Noah turned the car up the hill, following the sounds of the party and the bright lights flickering through the night.
"Mccain is fucking stacked," Noah remarked, eyes roaming the expansive grounds of the mansion.
He could see the brown brick house rising over the trees at the gate. There were even guards waiting there, motioning at him to park.
"Name?" one of the guards asked.
"Noah Stromer."
The guard repeated this into his walkie-talkie and McCain's voice buzzed from the other side.
"Lil bro, how many people did you end up bringing?"
"Three pretty girls," Noah said with a chuckle, ignoring Fara's punch to his back.
"Let him in. Come up quick, bro; we'll do the dive soon."
That didn't sound good.
The gates opened and Noah drove in. Once the line of trees cleared, they all balked at the mansion in front of them.
Strobe lights were hung on the tall white pillars. The house stretched for longer than Noah thought was reasonable. And all of the windows were filled with lights and the shadows of dancing people.
Noah parked and turned to the girls. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
They all left the car and speed-walked to the entrance of the house. There were like thirty people on the huge patio, smoking meat on a grill and drinking more peacefully.
Noah noticed Josh talking with a girl quietly, nursing a soda unlike everyone else. He walked over to him and raised his hand for a fist bump. Josh stared at him for a moment then hurriedly returned the fist bump.
"Sorry, Noah, almost forgot you. You did well at tryouts, though," Josh said with a nod.
"No problem, we didn't speak much," Noah replied; Josh didn't speak much in general. "Where's McCain?"
"I think he's in the third living room, playing 2K," Josh shrugged.
Third? What the fuck?
Noah nodded and turned to Fara and the three girls behind him. "This is my sister and her friends, Jasmine, Mary and Cherry."
Josh's eyes jumped lazily between the four of them then just gave him a thumbs up. Noah took that as a sign to go.
The house's porcelain floor trembled from the loud pop music blasting through the speakers around the yard. There was a spiraling staircase in the anteroom leading to the upstairs rooms. People were hanging from the rails and yelling.
There was a mattress carried by two boys to catch anyone that fell, but Noah was still astounded by the stupidity.
Deeper inside the house, Noah could see people in the living room dancing, drinking, playing games, and hooking up.
He felt a bit queasy looking at how vulnerable all the people here were. But maybe he was just the paranoid one.
He avoided bodies and tried to clear a path for his sister and her friends as they made their way through the living room. There had to be one of his teammates here to guide him to McCain.
Someone bumped into Fara, making her yelp. Noah was there instantly, pushing the guy aside and glaring. Before a fight could break out, Fara grabbed him.
They walked into a long hallway filled with people but relatively emptier. They rested against the wall. Mary and Cherry looked excited, but Jasmine looked a bit out of place.
Noah felt like a giraffe, not just because he was a bit tall, but also because he did not like this place at all. The guy that bumped into Fara could have been holding a knife or he might have pushed her over by mistake to be trampled.
"Are you cool, Noah?" Fara asked; worry in her emerald eyes.
He scratched the back of his head, nervously grinning. "Just a bit on edge."
"Let's get something to take off the edge, some scotch?" Mary said, grabbing his arm and ignoring Fara's glare.
"It's not a bad idea," Jasmine encouraged, fluffing her purple hair and glancing around. "I need to relax a bit."
They walked over to the little bar at the wall and Noah blinked twice when he found Cam serving drinks.
"Cam?" Noah called out.
The round-faced boy turned, his face lighting up as he shuffled over. They high-fived each other and Cam nodded to the girls.
"Finally, you're here! Thought you wouldn't show, man," Cam said, laughing. He obviously already had some drinks.
"Well I'm not gonna say I like it," Noah sighed, pointing at a bottle on the shelf. "Can I have a scotch with ice? What do you guys want?"
"Do you have any Pina Coladas?" Fara asked, raising her hands.
Mary smiled at Cam flirtatiously. "Tequila, make it how you like it."
"Um… Strawberry Daiquiri?" Jasmine asked. "It never disappoints me," she added, seeing Noah's look.
"Same," Cherry agreed, blue eyes drifting off immediately.
