Chapter 16: Party 5

After being declared as the Queen of beer pong, Kevin declared that they were taking the party outside. When he said this, I thought he was just planning to do a barbeque, but when I got there, I saw a huge pool and Kevin jumped into it.

'He's gotta be kidding me!'

"Pool Party! Time to get wet folks." Carl yelled.

'Oh well, my time here is done.' I wanted to turn around but Karla stopped me.

"Where are you going? Let's get in!"

"I'd rather not." Firstly, I was not going to strip down and get into a pool with so many unknown people watching. Secondly, and most importantly, I am aquaphobic, meaning, I'm afraid of water.

"I'm aquaphobic." Her eyes widened.

"Really? Like you completely hate water?"

"No, just large bodies of water, like oceans and pools."

"Oh, too bad. But don't leave, ok?"

"Yeah, sure." I gave her a smile and she ran off. I looked around and realised that I was the only one who hadn't gotten into the pool, or stripped 

'Great way to stand out Emily.' I sat at a place not too far from the edge of the pool.

I should just leave. I've spent enough time here. But then, it was still fun to see them in the pool.

"You're not going to join them?" I heard a voice say. I looked up to see Shawn beside me. He looked relaxed.

"No, aren't you?"

"I don't want to get wet." He said. He leaned against a brick wall and I looked back at the pool.

"Afraid of pools?" I was shocked. How did he know?

"How do you know that?" I faced him this time. He just shrugged.

"It's obvious. I can see the fear in you, you long to be there, but you can't." I stared at the handsome guy standing next to me. Apart from being handsome he's a psychic too. I looked around uncomfortably.

"Senorita! Why aren't you joining us?" I saw a shirtless Carl waving from the pool next to a shirtless Mike.

'Yep, those guys are definitely athletes.'

"I'm good here." I saw him scrunch his eyebrows. Then he came towards me. 

"Why?" He looked over to Shawn.

"I'm not gonna ask him because I know he won't answer." Shawn rolled his eyes.

"I don't like pools." 

"You don't have to get in." 

"Just being close to it freaks me out. I'm good where I am."

"Alright, but you're missing out. And Shawn, please be a gentleman to her, just like I would do."

"Yeah sure, I'll be the perfect gentleman, but I definitely can't beat you at that." Shawn replied. I could clearly hear the sarcasm in his words.

"Definitely." Somehow, it seemed like Carl didn't notice, or was he just ignoring it?

For a while, Shawn and I said nothing. I just stared at the others and occasionally did a few things on my phone. The splashing of water from the numerous games they played made the ground really wet.

Shawn gave me a long look before saying;

"Do you want to make this pool party more fun?" I turned to him, giving him a questioning look.

"It depends on your definition of fun, some fun things might be too crazy for me." A smirk came across his face.

'God that is one attractive but scary smirk.'

"It doesn't involve you getting hurt, in fact, you have nothing to do, except to sit down and watch."

"Can it hurt the others?" He let out a little sigh.

"It could."

"And you like that?" I was shocked. 

"You might want to call out the people you care about, except for Kevin."

"So the prank is against Kevin but you want to involve everyone in it?"

He curled an eyebrow and I looked away.

"One minute." He brought out his phone and began to type 

'This is so wrong! But gosh I do want to see how it goes.'

"Karla! Kat, Tasha!" I yelled. The trio looked at my side and gave me a curious look. I motioned for them to come over. 

"What about Carl and Mike?" I thought for a while.

"Mike maybe, Carl, no." 

"Alright, decide quickly. Thirty more seconds."

"Mike!" I yelled. He looked at me confused. 

"What's wrong Emily?" Kat asked as she brushed her hand through her wet hair.

"I…um." Mike came over.

"You yelled for me?" I stared at the four people in front of me.

'Why don't I just let them watch instead, whatever it is.'

"She called so that you all can enjoy the show." Shawn told them. 

"What show?" Karla asked. Mike stared at Shawn and he immediately knew he was up to something.

"What are you plotting Shawn?" Mike asked and Shawn chuckled.

"Nothing too painful, trust me." Karla and Tasha immediately caught on, but Kat was still confused. Poor girl.

"I don't get it…" immediately, shrills and shrieks could be heard.

The pool water started to turn orange but something else was happening.

"It's hot! It's so fucking hot!" A girl screamed. She jumped out of the pool, her body already turned orange.

"I'm turning orange! Why the hell I'm I…hot!!" Another guy jumped out of the pool hurriedly. Even Kevin jumped out of the pool. Carl escaped and literally cursed.

"What the fuck! Who did this!"

Kat and Karla started laughing, Tasha tried to hold back her smile and Mike just shook his head.

'Ok, this was hilarious!"

"Emily, thanks for getting us out of there." Kat said between laughter

"Yeah, It's not fun to look like a tangerine." Karla added. Kevin stared as his party turned into total chaos. He looked towards our side and a scowl formed on his face.

"He looks mad." I said

"Shawn you motherfucker! Can't you forgive the littlest of things?" Honestly, Kevin looked extremely mad, but he looked like a scorched tangerine so I couldn't help the smile that was breaking through my face.

