Basement - c.t.h. a.u.

8:00PM

     Archer told me to help him greet people at the front door. It was definitely something we did not agree on. I argued with him about it for a good twenty minutes before giving in. The only reason I finally agreed was because he threatened to burn all my vinyl records. He went way too far to even think of doing that. It worked though. Good for him.

     "Let's party!" "My man Archer!" High school seniors and older kids I didn't know high-fived Archer and hollered random phrases on their way into my Dad's large house. I smiled, but none of them took notice of me. Archer seemed to receive all the attention and credit, but I wasn't surprised at all. I expected this to happen.

     Finally, as the house began to grow crowded, I slipped away from the entrance and headed to the kitchen. Teenagers in there were pulling out bottles of beer from the coolers and filling Solo cups to the brim with alcoholic drinks. I saw the bowl of Doritos that I had put on the kitchen island and grab a handful, stuffing it into my mouth one by one. No one noticed my childlike action, to my luck, and I whipped out my phone. I texted Luke, telling him to meet me in the kitchen when he arrived. Knowing Luke wouldn't be turning up until 8:30, I decided I should go to the living room to turn on the background music. Archer told me to start the upbeat playlist for the night once the house was close to being packed.

     I felt really uncomfortable in a large house full of outgoing seniors and college students. I couldn't get to the living room without being shoved around by inconsiderate teenagers. I roughly made my way through the crowd toward the speakers Michael had set up in the living room. My dad's iPad was already hooked up to the system and had a playlist ready to be shuffled. Creating that playlist was the only part of the party preparation I truly enjoyed. Archer and Michael knew what genre I liked to listen to, and they agreed it would be okay to play my music during the party. As requested by Archer, the playlist was going to last approximately seven hours, a rough estimate of how long the party would endure.

     I pressed shuffle and Green Day started to blast through the speakers. As an instant response, the crowd cheered loudly. I hid my smile, placing the iPad down near the speakers. I don't know if they liked the fact that I started up the music or if they liked Green Day. Either way, I liked their enthusiasm.

     I walked away from the ear-deafening speakers and began to return to the kitchen. Although this time, it was much harder to do so because people started dancing near the speakers, leaving hardly any room for me to pass through. I wiggled my way out of the dancing mass of people to the less crowded area and almost made it safely when someone's foot stepped in front of mine, causing me to trip.

     Luckily, a hand caught my shoulder before I could fall. "Woah, Audrey, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

     I looked up to see Calum Hood holding me up by the shoulder, the other hand holding a Solo cup. He's right  in front of me, I thought. I didn't even remember him coming through the entrance. And he remembered my name. It took a good three seconds before his question could process in my brain.

     "Oh, yeah, I'm okay. Thanks," I fixed my posture, since I was sure I looked like a flamingo. He let go of my shoulder. He's gotten more attractive since the last time we've spoken, my brain told me. He was wearing a black leather jacket and black skinny jeans. I gave him a smile, and he smiled back. Well, there goes my melting heart.

     "I saw you up by the speakers earlier. Nice song choice. This song in particular is amazing," He laughed, and I giggled along with him. The song playing was American Idiot by Green Day.

     "It's a real masterpiece with lyrical meaning, isn't it?" I joked. This increased his laughter and mine. It made my heart so happy to know I made my crush laugh. Calum's laugh was something else. The corners of his eyes crinkled and his super straight, white teeth appeared whenever he did. I also couldn't be happier to know that Calum liked the music I listened to. It only made my crush on him worse.