Hey, everybody! Time for a little flashback action in the spirit of 4th of July! Hope everyone is/will/has enjoying/enjoy/enjoyed this celebratory day! And I hope you like this chapter! Stay tuned and watch out for the continuation!
Chapter Four: The Night She Forgot
She hated parties such as these. Okay, maybe hate was a strong word. She strongly disliked them. She was currently surrounded by a large crowd of people whom she didn't know and obviously had next to nothing in common with; the guy in the middle of the room, drunk off his ass as he shredded "Moby Dick", being a prime example. She cringed and went to stand in the corner in hopes of blending into the wall before a hand held her back by the wrist. Turning, she found that the appendage belonged to her friend and the host of the party, Liz. Maka's face softened and she smiled in welcoming.
"Ar- ... -i- … -un… y-...?" Maka let out a soft giggle as she saw her friend's mouth move, words not being heard over the loud music and screaming surrounding them.
"What?!" She yelled in reply. She watched as Liz took in a deep breath in preparation.
"Are you having fun yet?!" She screamed, getting the brief attention of a few bystanders.
She laughed and nodded, choosing to lie for the sake of Liz's self-satisfaction. Maka observed again as her friend's face became smug and gestured for Maka to follow her through the mob of buzzed college students. Liz led her to and up the stairs, which had a string and sign blocking it off that read, "Trespassers Will Be Shot," much to Maka's amusement. They made it to the top and entered Liz's bedroom, shutting the door behind them. The music from downstairs was still exceedingly loud, but at least Maka could hear herself think. She also appreciated the solitude.
"I'm so glad you could make it!" Maka turned to smile at the older Thompson sister.
"I wouldn't have missed it," she replied, accepting her friend's energetic hug.
"You brought Soul, right?" she cooed. Maka rolled her eyes as Liz pulled away.
"I told him that you invited him, but no, we did not come together," she stated. This subject was getting old. Maka thanked her lucky stars for having such caring friends, but her non-existent romantic life was a sore topic, especially when involving her roommate and man of her dreams, Soul Evans. He was an utter dreamboat, but of course, he had next to no interest in her. As long as she paid her half of the rent and didn't bother him, they were good, which sucked. She hadn't planned to fall head over heels for him, she actually even found him to be somewhat repulsive at first, but here she was, grimacing at the thought of him being anywhere near another predatory female. Oh, how far she had fallen.
"Are you serious? Is he here at least?" Liz held onto Maka's shoulders, not allowing for the conversation to be diverted.
Maka sighed. "I don't know, honestly. He left before me, but I didn't see his bike out front." Looking back up at her friend, she found her with a pout distorting her features.
"I know, Liz, you tried for my sake. I appreciate and love you for it," she said, making her friend grin.
"Well, then, let's just get hammered and enjoy the party! But first, let's fix …" Liz looked her up and down and motioned her hands in Maka's direction. "this," she finished.
"You just gestured to all of me," Maka stated, unamused. Liz chuckled before lightheartedly pushing at Maka's arm.
"Oh, don't be such a spoil sport," she said, a sly smile on her face. "You've got to lighten up a little, girl. We're about to enter our third year in college and you have yet to experience a fragment of the outlandish part of colleging."
"I don't know, Liz. I just …" Maka tried to scrounge up the appropriate excuse in an attempt to extract herself from the situation. It was true. She had never really touched alcohol; had never danced in a horde of sweaty, happy, inebriated people; had never had a boyfriend or anything close to one, and … never really had fun. She enjoyed books and being alone to read them, but she had to admit, she was curious of the 'normal' college student's definition of 'fun'.
Liz observed as she seemed to internalize the offer. It wasn't until she saw Maka smile and nod did she jump for joy and run to pick out a new, sexier outfit for her. She was ecstatic.
"Just don't make me look like a hooker." Maka requested as she sat in front of Liz's vanity, knowing she would want to do her makeup as well.
"As you wish!"
Soul watched, hidden from their sight, as Liz and Maka made their way up the stairs. He had gone to Blake's before the party, walking over from there. There was no way in hell he would leave his precious baby to sit out in front, alone and inviting damage to be done. There was also no way that he wouldn't have come to this party, seeing as Maka had said she would be here. He wasn't in the 'L' word with her, he just … cared for her well-being. Nothing wrong with that. He sighed at himself. How uncool of him. He really just needed to grow a pair and make his move.
"Want another beer?!" Blake yelled naturally over the bass. After a curt nod, Soul and his friend made their way to the kitchen, grabbing another bottle.
"When are the fireworks supposed to start?" Soul asked as they stepped outside, away from the chaos that was the Thompson house.
