Protectors - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I heard the party before I saw it. Earsplitting music greeted me three blocks before I saw the house. When I entered to a filled parking lot by a huge beach-side mansion, the music was way too loud to make any sense except for the base. The parking lot was jam packed with teenagers from ages 16 to 19 that I had a hard time trying to find an empty space. I stepped out of the car to find half the basketball team, including Alex, Brian and Kyle, at the front porch of the mansion.

They waved me when they saw me and when I got there I saw that Nicole had joined them out of nowhere. Friday had come faster than I would've liked, and the news of the party had circled the school like a wild fire, all thanks to Nicole.

As I got out of the car, I made a self-note to get back in as fast as possible. I could bet from the loudness of the music that the cops would visit the party within one hour. I felt the cold metal of grandpa's pendant against my chest as I walked. I had gotten used to the feeling fast, once I started wearing it constantly, as soon as I got it cleaned and free of dirt, although I kept it under my shirt, hidden from sight. Not as if it's girly or anything, but because its value could get me on trouble.

"Can we go inside?" Nicole asked before the rest of the guys could actually say anything.

"Um...sure-"

She grabbed me and Alex and hauled her way through the door.

I had to blink a few time to adjust my eyes to the blinking multicolor lights flashing everywhere. Once they did, I saw that we were in a large hall with two grand staircases leading to the upper floor. The hall was filled with people dancing, talking, drinking, shouting, or worse. The music blasted its way through my ears.

Nicole did not pause. She dragged me and Alex through the crowd and although the crowd parted automatically for her, I cannot say the same for us. I was glad when we finally broke from the mass of bodies and entered to a more spacious area in the corner of the hall. A couple of people were there, talking and passing around drinks.

Nicole approached a girl in the midst of a heated conversation surrounded by few people.

"What the hell do you mean you can't?!" she asked, her voice raised, both to make her point clearer, and to be heard over the music. "Are you trying to invite the cops? Jesus, turn it a notch down, Frank."

The skinny dude I guessed to be Frank, gave a shaky laugh. "It's already outta control!"

The girl turned away from the guy, teeth clenched in frustration. "The whole party's out of control. I knew it was a mistake."

"Hi Jacie!!" Nicole had to shout to be heard over the music.

She turned. "Nicole. I had to say, it's your fault the party's this much popular," she said loudly. "Half the people here had gatecrashed."

Nicole laughed. "I'm sorry. But you're gonna get a lot more popular after this."

"Already am."

"I don't think you've met Alex and Sam," she said, directing to us.

Alex held out his hand. "I'm Alex. Great party."

"Hey, Alex." I saw a glint on Jacie's eyes as she spoke. Not the angry kind of a glint. "Nicole told me a lot about you." Surprise showed on Alex's face and embarrassment on Nicole's.

Jacie turned to me. "And you're Nicole's cousin."

"Yeah."

"So you guys in Junior Varsity? I saw you guys play last year. I can't believe you lost the one with the Dodge Balls." She laughed. "I'm a bit into sports even though I might not look like it."

She sort of did look like it. She had short pixie-cut blond hair and a very cute face. She was slim in a way athletes are. She was donned on expensive clothes from head to toe. I saw why most guys are crazy over her.

Her easy-going smile and conversation was immediately likable. We, Alex, Jacie and I, talked a few more minutes on basketball. "So you think you can beat the Dodge Balls at least this year?"

Killer Dodge Balls was a notorious basketball team that had rumored to discourage the players of the opposite team by various methods of practical jokes. The rumor proved true when the players of our team had an itching-frenzy halfway through a game with the Dodge Balls. It was found out later that somebody had put itching power to the player's uniforms. Kyle vows that if we didn't beat those guys this year, he himself will put itching powder on his clothes in shame. But honestly, I see no need to. Sure, our team has a bit loose edges here and there, but when playing, we were seamless.

"They played a joke on us last year. This time, we're gonna show them they can't mess with the Cobras," I said. "The season starts the next month, so we're all up to it."

"We have a decent team too, you know, in Midways."

"So I've heard," spoke Alex. "But, hey, it's not as if those rich-bred guys can break a sweat."

