𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

twenty-four

"So, do you get it, or do I have to explain it again?" I asked Colby as he stared down at the math book.

It was Friday, last period - that we both skipped so I could explain whatever we needed to know for the math quiz on Monday.

He shrugged. "I think so."

"Okay," I nodded, and slid a paper with problems over to him. "So make these and then we'll see how well you get it."

He huffed but complied anyways, filling in whatever needed to be filled in. The library was silent, as expected as nobody was here. Who would skip class just to chill at the library? No one, that's right.

It took him about fifteen minutes to solve everything, and after checking over it, I saw he did surprisingly well.

"You made one little mistake here and another one there but apart from that, it's all good," I smiled, indicating on the paper where he went wrong. "Well done."

"So you think I can pass that shit on Monday?" he asked, clicking the pen I had given him and chucking it back into my pencil case.

I nodded. "Yeah. I think you can."

"Great," he replied. "Thanks."

Wow, he just sincerely thanked me. Someone call the news channel.

"No problem," I told him, and gathered my stuff. "So, I'll see you at Liam's party, maybe?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."

And so we parted ways. I made my way to Hero's car - who would be there soon - and Colby went wherever Colbys go. After another twenty minutes, Hero got to the car and drove the both us home. My parents were out of town again - God knows where they went - so I ate dinner in silence as Hero went to prepare for the game.

"Do you know where my shoes are?" Hero asked as he searched through the kitchen. As if they're going to be here.

"No idea. Perhaps the laundry room where mom tends to put them once she's cleaned them up," I replied, shoving my last bit of pasta into my mouth.

He chuckled. "Good point. Anyways, we have to leave in twenty minutes so if you'd like to do something else, do it now."

"Good," I nodded. "You, eat. I'll bring your shoes."

"Great, thanks," he spoke as he sat down at the table, scooping some of the pasta with pesto sauce onto his plate.

I trotted upstairs, changing into a more party appropriate shirt as I just kept the same black jeans on. I decided on taking my warmer coat with me as well, it was a thick, fluffy one.

After collecting my stuff I went to retrieve Hero's shoes from the laundry room - where they actually were - and continued downstairs where my brother was already waiting for me.

"Let's go," he said as we got into his car and drove back towards the school.

The game was nerve wrecking. For the first half I was truly convinced they were going to lose and that was going to be one shitty afterparty. They turned it back around, however. Tyler had made a couple really clever moves, which had left them with an advantage.

And then, in the end, they still won. Though the other team was really good as well.

"Well done, boys," I smiled as I found Hero and a couple others after they were all showered and changed. "That was exciting."

"It really was," Tyler chuckled. "Man, for a second there, I thought we were screwed."

"But you saved the day, man," Hero laughed. "All hail king Tyler!"

"All hail king Tyler!" a couple of their friends called back jokingly.

I shook my head, silently chuckling. "If y'all hadn't won, that would've been a really gloomy afterparty, don't you think?"

"It's why I put in a little extra effort," Tyler winked. "Anyways, let's go?"

"Yeah," Hero nodded.

So that's what we did. Liam's house wasn't really far from the neighborhood in which my family lived so I decided that if the party sucked, I could just walk home.

"Welcome to mi casa," Liam grinned as we entered his house. I inwardly cringed at this guy.

I detached from this group of people as soon as we were well into the party, leaving them to do as they pleased. As usual, I firstly made my way over to the alcohol stash in the kitchen to grab myself a can of beer. Then, as I chugged that shit down in one go, I found myself among the many dancing people in the living room. I don't know who was DJ'ing but this was some really shitty music.

"Hey, stranger," someone spoke into my ear.

I turned around, face to face with Colby. He had his hood up so I wasn't worried about prying eyes. "Hello, party crasher."

"Party crasher?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Thought you were taking a piss in Liam's bed?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows as well.

He shrugged. "I need a beer for that first."

I laughed. "C'mon, I'll have one with you."

"Do you know which one's his room, by accident?" Colby asked as we reached the kitchen and I handed him a beer.

"I do accidentally happen to possess such information," I nodded as I cracked open my can, taking a sip.

"Good," he grinned as he took a big gulp of his own drink. "Let's go."

I walked ahead of him, the both of us sneaking up the stairs without too many people noticing. And if they did notice, they probably thought we were headed that way for other reasons than pissing in Liam's bed.

"So, which one is it?" Colby asked as he walked out in front of me.

"Last door on the right," I responded, letting him get along with his business.

He chuckled. "Aight. Be back in a minute."

I nodded and leaned against the wall, arms crossed as I watched him enter this guy's bedroom.

I turned my head to look up at the painting that graced the wall. Liam's mother had painted it over a decade ago. She was truly a wonderful woman but her having spoiled him since such a young age is partly what had turned him into such a brat now.

Colby walked out of the room laughing. "Okay, let's get out of here."

"Did you do it? Where to?" I asked, also breaking into laughter because the sound of his just was so contagious.

"Fuck yeah, I did it. And to a better party not too far from here, this one fucking sucks," he laughed even more as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down the stairs and out of the house.

I watched his face as he laughed, the way it scrunched up his beautiful features and how the ensemble produced this sound that could only make me want to agree with everything he was saying and thinking right now.

I nodded. "Hell yeah. Let's go."