So here's Chapter 6, finally. I'm not really sure if I editted it or not. I think I did, kind of. Anyways, I don't feel like reading it over again at the moment, so I'll read it over in a few days and if it's really bad with spelling, grammar, phrasing, etc. I'll repost it. But what happens will be essentially the same, so all my reposting would accomplish would be... well... um... never mind, I'm rambling.
Thanks a lot to those of you who commented! Hearing from you guys is hands down the best part about posting on fanfiction! :D
It was Friday. School was over.
Marlin was not going to Rock's party.
He was staying home. With Celia.
Not that he'd been invited anyways. But even then, he wouldn't have gone.
"Marlin!" Celia called, spotting him as she entered the dining room. Seeing his scattered papers, she covered her mouth, "Sorry! I didn't know you were studying."
Marlin pushed back the notes, "It's fine. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." Celia said, smiling, "I was going to ask if you wanted to see a movie? There's a few coming on now that look good. But since you're studying..."
"No, I'm not!" Marlin hurried to say. He paused and scratched the back of his head, "I mean, I'd rather watch a movie... with you"
Celia beamed, "I'll go tell Vesta! We can watch it together!"
Marlin's face fell after Celia turned away.
"I'll get the popcorn." he called out lamely.
Still, a movie with Celia and his sister was better than Rock's party.
Besides, the twins were going.
...
"So this is Rock's house?" Claire asked, regarding the two-story building.
"Yep." Karen slammed her car door and locked it, "Let's go. The party started about twenty minutes ago."
Claire raised her eyebrows, "I thought it started between ten and eleven?"
"That always means ten." Karen replied, smirking, "Rock likes to start early and end late."
Claire didn't comment, only shrugged, "Ok. Let's go in."
...
Kurt wasn't comfortable. At all.
He rarely was.
But this was worse than normal. The house, which looked big from the outside, was packed with teenagers and music. It was hot and stuffy.
Not words Kurt liked together.
But Gwen seemed pleased enough. They'd arrived awhile ago, and she was still grinning. Kurt glanced warily at the cup in her hand.
"Don't worry." she told him, catching his look, "It's pepsi. Only the punch is spiked."
That didn't make Kurt feel better in the least.
"Want some?" Gwen asked, offering him the cup, "You look really hot."
Kurt blushed, then realized what she meant, and shook his head.
Gwen shrugged, "Alright. Just let me know if you want to get some air."
"I'm fine." Kurt said.
"Sure, sure." she said dismissively, glancing around the room. Kurt did too.
He didn't see many people he knew. He spotted Rock- but everyone knew Rock. Their host was dancing with a taller brunette girl, who looked like she was having a good time.
Gwen waved at the girl, who waved back.
"Pony." she explained, when Kurt gave her a questioning look, "She's in my home-room."
Gwen was quiet a moment longer, then laid her cup on a nearby table, "Let's dance."
Kurt felt his cheeks burn, "D-dance?"
"Yeah." Gwen stretched and nodded at Pony and Rock, "If you're wondering what I mean, that's a prime example of dancing."
Kurt averted his eyes when Gwen looked at him.
"Come on!" she said, shaking his shoulder, "This is part of that loosening up I was talking about."
"I don't know..." Kurt mumbled, so low Gwen could barely hear him. Kurt had never really danced before, and he didn't want to embarrass himself.
Then again, Rock looked like he'd never danced before either. But Kurt was sure that was for another reason.
"Gwen!"
Kurt and Gwen glanced up at the voice, only to find Bob barrelling towards them.
"I didn't know you were coming." Bob said, grinning at Gwen.
"Yep." Gwen said, returning the grin, "Same to you."
"Hey there, kid." Bob said, noticing Kurt and clapping him on the shoulder, "Didn't see you there!"
Kurt bristled quietly.
"So what do you think of the party?" Bob asked, as if it were his own, Kurt thought.
