LEILA {ongoing}

5.

Friday at lunch, Dani reminds everyone about the party at her house. Friday Football is in full swing, so everyone's heading there after. The team is doing really well, which I'm happy about. The girls are all pumped talking about their routine and offering to fix each others hair and makeup.

Nearly everyone I hang out with will be there but I decide to go home and take a nap instead.

I'm actually looking forward to the party. This being my first US house party I'm keen to see how cliché it is compared to the numerous movies I've watched. I'm also keen for a drink and a dance.

By the time I rock up, Dani's party was cranking. Parking my bike in her driveway in between another car and the manicured hedges, I locked my helmet to my bike and tucked my key in my inner jacket pocket.

Red cups littered the front lawn, music was howling and the LED's were creating an ever changing glow. Bodies were everywhere. Some on top and under, some innocently chatting. Most were intoxicated, stumbling around.

Deciding I didn't want to walk through the house to find the host, I made my way up her long driveway. You could here the thump of the music even from out here. No wonder people were walking out of the house shouting.

It had been ages since I'd been to a house party. They weren't too frequent at home. Not for me atleast. Stacey, Kell and I would have our own thing most weekends. Once we were all 18 we found it more convenient and 100% safer to dress in our trackies and hoodies, grab marshmallows and beers while chatting around our outdoor fire pit.

So many times we would wake it in the early hours of the morning, absolutely freezing and hungover as heck. We'd stumble our way to my bedroom, snuggle up in my queen bed only to wake up at a more appropriate time of 11am.

Being here at a house party in the US felt surreal. Have I been inserted into an early 2000's teen high school movie. Because honestly, I'm not opposed.

Dani's house from the outside is majestic, colonial and big. The backyard was nothing like I pictured. It was better.

Taking a moment, I devoured the beauty of it all. Her back porch had people swaying to the music coming from inside, some sat on the outdoor seats. The pool took up most of the space with red brick bordering it. Was that a small waterfall in the back corner?

Right up the back there is another outdoor seating area, covered by a small canopy and I noticed this is where people were coming and going, grabbing drinks.

Hundreds of fairy lights covered it all, blanketing everything in a warm glow. Bright enough to see where you were going, who you were talking to but dull enough to have a private moment if that's what you wanted. The blue glow of the pool illuminated everyone's legs and just added to the mood.

Not surprisingly, no one was swimming. A few brave souls had stripped down and were chilling in the hot tub. Mostly couples by the looks of it. Yea, no way was I going near that thing until Dani gave the all clear that it'd been drained and bleached.

Deciding I was ok to have one drink, I slowly made my way through the crowd of people towards the back seating area.

"ILAAAAAA, you made it!" Dani had decided through the week that I needed a nickname. I denied her Lea but wasn't opposed to Ila. Let's see how long it holds up.

Arms are thrown around my neck. I had to put a foot behind me so that we both didn't fall. "Hey Dani." I greet her.

Cupping my cheeks, she gives me a big smile, "I'm so glad you're here. Everyone's boring." whispering that last bit. I couldn't help but chuckle. She was so drunk already and it was only 10pm. "Want a drink."