09 The Party

          The next day went quickly. So, I'm going to this party. I said I'm going; I responded yes, so I have to go. I'm already here, but It's taking a good 10 seconds for me to get up the courage to knock on the door. Alright, just get it over with! The party starts at 7:00; I'm not early; there are going to be plenty of people there so I won't stick out. Just... Knock Knock. No turning back now. No turning back? Why? I have to keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be fun! Just socialize. Be normal! Oh, if only it were that easy! Okay, I hear someone coming. It's going to be alright. It's going to be fun. How can I say that? I can feel the music from here! I can actually feel it! It's going to be so loud and uncomfortable- oh, someone's opening the door. End my agony, dude, just get it open! It took him a bit, but Raoul opened the door. Oh, gosh!- have I told you about him? Well all I have to say is that he... well, to put it lightly, he's er... 'trendy' I say oh, gosh because this is a party, and you get dressed up for parties, right? Well, if he normally looks like a clown, then tonight, you'd think he'd look like a ring leader, but... He doesn't dress like a clown. He's just... I don't know... I guess you could say 'in style.' but tonight er... wow. I'll just say he's outdone himself tonight.

          He opened the door with a huge plastered smile, frowned a little at me, then smiled again and proclaimed a big, “Welcome!” He really has to work to get his double-you's making the wuhh sound, and not the vehh sound. Wherever he's from gives him an accent that makes something pronounced “wehl-kum” come out “vehhel-kuhm.” all the girls love his accent, but he pretends not to care, and tries to sound American, “oWehel-kumb!” which, ironically, makes the girls even more into him. I suppressed an eye-roll. He motioned passed himself, and I walked in.

          What a strange atmosphere. Lots of decorations, but almost no light to enjoy them in. There are a lot of people, but they're not crowded, or not too much. The music is dizzying and so loud that I feel like the floor might collapse from the vibrating. It's vibrating really hard. I start walking around to find someone I know, or maybe just to get some distance between myself and the stereo.

          Edgar; I need to find Edgar... where would he be? Better, more realistic question: who could I ask to find out? Kate. She would know. Now... where is she? Oh, there's Peirce, he would know. I push my way through the crowd towards him and wait awkwardly a few feet away (pretending I'm listening to the music, contemplating getting food, staring off into space, or whatever), waiting for him to come to some kind of conclusion with the dude he's talking to so it wouldn't be too awkward when I butt in.

          “Hey Peirce!” I loudly say.

          “Hey, 'Sup, Narrie!” he says loudly back.

          “Do You Know Where Edgar Is!” He gives me an eyebrow wiggle. Oh, please, dude!

          “Edgar, Huh!” he contemplates, making loud, over-exaggerated (because it's so loud) thinking noises. “Gee, I Don't Know...! Maybe...!” he thinks again. Dude, just tell me already! Oh, yeah, Kate would know; I'm supposed to ask him about Kate; I'm such an idiot sometimes. I break his super-concentrated look by loudly saying,

          “What About Kate! You Know Where I Could Find Her!”

          “Oh!” his delayed epiphany finally arrived, “I Think Kate Told Me She'd Be On The Roof, And I Think Edgar And Tee Are Up There, Too! I Don't Know Why They're Up There, But I Bet It's Quiet Enough To Hear Yourself Think Or Something!” He laughed, and then walked away towards his friend with his fists in the air yelling “Noise, Noise, Noise!” ...okay, wow.

          So then, I start walking around trying to find stairs or roof access or something and I see Tee. He looks sick. The moment we make eye contact, I can feel how serious whatever is on his mind is. He's normally so calm and collected...no, he's always very calm and collected. Whatever we're (now frantically) maneuvering towards each other for must be important. The foreboding feeling is multiplying as we get closer to each other. He looks really worried. He grabs my arm and says, “The roof!” and we run around corners and up stares until we get there.

          Tee rams the door open with his shoulder and Bang! Here's the roof. Seems like a nice place to hang out, there are tables and " wait, is that...? Oh, my gosh, someone's on the edge. My head starts swirling and I don't realize that Tee's helping me run to the edge. EDGAR! As he's falling, he turns around to face us and makes a hart with his fingers. Everything goes in slow motion, which makes it easer to think. There is so much to process! In his face, with his bitten lip, and his red, puffy eyes, and his clammy hands, and his thoughtful furrowed brow, I can see something. Something...other than him. That! Oh! I through my jacket off the roof and take a nearby curved stick. Hoping with all my might that Edgar's grabbed my jacket, I tap a few people on the shoulder as I'm sprinting by, then grab Tee's strong hand and motion to my ankle as I leap off the edge of the building, stick in hand, I stab a hole right though my jacket, right into the top floor. I hear Tee and the others (who I'd hoped would run and catch my ankle, and help each other pull me back up) scurrying to the edge. I look down at Edgar. He hadn't had wits enough to grab the jacket; DARN IT!!! No! I feel someone take hold of my shoe. They start falling, and I feel some other people tugging at them so they don't fall. Another millisecond, my double knotted shoe slips off. Then the dude who took the lead in trying to save me, the shoe slipped from his grip. As I fall past the stick I get an idea. I push my shin into the end of the stick and hope the curved-up part will catch on my sock and/or shoe. Then, I reach out for Edgar. I grab the end of his Jeans, and my fingernails bend back. The next millisecond, I realize he's heavy; like a full grown guy. I don't know why this never occurred to me before, but there's no way I can hold him, especially with only one hand, and especially only holding him by the hem of his pants! With each nanosecond that slowly and painfully goes by, momentum and gravity make him heaver, and my hand feels weaker. Also, the end of the stick has successfully been wedged in my shoe, but when I said I pushed my shin into the end of the stick, I meant that I shoved it. As I was falling, it sliced into my leg. Now, I can feel the stick start to bow. I know there's no way I can hold Edgar any longer, even though now, I have both hands, all 10 claws into his ankle. So I decide to slightly redirect his momentum so that he'll crash through a nearby window. As the stick bows more, I can feel the end of the rod inside me; Ow! Without Edgar's momentum, the stick starts forcing me up, the redirection of my momentum pulled by the very end on one stinking limb is doubly as painful as being slowed down. Up, up; it feels like much longer than it actually is, having a stupid stick in your heel drive you in what seems like no particular direction. Time still being more wobbly that I care for, I find myself in the hand of somebody strong who's reached down and grabbed me, and is currently pulling me up.

Author's Note

Any suggestions are very welcome!!