"Doh-know." Blake shrugged as he checked his phone for the time. "Patty said sometime before midnight."
Soul nodded as they both took a swig, watching the few others that inhabited the backyard play volleyball, frisbee, and the like.
"Holy fuck, speaking of midnight …" Soul looked in the direction of Blake's subtle gesture, his gaze landing on a very sensual looking young woman with long, black hair.
He chuckled calmly, redirecting his merlot to take in his friend's lustful expression. "Cool it, BlackStar." He laughed again after getting swatted in the gut at the mention of the nickname. Soul had bestowed it upon him back in high school because every time Blake was met with a black haired beauty - especially those with a punctuated, uh, S shape - he swore he 'saw stars'. It was quite the entertainment and had yet to fail.
"Think she drinks beer?" Blake asked. Soul turned to observe the girl nonchalantly, noticing an almost empty Smirnoff in her general vicinity.
"I'm gonna go with Smirnoff, but wait to see if she finishes what's left in the bottle over there." He stated while rotating his body to lean back against the wooden rail. Blake glanced at him.
"How the fuck do you even do that?" he asked.
"Not like it's hard," he replied evenly.
Blake sputtered momentarily as he nudged his friend, not taking his eyes off of his prey. "Dude, it's dark out, not very well lit, and she's at least 15 of your ridiculously long strides away from us. Your eyesight must be extraordinary." He shook his head.
Soul let out a puff of air through his nose as he took another swig, ignoring his friend's comment. He felt Blake bump him a few times, getting his attention.
"Dude, go get me a Smirnoff." He grinned devilishly, his eyes never leaving his current target. Soul stood to his full height, rolling his eyes, and went to grab another beer for Blake and a - he turned and squinted at the bottle that the black haired beauty was now finishing off - raspberry Smirnoff. He didn't take more than half a minute to return with said drinks, knowing that BlackStar would be getting impatient. Soul handed them to his friend and exchanged them for Blake's half empty beer.
"Thanks, man. Don't wait up." He decided to watch as Blake made his way down the stairs and to the bodacious woman playing volleyball. He waited as Blake went up to her, said a few words and as if on cue, Soul saw her cheeks blush lightly as she took the drink from Blake's hand.
'My man.' He smirked and made his way back inside, weaving through the crowd in search of a certain blonde.
Maka looked over herself in the mirror. She had to give her credit, Liz knew what she was doing when it came to beauty. Her friend had left her naturally wavy hair to fall, reaching her waist easily. Her makeup was simple, but made her eyes pop with the black cat eye and curled, mascaraed eyelashes. Light pink chapstick covered her lips, emphasizing their plumpness. She wore tattered blue jean shorts to accentuate her long legs and a large see through, off-the-shoulder American flag shirt with one of those lacy black over-bras underneath. On her feet, she wore red vans, all in the spirit of being an American. She had to admit, she looked good.
"So?" Liz asked from across the room as she put the several other outfits she had had Maka try on away. "Did I make you look good?"
Maka turned to look at her, a small smile in place. "Well, I don't look like a hooker." She joked, earning her an innocent glare.
"Har, har, har. You're sooo funny. But no, really. What do you think?"
"I like it. You did a good job, Liz." Liz, once again, looked pleased with herself.
"Good!" she yelled from her closet. "But the host of the party has been away too long, so now …" she exited the closet, making Maka laugh as she saw Liz sporting a huge multi-coloured feather boa around her neck and ridiculously large hat. "It's time to go back down and drink the night away! Come!" She demanded dramatically, throwing the boa and hat to the side as she linked arms with a giggling Maka.
They made it down the stairs, catching the attention of quite a few lechers, and Liz dragged Maka to the kitchen for some booze.
"Here, drink this. It's for lightweights such as yourself."
"What makes you think I'm a lightweight?" Maka asked, feigning hurt.
Liz lifted an eyebrow in amusement her way. "Wanna try the hard stuff, do ya? Girl's got balls! I like it!" She handed her a beer. "If you can stomach this, I'll give you something that tastes worse and inebriates faster." They laughed until Maka took her first swig. Beer was not her thing, but you've gotta fake it to make it, right? So, she pretended that it was refreshing and followed Liz out into the living room to dance her worries away. As she took another drink, she briefly wondered if the taste would dissipate at any point in time through the night. She sure hoped so.
