Mung Rocks The House

Chapter 4: Always Fashionably Late

As we continued driving through the unfathomably long backroads, the anticipation inside me was brewing. Even though I had readied myself for the party just moments ago, there was still an ever so slight twinge of doubt about me; I was essentially attempting a complete 180° of my personality, after all. The silence wasn't helping either. Since we started the drive, Mung, my wingman through this whole experience, hasn't said a word. I was alone, with only my thoughts to comfort me, just like all the wasted days and nights in my room. At least then I could call that nice lady. Now, my crippling anxiety wouldn't even allow me to speak to Mung, let alone some random kid at a party. I then imagined what it would be like to talk to Sasha again... "Oh Boy! The butterflies are comin' back strong!", I immediately then thought to myself. Mung then spoke, breaking the silence and my train of though simultaneously. "Wwwanna listen to some tunes?" "Yes!" I quickly responded. "Okay, but it's none of your emo shit" he started to rant. "MGMT? more like FGIT! Neutral Milk Hotel? more like I'd rather go to hell! Linkin Park? more like lincoln logs! logs of SHIT, that is. Okay, that was a stretch, but you get what I'm saying, right!?" I took the insults to my previous way of life in stride, letting him finish. "We're listening to a MAN'S song tonight. To get us pumped up!" He then pulled a CD out of the glovebox, promptly sticking it in the player. My ears were greeted by the sounds of Boston's more than a feeling, the ultimate song (as proudly said by Carl Brutananadilewski, my other idol), and let the music take me away. It was followed by some Blue Oyster Cult, Doobie Brothers, and Steve Miller + his band, the stuff that mom and dad had surely listened to in their prime. The music did a great job at calming me down; I didn't mind the absence of conversation now.  I looked up at Mung and wondered if he knew how much I appreciated him. A few songs later, I was put off when from out of the car speakers emitted- ...Gilbert O'Sullivan!?!? Alone again (naturally)!?!?!? So Mung had the feels too?  he seemed perfectly content with sharing his personal music taste with me; he must be really in control of his emotions. As I let the lyrics speak to me, I imagined how they must have resonated with Mung in order for him to put it on this mixtape of his. They reminded me of my emo songs. I guess, in the end, everybody feels. Throughout the generations, there's always been feels, and there's always been a good way to cope with them. Slowly rising from my slouch,  I felt something come up from inside of me. "Music is a powerful language, man" I heard myself saying. Mung's eyes remained locked on the road in front of him, but he let out a quick nod of approval. I returned to slouching and we continued to drive without speaking.

Around 30 minutes later, I awoke. The car wasn't moving, and there was no one at the wheel. I looked around for a moment, slightly confused and starting to panic. We were parked in a mostly empty lot; I couldn't tell where, and the vagueness gave me a small chill. Still being slightly drowsy, It took me a minute to find the note in the passenger seat. It read "Yo, kid. I got us to Sasha's just like I promised! I'm already down there warming everybody up for you. Just follow the music. -Mung". Sure enough, I began to notice a thick bass beat coming from outside. As I got out of the car, it got louder and more clear, pointing me in the direction of a house not too far from the lot. In clear view of me was a huge two story mansion with strobe lights emanating from its windows, one of which I saw was shattered. My excitement hit the brink and  I started running towards the music, hopeful that I wan't too late to the party. I had no idea whether it was 10PM or 1AM, and I cursed my sleep deprived self for all of those late nights in front of the computer that allowed me to snooze through all of this. There was no time to worry about the small things like anxiety, for I needed to get there in time. Getting closer to the house, I could make out the sound of laughter and jovial conversation in abundance I had never heard before, and like the music, the closer I got, the louder and more copious it became. When I got to the front of the house, the sound was overpowering. There were a few people talking out on the front yard, and I couldn't even hear them. Walking up to the front door, nobody acknowledged my presence which I found odd considering I was a complete stranger to these people. I opened the door was taken back by what was inside. 

Inside, was an ungodly amount of people, some were clinging to the walls consuming non-descript substances, but most of the people were in the center of the room violently dancing to a drum track, writhing their bodies around in apparent ecstasy. The sight of it disgusted me. Still taking this sight in,  I barely realized there was laughter coming from beside me. When I opened the door, it had apparently struck some dumbfuck kid in the face, causing his peers to laugh. He was shouting at me now, covered with spilt food and drink, obviously humiliated. "Hey, watch where you're going, retard!" was all that escaped him. From that measly little response alone, I almost wanted to slam the door on him again, but I resisted, choosing to simply look back and state "how about you don't stand in front of a door instead, dumbfuck?" before walking away. The laughter started up again from my response, causing me to sprout a slight smirk, but I had better things to do than insult highschoolers, I had to find Mung. My first instinct was to head to the pool, as it would surely have the most amount of people, so that's exactly what I did. I pushed through the dancers, getting jeers from some but most just falling limp at the touch, and turned a corner to the kitchen. It was similarly packed, the only difference was the fact that this room had mostly empty trays of food, and a passed out obese child laying on the table in the middle of the room, a beautiful centerpiece. He reminded me of myself laying in my bed, but I would never make a spectacle of myself like that, I thought. At the end of the room was a set of sliding doors leading outside, the sight of flashing lights and sounds of splashing attracting me their way. I headed straight for them, passing by the obese kid and noticing the prestigious title of "ANALSLUT" on his lumpy forehead in permanent marker. I nodded in approval of whoever wrote that, not because homosexuality is cool, but rather because that blob was WASSTED AS FUUUCCCKKKKK, and he would probably regret going to this party come morning. I nodded in approval of his misery is what I'm trying to get at here.

Anyways, I went through the sliding doors into the backyard. The pool party was almost scenic with tones of pink strobe light painting the night sky. I saw him as soon as I opened the doors. He looked like a screenshot from one of the less-degenerate pornos I watch. Shirtless, blue, and handsome, He was sitting in a deck chair holding a martini, beautiful half-naked teen girls surrounding him. It took him a longer time to notice me, greeting me by simply pushing his shades down his face and wiggling his eyebrows, almost as if saying, "yeah, this is happening". Though it was unintentional, the eyebrow movement made me more aroused than all the teen girls combined. He got up, pushing aside the girls who all jointly swooned at the act of dominance, and spoke to me. "Glad you finally made it, kid!". Me being instantly put off by those connotations, asked what time it was. Mung responded "11:30, and I'd say this baby is in full swing!" I looked around and was sure he was right. There was at least two dozen people in the pool alone, but the whole property most likely held hundreds more. Finding Sasha in this place was going to be a nightmare, if she wasn't already paired up with somebody, that is. On the bright side, I was glad I hadn't missed that much of the party and was confident no one else would be showing up after me, which helped null my anxiety, even if just a little. Besides, all cool guys have a reputation of showing up late, eh? 

 I decided that I should just relax for a while. I figured It was inevitable I'd see Sasha tonight, her being the host of the party and all. I needed to practice my lines anyway. So I pulled up a chair next to Mung by the poolside just to sit back and take it all in. Little did I know I was going to have to put my skills to the test sooner than I thought. I sat down and was trying to get comfortable, and suddenly, one of the swooning teen girls spoke up. "Oh my God! you're that cool guy Mung was telling us about!" "Is it true you graduated two years ago?" "Hey, nice shirt". I looked to Mung for guidance, but unfortunately for me, he had left while I was speaking with him moments ago. I had these fine young ladies all to myself, and I was petrified to say the least... FUCK. I couldn't think straight. I wasn't used to this kind of attention at all, but I would have to get used to it quick if I wanted any chance of romancing Sasha... It was going to be a long night.