Gwen shrugged, "It's pretty good. It would be better if a certain someone would dance with me."
Kurt knew this was directed at him, but apparently Bob didn't. He laughed, "I'll dance with you, Gwen!"
Gwen seemed surprised, but didn't refuse. "Sure." she said with a grin, then glancing at Kurt, "You ok with that?"
Ok with that? Why was she asking him? It wasn't like they were there together. At least, not that way...
"I wouldn't want to leave you on your own." Gwen added.
So that was it. Of course.
"It's fine." Kurt muttered.
"Alright." Gwen said, almost unsurely. He didn't know why. He was used to being on his own. Sisterly instinct?
Kurt almost gagged at his own thoughts.
Gwen and Bob left after that, disappearing somewhere into the crowd. Kurt glanced at Gwen's cup, then his phone.
It was only ten thirty.
Kurt sighed and leaned against the wall. It was going to be a long night.
...
"Tina, I'm not sure we should be doing this..."
"Shh, Tito!"
Tina had heard about the party and hadn't understood why she and Tito weren't invited. Sure, they were level ones, but what was so bad about that? Dan was the same age as her, and he was going to the party.
So Tina had decided to come and see why, exactly, they hadn't been allowed to go. She'd let her brother tag along too, but she was beginning to think that was a mistake.
"What are we going to do now?" Tito whined.
They'd gotten as far as the house without being seen. They were sitting against he wall now, outside.
Tina pressed her finger to her lips and glared at her brother, "Not so loud!"
"Can't we just go in?" Tito begged.
But Tina shook her head, "Tony and Pony are in there! If they see us it's over!"
Tito crossed his arms, muttering to himself, "What's over? We haven't done anything."
Tina let out an irritated sigh, "Fine. Let's go around the back and sneak in. We'll try to blend in with the crowd before they see us."
Still pouting, Tito made no protest as Tina started along the wall. Near the back, she paused.
"Window." she said, pointing above her at Tito's questioning look, "I'll take a peek and try to spot Tony and Pony. If we know where they are before we go in, that'll help."
Nodding his agreement, Tito stayed bent down as Tina straightened up. Going on tip-toes, she gripped the edge of the window and peeped in.
What she saw wasn't the living room and a crowd, but a bedroom and two people. Two people who, though using the bed, were very much awake.
Tina let out a startled squeak and dropped to the ground. Curling her legs up to her chest, she stared unseeingly at the grass while her face flamed.
"What's wrong?" Tito asked, frowning in confusion. Since Tina didn't reply, he stood up and stepped towards the window.
"No! Tito, don't-"
But it was too late. In seconds, Tito was hunched next to his sister, wearing a similar expression, his face the same bright red.
The twins stayed like that for a very long time.
...
Claire had lost Karen. She searched for the older girl in the crowd for awhile, but it was useless.
Shrugging and telling herself she'd find Karen later, Claire went to one of the tables piled with food and picked up a plastic cup.
Just as she was reaching for the ladle of the punch bowl, she spotted someone in the crowd. The person saw her seconds later and grinned.
"Hey Claire!" Kai said, raising his voice over the music, "I didn't know you were here!"
"Didn't know you were here either!" Claire replied.
"Just a sec," Kai said, turning away. That's when Claire realized he was dancing with someone- not a girl she knew. Kai said something to the girl, who smiled and gave him a little wave before disappearing.
"You here on your own?" Kai asked, coming over to the table.
Claire shook her head as she poured punch into her cup, "I came with Karen, but I lost her. Or she lost me, since she drove me here."
Kai shrugged, "Karen tends to... lose herself at things like this."
"She was kinda tipsy the last time I saw her," Claire said, replacing the ladle, "Don't know where she was getting the booze though."
"Actually..." Kai started, trailing off as Claire took a gulp of the punch. A moment later, and she was spluttering.
"Is this spiked?"
