Felicia had skipped the next day, too, but Dylan had gotten a text early on Friday saying: 'Hey, sorry I didn't reply, Xander took me on an adventure to the mountains! It was so romantic. See ya.' The two had texted a bit and Dylan had informed her of the party, which she was excited about, before he had to get ready for school.
It was Saturday morning. Dylan hadn't woken up until ten and already felt a little sore from practice the previous day. He sat up in bed, running his hand through his hair and yawning loudly. Not a minute later his door was thrown ajar and Riley dashed into his room.
"Time to wake up, sleepyhead," she laughed as she pulled his curtains back, letting some light into the room. "Mom and dad have gone to the farmers market and I need you to drive me."
"You can walk." Dylan groaned sleepily. Ry sighed.
"It is pouring. I will catch a cold if I walk," she pouted and Dylan took a moment to really look out the window only to find that she was very right, "and then mom and dad will get mad at you for making me walk and-"
"Alright, alright, I'll drive you," Dylan stopped her, "Just... give me a minute to get ready. Where are you going, by the way?"
"To Nelly's," Ry answered shortly as she walked out of the room. Okay... Dylan thought and threw the blanket off of himself. He didn't need much time to get ready, it was just to throw on some sweats and a tee, brush his teeth and put on some deodorant.
"Are you ready to go, Ry?" He knocked on her door.
"I'm already downstairs, Dyl," his sister laughed from the bottom of the stairs. Dylan hurried to catch up and grabbed his jacket from the closet as fast as he got down the stairs.
"Why do you have to go so early?" He questioned while he locked the front door as quick as he could.
"Come on, just unlock the car, just 'cuz you gotta get wet doesn't mean that I do!" Riley replied instead of answering the question. Dylan complied her request with a chuckle, and he, too, hurried to get into the car. "I have to go this early because we're going to the mall and then we're going to see a movie," Ry explained after she'd put her seatbelt on.
"Cool," Dylan nodded and started the car, "do you have money?"
Riley smiled. "Mom left me some this morning."
"Good."
They drove in silence for a long while before Dylan spoke up again. "Do I need to drive you home tonight?" Riley shook her head.
"We're going to have a sleepover," she explained, pointing at the duffle that she'd thrown to the backseat. "Mom and dad know all this already, obviously."
"Good," Dylan repeated.
"Turn here, and then we're there."
Dylan pulled up to the sidewalk and stopped the car. "Have a good day!" Riley smiled and got out of the car with all her packing.
"Bye, mom."
__
The house already seemed crowded when Dylan pulled up to the driveway to Cole's house. It had stopped raining a few hours ago, but the sky was still a dark grey. He'd picked Felicia up on the way over, and she'd gone on and on about how great of a day she and Xander had had on Friday.
"It was just magical!" She exclaimed and stepped out of the car.
"Yes, Felicia," Dylan laughed tiredly, "I've heard. But now we're gonna party."
"Preach."
Dylan pushed his way through the mix of fully-clothed and half-naked bodies until he got to the kitchen. As he had expected, Cole was leaning against the kitchen island and talking to some chick in a see-through shirt.
"Dylan!" He exclaimed, turning away from the conversation and grabbing a beer from a cooler. "There you are, I was wondering when you'd show, here, have a beer."
Dylan took the beer that was shoved his way but made no move to open it. His friend was visibly drunk, even though it was only ten. "I don't drink."
"Ah, that's right. Always the goody-two-shoes, and you look dashing as ever," Cole grinned too widely, "here, why don't you talk to the equally beautiful Emma." He shoved Dylan lightly towards the girl he had been talking to earlier.
"Hi." Emma's smile was bright and she was twirling her hair between two fingers.
"Hey," Dylan replied awkwardly. "Cole, where are you going?"
"Imma find Shawn." Cole was already walking away, quickly being hid from sight by the crowds of people dancing.
"So... you're Dylan." Emma attempted to start a conversation again, but this time he didn't even reply. He tried to look over the crowd to find someone he knew. He wasn't short by any means, just wasn't that tall either. Still, he kind of succeeded in finding someone.
To his dismay, however, the only one he could see was Christopher. He had his usual messy hair and white tee paired with the ever-present leather jacket. Right out of Grease, Dylan thought to himself as he stood and watched his tutee chat calmly with a sophomore.
Dylan slowly made his way over.
"Hey," he said, smoothly cutting between Chris and the girl. "I think I just saw your friend outside, you should go check on her." He smiled at the sophomore.
"What the hell was that about?" Chris growled when the girl had hurried away.
"Dude, she was a sophomore, you're a senior," Dylan defended, though he didn't actually know why he had stepped in the middle, "don't you think she's a little... young?"
"Listen, I wasn't fucking her, was I? We were just talking, man," Chris took a swig of his beer, "What? You jealous?" He stared intently into Dylan's eyes, making him shift. It was almost unnerving, but not quite. He tore his eyes away.
"I just- never mind dude,"Â Dylan muttered, "Sorry."
"You're always so uptight." Chris continued. "Take a beer and relax."
"I don't drink."
