Chapter 5 – The Funk
Seth checked himself in the full-length mirror in his bedroom. He was wearing black jeans, an expensive black Italian blazer, and an orange and blue polo shirt. He ran a hand through his hair. He opened his mouth wide and checked his teeth. He breathed heavily on his hand and brought it up to his nose and sniffed the air. He picked up a blue bottle of colon and sprayed his neck then sniffed the air again. He took one final look in the mirror then headed out of the door. A few seconds passed until Seth reappeared to check himself in the mirror again then he exited the room again.
Ryan sat on the floor of the pool house, Playstation controller in his hand, wearing his usual white wife-beater, and scruffy jeans. He wildly pressed the buttons to which the television responded with aggressive grunts and the sweet sound of metal entering flesh. Through the window Ryan could see that darkness had fallen and guessed that any minute now Seth would appear.
Seth walked through the kitchen on his way to the pool house. Sitting on a kitchen stool and reading the paper was his father. He passed only for his father to sniff the air as he went by. Seth stopped dead in his tracks. "What? What?" He demanded frantically of his father.
His father hesitated for a moment then dismissed the thought. "Nothing."
"No, what? Too much? Too funky? Do I smell too much of funk?" Seth asked frantically.
Sandy smiled at his son's eagerness. "Big date?"
"Yeah. Well, not exactly." Seth mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Sandy asked.
"Instead of a nice romantic meal with just the two of us it'll be a large party with everyone at school." Seth said.
"You're going to a party?" Sandy asked with raised eyebrows.
"Don't freak." Seth demanded
"I'm not freaking." Sandy said quickly.
"Come on, Dad. It looks like you're freaking." Seth complained.
"What sort of party?" Sandy asked.
"I dunno. It's a party." Seth replied.
"Will there be alcohol?" Sandy asked.
"Of course not." Seth said quickly.
"Seth." Sandy said firmly.
"Almost certainly but I won't be drinking any." Seth said calmly.
"Drugs?" Sandy asked.
"You finally find your bong?" Seth asked.
"Seth!" Sandy said with a raised voice.
"No. I won't be doing any drugs either." Seth answered.
Sandy thought for a moment. "All right, you can go. But be back by twelve."
"Oh, come on..." Seth complained.
"Son, pick your battles carefully." Sandy said quietly.
"Fine." Seth pouted.
"Who's the girl?" Sandy asked with a smile.
"Summer." Seth said embarrassed.
"Ahh...Summer." Sandy said thoughtfully. "Hope you two have a lovely date."
"Yeah, well, she doesn't exactly know about the date." Seth said looking at the ground.
"What?" Sandy asked.
"I may have forgotten to mention that part to her." Seth said.
"Son, she can't say yes if you don't ask her." Sandy said with conviction.
"Thanks for that sage piece of advice, pops." Seth said with a subtle grin.
Sandy sniffed the air. "And you might want to cut back on the funk."
"I knew it!" Seth shouted before storming back up the stairs.
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There was a knock on the pool house door. That's unusual, thought Ryan. Seth doesn't normally knock. "Come in!" He shouted from the floor.
In through the doorway stepped Sandy. Ryan paused his game. "What's up?" He asked.
Sandy looked behind himself then took a seat on the edge of Ryan's bed. "At this party tonight do you mind looking out for Seth?"
"Oh." Ryan said shifting his gaze to the ground. "I'm not going."
"You're not?" Sandy asked surprised. "Why not?"
"Well, it's complicated." Ryan said with a grimace.
"Women problems, huh?" Sandy ran a hand through his hair. "If it's any consolation it doesn't get any easier. Look, I don't want to put you in an awkward situation but it would really mean a lot if you could make sure Seth was okay. He doesn't exactly get out much. A big party, alcohol, girls..."
"Yeah." Ryan said with realisation. "I can see why you'd worry."
"So, you'll go?" Sandy asked hopefully.