"Yeah..." Kai said lamely.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Claire demanded, dropping the cup on the table and wiping her mouth.
"I thought you knew..." Kai said, scratching the back of his head.
"I should have known why Karen kept coming over here." Claire muttered, not looking in the least bit pleased.
"But how could you tell?" Kai asked, brows knitted in confusion, "I can never taste the difference."
"You can't?" Claire asked, stunned, "It's so obvious."
"Not the last time I checked."
"Here." Claire said, wiping the rim of her cup and handing it to him.
With a shrug, Kai took a sip. Swallowing, he made a face.
"Somebody definitely added another bottle."
"Yeah." Claire snorted, "Or five."
Kai replaced the glass, "Rock's usually pretty diligent with his refills. I guess he just forgot to refill the punch part of the punch..."
"Maybe." Claire was doubtful.
"Kai!" a girl called from the crowd- a new girl.
Kai waved at her, then turned to Claire with an apologetic smile, "Mind if I...?"
She waved him off, "It's fine. I'll probably just stay on guard here. It's the most likely place for Karen to show up, especially now that the punch is ninety percent alcohol."
Kai laughed before disappearing with the girl into the crowd.
Claire stayed on guard for all of ten minutes before getting bored. Finding the room stuffy, she decided to get a breath of fresh air and headed outside.
On her way, she almost tripped over a girl sitting on a chair. How she managed this, Claire wasn't sure, but she quickly turned around.
"Sorry." the girl mumbled, pulling her feet in close to the chair, "I didn't mean to..."
"Nah, that was just me being clumsy." Claire told her, then giving the girl a closer look, "Hey, you're in my math class."
The girl looked startled, "Um, yes. I think I am."
Claire nodded, certain, "You are."
The girl nodded, not looking at all certain, and rather uncomfortable.
Claire raised an eyebrow at the girl, "Are you ok?"
Startled, the girl nodded, "Y-yeah. I'm fine."
"Alright." Claire shrugged, "You just look kind of..." suddenly, Claire realized it might be rude to tell this girl who she'd just spoken to for the first time that she looked nervous.
"Pale..." Claire finished lamely.
The girl was surprised, "I do?"
"It's nothing, really." Claire went on flippantly, wondering if being called 'pale' was just as offensive, "Maybe it's just the lighting? Or me. Never mind. Sorry for bothering you."
"It's fine." the girl said unsurely, staring at her hands, which were folded tightly in her lap.
About to leave, Claire paused. "What's your name?"
The girl blinked up at her in surprise, having assumed she'd left, "Oh... my name's Eve."
"I'm Claire." Claire replied, jutting a thumb at herself, "I'm new.
"Now," Claire continued, straight faced, "I'm going to be blunt with you, and I hope you don't mind, but you look like you're having a horrible time."
Though Claire had no idea if Eve minded, she looked surprised.
"I'd suggest," Claire went on, "That you go around and talk to people. Or get something to eat, or drink. Or, even, if you actually hate things like this, go home."
Eve opened her mouth to say something, but didn't appear to know what to say.
"It's just advice." Claire said, "Feel free to ignore me. Oh, but the punch is spiked. As in, the alcohol is spiked with punch. So if I were you, and I didn't drink- which I don't, by the way- I wouldn't go near it."
Having said her piece, Claire walked away, leaving Eve slightly open-mouthed.
Only after did Claire realize how forward she'd been, and how much she'd rambled.
"Shit." Claire muttered, smacking her forehead, "I'm not even drunk. I really need to get some air."
And so it was that as Claire left the house and started wandering, she stumbled upon two kids huddled on the ground in the fetal position.
Two kids she was related to.
"Tina?" Claire demanded, shocked, "Tito? What are you two doing here?"
The twins heads snapped up at nearly the same time, and both wore similar expressions of distress.
"We just wanted to see what it was like!" Tina whined. Immediately after she broke down into a white mask of shell shock, "What we saw was terrible."