Jacie rolled her eyes.

We were finally drifting off to a highly interesting subject of Call of Duty: Black Ops, when Nicole finally decided that the conversation was not going the way she planned and interrupted.

We took the opportunity to give them the slip and head to the glass door leading to the pool. We mostly avoided the crowd and stick to the walls. Outside the door was the outdoor pool area was no less crowded. We went straight to the short wood and metal spiral stairs that lead us directly to the beach, which was less crowded but still held a considerable number of people.

The light from the poolside, the mansion and the 3 meter high fire lit on the beach, the area was as light as day at the time of 7.00 pm. The randomly arranged tables contained punch and snacks. I went straight to one of those tables and found myself a soda. Alex followed.

"That was weird," he said, his voice lowered.

"What is?" I asked, although I already knew.

"Nicole."

"If you ask me, she definitely likes you." I opened the can. "Let's find some place to hide for a few hours."

I scanned the surrounding. The music drilled through my brain, making it a little hard to think. Most people had taken refuge on the chairs arranged, in pairs or packs, making small talk or joking. I recognized a few faces, but was glad that none of them were close enough to get me dragged into conversation. I was not the anti-social type, but I couldn't disagree that this party had me a little freaked out. The party had kids from other schools, the host was from another school, and I got the feeling that this was only the first step of this party and given a few hours, it would attain the Stage-A Wildness.

I spotted the well-hidden cove-like structure right underneath the stairs to the pool. I drew a chair over and sat down, perfectly content with seclusion and the soda. I was also fine with the silence (from us) that followed. Alex was lost in thought, most probably on the subject of what I said earlier.

I had nothing to do, so I settled my gaze over a blond girl who also looked like she had nothing to do but stare at the sea. A few years back, I found out that it was really interesting to observe random people, make sarcastic remarks inside your head, try to predict what they would do next, imagine what was going inside their heads and wonder what sort of a person he or she is. The girl swirled her drink and I could immediately tell that her mind was nowhere at the party. Somewhere much more peaceful, I hoped. She was biting her lip. Boy trouble. Or girl. It's not as if I would know.

"Are you sure about it?"

I broke from my observant trance. "About what?"

"What you said about Nicole liking me."

"Wait." I sat up straighter. "Do you like her?"

He shrugged. That was about as a complete answer as you get around here.

"I guess," I told him.

I sank back into the chair and looked around for the girl. However, person I saw was much more interesting than that girl, interesting enough to introduce a mob of butterflies to my stomach. It was Terry, who had paused by the nearest table to replace her drink.

Then, she looked around. My heart skipped a beat when her bright green eyes met mine. She smile and walked over to me. Coming to this party might not have been such a bad idea after all.

Terry generally looked like one of those models you see on those magazines like the ones Nicole has stacked in her bedroom. But today, it was a wholly different level. Her hair, pulled into a messy bun, was blond, but also had streaks of orange and red in it so that it simply looked amazing. She was wearing a dark dress, the exact color hard to decipher when multicolored light from upstairs danced over her.

"Hi, Sam. Alex."

Alex did not notice Terry. He was still staring into space.

"Hey," I said, trying (and failing) to hide my nervousness. "Nicole told me you'd be here." Did I just say that?!

Terry laughed. "Oh, yeah, Spencer invited me."

"Who's Spencer?" I asked, my nervousness ending with a pang of hostility.

"A close friend. I think he's upstairs. I'll introduce you to him."

I was about to say "No thanks, I'd rather not meet a random guy who is a 'close friend' to the girl I like," when Alex came to a sudden decision. "I'm going to find Nicole." Both Terry and I watched him as he went.

"So," said Terry, "he finally realized Nicole likes him?"

"Sort of." I grinned. "Why aren't you inside?"

"It's getting a little intense there and my ears feel like they're gonna burst."

She swirled the drink in her hand while I stared at her.

"You moved here at the start of the term?" I asked, simply because I did not want this conversation to be a waste.

"Yea, I was in Maryland with Mandy."

"Mandy?"

Terry looked up at me. "She's my legal guardian."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

She sighed. "I have no idea where my real parents are. If they're still alive. Or dead. I was with Mandy for as long as I remember."

