You, Me, And The Divide

Chapter 23

The after party was even more crowded than the dance. Someone decided it was a good idea to invite every single person that went to the dance to the afterparty and then some. At this point, there was well over two hundred people already at Lance Murphy's house. It was chaos. Danny sent the driver to park and take a nap, so we could call him when we're ready to leave. Will and Katie disappeared before I could even turn around. The majority of the house was so packed that you pressed against people no matter where you were. Outside, people swarmed. There were kegs behind the house that Lance's older brother probably bought for him. People just kept bringing more and more to the house though. Make up that was once perfect on all the girls' faces now smeared down greasily. Mine was bad, but it wasn't like everyone else's. Being I wasn't shitfaced, I still had the mind to wipe the majority of it off.

Drake and Alex were having a blast. Every now and then I could hear them hollering from across the yard where they were drinking. Danny left me on the back deck to go get us drinks from inside the pit of doom. It was so loud that when you closed your eyes the only thing that you could focus on was the music. Half the people I saw I didn't recognize. Kids from other schools were here, and I was kind of getting concerned Danny wouldn't be able to find me again.

Groups of people were huddled so close that it was hard to even breath. I personally gave myself a pat on the back finding my way to the railing of the deck to get a fresh breath. A group of taller guys made up half the surrounding human wall, and the other half was a group of friends that let out a stream of laughter only broken for them to drink and tell another horribly unfunny joke. Over the railing, I could see the sea of people below. They moved like one single body of water. They sway and rock much like uneven waves, and the occasional crash of water on the shore sounded out as somebody fell over taking three people with them.

One of the skyscraping boys from my human wall turn around, and almost immediately his focus locked onto me. I felt like a target, and he was about to shoot.

"Hey. What're you doing here all by yourself?" he asked with the smell of beer rolling off his breath.

"I'm waiting for someone," I said and tried to turn back around.

A hand the size of a baseball mitt closed around my arm and turned me back around.

"It's very rude to turn your back to someone while they're talking to you," he scorned, but a smile never left his face.

The mitt was crushing my arm, and I couldn't pull my arm back out if its grasp.

"Let go of me," I demanded through gritted teeth.

"Wooww," he said as he flung me against the railing. My back surged with pain where it impacted. "No need to get so upset. I'm just being friendly, cutie."

"Just leave me alone," I spit back, and his friends were now watching.

Suddenly the wall parted, and a familiar sight met my eyes. Danny leaned over me and kissed my cheek as he handed me a cup. "Hey, babe. These guys giving you some trouble?" He asked as he slung an arm around my waist.

"Let's just go," I motioned for him to head back through the crowd, but he just eyed up the group of guys.

"Were you bothering my girlfriend?" he asked the guy, and a strange feeling hit the bottom of my stomach when the word girlfriend rolled off his lips.

"Hey man. We were just talking," the guy said and held up his hands in defense.

"Danny, please. Let's just leave. This guy's an asshole anyway," I told him as his friends began to laugh.