"We're sorry!" Tito came close to bawling, "Please! Can we just leave?"
"Yeah." Claire said, dazed as she extracted her cell phone, "I think it would be best for all of us to leave..."
She sent Pony a text, alerting her to the problem. Several minutes later, and Pony came to a running halt beside Claire. She gawked at the twins for a minute, then her face set into a very serious, very un-Pony like face.
"We're going home." Pony said, her tone leaving no room for argument, "Now."
No one tried to argue.
...
Karen had lost Claire.
She realized this around a half hour after it actually happened. Then someone handed her another cup of punch and she forgot again.
Now, over an hour since she last saw Claire, Karen remembered once again.
"Damn it." she muttered.
"What's wrong?" her dancing partner asked.
When had she started dancing?
"I lost... something." Karen said, frowning groggily at the floor. Had the carpet always been that fuzzy? Karen bet it would feel nice to just lie down on and go to sleep...
"Was it valuable?" her dancing partner asked, sounding slightly concerned.
"Maybe..." Karen slurred. She honestly had no idea, "Maybe to somebody... or me... or not..."
She felt her partner stop moving, but the room still seemed to continue without him, "Did you want to sit down or something?"
"Karen!"
The voice shot through her skull like a bullet. She winced.
"Shit." Karen hissed, on impulse. A minute later and she couldn't remember why. A minute later and the reason was in front of her.
"Karen, what do you think you're doing?" Rick demanded, red-faced.
"Dancing..." Karen mumbled, rubbing her temples. Rick always gave her a headache... she'd told Ellie that, hadn't she? Karen laughed to herself. This time she'd have two headaches; one from Rick, and one from the punch.
"Let her go." Rick snapped at Karen's dancing partner, grabbing her arm and pulling her away.
Her partner readily released her, "Sorry man. Didn't know she was spoken for."
"Not..." Karen said, blinking hard at the fuzzy carpet as she gave Rick a weak smack on the chest, "Not my boyfriend..."
Rick wasn't offended by this and simply dragged Karen away. When they were out of the crowd he steadied her.
"You're drunk." Rick said flatly, glaring at her.
Karen laughed- the sound odd to her ears, "I'm wasted, Ricky boy."
Rick did that thing where his eyebrows scrunched together unhappily. Karen didn't like it. For whatever reason, it made him look like a chicken.
Frowning crookedly, Karen reached out and poked Rick's eyebrow.
Rick gave her a surprised look, taking a half step back as his hands flew to his forehead. Soon his scowl had returned.
"We're leaving." he snapped, grabbing for Karen's hand, which she quickly yanked away.
"No." Karen growled, "Go away."
This just fuelled Rick's anger, "Karen."
"Don't say my name like that!" Karen snapped, then with a bubbly grin, "Have fuuuuun, Rick! Relax! Have a dri-" she hiccoughed, "drink!"
"No way would I ever-"
It was then that Rock danced his way over. The guy had literally not stopped dancing the whole night, Karen was sure.
"Hey, my people!" Rock exclaimed, slinging an arm around Karen, another around Rick, and hugging them in close, "Enjoying the party? Not enjoying the party?"
"Not." Rick growled, disentangling himself, "And I'm afraid we're leaving."
Karen stuck her tongue out at Rick when he wasn't looking.
"We can't have that!" Rock exclaimed, far too loudly for Rick's liking. His expression made Karen laugh, "You at least have to dance before you leave, man! And trust me, you look like a guy who hasn't danced with the Rockster yet!"
Before Rick could say anything- and it looked like he had a few choice words to say to Rock- their host had swept him away onto the dance floor. Soon, Rick was lost in a sea of people.
Karen laughed the whole time.
Then she went outside and, upon seeing the grass, and how much fuzzier it was than the carpet, promptly toppled over and fell asleep.
...
After Claire left, Eve got to her feet.