There was a pause, and she continued. "But even if I had a choice, I don't want to know them." The roughness in the voice surprised me.

"Because...they left you?"

"Because they left me." She shook her head. "Tell me something about you."

I shrugged. "There's nothing special. I was in Tulsa, and my parents wanted to move to look after my grandparents. They thought my grandparents were getting too old to live my themselves, but if you ask me, parents always think it's their duty to go after whoever they can call relatives to make a good impression. I mean, I'm not bad mouthing my parents, but I think it's really unnecessary to move to another state just 'cause of something this small."

"I wouldn't know." Terry's voice sounded hollow.

I felt uncomfortable. I depend a lot on my parents. Everybody does, and lot not a lot of people realizes this, but I knew when I had to go through hell after the breakup and my parents were my only companions. I couldn't just picture myself without one of my parents let alone both. I sounded incriminating and depressing.

"Um..." I opened my mouth to say something to console her, but nothing came to me. You could say I wasn't the most subtle person, but a little kid would've made something up to say on the matter. I was relieved when Terry suddenly threw out her hand and pulled out a boy hovering over the table.

"Spencer, this is Sam Timmons. Sam, this is Spencer Blake."

I took me only one look to find out several things that pissed me off about him. (1) He did not extend a hand to shake. So neither did I.

"Blake?" I asked. "Are you related to Trevor Blake?"

"He's my father." (2) His stuck-up-ness.

I took in stark black hair, considerable height and (3) the scowl. Trevor Blake was a famous businessman, told to own at least two companies of this own. God only knows what companies, but he certainly was rich. (4) His expensive clothes certainly explained this.

"Mr. Blake and Mandy were old friends," Terry was saying, but I found it hard to pay my attention. Mainly because (5) Terry still held his arm. It was clear that (6) he went to Midways. (7) He was so slim and (8) spoiled that (9) he looked like he couldn't punch to save his own spoiled life. (10) The adoring looks he got from the nearby girls were more than enough to drive anybody insane.

"I should go look for Alex," I told Terry.

She looked a little disappointed. "Oh, okay. Bye."

I smiled at her, ignored Blake and went up the staircase as fast as I could without running. When I slid my way through the pool area and came to the hall did I realize what Terry had meant by "intense". The dancing was still going on, but newer things hard started. It was very, very clear that somebody had snuggled in alcohol after all. I knew it was a matter of time.

"Oh yeah, baby, I'm gonna set this recor'."

It was definitely Kyle's voice. Kyle's voice, which was slurred.

I looked to the middle of the hall, where the voice came from, to see a group of people staring up. Kyle was hanging on the beautiful ornate chandelier using both his arms and legs, with two other guys on the floor swinging the chandelier using what looked like broom sticks.

"I'm gonna be..." pause "the firs' one..." another pause "to do a biiiiig stun' like this..." another "with aaaaaaaaacrophobiaaaaaaaaaaaa [acrophobia]...."

On and on he swung.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I pulled out my phone and took several photos. I could use some of those.

I looked around and saw Brian and his girlfriend, Kayla, checking out the scene.

"Hey, dude, you saw Alex?" I asked Brian.

"No, man, but shouldn't you be chillin' out? Having some fun? See, Kyle's having fun."

I sighed. I took a seat and drank the soda that had stayed on my hand all the while. I joined the conversation Brian and Kayla hitched up halfheartedly.

I was not sure where the jealousy came in, but it was most certainly there. Which was extremely stupid, since I was too scared to ask her out. I was scared that I might go through what I already went if I wasn't careful. I was scared that this time, I won't be so lucky to have a move-in at hand. I was scared of getting depression, getting my parents into a fight I was supposed to fight, and losing my friends and my head like the last time.

I sat there for what seemed like forever, thinking these thoughts through and supplying indifferent comments whenever required. It was when Brian and Kayla decided to join to cheer on Kyle's record that I gave up trying to enjoy the stupid party and resolved get out of here, with or without Alex, before the cops came in.