Soul was getting worried. He hadn't seen Maka in a while. He kind of hoped that she was still upstairs with Liz. An erotic image flashed through his head before he physically had to distract himself from the thought… or maybe he didn't want that. He stood in the corner, a black beanie hiding his obvious white hair in an attempt to keep himself under wraps. He was still holding the beer that Blake hadn't finished off over a half hour ago and didn't plan on finishing it ever. It had gotten warm, but because he had earlier decided that two beers would be the night's limit, he used the half drunken, warm beer to deceive those who would try to force another one in his hand.
His eyes scanned through the crowd in search for Maka for the millionth time that night and ended up finding Liz dancing with Kidd. 'Well, if she's down here, Maka has to be somewhere close … by … holy hell.' Soul's merlot widened as he was met with the young woman he'd been searching for, and she looked nothing like herself. If he hadn't been looking for the tells of the everyday Maka, like the one that had gone upstairs; the one with pigtails and books and simple everything, he would have noticed her a hell of a lot sooner. She had her hair down for once, barely there but noticeable makeup pronouncing her eyes emphatically, and her legs had been unleashed from their usual baggy jeans. He felt like he was having a nightmare. His Maka was grinding against Soul's newly proclaimed archnemesis as she held a beer in her hand. Well, not his Maka, but … ah, hell.
Soul decidedly stepped away from the wall, his feet taking him to her swiftly. She didn't even regard his presence because she was having too much fun. Too much was too much when he went unnoticed by her. Shoving the half drunken beer into some unknown hand, he walked up to her, being halted by Liz.
"There you are!" she shouted. "Glad you could make it!" Liz squeezed his bicep in warning. He inwardly thanked her for stopping him, if she hadn't, he might have punched the guy behind Maka.
"Yeah. Thanks for the invite." He smirked at her, pretending not to know what he knew she knew. "When do the fireworks start?" Changing the subject. Good idea.
Liz looked at her watch. "Not soon enough. They are supposed to start in an hour or so." She answered as Kidd came to stand beside her, handing her another drink and nodding at Soul.
"I'm somewhat surprised to see you here, Kidd! Didn't think this was your … scene." Soul needed to stop looking at Liz, she was assaulting him with that ever-knowing stare of hers, that dumb smirk on her dumb face.
Kidd nodded in response. "I couldn't very well not attend, seeing as it is hosted by this lovely lady." He kissed Liz's forehead before turning back to Soul. "I didn't think that this was your scene either, Soul."
Shit. They must've been in it together. They were conspiring against him!
"Yeah, well, you know. Blake needed a wingman." His mouth liked to move on its own, but what came out usually worked in his favour.
"Speaking of, where is Blake? I expected him to be shouting drunk from the ceiling by now," Liz joked, making the circle laugh for a short moment.
"What can I say," Soul started, "I'm good at what I do." He winked.
"Ah, so he's already pounced the prey, eh? How unsightly," Kidd said as he wrapped his arm around Liz's shoulder, stating his claim as he challenged several leering eyes.
Soul merely nodded, the conversation coming to an end.
"Hey, Maka! 'Mere!" Liz yelled suddenly, catching Soul's attention. His eyes followed her line of sight, finding said beauty once more as she politely dismissed her dance buddy. Good riddance.
"Soul made it!" she exclaimed as Maka came to stand between Soul and Kidd. Her emerald orbs widened a fraction before she swiveled slightly to look up at him. Their height difference had her craning her neck, almost falling over before his arm instinctively wrapped around her waist to secure her. She took a long swig of her drink then, and giggled before leaning into him.
"Hey, Soul!" Needless to say, she was tipsy. Not exactly drunk yet, but definitely not of sound mind. "I barely recognized you with that beanie on! Glad you made it!" She then began to pet his chest with her free hand. Okay, maybe a bit more than tipsy.
"Glad I came," he muttered as he was captured by her whimsical stare, her smile nearly melting him to the floor. The hand on her lower back began to absent-mindedly rub her there, resulting in her stepping closer to him. He found the world within her irises too enchanting to ignore as he became unaware that the space between them was disappearing slowly.
"You two should dance!" Liz said, bringing the pair to crash back to reality. Soul's head whipped to look at her, that shit-eating grin firmly in place on her dumb, dumb face. Goddamn it.
"Yeah!" Maka surprisingly agreed. He turned to look back down at her again as she giggled up at him. "Wanna dance?"
Soul found himself nodding hesitantly, quickly shooting a glare Liz and Kidd's way as Maka grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the kitchen. He gave her a quizzical look before she answered.
"I need another drink." Was she blushing? Soul eyed her carefully. It could have been the result of the beer … or beers (?) she had had, but she hadn't been that red a moment ago. They got in line as people were becoming more and more eager to quench their thirst.
"How many have you had?" he asked.
