Fools Fall

12- Noah

Noah

I kissed below my boyfriend's ear then whispered (more of a shout-whisper considering the chatter of the crowd and the bumping music) in Sam's ear, "don't you want everyone to know that you're mine?"

But, I never got his answer because Ciera came up to us. "Oh, am I interrupting?" I looked up from Sam to face Ciera, her costume was definitely fitting for her. Tomb Raider; light grey crop top and very short, shorts. Black straps around her thighs up with- I was pretty sure- a real knife strapped to it. She wore black, leather, fingerless gloves and her black Doc Martins. She hand a BB gun strapped to her hip.

"You were," I confirmed dryly.

"Hmm, really? 'Cause it's seemed like you were harassing this grossly adorable Dalmatian." She gave Sam a wink before looking back at me with her bored eyes. Ciera checked out my outfit, "Are you... Magic Mike?" She deadpanned.

Sam laughed, "I like her."

I turned to him, "don't be fooled," then I glared at her harmlessly, "she's evil."

"Ouch," she said, but didn't seem the least offended. "But we shared a meal together."

"Ah hahaha what?" Sam questioned uncomfortably.

I rolled my eyes at Ciera, "what Ciera- this is Ciera, by the way" I forgot I hadn't introduced her yet. "What she means by 'sharing a meal' is her taking a bite of my food without my permission," I explained and prayed to a God I didn't believe in, that Sam didn't freak out over what Ciera did.

But luckily, Sam only sighed in relief, "oh okay."

"Don't worry, skyscrapers aren't my type," Ciera told Sam, mocking my height. Then to both of us, she said, "We're all smoking in the garage, come on," and she turned around, walking away from us.

"Can we just dance?" Sam asked me, but his eyes were pleading for us to to stay put.

I grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers together, "Don't you want to meet the people I hang out with and talk about?" I asked him, tugging him with me to follow Ciera.

"Yeah okay," Sam agreed and on our way to the supposed garage, Sam stepped away from me, into the kitchen to grab himself another cup of that strong punch.

"Pace yourself," I told him, but I hoped he also heard my warning. I didn't want to deal with his jealousy shit that night. Or to get puked on; Sam was notorious for that. Ciera guided us to a mud room then led to a grey door that I thought might've been a bright white at some point in a past time. She opened the door and immediately an earthy and almost musky smell wafted into my nose. I quite liked the smell of weed being I smoke it a lot. Sam on the other hand, scrunched up his nose in distaste.

I gave his hand a short squeeze, hoping he knows how grateful I am that he was there with me.

The gang- Jude, Kyle, Alice, and Dina- were in the garage along with a guy I didn't recognize.

The garage was set up for the perfect hang out and they seemed to keep that space only for their inner circle. A tall refrigerator stood against the back wall. Off to the side was a long plastic table that seemed to be set up for beer pong. There was numerous old rugs overlapping each other that took over most of the concrete floor, but there was one big burgundy rug that laid in the middle with its bohemian style. A beige couch sitting on top of that burgundy rug along with a futon couch next to it. A large beanbag chair was also in the mix of seating arrangements the Kyle was plopped down on.

Ciera went over towards the fridge while speaking, "look who I found," to the group. She pulled out a beer before closing the fridge.

They all gave their version of a greeting to Sam and I. One greeting louder than the others, "Sam! Omg!" Dina exclaimed. Her costume matched Jude's as she was an Angel... sort of. She had a white, flowy lingerie on with a halo attached to a head band. Her usual straight hair was curled with some tinsel streaming through. "I'm so glad you're here, Noah said you might not come," she pulled Sam and I into a hug. She reeked of marijuana and alcohol. She pulled back from us, "Wow, you guys look adorable! Fireman and his Dalmatian? That's clever," she complimented us with a wide grin. Dina looked like she was about to topple over, she was definitely drunk.

Sam shyly said "thank you, it was my idea," as I pulled him with me and took a seat on the futon. Jude to my left and my boyfriend on my right. Jude was taking a long hit from a large, glass bong before he offered it to me, blowing out smoke.

Sam placed his hand on my arm when I grabbed the bong, "maybe you shouldn't get high, you're driving."

"Ah, the DD, that's right," Jude recalled then waved off Sam's concern, "he'll be fine. If anything, I'm more focused when I'm driving high."

The group chuckled and most of them agreed, except for Alice who said, "no way, I'm too paranoid about getting pulled over when I'm high."

Sam gave me his pleading, puppy eyes again. "It'll be okay," I assured him in a low voice so that others didn't hear, "we're gonna be here a few hours anyway, so I'll be sobered up by the time we leave." Sam didn't comment, so I leaned forward to grab one of the multiple lighters off the wooden coffee table that stood in the middle of all the seats. The faded circles from past cup placements had me thinking the table was older than I was.

There was also an ashtray with quite a bit of cigarette buds smooshed in there and I wondered who smoked cigarettes until I looked over and saw Ciera. She was standing close to the garage door that was open a quarter of the way to let the October chilled air in. She had a cigarette hanging from her lips.

Sam was already chatting it up with Alice who showed up as Bob Ross to the party, with a big fake, curly afro. They seemed to be talking about something LGBTQ+ related and I heard her mention that she was pan sexual. I was about to ask what the hell that was when someone caught my eye, and I think also Sam's eye as he gave me a look and I shrugged.

What we saw was Dina making out with that random guy I didn't recognize earlier. I looked over at Jude who was talking to Kyle while Kyle rolled up a joint. I nudged Jude with my elbow. When he looked at me, I nodded towards Dina in question. He understood as he shrugged, "she's a big girl, she can handle herself."

"Aren't you two dating?" I asked.

"We are, but we both do our own thing, ya' know?"

No, I didn't know because I couldn't imagine being in an open relationship. Not only would I get stupid jealous and angry at someone even flirting with Sam, there was also the risk of STDs.  So all I responded with was, "hmm," and I took another hit from the bong as I watched Dina grab the guy she was kissing and they both stumble back into the house.

"I'm gonna play foosball with Alice," Sam told me as he stood up. He dropped his red solo cup on the table which caused it to tip over, but no alcohol spilled out because it was empty. Damn, he must've chugged that punch. Jesus fucking Christ, did he know the definition of 'pace yourself'?

Before Sam went to the foosball table- which I had just then realized was in the back corner- he walked to the fridge and opened it. Sam grabbed two Truly's then met Alice at the game table and handed her one. She said something I couldn't hear and Sam laughed which made me smile. I didn't care anymore if he drank, I just wanted him to have a good time.

"I'm gonna go find the bathroom," I said, suddenly having the urge to pee, as I stood up. I glanced at Sam and thought about telling him, but then I thought he'd probably want to stick by my side, so I decided not to mention it. He'd be fine for a moment while I was gone, it wasn't going to take long.

**

Thank you for reading! I'm going on vacation and won't be back until after March 14th, so expect chapter 13 to be posted a little after that.

-Xoxo, Bert