STARCROSSED: Anthony LaRusso (ON A HIATUS)

Chapter XXXXIII: Afterparty Antics

There's an old saying by Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca: "Every end has a new beginning." And even though prom had ended, it was now the beginning of the prom after-party at Stingray's sister's house, and it was now nightfall.

"Party time!" Stingray yelled as many teens showed up at the house. Joey knew that this event was huge for everyone, so he ordered a bunch of pizzas from Little Caesars, ice cream cakes from The Family Bakery & Cafe, and milkshakes from Cold Stone Creamery. He made sure to order enough for the entire student body as well as Stingray, since he knew it was important to be polite to a party host. And the best part? Since it was a special occasion, and since Joey's dad was a CEO of a huge company, and since Joey's mom was an executive producer at a TV broadcasting company, the food was on the house. Joey and Katie were hanging out in the main room where the teens were at. Sam, Miguel, Robby, Tory, Eli, Demetri, Moon, Yasmine, Clive, Izzy, Kyler, Edwin, Big Red, Piper, Charlotte, Lonnie, Angelique, Evan, Alyssa, Charlie, Aurora, Damien, Daisy, Matty, Lucy, Neil, Madelaine, and the rest of the student body were in the house, too.

"Ready for a refill?" Kyler asked Piper, who said, "Yeah."

"C'mon." Kyler and Piper went to get a refill.

"I guess Moon's not coming." Eli lamented. He was sitting on the couch with Joey and Katie, and Demetri and Yasmine. Both couples were making out with each other. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" Demetri asked. "C'mon then, let's go check out the rest of the house." Yasmine said as she and Demetri got up.

"I'll race you." Demetri said.

"No more hard stuff for me. I learned my lesson." Sam said as she and Miguel walked into the room. During an end-of-summer party last year at Moon's house, Sam drank a lot of hard liquor when she was having a drinking contest with Tory. And what was the result of that? Well, she got so drunk that she kissed a sober Miguel, which resulted in the school fight. It was safe to say that she didn't need a repeat of that.

"I'm just gonna grab a beer." Sam said.

"OK. Grab me one too. I'll find snacks." Miguel said.

"I gotta say, Stingray's gaming consoles are so cool." Clive said. He and Izzy entered the room after they were in another one playing on Stingray's video game consoles.

"Why didn't you join us?" Izzy asked Joey and Katie.

"I've already got a bunch of gaming consoles at the mansion, thanks." Joey answered.

"What's an afterparty without a little, y'know?" Katie said flirtatiously. She and Joey were looking at each other, and their blushing faces were close to each other, with their lips almost making contact, but all of sudden, the music stopped.

"Whoa! The day the music died. What's going on? Guys, turn it back on." Stingray wondered why the music was off.

"There are families on this street trying to get some sleep, if y'all don't go home right now, you are gonna get arrested for underage drinking!" Stingray's next-door neighbor, Greg Hughes, stormed into the house in his pajamas. Everyone begin to move when they heard the threat, especially Lucy. She was scared shitless, since underage drinking meant she was violating her probation, even though she never got a DUI or a minor in possession citation. Not that she wanted to, because she knew they were unpleasant.

"OK, relax. Hey, guys! Hey, hey! You don't have to leave! It's fine. He's my neighbor." Stingray assured the teens. "Hey. What are you doing here? You weren't invited. You should leave right now." Stingray told Greg, who rolled his eyes. "OK, no one listen to this speed bump of a human. This is a loser, everyone." Greg announced. "That's why he's partying with you, because he has no friends his own age."