"About two and a half?" She had a thoughtful look on her face before smiling back up at him and nodding because, yeah, she was pretty sure that was correct.
"Have you had any water?" he questioned. She shook her head in response before stepping forward to get herself a drink. "You need water."
"Oh, don't be such a spoil sport! Lighten up! Have some fun!" She giggled before chugging down a quarter of her new beer. Okay, did she really just say that? Maka, the Maka with a stick always up her ass, was telling him to lighten up. Oh, okay. She grabbed a hold of his hand, leading him back to the dance floor, and there it was again. That deeper colour of blush spreading across her skin. He couldn't be imagining things, the kitchen light was too telling.
"Actually, …" she was stopped mid-stride as he pulled back slightly within her grasp. "I'm kind of hot. Wanna step outside for a bit?" He asked. He wanted her to himself and to do this, whatever the hell this was, in his own way. Taking advantage of a girl on the dance floor while she was clearly unable to make good decisions was not in his nature. He's a gentleman, sue him.
"Are you just trying to get out of dancing?" Okay, that too. She was smiling up at him, a twinkle that he hadn't seen before sparking within those enchanting orbs. He bit his lip, noticing how it deferred her stare momentarily.
"Maybe." He was sure his grin was as cheesy as could be at the moment, but for whatever reason, it seemed to convince her into getting some fresh air. She followed him out the back door to be hit with a breeze that felt colder than it normally would. Refreshing at first, but after a few minutes, it provoked slight chills to run up and down her person. A thought passed through her mind that maybe it was the silence between them, how stale it felt to stand next to him and not feel the warmth of his words caress her ears or to have the fire in his eyes focused on her. But it was more likely the lack of flesh meeting flesh, as the hand that had been in hers had made its way back into his jean pocket and was coherently being missed.
"Are you cold?" she heard him ask. Had he noticed? Was she not hiding it well?
"Um, a little," she admitted sheepishly.
"Well, I'll let you go back inside as soon as you drink this water." Seemingly out of nowhere, Soul lifted an unopened water bottle. She attempted to hold back a smirk as her gaze shifted from the bottle to his smug face.
"I suppose that's fair," she shrugged, having been preparing for playful banter but let it go when a gust of wind rattled her bones with its chill. He moved closer to her unexpectedly as he took off the cap for her. He handed it to her and seemed to move in even closer, though in a non-predatory manner. She felt a butterfly flit across her lower abdomen before a heat began to stem from there, and it wasn't because he had drawn nearer, it was merely because he himself was inadvertently seductive. The way he peered at her from the corner of his eye and the depth he poured into her when her moss met his lava; the confident smirk that spread his lips as his head tilted slightly, an eyebrow raising in amusement; the way he leaned on the wooden railing as he watched her, bringing himself closer to her eye level, it was all naturally and harshly attractive.
Maka directed her attention toward the bottle in her hands, unable to observe him any more than she already had in fear of never being able to stop her gawking. After taking a few sips, Maka realized that she wasn't as cold as she had been a moment ago. Turning her head to glance over at Soul, she noticed that he had positioned himself within her proximity in such a way that shielded her from the breeze.
"Thank you," she let out. She was unprepared for his blazing eyes to all but capture and tenderly caress her, as she hadn't meant to say that out loud, but it warmed her further, as did the genuine smile he threw her way. Make her swoon, why don't you.
"No problem. I figure it's better to get some liquid other than alcohol in you tonight." He was unpredictable and unreasonable and she was falling for his antics. She was much better at hiding her feelings when sober. "Better keep drinking or I might never let you leave." Did he just wink at her? She was pretty sure he did, but … he never winked at her. He said those were reserved for attractive women. Right. No, he couldn't have.
Maka, suddenly feeling rather warm, began to down the remnants of her water before declaring, "All finished!" and making her way back inside. Soul followed behind, slightly perplexed. When he turned around from closing the door, she had made her way out of his view, possibly into the crowd of dancing drunks, but he wasn't sure. He panicked for a moment internally but calmed himself enough to feign a phlegmatic persona. He walked into the living room and peered seemingly uncaring over the mass of sweaty flesh jumping and grinding their bodies together in search for her. He thought that perhaps she might have gone to the bathroom, so he waited, but fifteen minutes was a bit too long.
"Yo, Soul!" He turned to find Blake finally entering from outside with 'bodacious babe' on his arm. Soul had to give him credit, Blake could be a real asshole sometimes, but he was an educated charmer and knew how to win the affection of most women.
"Hey, man," he replied, making sure not to check out the woman next to his friend before doing a bro-shake fistbump combo.
