Don't Tell My Brother

Chapter 6 - Parties and Why They are Awful

Night had fallen, and as Lucas and Alex walked down the darkened street, there was a chill in the air. Lucas, always prepared, had brought a sweater, but Alex was absentmindedly rubbing her bare arms.

"This is sort of exciting, isn't it?" She asked, grinning wide enough to show both rows of teeth.

She'd been like this the entire walk: fizzing with nervous excitement, practically bouncing from foot to foot as they walked past endless identical houses and white picket fences guarding perfect green lawns like rows of teeth.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "What, crashing a party? It's not like we're going to stay for very long."

Unperturbed by his lack of enthusiasm, Alex pressed on. "Yeah! It's like being in a movie, you know? A big coming of age film, and this is that one big party scene where something life-changing happens."

Lucas rolled his eyes, but her enthusiasm was almost infectious. "Right. And I'm your gay best friend?"

"No, dumbass." Alex reached out to swat at his arm. "We're both the main characters. And this is either going to be the best night of our high school lives or go really wrong. It could go really wrong." She chewed on her thumbnail, eyeing the end of the street with a little more apprehension as they drew closer.

Lucas was nervous too. He'd never been to a party before. Judging by the countless teen movies Alex had bullied him into watching, they were about noise and dancing and drinking and romance. Well, there'd be no chance of any of that.

"'s a shame Mona can't come."

Alex nodded. "Yeah, stupid mathletes. Abandoning us before a crisis."

"You don't know it's going to be a crisis." Lucas said, trying to keep things practical. He could tell Alex was more nervous than she was letting on. "It'll be fine. If it's bad, we'll leave right away. We won't be staying long anyway."

They came to a halt outside the house. The gate was hanging open, and the throb of a bassline was in the air, loud enough that he could practically feel it. Figures were silhouetted against the windows, a crush of bodies dancing and talking and laughing. Their sound spilled from the house and across the lawn to where he and Alex stood, a mess of half-familiar voices.

"So," Alex said, taking deep breath, "we're doing this?"

They could run now. Go home and watch a movie and laugh about this.

"Yes." Lucas nodded, hand bread on the gate. It wasn't a big deal. Nothing would happen.

"We're going to go in there, have a great time, and get Damien Castillo to leave you alone."

Lucas privately though 'have a great time' was unlikely, but he didn't want Alex to worry. "Exactly."

Before he could change his mind, Alex grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into the house, into the party within.

***

It was louder inside. Lucas reflexively clapped his hands over his ears, but it did little to dampen the noise. There were people everywhere, draped over couches and chairs and each other, plastic cups in nearly every hand as some fast, electric beat played in the background. Lucas had no idea what to do. He wished he was back home, in the quiet, safe space of his room, working through a calculus paper.

Alex grabbed his arm. "Don't you dare leave me." She commanded, eyes scanning the room with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. Her free hand snagged an abandoned cup from a nearby table, and she sniffed it experimentally.