Fan Fiction ❯ Fade to Black ❯ The Party: Night One ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: The Party(Night One)

We walked out of the mini-market carrying our five bags of food. With only thirty dollars (most of it from the twenty my mom left), we managed to procure 15 bags of potato chips of assorted flavors, 4 bags of mini assorted candy bars, 4 big bags of Starburst candy, and 2 boxes of Hostess cupcakes(John liked them). This party was going to kick ass.

As we were exiting the store, we heard from over at the pay phone," Hey, faggots. Shopping for your boyfriends?" We both kept walking towards the car and put the food in the trunk. Then we walked back towards the kid. He looked about fifteen years old and was wearing a bandana around his head and pants that could hide midgets in them. He had on a Mecca shirt, whatever the fuck that means.

"What the fuck did you say to me?" I asked.

"I'm quite sure we don't look like people you want to fuck with," John added. This kid would shit his Pampers if he knew what was forthcoming.

"I called you bitches 'faggots'," the kid grinned. Four of his "homies" behind him were giving there support. This could get ugly...for them.

"Well, bitch, your mom wouldn't say I'm a faggot," I said, stepping up to his face.

"Your gonna get your ass beat," this little punk looked pissed as he said it.

"You gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" I used my favorite line from Reservoir Dogs. The kid's face got red and he swung at me for all he was worth. Apparently, he wasn't worth much. I caught his fist with my right hand and swung my left hand into his face. Since we were in an alley between the store and another building (they were hanging out near there when they insulted us), we wouldn't be seen. The kid moaned and tried to punch with his left hand. I kicked the bitch in the stomach and he dropped. His four other homies, which were about our age, came running at us. John picked a pipe up from the ground and thrust it into the first one's stomach, dropping him. He gave a right cross to the second guy, followed up by John smashing his head against his knee. The second guy dropped. The third and fourth guys came at me. As the third one ran at me, I jumped as high as I could and shot my foot out. It hit him in the chest and he flew back. Cool, I thought, I have to use that one more often. The fourth guy abruptly stopped and ran off down the alley. We returned to John's car where we split up the smokes between us. We each opened a carton and pulled out a pack and spent a minute or two packing the cigarettes. We opened them up almost simultaneously and pulled out smokes.

"The lighter in this car is broken. Can I use your lighter?" John asked.

"Sure," I said. I pulled the silver Zippo out of one of my coat's deep pockets and snapped open the hood. I lit my cigarette and offered the flame to John. His lit his smoke and nodded his thanks and I closed the hood and replaced the lighter into my pocket. We rolled our windows down and sped off into the fading daylight.

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

At ten to nine, I backed out of my driveway. John had gone home after the Turkey Hill incident to shower and change. I figured it would be a good idea for me too. John pulled down my road and I got into my truck and led the way down the street. We stopped here and there at houses, picking up some of our friends. John's car had ten people in it and mine had nine. We were short one. I turned left down Lee Street and stopped in front of a large white house on the right with 152 as the address. I left my car idling and ran to Sarah's front door. I knocked four times and the lights went out and she stepped outside.

"Hi," She smiled. She had her hair in pigtails and was wearing a black Korn shirt and black jeans. She must have had contacts because she wasn't wearing her glasses. She smelled sweet. I wondered what perfume she wears.

"Hey, let's get going. You're riding shotgun," I said, smiling back. I had reserved that seat especially for her. We climbed into my crowded truck, she exchanged greeting with the other nine people in it, and we sped off towards the factory. I glanced over and caught Sarah looking at me. She stared quickly at her lap and began playing with her black fingernails.

"So, how do you like our school so far?" I asked.

"It's ok. These preppy bitches make fun of the way I dress, but fuck them, I got that at my old school," She said, looking at me. My trench coat felt a little too hot when those blue eyes focused on me. The conversation kind of ended there and we drove to the factory in silence, except for the occasional remark from the back about how kickass this weekend was going to be.

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

We slowly drove down the road to the factory and when John and I were sure no one was coming, I told him over our little Motorola radios that we could go now. I instantly shot my truck up to seventy and John kept up. I slammed on the breaks, turned the wheel right and launched over the embankment. John followed. We drove for five minutes through the woods on an old dirt road and crossed over the fence remnants and instead of parking the cars, we drove around back to the garage on the back for factory vehicles. There were other buildings on the factory property, some far away, and I guess they kept trucks to go from place to place. We pulled into the garage and piled out of the cars. We walked back out of the garage and closed the doors. I waited for the people to gather in a group.