Noah was worried it would be hard for Cam to juggle with all the other orders, but he was a maestro of alcohol it seemed.
All their drinks were on the table moments later. They found an empty couch and squeezed in, Cherry sitting on Jasmine's lap.
The taste of the drink dulled his senses and set off his sense of danger. But he ignored the rumbling in his belly; it was just instinct to always be prepared.
The girls enjoyed drinks and talked carelessly. He needed to get looser and enjoy himself. Like a normal person.
"Noah! The dive is in like ten minutes," Cam shouted from the bar, waving at him. "Meet McCain and the others on the roof."
Fara's eyes narrowed, facepalming as the realization hit. "The dive," she said, pointing at the pool in the backyard.
"They're going to jump off the roof?" Jasmine whispered, leaning closer. "This house is like thirty feet off the ground."
"That water will hit like a gut punch," Cherry agreed, sipping her drink and watching Noah.
"Boys think they're made of steel," Mary giggled. She touched Noah's lap. "But you'll be alright."
Fara stared at him like he was the one that suggested jumping off a roof. "You're not doing that."
"I am," he sighed tiredly. "I don't have much social skills, but I'm pretty tough. I can handle that better than building a rapport like normal people."
"Rapport?" Fara scoffed but said nothing else.
He finished his drink and blinked twice, exhaling a heavy breath. "Let's go there then."
After a lot of searching he managed to find a way to get on the roof. He climbed on the patio railing of one of the top floor's rooms and pulled himself up.
He walked over to the pool side carefully, feeling the cold breeze a lot stronger up here.
The entire property was in plain view. The scattering of trees, garden mazes, and fountains only made him want to be McCain's friend more.
Rich as hell.
Is that a basketball court?
Another idea came to mind when he saw that. A way to get some money from Leeroy today. He put it out of mind as he reached the other side.
McCain and the other seniors were already up here. Neil was there too, chatting with them; his blonde hair fluttering in the wind.
"Finally, we thought you chickened out!" McCain said when he saw Noah coming. The roof here was flat and sloped like a ramp over there.
Noah shrugged. "Couldn't understand how to get up here. A bit too close to the edge aren't you?"
"Come over here," McCain said, waving him over. But Noah just stared at him skeptically.
Derick, the muscular power forward he blocked in tryouts, got up and pulled him over. "Relax, he's not gonna push you off... Unless you don't jump by yourself."
The three of them looked down the edge of the house. The pool was glowing with embedded lights like a blue runway, and a lot of mattresses had been arranged at it's edge.
"If you miss the pool you'll hit the mattresses," McCain reassured, slapping Noah on the back a bit too hard considering where they were standing.
This was the type of thing he worried someone would use to kill him. There were a couple people behind him right now and a precarious edge.
"So are we all jumping?" he asked, moving away from the edge.
McCain shook his head. "Only new players. We have to know we can trust you to be fearless."
That's bullshit, but okay?
"What if I don't jump?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Will I get kicked off the team?"
"No, you idiot," Neil barked impatiently. "We'll just know you're a bitch and not pass to you in any game."
"Coach doesn't even know we do this shit," Derrick said, chuckling.
Noah was staring at Neil a bit. Not quite angry, but just on the edge of being ready to throw him off this roof.
Neil was the boy he possessed to try and get some memories of basketball.
But that wasn't a favor that would stop Noah from throwing him.
McCain grabbed his shoulder, trying to defuse the tension before Neil went off. "You can do it, don't worry. Once you do this, no player can ever intimidate you."
Noah sighed, turning to the other tryouts, freshmen, kids essentially. This was technically pointless and just peer pressure. He just hoped they would jump.
"Yeah, the pool isn't that far away," he said, shrugging at them. He walked over and shook some of them. "Just jump once you have some speed. Don't wait till you get to the edge."
"You're talking a lot for a tryout," Neil quipped, shaking his head and laughing. "Will you go first?"
"Of course," Noah said, staring right back at him.
The roof grew silent and Neil rose to his feet, walking closer and gesturing at the edge.
"Then jump."