Alive (Phan)

THREE

Chris's house is huge.

I mean, I knew Chris's house was big, just from what people said, but Chris's house is huge.

The party was officially held in the basement, but Phil and I were greeted the moment we stepped through the front door by the scent of alcohol and a lovely view of couples kissing in minimal clothing atop what must've been very expensive exotic furniture.

"C'mon," Phil motioned over to a staircase to the left of the entryway, "This way."

The basement was smokey and smelled nauseatingly of too many things at once. There was music playing: good music, too. 70s. Though the words were barely audible over the noise of the room. There were sober people playing ping-pong in one corner, drunk people talking and eating and hitting on each other, and the really drunk people were dancing. There was also a group of people in the far corner of the room shooting up. This shocked me honestly. I knew there would be drugs as it was a party but the worst I had imagined was marijuana or possibly cocaine. The image of other people my age injecting whatever that was into their arms was terrifying. 

Wow, you really are such a kid, I thought to myself.

"That's Di, over there with Peej," Phil said, motioning over to where the only slightly drunk people were hanging out. It was kind of difficult to see anything other than shapes of people through the smoke, but I could barely make out PJ and the pretty girl he was talking to. She was a tall, stocky girl with long black hair and a very pretty face. Phil nudged me in their direction and I walked awkwardly over to them.

"Hey Dan! You came!" PJ said, a slight slur in his voice.

"No need to sound so surprised," I responded.

"Never doubted you for a minute," he winked. He handed be a glass with a dark liquid in it. I had never drunk before, but I took a sip anyway and was immediately overcome with the urge to throw up. I somehow managed to keep a straight face.

"This is Dan, the actor," PJ introduced. "Dan this is Diana."

"Nice to meet you," I said. Up close, I could see her much more clearly. She was dressed in black and had dark lipstick on. Her eyes were bright green and sparkled with determination. She seemed like the type of girl a lot of guys would find attractive but would be too afraid to go after.

"An actor, huh?" she asked with a hint of a smirk.

"Well, I--" I was interrupted by screams and cheering and loud applause from all over. I turned around and saw Chris descending the stairs.

"That's my cue," PJ said, downing what was left in his cup, "I'll leave you two to it then." He waded through the crowd to where his boyfriend was and they kissed and everyone cheered, which I thought was really special. I guess I just kind of thought this party would be a bunch of boys who beat up younger guys for fun and girls who swooned over Chris in the hallway, but, as I stood there with Diana cheering at the top of her lungs, nearly deafening me, I realized that it wasn't. These people were the castaways, the artists, the ones who wouldn't judge you no matter what. These people were accepting. I thought that was comforting.

"Anyway," Diana said, returning her focus to me, "You're an actor, huh?"

"Yeah, I-- I guess," I stuttered nervously.

"Well?" she asked, impatient, "What have you done?"

"Oh, um, you know," I tried to think of the plays I had done when I lived in Berkshire, "Um, some Shakespeare, um, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Also, West Side Story, um--"