"This is Tsubaki," he introduced. Soul politely shook her hand with a murmured 'Nice to meet you' and turned back to his best friend.
"Uh, have you seen Maka around?" Blake gave him a weird look before stepping away from his newly acquired hotty, excusing them both for a moment to answer.
"No. Why you looking for her?" It was almost said with disgust, which nearly had Soul punching him in the face, but he remained cool. He had only himself to blame for putting on a facade that he didn't like her or find her attractive. He had said it to her face, for fucks sake, so what the hell was he expecting from any of this, like she'd be interested after what he had said and done.
"It's nothing big, she came up to me earlier to ask for a ride home later, but then she disappeared. Was just curious."
"Why, you planning on leaving soon? Still got a ways until fireworks."
"Nah, she's just annoying me. Just wanted to see if she really needed a ride. I'll stay until fireworks, but I've got work tomorrow."
"Right, right. Well, try to have some fun, my man. If nothing else, there's lots of hot babes willing to partake in a quick bang." Blake wriggled his eyebrows before stepping back over to Tsubaki and leading her out on the dance floor. Soul sighed before making his way back outside with a beer in hand, one more wouldn't kill him. He watched from the porch as the young adults attempted to play sports in the dark while inebriated.
Maka felt bad about ditching him without saying anything, but for some reason, she felt the need to get away from him. He was so captivating and it was driving her mad. He made her so unsure of herself, even as she was a bit drunk. Liquid courage wasn't working for her, that or she hadn't had enough. Damn alcohol. While Soul had been closing the back door, she had skillfully slipped into the garage, where there were tables set up with people playing beer pong. She had obviously never partaken in the game, but she was good at physics and the like, so she could be good at it. Perhaps it would be a good way to distract her from Soul.
"There you are!" Maka turned to find Patty, wearing a bikini and short, short, jean shorts - dear Lord, they were nearly nonexistent - her hair tied back into a small, damp ponytail. She came over and hugged her vigorously and whispered, "Looks like Liz worked her magic on ya for the night." She pulled back, her childish face beaming. "You look good, chica! Now, wanna play some beer pong?" Patty grabbed a hold of Maka's hand and led her to a table being reset without waiting for her answer.
"How do you play this?" She asked.
"Simple. You take a ping pong ball, aim and bounce to try and get it in the opposer's cups. Whenever you get one in, a member of the other team has to chug the contents of the cup." Patty explained.
"Sounds easy enough."
"Good. You'll play with Justin, I'll play with Crona." Patty walked to the other side of the table to help her gothic/emo boyfriend fill up more red solo cups with alcohol.
"Maka? That you?" Justin Law was an insanely handsome and talented young man, but he was also a bit on the weird side; a pro gamer who spent a large amount of his time in the dark, listening to music, and yelling at unknown comrades on his tv screen. But he was sweet for the most part and diligent in his studies, so they got along well.
"Justin." She smiled and nodded politely at him.
"Wow, you look different tonight. I like it." He leaned on the table a bit as he came closer to her. She could smell the strong scent of liquor wafting her senses as it escaped his mouth. He wobbled a bit and she could tell that he was drunk. Usually, she would feel uncomfortable and back away, but she was slightly intoxicated herself. "You're all glowy and stuff and I kinda wanna kiss you right now," he said.
"Well, thank you, but don't." He laughed and stepped away from her.
"Ever the prude." Maka's smile faltered before he clarified, "In the best of ways." He winked and she laughed. Flirting was fun. Why hadn't she done it before? It was basically harmless.
"You look good, too, Justin. You don't have dark bags under your eyes like you usually do."
"Thanks! I actually slept last night since I defeated the last level. The concealer doesn't hurt either." She giggled and looked at him a bit closer. "I'm kidding."
"About defeating the game or the concealer?" She asked. He turned to her in mock appall.
"I would never jest about my makeup." He joked.
"Yo, pussy number one and two, ready to get wasted?" Patty yelled at them.
"We're ready to watch you drink even our cups, you dick." Justin turned on her viciously as he held his ping pong ball.
"Bring it, Jack Wangs." Crona smiled. Maka blinked a few times. She had never seen him smile before. He must've been drunk as well. Lovely. It was fun, the world of the wasted. Maka liked it. She also liked beer pong, turned out that even losing was a win, as she was able to drink lots of yummy margarita and fruity mix of whatever the hell, but it was good and she felt like she was floating. Also, a little like throwing up, but she was too busy laughing to do that. This was so much fuuuun.
Happy 4th! Hope you all enjoyed that! Look forward to the next chapter coming soon!
Review? Please? With all the sugary goodness I can possibly offer?
Much Love!
K.T.
