Chaos In The Flesh

Chapter 30

Saturday, February 18, 12:27am

"AND SHE MAKES THE BASKET!" Martin shouted, grabbing Cassie by the shoulders and shaking her until she laughed.

The other two beer pong partners groaned and drained their drinks. Cassie raised her own water bottle and saluted as a new team took over their spots.

The party was packed with people from the junior and senior grades; mainly people who were invited and then brought a plus one. Or two. Or four. People from surrounding towns were also invited, which explained the new faces and excessive interest in other trying to befriend her.

Or that could've been her outfit. Cassie wore a pair of fitted dark jeans with a mocha brown long sleeve shirt that stopped just at the top of her hips and had a low u-cut, allowing her audience to see her simple gold necklace with a charm in the shape of a moon. She wore gold stud earrings and pulled her hair into a high ponytail, leaving two strands on the sides of her face. Her makeup was a bit plain, but enough to bring out the color of her blue eyes and fill her thin lips.

Cassie handed Martin the pong cups as she danced to Dear Future Self by Fall Out Boy blasting over the speakers.

Martin was gracious enough to allow Cassie back to his parties as long as the Kent twins wouldn't follow her. According to him, "trouble followed them and I'm not interested in hosting two delinquents who couldn't handle their alcohol and feeling mixing together."

Cassie cringed at the quote as she watched someone throw up in the kitchen trash can.

As Martin reset the cups, Cassie took a sip of nectar. Today, her choice of drink was regular water, but who knew? Maybe later her choice of drink would change to lemonade or Gatorade.

Some girls came up and gave her side hugs, saying something along the lines of how pretty she looked and how they wished they would hang out with her more often. Cassie kindly said the same things back, but noticed how sloshed they were. Slurring their words, leaning on each other for support, their eyes unfocused and clouded.

"Cassie, let's go! You're up!" Martin shouted, pulling her arm and shifting her back to the main table. The two guys on the other side of the table watched her like hawks, calculating her steps and her moves. Cassie felt a drop of sweat roll down her neck.

"Who are those two?" She shouted over the blasting music. Martin swirled his beer in his cup as Cassie took her shot. It splashed one of the other guys' black shirts. The guy looked directly into Cassie's eyes, smiled, and drank from the cup. Cassie swallowed her nerves.

"I met them a few days ago," Martin shouted in her ear. She flinched as his drunken flesh bumped into hers. "They're from a community college nearby. Really fun guys so I invited them over tonight. Why? You recognize them?"

Not physically. Both of them were just a few inches taller than Cassie. The African American man with the black shirt and dark jeans was freakishly beautiful. Strong jaw, big arms, and thick frame. But his eyes... both his eyes looked blue, but every so often when the lights would flash, the one on the right looked purple. The Hispanic man wore the Qatar World Cup Ecuadorian jersey and light jeans splattered with paint. His gaunt face and lean frame leaned against the back wall. Cassie blinked several times as the lights flashed over his face. Behind his hair, his green eyes watched and followed her movements. Every once in a while, when the lights would flash, Cassie thought she saw his left eye turn purple.

What the fuck? What kind of double trouble was this?

Cassie took a drink as the two made the ping pong balls in the cups. "Balls back." The Hispanic man said, his voice soft and light.