Chapter 3: Fall Into these Arms
Julien came down the stairs and out into the evening air. He realized how humid it was for an August night and regretted his shirt choice. But no matter, it was time to leave.
He saw Stevie's car parked illegally in a fire zone, who was waving him over before he got caught. Julien jogged across the vacant street and got in on the passenger side.
Stevie took off before Julien could even close his door all the way.
"So how goes it, man?" Stevie made a left at the stoplight.
Stevie was pale and had long blonde hair that he had grown into dreads. Julien considered him to be one of the few people to pull it off, as it suited his personality. He covered it with a red, green, and gold beanie. He also had a septum piercing, which Julien did not like. He wondered what would happen when Stevie got a runny nose.
Julien shrugged. "Oh, you know, the usual."
Stevie nodded. He accidently slammed on the brakes when a light turned yellow, and cursed. He took a deep breath, gathering his zen, as he called it. "…Namaste. Anyways, sorry, bro. Can't get another ticket! How's, um…"
"Mort and Maurice?" Julien adjusted his seatbelt after it had practically crushed his chest.
"Yeah." Stevie smiled languidly. "The chill man and the little dude."
"Mort has been so annoying." Julien told his friend as he rolled his eyes. "Maurice can barely keep up! Today, he jumped into the fish tank and Maurice was having to scrub him for an hour to get rid of that gross fishy smell."
"Maybe you could, you know, help out or something." Stevie suggested.
Julien shifted. He didn't do things like that. Someone had always taken care of things for him.
"Yo, we're here!" Stevie turned onto Fifth Avenue.
Julien gasped. He could instantly tell which mansion the party was at. There were multicolored lights that speckled the façade of the building, and dozens of people were hanging out on the stoop. He could already hear the music pulsating. Cars were jammed everywhere. Luckily, Stevie's car was small, so it wasn't a hassle to find a spot.
They got out of the car and stepped into the street, just looking at the mansion for a minute.
"This is going to be wicked." Stevie nodded in approval.
"Well come on, the party is not happening in the street!" Julien waltzed up to the stoop.
He smiled suavely at the girls that sat there. They giggled and waggled their fingers at him. Julien opened up the door. He was awestruck. The foyer was gorgeous and expansive, and there was a grand staircase just barely off to the side. Stevie was right behind him. He looked to the left, where a big living room was. It was kind of dark in there, and there were some people sitting and laying on the couches. They looked pretty zoned out.
"Well, there's my crowd." Stevie sort of saluted Julien and went off to the living room.
Julien just stood in the foyer for a moment. There was nobody in there, as they were occupying other rooms of the house. He wasn't quite sure where to go, as he didn't know anybody. He was almost going to join Stevie, when he glanced in the kitchen down the hall. There were a lot of people in there, and it looked like they were having fun. Julien began to walk down the hall, and saw that the opening to the kitchen looked much bigger than from the foyer.
The first thing he saw was a guy his age laying on his back on the countertop, pouring two beers into his mouth. People were cheering him on. Everyone, except, for the girl that was quickly approaching him.
She was an absolute vision.
Julien's eyes widened and he stepped to the side, so he could still see into the kitchen unnoticed.
She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was perhaps a year or two younger than he was. She was wearing black flats, dark skinny jeans, and an olive tank top. Her long, wavy dark hair was being held back by a black bandana. She was also wearing what Julien considered to be a very pretty scowl on her face. Her bright green eyes were glued to the boy on the counter.
The boy finished up his beers and tossed the bottles aside. He suddenly stood up uneasily on the countertop, and everyone laughed and cheered, but the girl only rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
Someone threw a pirate hat at him and he somehow caught it, and put it on his head.
"Three cheers for…For Captain Jack Starling!" He shouted, holding his hands up.
Julien chuckled. This guy seemed funny. However, he was not too sure how he felt about the beautiful girl's concern in him. He stepped into the kitchen to join the small crowd.
"Jack," he heard the girl say, "Jack, we should go."
Jack, who had hazel blue eyes, Julien could now see, looked down blearily at the girl. "Isobel, but we can't just leave the party!" he gestured clumsily to the people around him.
He had a British accent, but it was currently a little slurred.
"This isn't a party, Jack." The girl, Isobel, sighed. "Everyone here just wants to see you act like a fool. And father will be angry if you show up at home like this."
"Ooh, she's worried about her father!" A few girls in the crowd mocked her.
Isobel ignored them, but Jack narrowed his eyes in their general direction. "Hey, lay off, she's my sister!"
Sister! Julien was relieved.
"Please, Jack." Isobel stepped a little closer and looked up at her brother. "He won't be home for a few more hours. If we leave now he won't even know."
Jack looked down at her, swayed for a moment, and then crashed off the side of the counter.