I took the staircase leading to the upper floor. I saw no lights on the first floor. I treaded to the top of the staircase in the dark. At the top stair I was sure I felt something soft underneath my sneaker. However, I was a moment too late to realize it was somebody's hand. I hears a spluttering noise from below, followed by a, "Oi! Watch where you're going, punk!" to which I responded, "Get a room, asshole."

I took it as my cue to leave the floor. There was only a small chance that he would be here, and if he is, I had no hope of convincing him to get out.

I needed a drink before going, all that soda didn't count, and I wanted to be sober to drive, so I went for the kitchen for a glass of water. Jacie was sitting at the kitchen table, her head in her hands. A girl by her side was saying, "Maybe we could try and calm them down or something," when I came in.

"Jacie, can I have some water? Oh, and somebody had brought in some beer. I thought you should know."

Jacie sighed and stood up. "You know what, Sam? I'm going to go to my room, lock myself up and try to make a list of what I'm going to do when I'm grounded for eternity."

"Sounds grea-" I broke off. Sitting by the counter and looking so innocent that they could've made Snoopy look malicious were Alex and Nicole, talking with their heads bent over.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" I demanded. Their heads snapped up.

"Dude, relax, I was just-"

"You can't have him all to yourself, Sam," interrupted Nicole, which I took as proof that they had figured out their "liking" problem.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go home now, I can't stand a minute in this shi-" I stopped myself from saying shitty party. Jacie was there, with a bottle of water to hand over to me.

"My grandparents are near," I corrected myself. "If they came to investigate or something and caught me, I'm done for life, man."

I turned to leave and found myself face to face with Spencer Blake.

"Get outta my way." I was in no mood to deal with Blake at the moment. Instead of getting out of my way like I asked him, he pushed me aside and came inside.

"Have you seen Terry?"

"What, you lost her?" I was more than ready to ignore the pushing aside and leave the party at the moment, but something held me back. I also had the nasty suspicion that this something was Terry's name.

"I thought she was with you, Spencer," Jacie sounded genuinely troubled.

Okay, seriously?

"She was until a few minutes ago, when I came u-" His voice broke, his gazed fixed on the window behind Jacie. Without another word, he ran out of the kitchen.

I hurriedly went over to the window. It showed the beach a few meters to the left. The area was rocky, and a mansion similar to Jacie's standing upon a cliff right above the rocky area. I had the fleeting impression that this was the part of the beach I had seen to my grandparents' attic wall-hole. What shocked me was the slight figure standing up on one fairly large rock. It was hard to distinguish through the dark, but I was sure that the shape of the dress and the height of the figure definitely belonged to Terry.

I never understood what I felt at that moment, but my attachment for Terry combined with the terror I saw in Blake's eyes and the gut feeling I had come to trust in my past made me sense that I should be with Terry.

Never in a great hurry to go after Blake, but in very much hurry to get to Terry, I ran into the hall, roughly pushed past the crowd in the hall and around the pool and fled down the spiral stairs, jumping down the last four. I saw the silhouette of Blake farther along the beach to the left, and I gave chase.

It was too dark to see exactly what was going on by the rocks and once I got there, out of breath, neither Terry nor Blake was around. The rocks erupted from the sand randomly; some jagged spikes, some round and calloused.

The rock Terry had stood was just as slippery as the rest, but it was flat, making it hard for somebody to fall over. This area was much too closer to the sea that the rest of the shore so that even the base of the cliff was a few inches under water. I climbed to the flat rock and stood up carefully. Slipping off the rock and dying did not match my imagined heroic death at the ripe age of 75. There were no sights to see in this dark, the only light came from the party and the bonfire. I expected to see Terry and/or Blake and I didn't. It took less than one minute to come here, and there was no way they could've run all the way up the beach in that time.

Surely, this in some sort of a joke to make me act like a fool. A few seconds of staring at the empty beach with the music pounding on the ears, this was the conclusion I came up with. Not the best, but it explains.

I jumped down with a splash that wetted my shoes and the hem of my jeans. I was more than a little agitated, but there was a part of me believed my theory to my wrong and kept firing up my curiosity.

I turned back one more time for a quick look and froze.

Behind me, sitting on the dark was a large opening in the rocky cliff.

"You know what I found one time I tried to dig that rock? A humongous cave. Never found it again."