In The Dust

A/N: Not much to say. If this sucks, blame it on the fact that I wrote it at one in the morning. Enough said.

Chapter 11: My Initiation to the Real LA

"Party?" I choked on the word. I've never been a party person. The last party I went to was Miranda's quinceñera last year. And even that wasn't too big on the social rankings.

"Yeah, it'll be awesome. It's a 'welcome-to-summer' party at some rich girl's house." Great. A party… filled with rich urban kids.

"Awesome?" I seem to be asking many questions.

"You'll see for yourself, man. See, you don't go to these parties for the status," Robert put his arm around me and patted my head. "You go for the girls."

"Girls?" See what I mean? Oh, great. There we go again.

"Yeah.. you okay, dude? You seem a bit… nervous," Robert said tauntingly. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah right. It's just a stupid party." Hah. I kid even myself. Stupid party? More like judgment day.

"Good attitude, man. But after you see those girls… it won't be stupid any more." He seemed to be daydreaming for a second.

"Uh… yeah. So, can I get a ride?" He was still off in his LalaLand.

"Huh? Oh.. yeah, sure. I'll be here at eight. Be ready, or I'm leaving without you. Time is money, dude."

"Bet you learned that from Uncle T?" I teased, and he punched me lightly.

"Whatever. Bye." He walked out to his car and drove off, leaving me to unpack and to get ready to be immersed in southern California culture.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eight came by faster than I thought it would. I had hopped into the shower, put on jeans and a blue/white striped shirt, and combed my hair when Robert honked the horn. I switched off the lights and ran out to the car.

"Hey. Ready for your big night?" He seemed to be mocking me. Whatever.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said as I hopped in and braced myself for what I was getting into.

Before we got to the house I could hear the music. Loud rap music. Loads of cars were parked by the huge white house, and people were scattered around the sidewalk, drinking out of red plastic cups.

"Welcome to the dark side," said Robert, smiling and getting out of the car. We walked towards the door of the house, and without knocking, he just strutted right in.

"God, this is like a movie where the main character, who used to be wholesome and drug-free, becomes drunk and stoned and gets some random girl pregnant." I had put a whole lot of thought into that sentence, and Robert just snorted.

"Yeah, well, welcome to LA, the land of kickass parties that are just like movies." And with that, he grabbed two of the red plastic cups on the table as we walked in, and handed one to me.

"Cheers." I hesitantly lifted my glass, and took a small sip of beer. It was hard to swallow. I felt like I was about to throw up the whole time it traveled through my throat. But I couldn't blow it. This was it, my chance of actually being cool somewhere. I took another big gulp and tried to look like I was enjoying it.

Robert took me around the house, introducing me to people he had met before. They all seemed pretty much drunk. I nodded to all of them, and they waved with their limp hands, and started to laugh and hurry back to the keg. We kept on walking around the huge living room, but all I saw was a lot of shirtless guys drinking and smoking.

"Uh, dude?" I had to literally punch Robert in the arm to get his attention.

"Man, learn when to be patient! I was in a middle of a conversation with… uh, what's your name again?" He looked at the guy next to him, who looked partially sober, and the guy mumbled something that sounded like "Chuck" or "duck". I'm going with the first one.

"Yeah, well, it was nice to meet you, Chuck, but I gotta talk to Robert." Wow. I had suddenly become forceful. I was liking this place.

"Yo, what's up?" Robert sounded like a rapper. Yet, he was one of the whitest guys I've ever met, aside from all the Hillridge kids.

"You said there were girls here? Where are they?" Hey, I was starting to get drunk too. I wanted to get my mind off of Lizzie, and that meant meeting someone new.

Robert led me out to the pool and said, "Check it out. It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet, except you don't eat them." Yeah, he was wasted.

"Alright then. You wanna help me out? Introduce me to some of your friends?"

"Sure. Come on." We walked along the pool and I scoped out many girls in bikinis. Much to my dismay, none of them were alluring to me. Strangely enough, they all made me want Lizzie more.

"Gordo, this is my good friend Ashley. Ashley, this is Gordo." I wasn't really paying attention to Robert or Ashley. I was too busy thinking about what a pathetic loser I was.

"Yeah, hi." My tone of voice couldn't sound more interested. I guess that's a big turn-on, because she walked away after raising her eyebrows and flipping her hair.

"Anyone else?" I knew there had to be at least one person that I would find attractive at this party.

"Want to meet the hostess herself? She's into movies."

"I'm into movies." I might be into her.

"I think I knew that. Come on now." He led me over to a girl with light brown hair, a little more on the shorter side. Her eyes were strikingly green and beautiful. Her skin glowed when she smiled with her perfectly straight, sparkling white teeth. Let's just say, she was beautiful. And I had fallen right from the start.

"Hey Lindsay, this is my good friend Gordo. Gordo, this is Lindsay." She turned around, and smiled at me. Or at least I think she was smiling at me. She was surrounded by a whole bunch of other girls who just looked decent compared to her. I heard one whisper, "Ooh, he's cute!"

"Hi Gordo. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand and I shook it. Her hands were soft and warm in mine. I didn't want to let go.

"So.. you two are both into movies. Lindsay does a bit of acting and modeling, don't you?" Lindsay smiled sheepishly. She only glanced for a fleeting moment at Robert. Her eyes seemed to linger on mine, and I looked right back into them. I could drown in her eyes…

"And Gordo came here to work as an assistant director! So you have a lot in common, you two do. So talk. Go on." He motioned to me from behind her, and I gave him the evil stare. He went off to talk to Lindsay's friends, who giggled and whispered behind us.

"So," Lindsay came closer to me and whispered in my ear. God, that's sexy. "Wanna get away from here?" Oh my goodness, yes. Anywhere with you. It would be awesome if I could actually tell her that.

"Um, sure." She took my hand and led me outside to her BMW, and we drove off.

E/N: It's a bit on the longer side, so sorry. But another's on its way!