Exotic

~ life of the party ~

As we approached Aaron's house, it became quite clear that Max's party was far from winding down. I could feel the bass emanating from the house shaking the car from down the street. It was some sort of miracle, and a testament to the patience of his neighbours, that the place wasn't swarming with cops.

Aaron's little house was overwhelmed by cars and guests, spilled out on the front patio, and packed up against the front windows. Maya's native garden beds had become a graveyard for red solo cups and empty beer bottles, and the curb was sprinkled with my classmates in various states of drunkenness, unperturbed by the rain, which had reduced to a fine mist. It was a mirror of the March of Progress, from a group of slightly tipsy girls mingling, to someone kneeling in the gutter, to a couple in a drunken and partially naked embrace under the rusting mailbox.

Aaron nearly hit a girl who staggered out into the road, a yellow cruiser in one hand, high heels in the other. Her blinking mobile phone was tucked under her chin, and she dropped it as she kicked Aaron's headlight with one bare foot.

"Please tell me that's not your house," Zsa Zsa groaned.

He pulled up behind an off-white hatchback, killing the engine and switching on the overhead light. "Okay, I know it looks bad..."

"Max!" all three of us flinched as the same girl who'd picked a fight with Aaron's SUV started hammering on his window. "You fucker! I'm the best lay of your life! How'd you get out here so quickly?"

Aaron rolled his eyes in a dramatic arch. "It's Aaron, Madison. Wrong twin."

She pouted like a spoiled toddler and staggered away without apologising. Thankfully, she didn't grant Zsa Zsa or me more than a cursory glance.

"Twin?" Zsa Zsa echoed. "Not brother?"

Aaron glanced back at me, mouthed sorry as my knee began to jiggle agitatedly. "Yeah. Well. Twin brother."

"Happy birthday," Zsa Zsa rasped.

"Thanks," Aaron flustered.

Zsa Zsa turned as much as his body allowed and fixed me with a suspicious stare. I ducked my head, distracting myself by readjusting my mop of a wig. Aaron popped the lock on the driver's side door but hesitated before climbing out.

"I know this isn't ideal," he added. "But my bedroom is sealed off. I locked it myself. I'll go in first, open the window and you and Miles can sneak around the side. You know where to take him, Miles?"

I did. Aaron's window led almost directly out onto the street, and it was so low to the ground you could almost step out of it. We'd discussed sneaking out on numerous occasions, but never actually done so. It meant we'd be able to circumnavigate the drunk teenagers crowding the front yard.

Zsa Zsa thought about it for a while, before nodding waveringly. Aaron smiled encouragingly and turned quickly to me.

"I'll text you," he told me, and then he was gone.

Zsa Zsa was throwing himself around to stare me down the second Aaron slipped out of the car, despite his injuries. His voice was low and gritty; his free hand clenched down on the centre console as he spoke.

"What the hell is going on right now?" he demanded.

"You agreed his place would be best," I said weakly.

"The teen kegger is the least of my concerns right now," he hissed. "What are you doing hanging around high schoolers? Is he your boyfriend?"

"What?" I startled, pressing back into the seat. "No!"

"Then why is he helping me?" he demanded. "And why would you lie about where you were living? You know I don't care if you lived with your parents, right? What gives?"