"You really thought I'd let you go like that?"

"Yeah! For Christ's sake it's my birthday!"

"That doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want. So next time, think before doing something." Shawn gave him a smile, a devious one that sent shivers down my spine. He stared at his fellow yearmates whose bodies had turned orange.

"You only have three minutes to get it off your body or else it's staying for a week." Kevin's eyes widened. A girl beside Kevin heard this and shrieked loudly.

"If we don't rinse this thing off our bodies now, we'll be looking like this for a long time!" Her voice was so loud, I had to cover my ears. All of the affected people scattered around, trying to find a way to get this thing off them.

"How come you guys didn't turn orange? Carl asked. He didn't look bothered about the fact he'd be looking orange for a week.

"Oh, we went to get some drinks." Said Karla 

"Coming from you, I don't believe it. Shawn, that wasn't cool at all."

"Yeah, yeah stop whining." Said Tasha.

"You're all mean, Emily is the only sweet person here. I can bet you four knew about this and didn't tell me."

'Oh boy.'

I looked away, not wanting to look at Carl. He seemed to notice.

"Senorita, you knew too?" He gave me the most pitiful look and I immediately regretted not calling him.

"I'm sorry." I said apologetically. He pretended to sniffle.

"Your betrayal is the most hurtful. But I know you were influenced by them." He pointed at the four people standing before him. 

'No Carl, I wasn't.' 

"Go cry to your dog you big baby." Sometimes I wondered why Karla and Carl always fought. Or was that just how twins were? Carl didn't say anything, instead, he left. The others left and I followed suit. I knew there would be total chaos. Before I could go far, Shawn called out to me.

"You should leave."

"Yeah, I don't think there's much of a party anymore. Thanks to you." He chuckled and I felt my stomach do a flip.

"Not because of that." He walked towards me until he was just a few feet away from me. I unintentionally held my breath.

"Do you want to get arrested?" I was shocked, but confused.

"What?"

"Yes or no Emily." 

'My name has never sounded so alluring before.'

"No?

"Then come with me." His voice was enticing. It was just a simple statement. But it sounded like he was offering for me to take the plunge. A plunge I had a feeling I would never be able to resurface from. He walked away and I stared at him, as if I were in a daze. I knew that I shouldn't follow him, but I didn't want to get arrested. And also, I kinda trusted him.

"You're not moving?"

"Why will I get arrested?" He let out a tired sigh.

"I'll tell you on the way." His phone beeped and he typed quickly onto his phone.

"We have only five minutes left."  He walked into the house and this time, I immediately followed him.

I saw him whisper something to Mike and his eyes widened. He nodded swiftly to Shawn and ran off.

"What…"

"Come on." He dragged my hand and we headed out the back door.

"What about…?"

"Mike will get them out…somehow." We arrived outside where I saw a jeep that I believed was his. I looked down the block and saw a police car in front of another house!

"They aren't heading here." I told him.

"They'll be here any minute, get in." I got in and he sped off.

"Now are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"The police are here because of a complaint." He said 

"Complaint? What complaint?"

"The houses on this block share the same source of water that feeds the pool."

"The pipes are connected?" He nodded.

"And somehow that makes the orange pool water from Kevin's house affect the other houses connected?" I asked

"Exactly, you're quite smart." I flushed at his words.

"It's not that hard to figure out. But then how…"

"I have a few friends who live here. I contacted them and told them to keep an eye out for any changes in their pool water. When that happens, they should immediately report it."

"Multiple reports uh? But why do you want to get Kevin arrested! And the other poor people that attended his party?"

"No one will get arrested. They'll declare it as a freak accident and the police will understand."

"But why?"

"Kevin's parents strictly prohibited house parties. But since they are away, he decided to throw one." It then suddenly clicked.

"So that's his real punishment? For his parents to find out and he'll get in trouble?"

"Bingo." There was a smile on his face.

"So Mike, Carl…"

"They should have left before the police arrives. And even if they don't, nothing bad will happen."

"Then why did you get me out? Why did you say that I was going to get arrested?" I asked him.

"I didn't want you to get involved in getting questioned and those types of things." He replied. I felt a small tug in my heart.

'That's so sweet of him.'

"Thanks."

"I'm taking you home." He said. I swiftly nodded. But then I realised something.

"You don't know where my house is."

"I actually do."

"How?"

"Carl's ex-girlfriend used to live there." I nodded and I didn't say another word again.

"You're coming to Hawthorne, right?"

"Yeah, hopefully."

"You'll get in." He said simply.

'How are they so damn sure of this!' We came to a halt. I noticed that he didn't park in front of my house.

"You don't want your parents to see you with me right?"

"I-I yeah, thanks." I was blushing so hard right now. Why did he make it seem like we're secret lovers?

"Thanks, for everything."

"See you later, new blood." He gave me a smirk and drove off. 

'Someday today has been' I took out my phone and I saw ten missed calls! All from my mom! Realisation then hit me like a bullet train.

"It's 9pm! I missed curfew!" 

'I'm done for!'