Chapter Five: Party Hardy

We arrived at the party a little after six. I had worn my bright red T-shirt that displayed the words Bad Boy in bold print with cargo pants and sandals. I looked over at Butch and Boomer. Butch was wearing a green sweatshirt with the words Blow Me and a balloon on it and jeans. Boomer had on a long-sleeved blue shirt and shorts.

We walked onto the porch and rang the doorbell. Some drunk girl answered and started flirting with a very uninterested Boomer, who shoved her off and went in. The place was huge, and the lights were flashing in all different colors. Music boomed and people were everywhere.

There were people dancing in the livingroom, and others dancing on the stairs. You couldn't see a single place where there wasn't any movement.

Everywhere, guys and girls (and even girls and girls) were making out. Others were chugging glasses filled with bubbly liquids. There was no disco ball or fancy lighting, but they had a strobe light and had dimmed the ones all over the house. Many people were on the floor dancing. Only a few were standing and talking. The entire house was filled with life.

Immediately we realized there was alchohol here, because some of the girls came over and started talking to us weird.

"Hey, guys..." said the tallest one. Her words were slurred.

"Hotties..." the other one said, laughing.

"Wanna dance?" the fattest one asked, grabbing me by the elbow. "Hey, come into my private square..." She giggled and practically fell into my arms. I thought she was gonna pass out.

"Back off," Butch snapped. He didn't like those three very much -- they were notorious for sleeping around. He pushed through them and headed for the livingroom to go dance. Boomer headed for the bar, but I knew he wasn't crazy enough to get a beer or anything -- he was good, for a person orignally born to be bad.

I stood there for awhile, pondering what to do.

I bumped into James as I pondered -- or rather, he ran into me like a bulldozer. He was more drunk than I had ever seen anyone in my life. Man, he'll feel that tomorrow, I thought."Hey, Briiiick!" he screamed, jumping up and down to the music. "Damn there are some fiiiiiine girls here! Heyyy, there's a draaag race outside. About fourty minutes from now. Wanna go?"

I looked at him as he slumped over on my shoulder. Drag race? I always had liked speed and cars. "Yeah, sure!"

"Greaaaaaaat. I'll come getcha in fourty," he said, getting off of me and headed back towards the bar. He's doomed, I thought.

I looked around the room. I spotted Buttercup dancing in the middle of the room, Butch right behind her. She was wearing tight green capris and a gray tube top with really high heels. Her hair was curled for the occasion. She noticed that he was there, and she was teasing him. Butch was looking at her pants and yelling, "Yeah!" It was a little weird for me, but at least I knew they were having fun. Buttercup suddenly turned around and grabbed Butch's shoulders. "Wanna dance?" I heard her say. He nodded eagerly, putting his hands on her waist, and they danced really close together. That's when I realized that I didn't really care to see what happened next.

Wow, girls are drawn to him like moths to the lightbulb, I thought. Not to mention my own little groupies... There were at least ten girls surrounding me. I just ignored them.

I saw Bubbles sipping some punch at the bar. She was wearing a lacey blue dress and sky blue flats. Her hair was down and hung down to her bustline in blonde waves. Next to her, Boomer was working up a conversation. Reading Bubbles' expressions, they were talking about something really interesting. She's completely falling for him, I thought, watching her inch towards him with every sentence.

And then I saw something completely different.

It was Blossom, sitting all alone on a couch. She was wearing white shorts and a hot pink tank top. Her hair was also down, straightened, reaching down to her hips. She had her hands on her chin, and she was looking out the window. Guys kept asking her to dance, but she simply shook her head no. She looked so sad that no one dared ask her twice. I wondered if that was how I looked.

I approached her slowly, and instead of being like the other guys, I sat down right beside her and didn't say a word. She glanced at me. "Brick?" she asked, her carnation pink eyes meeting mine. She had on a little more makeup than she usually did, I noticed. Black mascara and shiny lipgloss. Kissable, I caught myself thinking. I shook away the thought. She's definitely not in the mood to be hit on, I reminded myself.

"Yeah?" I replied innocently.

"It's you..." she mumbled, looking away again. "I'm glad you're..." She stopped herself. "What are you doing here?"

"Partying. What are you doing here?"

"It's my best friend's party. Of course I'm here. Naturally, though, she ditched me to be with her boyfriend. Upstairs," she said, rolling her eyes and crossing her legs uncomfortably.

"I see..." I said. "So, uh..." I paused. "You wanna dance?"

She smiled. "Everyone's been asking me that."

"Sorry I'm not more original. 'Wanna dance' is pretty cliche, isn't it... I should have said something like, 'Let's boogie'..."

She laughed. "Sure, I'd love to dance."

We got up and headed towards the livingroom. I held her hand loosely, letting her take it away from me if she wanted to.

She didn't.

Just as we got to the floor, a slow song popped on. Butch and Buttercup were still freak dancing, no matter what the music. Bubbles was now leaning in for a kiss with Boomer. I placed my hands on Blossom's hips, and after a moment, she put hers on my shoulders.

We slow danced, looking into each others' eyes. Blossom looked at me uneasily, and then she closed her eyes. She rested her head on my shoulder, and my heart did leaps in my chest. It was all I could do to keep from kissing her right then and there. But I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, so I stopped myself. We were so close together, I could feel her heart beat. It was racing, just like I knew mine was. There was no other way to describe that moment other than "magical".

"You know," I whispered into her ear, "I haven't been able to sleep lately. I haven't been myself and I noticed you haven't either. And I think it's because we weren't near each other."

She blushed and wrapped her arms tighter around my neck.

Suddenly, the music was cut short. The loud rip of a record hurt our ears, and her head shot up. Someone's voice boomed over the microphone.

It was James.

"It's that time of the night," he said, just barely keeping his voice stable. "DRAAAAAG RAAAAACE! With Mitch, Fred, Brick, and Nate!" The crowd went wild, screaming our names, and Blossom looked up at me with worried eyes.

"Drag racing?" she mouthed over the noise.

I nodded solemnly, wishing I had never said yes. Boomer and Butch stared at me with shocked eyes. You? Why? Butch thought -- I could see it in his eyes.

I looked back sadly at Blossom. She looked devastated, and was starting to cry. I was yanked away by a group of guys, leaving her standing there alone on the dance floor. She looked so hurt.