"Ok people. We're gonna have a lot of fun tonight. Just behave and shit like that. Don't touch my stuff or John's stuff. You all have rides coming to pick you up at two in the morning so just get drunk till then. Now let's get to it," My speech was broken up by intermittent cheers. I carried my backpack full of cartons of cigarette with me as I lead them back around the front of the building. Five minutes later, I was switching on the lights to the office area and the snacks were already laid out on the table. I had enough time to do that after my shower.

"The beer is in my office," I led them in. The almost died when they saw the five coolers, holding two cases worth of bottles of Heineken each.

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

It was midnight and the party was in full swing. Marilyn Manson's new CD was in the player and people were talking and moshing and, of course, drinking. I was just sitting on my couch, watching the people. I took a few drags on my smoke now and then, but I was just chilling. A half empty bottle of beer was in my hand and I punctuated my smoking with periods of drinking from said bottle. John waved to me from across the room. He was talking to a brunette, I think her name was Rane, or something like that. I didn't know all my friends, but I knew that they were in the group I liked to be with and that was good enough for me. Disposable Teens started playing and people resumed moshing. I smiled faintly and looked around. I felt a weight hit the couch close to me and I looked over to see Sarah sitting there. She reached for the smokes resting on my lap and took one out. I cracked open my Zippo and lit it for her. She exhaled and said thanks.

"Kickass party, Jo. I'm glad to be hear and have a worthwhile place to go rather than stay home," she said. She grabbed the lighter out of my hand and started playing with it, taking drags off her cigarette.

"What's wrong with home?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. My stepfather is just a big asshole. He treats my mom and me like shit, that's all," She seemed uncomfortable on this topic. I would change it for her.

"Ok...well who's going to pick you up?" I asked her.

"I didn't know I had to have a ride home. So I guess I can maybe go with you?" Sarah said. Shit, I forgot to tell her.

"I didn't plan on going home. John and I just stay the night here and resume the party in the same way tomorrow night. I sleep on this couch and he has a cot in the next room. But I can give you a ride home anyway," I replied, feeling bad about this situation I put her in.

"Um, if it's ok, I don't really want to go home. Can I please stay here with you tonight?" she said, looking at me with desperate eyes.

"Yeah, no problem," I replied. She could stay here as long as she wanted.

"Thanks," She smiled and resumed playing with my Zippo and smoking. I got up and moved off towards the hallway to the bathroom. I went into the first door on the left and relieved myself, then washed up. I went back into the party. People had stopped talking and were in my office. Something was wrong. I ran into my office. A guy was in the middle of the room, screaming at this girl, who was terrified.

"Wha'....wha' do you mean you think I should shtop drinking?" he slurred loudly.

"I....just think you should stop, that's all," the girl replied meekly. I moved over to my desk and sat down in the chair and my hand slide to the secret latch by the left leg. This guy is going to be trouble, I thought as the drawer popped open. The guy kind off stood there for a minute thinking what to do as everyone stared at them.

"You....you got them shtaring at ush," he yelled. My hand went into the drawer. I saw John enter from the reception room. There was an unusual bulge in his pocket. He had the same idea. He looked at me nervously. All of a sudden in the low light of the room I saw the guy hit his girl and then pull a knife out of his pocket. John pulled the handgun but didn't fire. I jumped up with the sawed-off and pointed at him, making sure he saw me.

"Drop the fucking knife!" I yelled. He looked kind of surprised and the girl looked back and sighed in relief. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sarah look at me. I wonder what she must think. The other people in the room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of some security, so maybe Sarah wouldn't get nervous. John was in the weaver stance with his pistol, looking at me.

"What the fuck ish going on?" the guy asked, surprised.

"You were just about to leave," John said.

"But I don't want to go an' you can't make me," he slurred, getting pissed. I saw a guy sneaking up behind him with his arm outstretched for the knife. He lunged and grabbed the knife. The drunk guy looked surprised. He looked at his hand and then at the floor like he dropped it. I walked around the desk and stopped two feet away from him, my arm outstretched holding the shotgun one-handed.

"I think I can make you," I said," John, escort this man to the road, will you?" John nodded. He grabbed the guy and shoved him towards the door. A few minutes later, John was back.

