The Mask That They Wore

Second Thoughts

Michael was hanging out in his car outside the Dillinger household, debating really hard about if he should get out or just go back home. The party was at full swing, music and lights blasting through the doors. Said factors didn’t really help with the anxiety forming in his body, but a promise was a promise, even if it was towards himself. He got out of his P.T. Cruiser and checked himself on the window, he was at least going to try to look presentable.

He walked towards the doors of the house, which were open by the way, not a good thing to do at a party since anyone could get in, but since it was a Jake party, everyone was kind of invited. As he stepped inside, the smell of booze and teenager sweat hit his nose, a bit overwhelming. He kept going through the crowd, some eyes fell on him as he walked by, but he ignored them. There were people singing, others making out in corners of the room, some were chatting while eating or drinking.

When he thought that he spotted the gang, a girl bumped into him, probably by mistake though, until she started talking to him.

“Hey handsome, my name is Nicole.”, the stranger apparently named Nicole slurred, had one to many drinks probably.

“H...hey.”, he said back. Why was a pretty girl talking to him?

“What’s a guy like you doing here?”, she was Asian, sporting short black hair and she had slightly plump arms.

“Mmm...”, he didn't know how to address this problem, so he said the first thing that came to mind. “not interested?” It came out more like a question.

“Oh c'mon, I know you are. ”

“Well you're wrong.”, he said as she got closer to him and took hold of his chin.

“Well I can change that if you give me a shot.”, he moved away after she said that laughing nervously.

“You can't because I'm not straight, as in the gayest of the gay.”, hopefully that explained it fairly well.

“Ughh, why are cute ones always gay.”, she said as she left him. That was a rollercoaster of emotions.

He kept walking, acting like that never happened, the mask probably hid more than he thought. He saw what looked like a Rich doing a handstand over the couch. Yep, totally Rich considering what looked like Jake was laughing while trying to help him. He walked towards them, but he noticed that the others weren't with them, so he kept note of them and kept walking.

He found out by accident that Chloe and Brooke were making out when he walked on them as he tried to look for Jeremy outside. They didn't notice him since they were busy, so he just ran away. He saw Jenna dancing like crazy on the ‘dance floor’, but still no Jeremy to be seen. He was growing paranoid thinking that maybe Jeremy didn't come and he just went for nothing. He heard Christine singing at the karaoke spot, maybe Jere was going to be there since he wanted to be with her. Christine was singing something, he wasn't really sure where it was from, but he had heard it.

As he got closer, he noticed that she was singing the parts of every character very enthusiastically. Who knew she could rap like that? Well, I guess if you are a super Hamilton fan you gain that skill. According to the screen she was singing The Schuyler Sisters, but there was no Jeremy. He sighed in disappointment as he kept looking, he went to get a snack or maybe a drink. Before he was able to reach the kitchen, a weird sound came from what he suspected was the bathroom. Said bathroom kind of triggered some horrible memories, but if his gut was correct, that sound belonged to Jeremy, he went towards the door.

***

Jeremy was really starting to regret accepting the drinking challenge that everyone decided to play. He has never been one to drink much, but I guess his competitive side came out a bit. Right now he was slouching against the toilet in Jake's bathroom, feeling like he was going to die. Why would he put himself through this torture if he knew that he couldn't hold his booze as well as the others? He felt his insides empty as he laid on the floor contemplating death, he had to take off his mask since he started sweating so much. As he was about to go back to the toilet he heard someone knock against the door.