The party is in the outskirts of Oceanside and the moment we get out of our Uber I hear sirens in the distance. Our driver, a grumpy old man in a suit, zoomed out leaving us stranded with cops coming in close. 

“ now what?” I glare at Jongin 

“Relax” he says nervously “Let’s just go inside”

“Why would we go inside when cops are coming to raid that house?” 

“Uh” Jongin glances at the house “Well the cops could be going for some other house. I mean look at this neighborhood” 

He did have a point, the neighborhood wasn’t exactly a beacon of prosperity. The houses look gloomy and kind of frightening in the darkness of night, an angry dog barks from down the block, brown grass and peeling paint on the house in front of us. It was pulsing with how loud the music was inside, but from outside it was muffled. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the cops where coming for another house but it wouldn’t shock me either if the party got shot up or raided. 

I let out a sigh “let’s go in I don’t want to be out here any longer than we have to” 

We walk swiftly to the front of the house, some dude is sitting on the stoop playing Cooking Mama, it would’ve been hilarious had he not been six eight and at least three hundred pounds. 

“You got a bottle or any cash?” He asks not looking up from his omelet on his phone. 

“We have this svedka” Jongin says confidently 

“Go on in and don’t be stealing ” he grunts

“Yes sir” I reply instinctively before walking inside. 

Like Casey’s pretty orange house walking through the door is like passing through a veil, thick smoke obscures us from seeing everything immediately, the only other sense that seems to be working is our sense of hearing, and it’s working overtime with the loud chatter and the booming music. My body feels like it’s shaking in tune with Kendrick Lamar.

When the smoke starts to thin out I can see that the entrance has oddly placed furniture around the room, a couple making out on the couches, some guy spacing out in a chair in the corner it’s packed, and in the room over it’s bursting with life, jam packed with people of all walks dancing and jumping with the roar of music. It’s weirdly beautiful. But it would take a few shots for me to actually allow myself to go into the mass so we head to the kitchen where more people are in varying stages of getting drunk. 

“Sehun I need you to drink half of this bottle right now” Jongin says “And let me record it and post it in snap” 

“That’s a horrible idea” I say as I take off the silver cap to the bottle of vodka 

Jongin laughs and hold up his phone “okay one! Two- hey wait!” 

I start chugging the bottle, the liquid not touching my tongue but going straight down my throat, burning all the way down to my stomach where heat builds from the alcohol. 

I vaguely remember a few other people in the kitchen joining in with Jongins whoops and cheers. I eventually pull away, my cheeks flushed and sweat at my brow “Oh .” I say “Why the did you tell me to do that?” 

“You almost drank the whole thing” Jongin laughs

I look down and see that I did indeed drink about three quarters of the whole bottle, I’d have already puked had I not eaten earlier. 

Some other party goer pats me on the back “That was crazy man” I turn around and look at him, he’s a few inches taller than me with wide eyes that are slightly blood shot and big ears that peek out from under his dark green beanie.

“Thanks” I say “I want to dance” I announce 

The big guy laughs “Okay, let’s wait for your friend to get on your level” he turns to Jongin “You guys seem cool, my girl friend should be back with her bottle right now you can have some” 

“Thanks man, I’m Jongin by the way” he says, leaning against the kitchen counter “That’s Sehun” He gestures to me

“I’m Chan” the stranger introduces himself about to say something else before the music suddenly cuts

“Cops! Go out in the back” someone yells over the noise of people talking. 

The kitchen has a sliding glass door that leads outside, the only door leading to the back. So the mass from the room where everyone was dancing comes rushing towards us. “” Chan says, pulling me towards the wall so I wouldn’t get swept up, I’m too drunk to say thanks but I doubt Chan would even hear me “My girl friend was in the bathroom” he shouts over the noise of everyone panicking “I have to get her, I have her phone” he starts to try and shove his way into the crowd but it’s too thick and Chan gets pushed back towards the wall swiftly 

“Jongin we cant get caught up I promised your mom you wouldn’t get arrested” 

Jongin laughs “Don’t worry Hunnie we’ll get out” 

“Look guys I can give you guys a lift to another party but I need to find my girl” he says

“You said she was in the bathroom?” Jongin asks

Chan nods “I’ll get her, I’m a sturdy person so I’ll make it through” Jongin grins before he starts pushing through the crowd

“I drive a red truck!” Chan calls out to him before directing me in the opposite direction of where Jongin went and it feels wrong to leave my friend even if it’s for a moment. The panic of everyone around me starts to make me feel queasy and I can’t help but worry about Jongin. 

“Can you hop the fence?” Chan asks when we finally make it into the backyard 

“Yeah I think so” I stumble as I try to lift myself over the tall brick wall, I make it to the top where I straddle it for a moment before tossing both legs over and leaping, landing on my . I stand up and look around, everyone from the party is hopping the fence silently either sneaking around back to the front or hopping the fence to the ally or to the other backyard. The wall I just hopped landed me in what I suppose was the neighbors backyard. 

Chan follows soon after “okay let’s go around through the alley” 

Someone must have accidentally turned the music back on because I can hear Broccoli playing over the other side of the wall. It seems like a  good song to run away from cops to, so I laugh a little bit as I follow a complete stranger into a dark alley.