Facade [h.s]

two*

TWO MONTHS LATER

I'd never been a fan of parties.

I didn't dislike them, though, and went to my fair share of them, considering that I couldn't not do that with people like Joel and Indigo as best friends. They seemed to live off the high it gave them, the need to be wanted mixed with the sour taste of alcohol inhibiting their senses and bringing them to make poor decisions for the short span of a night.

I didn't like it and disliked getting drunk; the idea of losing control and saying and doing stupid things scared me. I wasn't stuck up and I enjoyed spending time with my friends in that context, but that was just something I would've never agreed with.

It wasn't a big party, just a little thing with some people Joel knew to get our mind off things, but about forty people had still managed to show up, making the house more crowded than I would've wanted it to be. It didn't feel too weird though, considering that I knew basically all of them, some from class, some because we'd been friends before going to university. Joel loved to create those small get-togethers every once in a while, he said they helped him not to lose contact with his friends, and I couldn't complain.

I was sitting on the couch, listening to Indigo quietly criticise the reckless behaviour of everyone in the room, when I let my eyes drift off to the table not too far away from me. I wondered if the plastic cup I'd left there earlier that night was still there. I would've checked personally, but my feet were hurting because I'd spent the past three hours walking around in high heels, and the couch was very comfortable.

I furrowed my eyebrows when my eyes landed on someone that was standing on the other side of the room, his ring-clad fingers artfully wrapped around a plastic cup, eyes scanning the room like a lion in search of his prey. I'd never seen him before, which puzzled me since I knew everyone there in one way or another. Despite the aching in my feet, I decided that I had to investigate the issue.

"I'll be back," I quietly told Indigo before standing up and making my way towards the mysterious boy.

He noticed me before I could reach him but stood his ground, staring at me unafraid as I approached him, a dark but humoured look in his eyes.

"I don't know you," I told him when I stopped in front of him, scrunching up my nose when I took in how tall he was.

He raised an eyebrow, making it clear that he hadn't expected me to say something like that, but didn't seem to lose his cool. "I could say the same," he replied slowly, his voice low and partly muffled by the loud sound of the music, his green irises not losing their intensity. His eyes flicked to the other side of the room for an instant, his head tilting slightly at the movement, a blink of light catching the metal of the ring in the side of his nose.

"Who are you?" I asked openly, annoyed by the assurance that seemed to be oozing off the young man in front of me at his every action.

He chuckled, pulling back a strand of his dark hair from his forehead, and I noticed he was wearing black nail polish.. "Why should I tell you?" He retorted, the same irony from before finding its way back into his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "You're in my best friend's house, I ask the questions. I know everyone here, but I have no idea of who the hell you are, so enlighten me or leave."

He couldn't be that close to Joel anyway. We'd been best friends for over ten years after all, I would've certainly known who he was if he'd been important to him.

A spark of recognition rushed through the boy's green eyes. "So, you're Joel's best friend?" He asked, pursing his lips and giving me a studious look, as if he was trying to quietly evaluate me. "I would've supposed you're his guard dog."