How to Fall in Love in Three Easy Steps

Chapter 17

On Friday night, Jack was sitting in his dorm, trying to finish the last of his work for the weekend. He was anticipating to spend a whole two days with Alex without any interruptions. The thought brought a smile to Jack's face as he tried to concentrate on the subject of conjunctions.

Just as he tried to get back into his schoolwork, his phone buzzed from across the room. At first, he ignored it and attempted to focus, but after several more successive vibrations, Jack gave up. He scooped his phone up off his bed and scrolled through the text messages. All were from Alex, who always felt the need to spam him with texts instead of waiting patiently.

"jack theres another party 2night at ur friend greg's house we HAVE to go"

"it will be fun pleaseeee"

"jack fucking answer or ill have to come 2 ur room"

"COME ON"

Although the idea was tempting, it was a plan headed for failure. Since Greg and the rest of his friends would be there, the fact that drama would go down was inevitable. Either Jack would get beaten up by some potheads, or they would start throwing shit at him.

Another text came into Jack's phone and he glanced down.

"ok im coming 2 ur room screw it"

Before Jack could type a reply, there was a brief knock at the door before Alex burst in.

"So you did have your phone? And you were just ignoring me?" Alex joked when he spotted the phone in Jack's hand.

"No I was just-"

"Never mind, we have to go to this party, ok? Go do what you have to do and meet me in the parking lot by my car in ten minutes."

With that, Alex was out of the room, slamming the door shut. Jack stood there, slightly bewildered for a few seconds. Then he pulled his shirt off and rifled through his drawers until he found a clean, grey t shirt underneath all of the grimy clothes. He made a quick mental note to do his laundry before he ran out of clothes, even though he had no idea how to. It was another five minutes before Alex texted him again with a, "hurry up i want 2 go"

As Jack was about to leave the room, Darryl was outside the door, trying to get in.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Darryl said as Jack practically slammed into him.

"Sorry, man. Alex wants to go to a party and he's basically chasing me out the door."

"Wait, do you mean the one out in Baltimore?"

As Jack nodded, Darryl asked, "Do you mind if I tag along? There's someone I really want to see there."

"Um, yeah, I guess. I think Alex will be ok with that."

The two of them walked out to the parking lot, where Alex was waiting, the car running and ready to go. Jack climbed in the passenger seat while Darryl clambered into the back, through all the piles of junk.

"I'm tagging along," Darryl stated while buckling his seat belt.

Alex shrugged his shoulders while he peeled out of the lot. Even though Jack had been in the car with Alex multiple times, he still gripped the arm rests in the car as Alex went at least 20 miles over the speed limit. The boy was a fucking maniac when he drove, which was even frightening to someone who didn't drive well themselves.

They arrived at the party at 9:36, and even then, it was already raging. Kids spilled out onto the lawn and every light in the house was turned on. Everyone was dancing to the music pounding throughout the neighborhood. Although the music was loud enough to keep anyone up all night, everyone here already knew that no one would ever call the cops on one of Greg's parties. Because Greg's parents had so much money, their house had to be built in a separate area in order for it to be at it's full potential. There were barely any houses around for the next five miles or so, making it easy for Greg to let his parties get as loud as possible. Just as three boys were about to exit the car, the door to the house opened, and a bone thin man ran out, completely naked. Everyone around him cheered him on as he sprinted down the block, half staggering and eventually collapsing on his face. For a minute or so, it seemed like he was unconscious, but soon enough, he rolled over attempted to push himself up.