Alternia Residential Complex

The Party

I set my alarm clock for 5:30, I'm sure of it, but when the loud beeping goes off and I look over at it, the time reads 5:50. Shit.

After my flight and drive and unpacking, not to mention the greeting by an exuberant Ms. Peixes, I felt exhausted. Maybe it's the time zone difference between here or Cali, I don't know, but I was exhausted enough to take a long nap. But I certainly meant to get up before this.

I slam my fist down on the alarm clock, silencing it. I roll out of bed and hop to my feet, determined to be awake (although I'm not really).

Okay. No biggie. I have eight minutes and counting to get dressed, get my makeup on, and get over there.

I don't really know the dress code. Is it just normal jeans and a t-shirt? Or maybe a nice dress? Sweater-shirt combo?

I decide it's a low-key occasion, and just change into a black tee, jeans, my leather jacket, and some red sneakers.

My hair is harder. 

It's a mess of dark brown locks strewn about my head. I probably shouldn't have slept with wet hair right after getting out of the shower. Shit. 

I end up just leaving it down, brushed as best I can. I finger the long dyed-blue streak in the front. 

I debate putting contacts in; it really looks better without glasses when my hair is down, but I check my watch and it's 6:03, so I leave my black wire-rim glasses on.

I take a few deep studying breaths. New people equals potential friends. Friends equals good. Right, Vriska? Right. It's just a party. Just…go.

It's 6:05 now. I didn't even realize I've been stalling for two minutes. I can't blame traffic, so I guess I need to head over there now. Fashionably late, right?

I poke my head outside to make sure the coast is clear. 

What the fuck, Vriska? This isn't a spy movie. Just…fucking…go.

I grind my teeth. My feet stay in place.

I don't mind walking or anything, it's just the people I don't particularly enjoy. According to Sarah, I come across as apathetic and off-putting, a fact which I had no inkling was true until she told me. 

I finally get myself to walk. My boots clack on the pale sidewalk. It's not a very long walk; she lives four doors down. 

I'll probably have 2-5 seconds to assess the situation before somebody tries to talk to me. In that amount of time, I will find a good place to sit down, next somebody quiet, and engage them in simple and polite conversation. Right? Okay. Easy enough.

I raise my hand to knock on the door, but before my knuckles have even made contact the door swings open and I find Feferi, grinning at me.

She's decked out in a blue and green hi-lo skirt and a black halter top, which is totally inappropriate for the level of cold outside. There's loud music playing inside. Dammit, she's blocking the doorway, I can't see anything--

"Miss Serket!" She grins at me. "Girl of the hour. Come in, come in!" She steps to the side to let me enter her apartment, and then closes the door behind me. Too late to leave now.

Wow, this…is a weird party.

On one sofa, there's a boy decked out in all black, like a grumpy shadow. Next to him is a native american-looking girl with a…cat hat? She's trying to show him something on her phone, but he isn't having any of it. Instead, Shadow Grump is watching in horror as a man with a mop of strawberry-blond hair breakdances to music in the middle of the room. A cute mexican boy with a slumped-over mohawk is also watching, from a purple armchair across the room.