Escaping Reality

Chapter 12: Party Starter Posse

I arrived at the hotel feeling fresh and confident in how the night would progress. The excitement had me fast walking through the lobby and impatiently waiting in the elevator. With an hour until the guests started arriving I had to make quick work of getting ready and preparing the apartment. I turned my speaker on, stripped naked, threw a robe on and danced it out as I laid out the bar. Additionally, I opened the doors out to the rooftop pool, hid anything fragile in my room's closet, and dimmed the lights a little bit to set the mood.

With about thirty minutes until start time I got a text from Madeline saying she was on her way with friends. Curious, I asked if she knew of other people coming as well. She responded telling me not to worry, she and her friends never turned down a good party. With people already on their way, I had to get out of my robe and into some more acceptable party attire. Unsure what the party dress code was like at uber-rich Floridian high schools I opted for some khaki pants and a nice white button-down. To top off the fit I rubbed some product in my hair and peppered myself in the sample of designer cologne I had snagged at the airport.

After obsessively checking myself out in the mirror I decided to take a few shots to calm my nerves. It stung a bit going down but after a couple, it became a refreshing sting. As the mental clouds began to approach my thoughts I decided to take it easy and swapped out my drink for some ice water. Better to pace myself than be blacked with total strangers stirring up mayhem in the room I'm liable for.

My phone buzzed moments before I heard the voices in the lobby. Nice of you to give a heads up Madeline I thought slyly to myself.

"The party has arrived" Madeline proclaimed as she entered with her entourage following close behind. "This is Katherine, Sophie, Abigail, and Courtney."

She reeling off their names so fast that I could hardly follow who was who. It didn't help that they all practically looked like copies of each other. I tried to keep it together and greeted each of them, thanking them for coming and directing them to the alcohol.

The next 45 minutes went by quickly. A few people would trickle in here and a small group there. I don't know if it was the shots I had taken before everyone arrived or the few that Madeline had forced me to do with her but before I knew it the place was packed and I had no memory of how half the people got there. Back home I wasn't a huge party guy but I had been to my share. None of them had been like this. I should have invited Kevin I thought to myself, he would have loved it here.

It wasn't quite shoulder-to-shoulder packed but it was pretty close. Someone had brought yard games and turned them into drinking yard games on the outside deck by the pool. A few intense games of beer pong were going in in the kitchen area and a group of football guys had been playing rage cage since they walked in. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. I couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride in setting this whole thing up. My parents were incredibly strict and never left town so I'd never had the chance to throw a party of my own.

"Hey man fu-"

That was all I heard before I felt a fist rip into the side of my face. I stumbled a little bit but didn't fall. I was seeing stars and my right ear was ringing with piercing pain.

"Who do you think you are driving my girl home from school?" some red-faced man child angrily yelled at me.

"Wh-who are you," I asked disoriented.

"I'm Anthony, Madeline's boyfriend." he declared.

Before I could respond Madeline came to my rescue. "Anthony stop it! Why do you always do this, he was just being nice. I needed a ride home from school and he offered, it's no big deal. You ditched me anyways to go play video games with your friends."

He shot her a look of disgust and looked me over trying to assert his big macho man dominance before walking away. I was too in shock to even be angry. What the fuck had just happened. I guess someone was an angry drunk, I hoped that Madeline didn't have to deal with shit like that every time he got hot-headed.

"Thanks, Madeline," I offered as she brought me some ice.

Once I came around I could feel the anger slowly rise in my stomach. However, I quickly realized I was not beating this guy in any sort of physical battle. My first instinct was to just stay my distance but I realized that wasn't going to make any sort of impression on anyone here. Instead, I opted to play mind games with him. Kill em with kindness or something like that.

"Hey man, I'm sorry 'bout the misunderstanding. Wanna take a shot together and call it good?" I called out as he walked away. He turned around and grunted in approval. His screaming and ensuing punch had drawn most of the party's attention. Everybody's eyes remained locked on us as I poured two shots.

"Cheers" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

We took the shots down like champs. I challenged him to another, a gesture so public it was tough to turn down. He obliged and I poured one more. People were still curiously looking in our direction, the mood had swung in a different way than they had likely expected. Anthony and I raised our shot glasses and were met with chants.

"Lin-coln! Lin-coln! Lin-coln!"

I liked to be recognized but was not a huge fan of attention. Still, it felt good to have my name chanted like that. I have never played a varsity sport or been in any sort of situation where people were changing my name. It was a nice artificial ego boost. My shy smirk turned into a cheesy smile. Anthony and I tilted our heads back to the tune of the chanting and I closed my eyes as the liquor rushed down my throat sending me into an intense, almost euphoric state.