Ryan thought for a moment then nodded his head.
"Great. Make sure you're back by twelve. Don't drink any alcohol. And remember no matter how bad it may get with your girl at least you're not married." Sandy said with a smile.
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Inside her bedroom Marissa was trying on an outfit in front of the mirror. Luke was sitting on her bed with a bored look on his face. Marissa turned to her boyfriend.
"Luke, you really got to stop being so jealous." Marissa said.
Luke got up and walked over to his girlfriend and put his large hands around her exposed arms. "I can't help it seeing all those guys macking on you makes me so..." Luke clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and then released them. "Anyway, it's not like I can blame them." He said taking her face in his hands.
Marissa stared through her deep hazel eyes into his. "Don't you trust me?" She asked with a pout.
"I do trust you." Luke replied. "I just don't trust them."
"I suppose it's kind of sweet that you're so protective towards me." Marissa said with a smile. "You just have to promise me that you'll try harder in the future. Relationships are built on trust not suspicion."
"I promise." Luke said sincerely. "Now, are we going to this party or not?"
Marissa gave Luke a peck on the lips before heading into her closet. "Just give me a minute." After a few seconds she threw out the dress she previously had on. It landed in Luke's hand. He looked down at it and smiled.
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Seth came into the pool house sniffing his armpits. He looked around but could not see Ryan. "Hey, Ryan! I've come to convince you to go to the party. I'm not accepting no for an answer. Think about it, alcohol, dangerously loud music, girls passed out in a pool of their own vomit, there's no way you could miss out on all that."
Ryan came out of the back of the pool house in the middle of putting on a designer dark blue shirt. "I'm going."
Seth thought for a minute, looked at Ryan getting dressed, then proclaimed, "Man, I'm good."
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Summer took a gulp from the vodka and coke in her right hand. She grimaced as she swallowed. "Man, that's strong."
The teenage boy standing beside her, looked at the cup in his hand, and smiled. "I know." He said proudly.
Summer gave him an awkward look. "I have to be going over there now." She said pointing vaguely in the opposite direction.
The boy nodded then took a gulf of his drink and smiled, evidently very pleased with his handiwork. Summer raised her eyebrows and stuck out her hand. "What. Ev." She said quietly to herself.
She walked away from the kitchen tabletop covered with empty bottles of vodka, whiskey, and gin. She sidestepped the growing pile of empty coke and Pepsi bottles in the corner of the kitchen. She smiled at a couple she kind of knew from school who were making their way into the kitchen. The music was blasting out of a top of the range stereo system situated on a wooden shelf on the side of the open-plan living room that Summer had just walked too. The song that was playing was the latest bump 'n grind song from some popular black singer with funny hair and a one syllable name that she could never quite remember. There were a few couples on the make-shift dance floor in the middle of the floor but mostly people were standing around in groups with a cup in their hand. Summer walked over to one group of teenage girls. They were staring nervously at a group of teenage boys at the other end of the room. "Is he looking?" One of the bleached-blonde girls asked in desperate tone.
The two girls standing either side of her flicked their eyes in the direction of the boys' then shook their heads.
"Damn." The bleached-blonde said. "What is wrong with him? Even Michael Jackson would notice me in this skirt."
Summer casually walked up to the group. "What's up?" She asked.
The bleach-blonde sidekick closest to Summer was the first to respond. "Nikki is trying to hook up with Matt."
Summer looked across the room at the object of Nikki's desire. Matt was six foot one inch tall of all-American grade-A hunk. Summer used have a thing for him before she accidentally walked into the wrong toilets and saw him shaving his chest. She didn't care if it made him swim faster; It was just wrong!
Then Summer's mouth dropped. A boy walked up besides Matt who was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. He was everything she had ever imagined her dream boyfriend to be. "Who is that?" She managed to ask.
"That." One of the girls said nodding her head in the direction of the boy. "That's Zach."