The first real party I have ever been too is the most overwhelming, overstimulating, over s*xualized thing I have ever seen. Clearly the goal is to be the most underdressed in the middle of winter while looking like a porn star ready to mate with the first jock that comes your way.
I know it’s more than either of us anticipated when Mina slows her walk up the long winding sidewalk in front of this stark white mansion that’s size could rival my packhouse_
“Holy sh*t there are a lot of people here.” She gasps as she starts walking forward again. The loud music drew us in.
“How are we supposed to find Beth and all the girls in this chaos?”
“No idea, but I assume everyone is glued to their phones. From what I understand this is more about being seen and having photos posted of you on social media, than anything else. Being here is a privilege, being able to prove it is harder.” She winks at me over her shoulder.
It’s been a while since she has talked in a strategic tone. I was afraid I was losing my friend to the glamors of the outside world.
Turns out she was doing her part in her own way. I was never going to get close to these people. I’m too young for
them in general and I really could care less to socialize outside of my friend group unless someone approaches me. I guess I could put more effort into this part. We need to know who these rogues are and they clearly know how to hide in plain sight.
Speaking of coming up to me, a guy I recognize as one of
Beth’s friends, maybe someone’s brother, approaching us.
“Hey! You made it! I wasn’t sure if you two would show. It’s been a while, what have you two been up to?” He boops my nose and smiles a lazy smile, clearly feeling his drinks already.
“Well. We finally moved! So we are closer to campus. I can’t wait to start school in a couple weeks.” Mina giggles at him.
‘Yeah, the storm made everything take way longer than we thought it would. Does that happen a lot around here? Random snow storms at the wrong time of the year?” I ask, surprising Mina and myself at my initiative to start a conversation.
He wraps an arm around each of us and starts to lead us through the entryway of the massive house. “Sometimes, not super often though. We usually get snow during your standard winter months. Being by the ocean helps that, but we are not here to talk about the weather. We are here to celebrate the new year. Are you ladies ready for your first IJMaine party?”
“Yes!” We both laugh and shout together.
I still don’t know this kid’s name, but he has introduced us to so many people. I don’t think learning names is a part of the game. Be seen, Mina said, people need to know we were here. That’s what I am currently trying to do. I have been nursing a drink since we got here. Every twenty minutes or so I put it down as we pass by tables or any flat surface really. I have to pretend to keep drinking, but I need my brain to function too, Mina told me over the mindlink after her first full drink. that’s what she is doing too.
“Oh, my gosh! Hi!!” Mina jumps at some random guy taking a selfie with a few other, let’s be honest, hot guys and wraps her arms around his neck like I would if it was Xander. He doesn’t even blink, just pulls her close and, in tandem, I follow along for the picture. We took a few from different angles and each guy took his turn wrapping us up in their arms.
We have been in more selfies and group shots than I ever would have expected. But we fit whatever demographic these guys find attractive so it’s working in our favor.
Hopefully we will be on enough socials to get noticed by these rogues. I’m glad none of the guys have pushed further than gentle groping though, so it’s been bearable. don’t know how many of these parties I can do. I’m more exhausted talking to all of these people than I would be doing 12 hours of training straight.
“It’s almost time! The clock is starting to count down.” Someone shouts from further in the house. Mina grabs my hand and pulls me into the living room that seems to be housing everyone in front of the movie theater sized TV. We push up towards the front, because being short makes that a necessity for me.
I can feel the heat of all of the bodies around me. Wafts of perfume and deodorant in various phases of wearing out assault my nose, Combine that with the stale alcohol and the left over smoke from and I was having a hard time focusing on the ball dropping in front of me let alone what was happening around me.
“5..4..3..2..1!” A cacophony of noise erupts and loud music starts blaring. People around us are making out like crazy. Mina is wrapped up in a guy next to me and before I can even comprehend what is happening, lips are smashed against mine.
My eyes close tight of their own accord and my assailant either has no idea what he is doing or is so drunk, he has no idea what he is doing, but feel like he is trying to eat my face. I crush my ips closed as his tongue licks my face like a dog. I don’t even know if he realizes I’m not reciprocating the slobber assault. I have no idea how long it lasts, but eventually he pulls away just far enough to look into my eyes with a lazy and satisfied look. I try to smile back, hoping I can pull off faking enjoyment for him. I think even without
the brand suppressing my hormones and romantic emotions, I could not have enjoyed that less. He looks very pleased with himself so I must have convinced him a little bit.
It took me a little bit to untangle myself from him. He even tried to follow me into the bathroom, apparently whatever I said was code for ‘quickie’ and finally had to reach out to Mina over the mindlink to come and rescue me. I thought I was actually going to have to fight him off. Even when I pretended to be more into Mina than him, he thought we should just have a threesome. We finally just turned around and walked away too fast for him to grab my arm and hold me back again. I don’t know if any other story will ever top that one.
I had to pretend to be a normal human girl with normal human strength and I found it both funny and annoying. I can’t imagine not being able to defend myself when a guy was really trying to harm me. At least this guy seemed nice, just a little over eager and I didn’t want to hurt him. That was a new technique I decided I needed to train. How to put enough force into extracting myself from situations like that, but not do so much damage that anyone would be3 suspicious of my non-human strength.
