Clandestine [C.H]

03

Charlotte Evans

"Fuckin' hell, Char, slow down the party hasn't even started yet," Arya says, pushing my hand away from the two-litre bottle of vodka that sat in front of us.

I don't see what her problem is. I have only had three shots since arriving here an hour ago and have spent my time setting up the house, which has kept me sober enough and people should start to arrive within the next ten minutes, I'm simply giving myself a head start.

I roll my eyes and lean over the table to grab a bag of cheese and onion Walkers crisps, a personal favourite, which I rip open and pour the contents of it into a large party bowl. "I'm just getting a head start here, you know I'll be fine." I start to munch on the crisps in front of me.

"I know, but save some for everyone else," she says while pouring two shots for herself, shooting them back into her throat one right after the other. Wincing and shaking her head rapidly with her eyes screwed shut, she grabs a bottle of coca-cola and takes a big gulp as a chaser.

Just as she finishes her over reaction to the taste of the vodka, the doorbell rings about several times before Jesse finally jogs his way through the kitchen to go open the door for his guests. Making sure to stop and grab a jelly shot from the table. "Put out those crisps for me, please?" he asks of us, pointing to the pile of crisp bags next to me and then bringing his hands together in a pleading manner while half jogging backwards out of the kitchen.

It is about seven p.m and we are at Jesse's house for a start of semester party he is hosting. We arrived about an hour ago to help him set up and make sure everything that has any amount of value was hidden away from the guests, out of reach from the "children" people become when they drink.

These parties are always huge, drawing in people from multiple different universities in the area as well as some people who have already graduated. Everyone dresses up to match the theme and Jesse makes sure to go all out. Lights, music, smoke machines, alcohol, party games, kegs, decorations to fit the theme and anything else he can manage to get his hands on in order to make the party more extravagant. It goes without saying that Jesse is loaded, he comes from a family with money and continues to make his own, says that he doesn't want to rely on his parent's money.

After setting out the crisps and shoving all the crisp packets into an already over flowing trash can, I stalk my way over to the sound system control and turn the volume of the music up to max, after which making my way over to switch the main lights off and turn the party ones on while Arya plugs in the smoke machine and walks over to the stairs leading to the second and third floor where she puts up one of those red, velvety ropes that bouncers use to show that the area is closed off.

About seventy people, if not more, walk through the door and start to fill up the house, every single one of them dressed up and already half drunk or high, at this point, I can't tell the difference. Not long after does another fifty or so people come barging in, yelling and creating more of a party atmosphere.

From there the people keep flooding in and it doesn't take long until the party overflows to the outside area. Where people have already started swimming and running around –again, some drunk people could be mistaken for literal children

Arya and I are currently outside in an extremely heated game of beer pong, playing against some guys who we've never met before until tonight, one named Bear and the other Damon. For now, we are in the lead by one cup, leaving us with two red cups on our side and them with a single cup placed right on the white line of the ping-pong table.

Arya seems to have her eye on Bear and he definitely has his eye on her. They have been flirting all night and is the main reason we are in this game to begin with, not that I'm complaining. It's been four months since she had a brutal break up with her boyfriend of a year and I know she needs to get with someone, else she will snap soon. She's very good at keeping it hidden but I can tell that she feels lonely and she doesn't deserve that, so at the moment, I am grateful for Bear.