"It's ok everyone, he's gone," John announced. I put my gun away and he went to do the same. Well, we didn't have to use deadly force and that's always a plus. A few girls were walking towards the girl, who was crying and apologizing for ruining the party. They ushered her off to the bathroom to calm her down. I closed the secret drawer and sat back down next to Sarah and resumed drinking my beer. I lit up another smoke, as I forgot where I put the last one. Oh wait, I threw the butt in the toilet.

"That was really......um, brave? What you two did for her," Sarah said.

"Thanks, but I want you to know I'm not a violent guy unless I have to be. We found those guns in this place earlier today and figured we could use em as security," I said, wanting her to understand.

"Well it's a good goddamned thing you had them, else she's be dead right now," Sarah said. She was right too. I may have saved that girls life. I drainer my beer and got up to get another one and brought one back to Sarah. I figured I'd try my luck and put in a slow song. I pulled Manson out of the player and popped in k's Choice. I played If You're Not Scared, Than Why Am I? and sure enough people partnered up with each other and began to slow dance. I walked over to Sarah and stuck out my hand palm up. She looked into my eyes and laid her cool fingers in my hand and stood up smiling. We moved to the center of the room after setting down our beer and I put my arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around my neck and crossed her wrists. She slid closer to me. I was wrapped in a blanket of her perfume. It smelled so sweet, hard to describe, though. I glanced up to look at her eyes and found her already looking into mine. We stayed like that, dancing, staring into each others eyes while the people danced around us. The song was over and the CD player shuffled to Everything for Free. Sarah and I stayed like the song never stopped, except we didn't move. Her hand brushed down my cheek and she trailed her thumb across my lips and my heart rate increased. This girl I just met today was coming on to me. Then she walked back to the couch and began singing along with k's Choice and I thought nothing of it. I wasn't upset that things didn't progress further, I was just glad that we shared that moment. I went back to the couch and sat next to her and she slide closer to me. I looked over and made eye contact with her once again and I slid my hand down her forearm and she placed her hand in mine and was just held hands. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

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

By one o'clock, people were smashed, but the party wasn't slowing down. Sarah had gone into the other room to eat something and I had another smoke and another beer. John and I could hold our alchohol pretty well and I don't know about Sarah, but apparently she could, too, because she drank just as much as I did. We were the only three who weren't heavily drunk. We acted normally. It was cool to be able to do that. John came over to me.

"I saw you and Sarah dancing. Way to go, she seems to like you," he said.

"Yeah, I guess. So, who was that girl you were talking to?" I asked.

"Oh, that was just Jaimie. We've been talking on and off and I'm thinking of asking her out or something," he replied. Sarah came in and sat down heavily on the couch and put her hand on mine. She looked tired.

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

Two in the morning. People were all leaving. We had three coolers left. That means six cases of Heineken for tomorrow night. I saw my guests to the road and returned to the factory. John had unfolded his Army surplus cot and was getting ready to go to bed. I went into my office and found Sarah taking off her Korn t-shirt. She had a smaller white t-shirt on underneath it.

"I was just getting comfortable. I'm not really tired. Do you want to talk?" Sarah asked.

"Sure, just let me change," I opened my backpack and rummaged through the cartons of cigarettes until I found a comforable shirt and a pair of pants. I went into the reception room and changed then came back and threw my clothes on the floor at the end of desk. I sat down on the couch next to her. John's light went out and he was asleep. I thought about it for a minute and got up and dimmed the lights to the room just enough so we could see each other clearly.

"So, why did you do that earlier? With the guns I mean. You could get in trouble it he tells the cops."

"I just....didn't want to see her get hurt. I didn't want to see another asshole run things in this world. And he won't tell anyone, he's too drunk to remember his name. Don't worry about it," I said.

"You just...are different from the other guys. I could tell it in study hall today. You were nicer....more laid back...it was nice to be treated equally. Most guys either hate me or want to take advantage of me. You're neither of those," Sarah said, smiling," Thank you."

"You're welcome," I didn't know what to say. She looked into my eyes and I saw a sort of desperate humanity in them...something that other people didn't have. It was hard to say. I reached up and brushed her hair back behind her ear. This was happening rather quickly. I just met her today. We talked for four more hours about this and that. Her childhood, her family, where she used to live....just small talk. We finally grew so tired that we went to sleep. I offered to sleep on the floor, but she practically made me lay behind her. I wrapped my arms around her and we slept.