Medusa (A Fairytale Green FanFic)

Chapter 8: Lace & Leather

I arrived at the party late. Kermit is parked a short distance from the house, but there were no spots around the vehicle, so I circled the pretentious street like a vulture looking for prey on the concrete jungle floor. Porsche's, Audi's, Bentley's – you name a luxury car brand – and it was on the street. I imagined the white of the vehicles on the street were the closest Californian residents got to experiencing a snow-white Christmas.

"Just park closer to the beach," Brennan said, and I grunted in response.

Neither of us wanted to be at this party, but our women were in there, and I wasn't about to leave Ella alone in a room full of rowdy, drunk, misbehaving boys. I didn't allow my mind to dwell on everything that could go wrong and instead focused on sliding into the parking stall closer to the beach as Brennan had suggested.

I knew the party was happening because of that thing in the locker room where Chad and Co were being buffoons. With how loud he was about telling everyone his business, sadly his boasting did not extend to his address. I had to demand Brennan ask Lana – who of course gave up the information immediately.

Ella did not know we were coming. At the back of my mind, I wondered what she would wear to a party. On the one hand, on the selfish bastard side, I wanted to see her in lace or leather, or lace and leather. On the other, I hoped she wore a head-to-toe onesie that completely hid her from all eyes but mine. The odds of the latter were not good, I know.

I had worked earlier in the evening with Mike, so I'd had to quickly shower and change before we could go to the party because I couldn't exactly show up covered in sweat and grease and expect to woo Ella.

The walk was short, and even if we hadn't had the address in advance, the house was bouncing, the bass reducing the sidewalk to a quivering mess making the location fairly obvious.

I did not knock on the door.

I did not ask to be let in.

I simply approached the door, opened it, and jerked my chin for Brennan to follow me. He just shakes his head in response.

"You're a brute."

"I literally don't care."

Brennan just laughed and started looking around the party. The girls in general were not wearing much in the way of clothes. Parties seemed to be just an excuse for bad behaviour. I tried to not make my displeasure known, but I've been told, by Brennan and Reed in particular, that my face usually looked revolted, so I wasn't sure there was any helping that.

There was a crowded dance floor where people jumped up and down on the spot, and some were doing some terrible choreography that looked like it came straight from literal purgatory – others call it TikTok.

"I'm trying to imagine you dancing in the centre of that crowd," Brennan said, shouting to be heard over the crap music, "and I'm not sure if it's a funny or disturbing image."

"Disturbing. If you see me dancing, seek medical attention."

"For you?"

"No, for you because you're overdosing and hallucinating beyond the realms of possibility and will need to be studied."

Brennan scoffed but cracked a smile anyway. Together, we wandered through the house in search of Ella and Lana. After discovering they had an indoor fucking pool in their beach house basement, I was ready to leave.

"Who the fuck has a pool when the beach is right there?" Brennan asked, bewildered. "Make it make sense."

"I can't."

I was about to give up the search and get Brennan to text Lana again asking where they were, but then I heard a laugh that rose above the music. Her green hair was a beacon that called to me no matter where she was. Their backs were to me as I walked up to them.