You Scared?

Chapter 2

The rest of the week flew by, all of us ignoring the weird phenomenon at McDonald's, and pretending like it never happened. The day of Quinn's party quickly crept up on us and we began prepping for it. We set up the lights and speakers all around the property. It is the middle of October and where we live, it gets pretty cold. People at the parties don't usually go outside in this weather when they do, it's most likely they are going out to smoke a joint, but not all the time. Some people just need the fresh air. For those few who go outside, Quinn lights a bonfire to hopefully keep it as warm as possible. He even keeps blankets by the door for people to take outside. The guys worked on setting up the bonfire, while us girls kept setting up indoors.

"I hope everything goes well tonight. You remember what happened last time?" Autumn asks.

"Of course I remember. It was the worst party Quinn had thrown," I reply.

"It wasn't Jarret's fault, that other guy was provoking him. I would've punched the guy too," Cami says confidently.

"Yeah right you would've. It would've broken your whole hand. You aren't exactly built for fighting," I say as I turn on Spotify to test the speakers. Sure enough, California Gurls by Katy Perry starts playing throughout the house. I turn it off after a few minutes and rub my hands together.

"It's getting pretty cold in here, I hope once a bunch of bodies pile in here it'll warm up the place."

"Or when the alcohol starts flowing, that always warms me right up," Cami winks and giggles as she sips her drink.

"The party hasn't even started. Why don't you save your drinks for when it actually starts?"

"Because then I won't be as social. I'm more fun when I've had a few. And also, do you hear me saying I'm cold? Here, have a few sips," She hands me her drink and I roll my eyes. I take it from her and drink some of it. I give it back to her as I swallow it down, I make a face as I do.

"Phew. No matter how many times I drink, it never gets better." I smack my lips together to try to get rid of the taste and keep setting up with the others.

As the people flow in, the party starts getting wild and rowdy. Just as I suspected, the temperature warmed up quickly in the house. Sweaty people dancing on every surface, the strong smell of alcohol hanging in the air and the cramped rooms makes it an unbearable place to be. I don't understand why I keep coming to these things. I make my way outside where I find my friends huddled by the fire. I join Autumn and Thomas on the swinging bench and cover my legs with their blanket. The light of the fire dances across everyone's faces as we all silently stare into it.

"Are we ever going to talk about what happened the other night?" Thomas asks as he fixes the blanket to cover his legs better, "or are we just going to pretend like it didn't happen?"

"What is there to say about it? There was an unsettling reflection of a non-existent door? That's all there really is to say," Lincoln replies. As he finishes his sentence, a cool breeze whips through the air. It was so intense that it whistled as it passed by my ear.

We all sit in silence for a couple of minutes with only the sound of the music playing in the house. It seems to be just the seven of us outside right now. I check the time on my phone and it reads midnight on the dot. I look around at my friends' faces to judge how they are feeling. Cami is downing her drink, Jarret is gazing at Cami while he takes a drink of his own, Quinn, Lincoln and Thomas are sharing a joint, and Autumn is rubbing her hands on her arms to warm up.

Quinn offers the joint to Autumn who quickly shakes her head no. She has never been much of a partygoer and is a goody two shoes when it comes to gatherings. I applaud her for that. I'm glad she still makes an effort to hangout with us though.

"We should probably go back inside, I'm freezing out here and we need to make sure everything is going okay in there," Autumn says shivering. She stands up, taking the blanket the three of us were sharing with her. She wraps it around her shoulders and heads inside.

"I'm going to follow her in. It is my party after all, I should probably be present." Quinn says as he stands up to follow her in. Just like Jarret, Quinn is one to also have eyes on someone, that someone is Autumn. He always does everything to impress her, and follows her everywhere she goes. Although, it is hard to tell if she is interested in him or not.

The rest of us head inside too and find that the party has really died down. People are trickling out as the minutes pass, and soon enough the party is over.