People Person (Part Two)

The night of the party eventually came, and my plan had worked. Mister Summers had scrambled to get something together away from the school for he and Miss Frost to blow off some steam. When we caught wind that our number one guards would be away, we sent out the messages for the exact time and place.

People started showing up early. Lots of people started filing in once the actual time rolled around. I was giddy.

Saberwolf and Laura had contributed to the festivities by finding us a choice place. Salem Center had lots of nice property, and they were able to find a lakeside house for sale that was fully furnished from the current owners looking to sell, with running electricity and everything.

'But Bellamy,' you're probably asking, 'Won't someone call the police when they see a bunch of mutant kids getting strange in the empty house next door?'

To which I would reply, 'Yes. But we're four tree-covered acres from the nearest road, and/or would-be neighbors. Unless we set the woods on fire, there's really nothing we can do to attract any attention.'

I stood at the door, greeting people on the way in, thanking them for coming and letting them know what we had available. It was really boring, and it was here that I learned that while I didn't know a whole lot of people, a whole lot of people knew me. As in, people who I'd never had a class with, or anything, they knew my name. It stunned me. At first, I'd figured the Hellions' name recognition would have brought the people in. Apparently the Paladins had some prestige as well.

Some of my other friends had been running around, making sure everything was set up before the party started in earnest. Eddie was one of them, and hadn't gotten the chance to meet up with me when I'd gotten there. When we finally came across each other, he stared me down and seemed disappointed.

Eddie grabbed at my clothes and shook his head, "What the fuck is this? You look like you're about to hop on a stage and sing to some girls," As if that was a bad thing.

I had on some dark colored jeans and a white t-shirt underneath an open navy button-up shirt, hat firmly on my head. I thought I looked good, all things considered. On the other hand, he had on some shorts and a tank top. Skinny S.O.B… he couldn't talk shit about me.

"You look like you're about to go to goddamn pool party," I shot back. I'd taken some time to try and look good for this thing. I cleaned up well for a high school junior, if I did say so myself.

Eddie jerked his thumb in the direction of the rear of the house, "We've got the lake out back," He argued. A fair enough point, I admit, "Sun's out, guns out, Bel. You should know this. Your arms are bigger than mine."

There was a time and a place for everything. And while there was a lake, this wasn't a beach party. We were still in upstate New York, "I am the host, fool. It's my job to present myself as casual, welcoming… but a symbol of taste and-," In the background, something caught my eye, "Hey! You kick in if you want to touch the kegs! 5 bucks to drink all night! Otherwise, B.Y.O.B!" I yelled at a sophomore trying to get over with our refreshments. When he skittered off, I turned back to Eddie and shook my head, "I swear, we try throw everyone's raggedy-ass a party, and they don't even care. Where is everybody else?"

Eddie had been there even before I had, making sure everything went right, "Hisako and Blindfold are coming later with the New Mutants," He said, having kept track of our merry crew, "Julian, Santo, and Brian are helping set up. The emo kid is around here somewhere. Cessily isn't coming until later, and Sooraya isn't coming at all, as far as I know."

I thought about the out-of-place member of the Hellions. I couldn't see her walking around in the kind of place we were going to be in later, "Yeah… I guess if you're not the party type, there's better things to do than sit around and watch a bunch of drunk toddlers all night."

I felt a little bad. She was a very respectful, religious type, and she'd always been nice to me.

Eddie seemed to share my sentiment, "It's kind of a shame. I've got a feeling she's really pretty under that burka," He mused, before giving up the thought. Anything further would have been marginalizing her religion, "I'm not gonna try to strong-arm anybody into cutting loose though."

"Sooraya does not wear a burka. It is a niqab."

Both Eddie and I leapt twelve feet away when we realized Laura had been standing six inches from us for what had probably been a decent while. She kept her normal expression, but there was a lift to her brow, as if to say we were idiots.

"How long have you been there?" I asked first, trying to get my heart-rate down. From where she'd been standing, she had been right out of my peripheral vision.

"Since you yelled at that student," Laura specified, her brow furrowing as she tried to figure out just what our problem was.

Eddie levitated in place, never setting himself back down after jumping, "Holy-! I think I just shat out my heart."

There was an honest expression of confusion that I could see on her face, "You know, I'm pretty sure she's not even trying to sneak up us either. I told you before, you've gotta quit doing that," She didn't really do anything out of any sense of malice. Not since I'd met her, at least, "What's up, Laura?"

She shrugged her shoulders, hands shoved in the pockets of her little black jacket, "You told me it would be good to give this a try, but I do not know what I should do to interact during this... party," She said, "What do you think I should do?"

"Whatever you want," The way she furrowed her brow told me that this wasn't good enough advice, "I mean, we've got food, drinks. There's lots of people who are going to be here, so you can find someone you like talking to or want to be around," She just stared at me blankly after that one, "...Right. Well, you can take the party to the lake like the flying ginger will here, or you don't really have to do anything."

"Yeah," Eddie stepped in, realizing that I was struggling to explain things, "There's a big-ass TV over there, we'll have some stuff hooked up, so you can chill out and watch TV. Just relax. What do you even do for fun?" He asked, trying to reach for a straw to grasp at. Laura didn't answer him for an oddly long time, "...Oh boy. Bel?"

Way to pass the buck back to me, buddy. I put a hand on Laura's shoulder, "If you don't want to do any of that, it's fine. If you need anything, come find me," I was supposed to be playing host after all, "Hell, if you want to leave, you can. Just make sure you tell me first."

Eddie and Hisako would tell me when they were leaving. Eddie would probably stay until the end. Ruth would probably stick close to all of us all night long and leave when Hisako did. Laura was the most likely to lone wolf it, and wander off without saying a word. I didn't want to be up all night after the party wondering where a member of my team was.

Laura agreed easily enough. It made me question if she really wanted to be there, or if she was just there because I had suggested she do it. Either way, she was there, and she was my friend. I wanted her to be comfortable with where she was and what she was doing.

"Come on," I said, gesturing with my head for Laura to follow me, "We've got to order a metric fuck-ton of pizzas for this thing."

"A fuck-ton is not a unit of measurement, Bellamy."

"Pssht. It is tonight."