and she flung her hands up in the air. "No, no, no! Esther, this is a party. Here –" and before Esther could protest she tipped the content of her own cup into Esther's juice. "It's just a little vodka, don't worry!" she shouted, laughing. "Well, maybe a lot, but who cares, right?"

Esther looked blankly at her cup.

What the hell, Esther thought, squeezing her eyes shut and downing it. Maybe this party would be a little more tolerable if she drank it. Horrible, was her first thought, and her second, and then the sweet tang of the orange juice kicked in and she relaxed, coughing.

People moved around. Some space freed up on the sofa and she managed to get a proper seat and slumped backwards a little, trying to do that thing where she had a sort of out-of-body experience, distanced from herself, the sounds clashing against each other and against her blurring and fading into the background. It almost worked, except when whoever was doing the music put on a chart hit or some song everyone recognised, and they all burst into loud, raucous noise, belting the lyrics at the tops of their voices. Esther was thankful CC's house was so far away from everyone else's, or the neighbours would be slowly going crazy with the noise.