The After Party

Kamari

We grabbed a quick bite at the local drive-through food joint before heading to a liquor store to get some alcohol for tonight’s bonfire. Danika and Lana had already started drinking a beer on the drive as we drove a little outside town through the trees.

“Kamari, catch!” Danika tossed me a beer.

“What about the police? Naya, you could get arrested.” Catching the bottle in the air.

“Nah, the police don’t come out this way. Besides, the sheriff is my dad, so I’ll get away with a warning if anything.” Naya assured me with a wink.

With that newfound knowledge, I saluted her with the beer before opening and taking a swig. As we drove, I gazed out the window at the marvel of this place; it was so beautiful and such a stark difference from LA. I found my body relaxing more and more as we drove deeper into the forest, turning right onto a dirt road. There was already a line of cars heading to what had to be the local hangout. We blasted the music and danced to hip-hop music, not once caring about the chill in the air, even with the top off. We could see our breath but were so hyped on the vibe that we didn’t seem to mind the cold.

After we parked, we walked arm in arm with the beer and bottle of vodka in hand to a massive bonfire in the middle of what looked like a campsite. It seemed as if the entire football team and dance squad, with a few others I recognized from the stands, were already there drinking on the tailgates of their trucks and around the fire. I saw many people glance our way, but when I saw them staring, they quickly looked away. The other girls didn’t seem to notice or care, so I decided not to either.

We walked right up to a big dark gray Chevy truck that had a couple of camping chairs in the bed with two massive guys who had to be twins still wearing their jerseys, sitting there drinking a beer, staring out at the party with three other guys at the end of the truck. Reed was sitting on the tailgate with a beer in hand, laughing and talking with the two guys standing with their backs to us. As we approached, Reed lifted his chin at us, making both guys turn to look at us. I immediately felt drawn to the captain with his intense gaze on me, which made me slightly uncomfortable.

When Theron turned around, his messy dark brown hair fell into his eyes, which went immediately to me. From this close, I could see his bright hazel eyes with a green tint and an almost gold ring around the pupil. He didn’t smile or say a word; the intensity of his gaze, as he watched me approach, made me oddly feel both aroused and scared. He quickly looked me up and down as if looking for something, his short facial hair clenched and unclenched with his jaw. He then seemed to relax a little, making me relax slightly but still alert at the sudden energy shift.

Danika squeezed my arm tightly as I realized the other guy beside him was Rune, the running back. He had long black hair on the right, and his left side buzzed almost to his scalp. His lip ring moved when he went to smile at Danika, then moved forward and clanked his beer with Naya’s beer in her hand.

“Ladies, enjoying the night so far?” Rune asked as he glanced at Danika momentarily with his dark brown eyes before taking a swig of his beer. Oh yeah, he knew she liked him. He didn’t seem to mind either.

“Always. Great game, boys; that was a close one! Welcome home, Ther!” Naya exclaimed as she punched Theron lightly in the shoulder.

“WestMoon didn’t stand a chance against us! We were letting them think they could win.” Reed joked as he wrapped his arm around Theron’s shoulder and neck in a mock headlock. Now let down from the bun, his long hair went into Theron’s face.

Theron blew Reed’s hair out of his face and smacked Reed away before replying, “Feels good to be home, thanks, Ny. Who’s your new friend?” Theron said, focusing his eyes on me again before drinking his beer.

“Ther, meet Kamari. Kamari, this is Theron Noctis. Don’t mind his intensity; he’s always like this.” Naya eyed Theron as if to get his attention. She must have realized he was staring at me, too, because she turned me away toward the fire before saying over her shoulder.

“See you boys! Ladies, let’s dance.” We all turned to leave towards the fire. I looked over my shoulder one last time to see Theron still gazing at me before Reed hit his shoulder, getting his attention. Was it weird I felt like I had met him before? I shook off the feeling as Naya led us to the fire, where other squad members had already started dancing. Olivia and her two minions immediately walked to where Reed, Rune, and Theron were after we left and started flirting shamelessly. Danika rolled her eyes when she saw Jessica, one of Olivia’s girls, link Rune’s arm.

