Venom

20

So as it turned out, something did stop me.

My car had a flat tire.

Instead of going back to the apartment and admitting defeat, I settled on taking Tyler up on his offer.

He picked me up five minutes after we spoke.

"I'm really glad you decided to come." He greeted.

I smiled, "Thanks for picking me up so last minute."

He drove a white truck that only had two seats.

I sat passenger side.

It was only once we'd left the building premises that I realized we didn't have much to talk about.

And I couldn't stand awkward silence.

"Could we turn on the radio?" I asked.

"It doesn't work, sorry."

Just great.

"Where's that friend of yours? I thought she was coming?" Tyler questioned.

"She bailed the last minute." I shrugged.

"Well, anyway, you look gorgeous."

"Thanks." I looked at his attire. He wore a simple t-shirt and jeans. "You look nice, too."

Something in the way he had spoken made me extremely uncomfortable. He gave me a slow once over as well. I crossed my legs, suddenly feeling underdressed.

Call it female intuition but I didn't feel particularly safe alone with Tyler.

At least we were driving in a public place, worst came to worse I would just jump out of the truck, pray I didn't break a leg and walk home.

I tried asking him about his preparation for our upcoming midterm assessments. He laughed and told me he wasn't bothered studying.

We drove the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

After an excruciatingly awkward fifteen minutes, Tyler finally pulled up to park near a three-storey house. It was a secluded place. No other houses for a good few metres.

It was also almost seven in the evening but the house was surrounded by bright luminescent lights.

I noted as well that there was a wrap-around porch on the second floor. I'd probably need an escape for fresh air fairly soon into the party.

Tyler opened my side of the truck, helping me down. Immediately, my ears rang with the vibrations of a bass. It was music from the house. No wonder the house was so secluded. If the music was this loud anywhere else, cops would have pulled up in minutes.

The door was pulled open. Tyler was greeted by a group of guys. They eyed me deviously. I ignored their looks, trying to understand the layout of the house.

We stepped into a large entrance. On either side, there were closed doors.

Tyler led me further forward until we reached the centre of the floor where people were dancing, drinking and doing a lot more than I wanted to see. There was a table with beer cans, sofas were littered with empty ones and wrappers decorated the fireplace.

"What's that electric smell?" I called over the loud music.

It reminded me of my childhood for some reason.

"It's the coke."

"Coke?" Since when did pop smell like-- oh. The other coke.

Damn. My parents really had been drug dealers...