𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝘿 𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏

The Shuffle Kid

Francis walked behind his friends as they strolled down the sidewalk of the gated neighborhood, marveling at the grand multi-story estates. He had never been in the lush northern part of town before, and seeing the homes fully illuminated in their nighttime lights only enhanced the expensive extravagance of their designs. Lining each side of the street were countless cars that sat parked, creating only a thin avenue for any traffic to pass through. Street lamps illuminated the hoods and roofs of each car, the lights almost seeming to twinkle as they reflected off their metal chassis.

"Jesus, how many people are at this party?" Sullivan asks, carrying the black bag of liquor in his hand as the trio walked, the glass bottles clinking together.

"The fact we had to park my ride so far away just goes to show how big this thing got..." Drake answers, keeping an eye out for the correct house.

"Why didn't we try to show up at least a bit earlier?" Francis questions, his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets as he strolled behind his friends.

"Hey, there is an art to being fashionably late, Fran my man." Sullivan replies, turning his head around to him.

"Oh, what, you two celebrities or something?" Francis retorts with a smirk.

"Let's just say we have a very comfortable place in the social network." Drake replies, holding his index finger up towards the sky to his side.

"Sure." Francis said with a roll of his eyes. "If that were true, I wouldn't be allowed to hang out with you guys." He then says before gazing back out to the houses they walked past.

"Hey, now." Sullivan said, swiveling around on his heel around towards Francis and walked backwards. "We hang out with you because we think you're cool, and that goes a long way in these parts." He then says, adjusting the bag in his hand and twirls back around in his normal stroll.

"Even when the most popular kids in school were ripping on you in front of everybody, you always had some sort of comeback that made a least someone laugh. That makes you worthy to tag with the best of them." Drake then says, turning around to Francis and giving a thumbs up.

Francis was flattered by his friends' words. He never realized just how highly his own friends thought of him before. "Wow... thanks, guys." Francis says with a soft smile.

"Don't mention it, Fran." Sullivan says, once again turning his gaze back around to Francis. "Plus, the fact that we brought you along for this just goes to show just how close you are to the popular crew, whether you realize it or not." Sullivan says as he lagged back a bit and places his arm around Francis' shoulders.

The trio continued to stroll through the neighborhood for what seemed like forever. Before long, the ears of the anthros flick.

"I hear the sound of bass." Drake says, his ears perking up.

"Me too. We must be getting close." Sullivan says.

After another few minutes of walking, the trio rounded a curve of the sidewalk, seeing a grand estate. The outdoor lights illuminated the outside of the home as like all the others, but the inside seemed to be dimmed with what appeared be black light and neon strobe lights.

"Bingo." Drake says, a grin running across his face.

The trio crossed the street and began to advance up the concrete path that led to the front door of the grand home. As they strolled, two anthros who sat upon the steps of the front porch of the home suddenly stood up. Francis observed the anthros, noticing the black attire they donned, appearing as if door bouncers at a night club. He quickly realized just how secretive and elaborate the planning for this party must've been.