“ugh...I hate them.” She said before chugging the last bit of her beer. “I need something stronger. Girls? How many drinks am I making”?

“I want one! Let’s party!” Lana threw her hand up. She was already tipsy from the beers she had.

“No, thank you. I don’t drink hard alcohol anymore.” I replied sheepishly. I hadn’t drunk hard liquor since right before leaving LA, and I wasn’t planning on drinking any soon.

Naya eyed me for a minute before declining. “I’ll hang back and finish the beers with Kamari. You girls enjoy yourselves.”

As the night went on, the girls and I danced around the fire, laughing and throwing ourselves into the music. Maybe it was because we were so close to the fire, or perhaps it was all the dancing, but I could feel my body heating up, and sweat started to glisten across my chest and brow as we moved and danced the night away. My hair was sticking to the back of my neck, and at one point, I took my jacket off and tied my white tee up in front to get some cold air to touch my skin. I kept feeling eyes on me, and every time I glanced over, I noticed Theron stealing glances at me from where he stood surrounded by girls.

Everyone wanted to welcome the captain home as waves of girls surrounded him and the other guys around him, trying to get his attention. He didn’t seem to care about anyone around him except for his boys, acting nonchalantly, taking swigs of his drink. At the same time, Reed and Rune yelled to the sky, laughing and play fighting. Reed got Theron to smile once or twice, which caught me off guard. Theron was already extremely handsome, but his smile softened his features just enough to see he had a softer side to him. The drunker everyone got, they became wilder, almost like feral animals. Theron caught me staring at him while he wrestled with Reed at the center of a circle, laughing and smiling as he wrangled him. We gazed at each other for a moment too long, giving Reed the upper hand and knocking Theron down. I blushed, then quickly approached Naya, who was yelling at the boys fighting.

“Get ’em Ther! Don’t let Reed win! He’ll never get over himself!” She laughed as I nudged her with my arm.

“Hey girl, I hate to do this, but would you mind taking me home?” It’s getting late, and I still have three papers to do this weekend.”

“Of course! I promised you one drink, and you stayed way late! Let me grab the girls, and we’ll head out. I’m getting tired, too, anyway.” She ran off to where Danika was sitting next to Rune, flirting while Lana looked as if she was falling asleep on Danika’s arm. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the dynamic unfolding and didn’t realize someone had come up next to me.

“What are you laughing at, NEW GIRL.” Olivia sneered at me drunkenly as I looked toward her. “Listen up bitch, you stay away from Theron and the boys, understand. I saw you staring at him earlier. He’s mine.”

I couldn’t help myself. “Last I saw, you didn’t have a ring on your finger, and from what I heard, he dumped you ages ago,” I smirked, looking her up and down. I honestly didn’t know what got into me. I didn’t even want Theron and had no intentions of going for him. I swore off jocks after LA, but something inside me wanted to rip this girl’s head off for claiming him.

Olivia made a sound close to a growl in her throat as she got in my face. “You have no idea what you’re getting into.” her threat was almost a whisper before Naya came walking up with Danika, holding Lana under her shoulder.

“Bye, Olivia. See you tomorrow at the dance!” That was all Naya said before whisking me off to her Jeep.

***

The drive home was quiet, Danika and Lana sleeping in the back. “Sorry about Olivia, she is crazy.” Naya apologized.

“No reason to apologize; I’m not afraid of her. Besides, there’s no reason for her to feel threatened by me. She was probably just drunk.” I brushed it off as we pulled into my driveway.

“I’ll see you tomorrow! Do you want to come to my place, and we can get ready together”? Naya asked as I jumped out of the Jeep.

“I’d love to, but I have so much homework to catch up on. Sorry girl, rain check”?

“No problem. I totally get it. The girls and I will pick you up for the dance. See you then!” Naya drove off after I walked into the empty house. I went straight to my room, where the white stray was still lying on my bed. I gave him a scratch behind his ear before looking out the window at the night sky and almost full moon. I stood there entranced by all the stars in the sky for what had to be about ten minutes. Before getting ready for bed, I couldn’t help but stare into the trees outside my backyard with an odd feeling something was staring back.