The girl had been kind of strange, but nice over all. And she was right. Eve had to at least try to enjoy herself.
Muffy had invited her to the party and, not wanting to say no, Eve had agreed to come. But not long after they'd arrived, Nami had disappeared with her boyfriend (into one of the bedrooms, Eve thought) and Muffy had went off to get a drink and never returned.
So Eve had been alone until Claire showed up.
Eve made it to one of the tables. Avoiding the punch as Claire had advised, she started pouring herself some cola.
Someone tapped Eve on the shoulder and she almost dropped the bottle.
Laying the bottle aside carefully, Eve turned to face a boy. He smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry." he said, gesturing to the table.
Eve just shook her head, too surprised to do anything else.
The boy blushed faintly, grinning at her, "I was wondering if you wanted to dance? I saw you over here on your own and I thought I'd ask you."
Eve just stared at him.
He shrugged, "If you don't want to..."
"No!" Eve quickly said, recovering from her shock, "I'll dance with you!"
Eve blushed at her volume, but the boy didn't seem to notice. He smiled again, "My name's Dan."
Eve nodded, then remembered this was the part where she introduced herself too, "I'm Eve."
...
Tony was having a mediocre time. That was about as good a time as he ever had at Rock's parties. But he still came. Again, better than staying at home.
It had been going for one the last time Tony checked his watch, and now he was in search of his sister to see if she was ready to go. Pony always enjoyed these things more than him.
On his way through the crowd, Tony bumped into someone. About to apologize and move on, he stopped when the girl slumped against him.
Tony held her away, steadying her, and got a better look at her face.
"Muffy?" he asked, frowning slightly. Muffy had been in his home-room since level one. They'd talked back then. But now Muffy was kind of...
"Hey Tony..." Muffy slurred, breaking off into a hiccup.
Tony pulled a face. Shit. She was drunk.
This is why he'd stayed away from the punch.
"I was dancing with someone..." Muffy murmured, blinking hazily at the floor, "But I'm not sure where they went..." turning her unfocussed eyes up to him, she smiled, "I'll dance with you instead!"
Tony sighed, disentangling Muffy just as she'd gotten her arms around his neck, "You came with Nami, right?"
Looking confused, Muffy nodded.
"Do you know where she is?"
Now Muffy tried to shake her head, but that didn't work out so well. Wincing, she said, "I can't find her..."
Tony raised an eyebrow at her, "Did you even look?"
Muffy scrunched up her brow in deep thought. After a few minutes of watching her like that, Tony shook his head, "Never mind. You should go home."
Muffy pouted, "I don't want to!"
Tony ran a hand through his hair- his signature frustrated action, "Did you come in Nami's car?"
Still pouting, Muffy nodded.
Tony sighed again, "Ok, I'll give you a lift home. Come on."
Though Muffy glared at him, she didn't protest as Tony took her hand and pulled her through the crowd.
Outside, Tony found their car was missing.
Scowling, he checked his phone and found he had a message. It read:
Little twins showed up. Claire and I are taking them home. Sorry, tried to find you.
Tony glowered at his phone as if it were his sister, then he turned back to Muffy.
He could just leave her at the party. It wasn't like it was his responsibility to get her home or anything. They weren't really friends. He'd just known her for awhile.
Tony looked at Muffy, who seemed to be having a good deal of trouble keeping her balance. He raised his hand to his hair, then dropped it.
"Come on," Tony finally said, gaining Muffy's startled attention, "I'll walk you home."
Thanks for reading, and if you really must comment, who am I to stop you?
Also, sorry I'm so bad at posting. I'll try to get chapter 7 up soon (and try not to be one of those people who says something like that, but when you look at the date of when this was posted compared to the actual date, you'll find at least several months difference).
But yeah, that's it. If there's a holiday coming up wherever you are or whenever you read this, Happy/Merry _. And if there isn't, well, I just hope you're having a good day.