37. Dylan
37
DYLAN
“ W hose place is this, again?” I asked, staring at the red brick apartment building.
Jason shrugged. “Don’t know. Some guy invited us, thought we could check it out.”
Charlie looked skeptical. He remained silent, but the intent was clear: he thought we were fucking nuts.
I fought the urge to laugh. “This feels like a serial killer move.”
Brad laughed, nudging me in the ribs. “Dude, totally. We’re about to walk into a slaughter.”
Shane snorted. “Doubt it’ll be that interesting, but they’ll have booze, so I guess that’s what counts.” He shrugged and led the way.
The stairwell was dark and damp, and it smelled kind of musty. It was more surprising more things didn’t smell musty or moldy in London with all the moisture everywhere. Maybe they prepared for that kind of thing, though.
Jason pointed out the apartment — or flat, I guess they called them. Though he didn’t need to, since the open door and pounding music were a dead giveaway.
Maybe he just wanted to make sure we weren’t going to some other complete stranger’s party. Who had agreed to this again?
Like the good little ducklings we were — to slaughter or not — we followed into the mess of people. As I glanced around, everything just looked… different . Usually, we hung out at parties on campus, where we knew everyone, but this was a whole different thing. We didn’t know a single person here outside of each other.
Hence the horror movie.
Shane ignored the Londoners — same as ever — and headed for the drinks. Techno filled the place, and I sighed. Why the hell did every party here only like techno? Not even the good techno. Was this a London thing or was I just unlucky?
There was hardly even a beat. That didn’t stop everyone I glanced at from attempting some kind of dance…that, or there was a bad case of the stomach flu going around, hard to tell. Everyone just looked a little grimy, and I couldn’t put my finger on why.
Brad handed me a drink before I could keep thinking. Well, better than nothing. Compared to the other guys, I didn’t drink much, but it could be fun. Maybe not at some serial killer party, but other times.
An hour later, I breathed in the cool air as I stepped out onto the balcony. Even if it was summer, there was a nice chill to the wind that felt like a relief compared to the stifling heat of all the bodies thrumming together inside. I leaned over the railing, looking down on the city. The apartment was on the fourth floor, so I could see a little bit. Far up enough that it would be a bad fall, far enough that I wouldn’t recommend Theo do any skateboard tricks off the balcony. He’d done that at the frat house, but that was only two floors.
The sound of a door sliding open came behind me, and I turned. Brad walked out. “Hey.”
My lips curved into a hint of a smile. “Hey yourself. How’s it going in there?”
A few other people hung out there on the balcony, one couple making out dangerously close to the railing in a way that made me feel a little nervous for them, and then just a couple of stragglers.
“Well, from what I saw, Theo is playing beer pong and Jason and Micah have already disappeared somewhere,” he laughed, joining me against the railing.
I could feel the warmth of his body against mine. “Sounds about right. Isn’t it weird how we can be all the way across the ocean, but then everything is the same?”
“Is it?” He bumped me.
No one was there to see us, not when we faced away from the party. I smiled. “Well, maybe not everything , but some things. They’re all still doing what they do best, right?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s nice though, almost feels like…some things are universal, I guess. There’s always beer pong and horny couples.” His finger traced around the edge of his cup.
I nodded. “I miss skating. It’ll be nice to go back just for that.”
“Ah, yeah…I miss my gym. They seem like they’d be the same everywhere, but they’re just not.”
“Won’t be long now before we’re back…” I mused, my stomach twisting in knots. Before we made it back to campus, I’d have to go home, and that was something I didn’t want to do.
He took a drink. “Crazy, isn’t it? About that…”
Before he could finish his thought, however, the door slid open again, and a guy sighed. “Those two Americans are too much for me.”
Brad and I exchanged a look. Shit. Sure, there may have been other Americans somewhere at the party, but the odds weren’t good. The only question is which two and why? Were Jason and Micah fucking on the guy’s bed or something?
Shaking his head, Brad turned, and we went to head back inside. It seemed even busier than when I’d stepped out. My eyes landed on what he was referring to. The two Americans weren’t Jason and Micah at all.
“Why do you have to flirt with everyone ?” Alex said, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.
Shane’s eyebrow arched. “Excuse me? What’s your problem ?”
“You are! Why do you do that? Right in front of me.”
“Would you rather I do it behind your back?”
“No!”
Shane rolled his eyes. “Since when are you so insecure, Alex?”
There came that nauseous feeling in my stomach. Something about people fighting always set my teeth on edge. Was this a fight we needed to break up? Was this a situation we should leave? Or did we just need to be on standby to see what would happen?
Brad didn’t seem to have any answers either, he just remained still at my side.
“I’m not insecure, but you don’t have to spend the entire night flirting with some English dude.” Alex sounded more tired than angry.
That was much worse. My mind flashed to my dad.
“It doesn’t mean anything. He knew that. I’m just a flirty person.” Shane shrugged, his tone getting colder by the second.
Alex let out a groan of frustration and spun on his heel to leave.
The churning in my stomach continued, and I looked at Brad. His jaw clenched, but when he looked at me, his lips curved in a hint of a smile, trying to be reassuring.
Was he thinking it too? That even this happiest couple was still miserable somehow? Shane and Alex had hated each other before they figured it out, and since they’d gotten together, things had calmed down. Yet here they were with the same old fights.
“I’ll go find Theo…” I said, heading off to find him to go comfort Shane. Or at least talk to him.
“Good thinking. I’ll grab Jason.”
There was one fatal flaw in Brad and me dating. Where our other friends had these best friends they could talk to, who could help talk them down, Brad and I were each other’s best friend. So if things got bad somehow, it would be weird. Who would help?