Puck Off!

Chapter 11

I may have mentioned that I don't like parties. That isn't technically true. The truth is, parties terrified me, if only because I'd never really experienced one without feeling pain. I'd always been forced out of them in the past, usually with physical violence. So now, I was going to be going to a party with Iryna, and I had no idea what to expect, since I'd never spent more than five minutes in one.

Ella wasn't much help.

I'd been texting her all week for tips and so far, she hadn't sent many good ones. Well, they were good, but they were all common sense. Don't get drunk. Don't play spin the bottle or anything that involves kissing people that aren't Iryna. Stay near Iryna. Stay away from drugs. Don't fight. Don't play drinking games. Don't let people goad me into doing any of the above.

Now granted, these are all things she had seen or heard happening at high school parties, but they probably still held true. The one thing she said I hadn't thought about was don't leave drinks unattended. I'd already planned to keep an eye on Iryna's drink for her, but it never dawned on me to look out for my own too. Predators come in all shapes and sizes, as do their victims. Lesson learned.

But I still had no idea how to handle the huge amount of people. That was easy for Ella, she was a social person. I was a cave troll. Being around so many people was going to make me want to hide, or at least isolate myself. But that wouldn't work if I was there with Iryna. She deserved someone who was going to be by her side. I guess I could treat it like the corporate meetings that I hated so much. Just nod a lot and answer with meaningless platitudes. I could do that. Even better, the experience Ella had was with high school kids. Surely the college parties wouldn't be nearly as bad, right?

One week after our first date, I was back outside Iryna's dorm, dressed in similar attire to the hockey game with jeans, boots and a sweatshirt. Was I supposed to dress up for a party? I have no idea, but I went for comfort first in this case. I was proven wrong when I saw Iryna in her own black skinny jeans and an emerald colored blouse under a fur lined jacket. Fuck, she looked good, and I looked like her royal stable hand.

"Damn, you look beautiful, Iryna. Sorry, I didn't know the dress code." I said with a smile, hoping to hide my own embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it. There is no real dress code, so you're all good," she assured me. But I had a feeling I was going to be really underdressed. It shouldn't matter, I wasn't going there to pick anyone up, right? I was already going with Iryna, and in theory she wasn't going to be looking for anyone else? Fuck! This is why I needed someone to help!

We made the walk to the party quickly. It was only three blocks or so from campus, and we just talked idly about our week. Her game had been a nice win, and my work week was filled with the same thing as always, though strangely only three of the flash drives found outside the office again. They were definitely a roller coaster in terms of numbers. Unless someone else found them of course.

The party was in a large house that was undoubtedly worth millions in the current housing climate, and it was already in full swing. Iryna weaved her way around some people hanging around at the front of the house and went up the stairs to the front door. We were met at the front door by the asshole from the campus art gallery, who's name I couldn't remember, just his dickishness.

"Iryna! Glad you could make it baby!" he called out.

"Shut up Fisher, I'm not your baby and I never will be!" she snarled as she tried to squeeze past him.

As I moved to follow her, Fisher placed his hand on my chest. "Hey, hold on there champ! Students only!"

Iryna turned around again, pushing Fisher out of the way. "Stop being a dick. Half the people in here aren't students." She grabbed my hand and pulled me past the dumbfounded Fisher and into the party. Hopefully he'd find someone else to bother tonight.