Lynne

Chapter 19

  It had never occurred to me that Erik was just as rich, if not more rich, than we are.

His house was more of a mansion or a palace than a home, and, once we drove only a few minutes up the road from our own home, I caught sight of the elegant, modern-style home with it's pearl white walls and giant glass windows. The main lights inside were dimmed, making the rainbow party lights shine even brighter through the windows. I could feel the bass of the speakers before we even parked. The party was already at its peak.

"This is gonna be so sick." Miku was nearly bouncing out of her drivers seat. Her and Gumi sat up front, while Meiko and I were in the back. Luka, who had stayed with our gym schedule and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it, decided to stay home.

"Why is Erik throwing one?" I asked. Behind us, Len drove with the guys.

"It probably wasn't him." Meiko adjusted the neckline of her dress in the mirror. "Someone else probably asked to 'rent' his place for a night."

"Besides," Gumi began, turning to face me in her seat. "We don't ask why. We just go."

"And this place is so cool," Miku beamed, barely paying attention to the road as she flashed glances at the party. Dark outlines of other party-goers flashed through the windows with the lights. "I love Erik's place."

Miku drove straight to the garage on the other side of the property where we entered. A man standing by the door waved us in, and the door rose to reveal Erik's impressive collection.

"Wow," I breathed out. "Guy really likes cars, huh?"

"He's a bit of a collector." Gumi pointed to a spot. "Right there! The guys can park next to us."

This was our VIP parking, I figured. Gumi pulled her seat forward to let Meiko and I out. To our right, Len pulled in to his spot.

"They've got those speakers going," the green-haired girl beamed towards the house. We exited through the open garage door, waving to the man standing outside once again.

"Yeah. We're late." Miku jumped in front of the group, a sneaky smile on her face. "Fashionably late."

We walked through the street like a unit. Gumi and Miku led us across the street, obviously the most excited.

"Rin, we're partying tonight," Gumi promised me, grabbing my wrist.

"Yeah," I replied, uncertainty in my voice. "I still haven't figured out, like, how to party quite yet."

"Look." She fell into step next to me. "I know drinking and stuff isn't your thing, but the whole point of a party is to have fun. And you can do that all you want." She shot me a proud look. "I'm not a huge... intoxication person either. But I still know how to have fun."

"Don't listen to her," Len joked from behind me. "She gets into more trouble than Luka does."

Gumi flashed him a dirty look, and then turned back to me. "I'll teach you how to party, Rinny. Tonight's gonna be awesome."

When we walked into the front doors, the hot and stuffy air hit me like a truck. The walls were shaking from the bass, people were laughing, talking, dancing, making out in corners, everything. I couldn't imagine Erik letting anyone do this with his beautiful home, but I decided not to think about it. Gumi was right. Tonight was gonna be awesome, and I was determined to have more fun than my previous celebrity party experiences.

A couple people rose their cups to us and cheered when we entered, but I didn't have much time to acknowledge them before Gumi's hold on my wrist tightened, and she pulled me sharply to the right, towards the massive living room that was being substituted as the dancefloor. The room was crazy huge, with ceilings that had to have been ten or twelve feet tall, and hardwood floors stretching throughout the entire room. It reminded me more of a throne room than a living room. All the furniture had been moved from the room, to where I didn't know, no doubt to be protected from the flood of people that occupied the house now. Down the hall, a DJ sat on a platform with his sound system spread in front of him. I had found the source of the crazy bass; two speakers stood on either side of him, each taller than me. They pulsed through the room with the beat.