"What? Everybody drinks dude, I have never met anyone who doesn't," Chris huffed.
"Yeah, well I don't, and I'm sure you know Landon, the captain of the soccer team, he doesn't either," Dylan watched as Chris' expression changed into confusion.
"I thought you were captain of the soccer team." He stated, a frown appearing on his face.
"I'm co-captain, but I don't do much anymore," Dylan shrugged, "Landon does most of the work, I just help sometimes." Chris nodded slowly. "Alright, I'm gonna see if I can find my friend, see ya."
Chris didn't give any response to that, but Dylan couldn't complain. He pushed his way through the crowd for the third time tonight, trying to get to the terrace.
Finally, out in the fresh air, he took a deep breath.
"Dyl!" Landon waved him over to a table where he and some of the football team sat. "How've you been, man?"
"I've been good. What's up with y'all?"
"It's all good with us." Francis, one of the wide receivers from the football team said with a loopy smile. "Sit down." Dylan did, grabbing the only free seat. He leaned back and sighed.
"Sore?" Landon asked, shuffling a deck of cards.
"From yesterday? Yeah, a little," Dylan smiled and Landon nodded in understanding.
"You wanna play?" Francis gestured towards the deck.
"Play what?" Dylan turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Am I gonna lose money if I do?"
He laughed. "Only if you're bad."
"I can't, I'm looking for someone. Felicia? Have you seen her, Landon?" Landon thought for a minute.
"Oh, you're friends with her?" Another football player, Tyler, asked, "Is she single?"
"Nah, man, sorry," Dylan replied. Tyler huffed in disappointment.
"I think I saw her by the stairs, but that was almost half an hour ago." Landon finally said and Dylan nodded.
"Thanks. I'll see ya." He stood, turned back towards the house and entered the humid kitchen once again. A lot of people had filed out to the backyard to smoke or just cool down. The music was still loud, though, making his heart beat faster.
"Brooks!" He whipped his head around to see Felicia standing by the kitchen island. She was holding a glass of water and was leaning slightly on Chris. "I found your friend, she's been looking for you."
"Dyl!" Felicia seemed too cheery, which she usually got when she was drunk. "I need you to drive me to Xander's, I'm bored."
"Alright," Dylan rushed over, "you okay?"
"I got her to drink some water," Chris said, moving Felicia towards Dylan with surprising care and gentleness.
"Thanks," Dylan smiled, not letting his surprise show through, "let's go, then."
The two of them got back into the car. The sky had gotten even darker and the air seemed heavy with rain that hadn't yet fallen. Dylan backed out of the driveway.
"You want to go to Xander's, right?" He asked after a few moments of silence and turned his head to look at Felicia. She didn't say anything at first, she just leaned her head against the cool glass.
"Mmhmm," she answered finally.
"Have you talked to him about that?"
"Kinda." Felicia closed her eyes.
"What does 'kinda' mean?-"
"Can you just be quiet?" Felicia snapped. She got a little snappy after her mood-high had died down, and when she was tired, so he didn't think much of it. Dylan did as she asked, and they drove in silence the entire way over.
"You can just pull over here," Felicia said when they got to one of the gates.
"Are you sure? I can just drive onto campus to make it easier for you if you want."
"No, I want to walk... get some fresh air." She unbuckled the seatbelt and opened the car door. "Thanks."
"Call if you need anything," Dylan said and she nodded, then closed the door behind her. He stayed for a while, just wanting to see that nothing happened to her. It was already past midnight, and the car ride had left him in a somber mood.
He put on some music, deciding not to return to the party. Sure, the team was still there, and maybe it would be fun, but he was tired and sore. It didn't take too long to get home again; there wasn't any traffic and he might have sped through some of the less central streets.
A single drop of rain landed on his face the moment that he stepped out of the car and he hurried to unlock the front door as to not get too wet. He didn't even bother to hang his jacket downstairs before he crept up the stairs and threw himself on the waiting bed. Riley wasn't home, and his parents were already fast asleep, so he could technically do whatever he wanted, but at this very moment, the only thing he wanted to do was sleep.
He, with some difficulty, go his jacket and shoes off, not bothering to get the rest of his clothes off before turning to his back and closing his eyes. Somehow, even though he hadn't done much, it had been a long day. The rain tapped on the window, first lightly, but soon it was pouring. The continuous sound made him even sleepier, drifting between consciousness and blissful re-
His phone was ringing, the shrill sound that signified Felicia calling filling the dark bedroom. Dylan groaned, shifting so that he could reach the cell and accept the call. His eyes searched the room and stopped on his alarm clock, the neon red numbers showing that he had actually slept for about an hour.
"Hello?" He uttered once he'd put the phone to his ear, his voice hoarse with sleep.
"Where the fuck do you live?" Chris's voice made him sit straight up in his bed, suddenly wide awake.
"Why the fuck do you have Felicia's phone, and why do you want to know?" He retorted.
"I'll explain when I get there," Chris bit out, clearly frustrated, "Just tell me where you live."
Dylan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose but still started to give Chris his address. It had to be important, right?
///