Shunji was leading us up the stairs of an apartment building, stopping at the third floor landing to check something on his phone. It was still hot out, only late afternoon, but this side of the apartment building was all in shadow causing a cool breeze to run past me. A few doors down the walkway, Shunji found the apartment he was looking for, knocking on the door quietly like he didn't want to disturb anyone. When the door finally cracked open it took a second before opening all the way. Whoever was at the door was checking to see who was there before letting us in.
The apartment was dark but otherwise quite clean. Lamps in the corner of the room had been dimmed to the point of just barely being on. Already a dozen bottles of alcohol were set out on the table of the front room, some of them opened with a few used glasses nearby. There were only four other people in the room but from the conversation I overheard between Shunji and the guy from the door, we were a little early. I never really knew Echiko to drink but she seemed to skip over to the table and start looking through the bottles to see what was available. On the couch another girl was laying back, watching the procession of newcomers with disinterest, a glass of amber colored liquid in her hand. I was a little shocked at her choice of outfit for the party, a school uniform from one of the Okayama high schools that I wasn't familiar with. However, she wore her shirt unbuttoned, displaying a frayed purple bra as the only thing keeping her from exposing herself. The guy from the door went back to the couch after talking to Shunji, the girl lifting her legs so that he could sit down with her legs draped over him. His hand was rubbing her legs slowly, almost like he was an animal showing everyone else what was his property. It made me shudder.
Echiko nudged me, offering me a glass but I just shook my head and pushed it back at her. "It's bad enough that I came here, I don't want to drink." Echiko just shrugged and took a sip from the glass. I could smell the alcohol in it, not the most familiar scent but something that is hard to forget. I found a corner of the room to set my school bag down but ended up just standing there once my hands were free, not sure what to do at a party like this.
It was probably another twenty minutes or so of awkwardly standing there in the quiet room before I could start hearing multiple feet out on the walkway. A knock at the door preceded a dozen high schoolers who funneled their way into the apartment. I recognized a couple members of the Kurashiki track team, but also a couple other students from the sports meet today. Amongst them, I recalled the other girl in the final swim race of the day, Kiya Esumi. She still had a sour look on her face but started mingling with the other party goers. Someone turned on some music and a constant drone of noise filled the evening. Whether it was music, someone singing bad karaoke in the other room, or just the endless talking between everyone, I felt like the sound was a solid thing that actually made me invisible. Periodically the door would open again and a few more people would enter.
After a while, the host and his girlfriend left the couch, and I used the opportunity to sit down and just watch. Every so often Shunji would walk up to me for a chat, but I could tell he had already drank quite a bit and wasn't even sure who I was half the time. Echiko seemed to disappear into a crowd of people, showing off the cute new outfit she had bought today. A lot of guys were gathered around her and giving her lots of attention, something I knew Echiko loved.
-
The curtains were closed, but through a sliver of an opening where two curtains came together I could see that the sun was starting to go down. I looked around for Echiko, wanting to get back to the train station before it got dark. It was going to be bad enough walking home once we got back to Kurashiki. The crowd of people had diminished slightly, though I couldn't recall anyone leaving the apartment. It seemed like several people were going back into the bedrooms. When I finally spotted Echiko, she was making out with a guy I hadn't seen before. Shunji was right next to her, a dumb grin on his face that could only be from all his drinking. As soon as she had stopped kissing him, she turned to Shunji and began to kiss him too. The strange boy didn't seem to care, instead his hand was playing with her miniskirt, stroking her ass underneath. The look on Echiko's face was different than I had seen before, a mixture of excitement and something else… a look I had seen when she was eager for dessert at our favorite parfait cafe. She grabbed Shunji and the boy by their hands and led them towards one of the bedrooms. I tried calling out to her over the din of the party but she just continued on.
I stood up, determined to walk over to the bedroom and get her, but a guy from Daianji high school blocked my way. "Where are you off to, cutie? I didn't catch your name earlier."
When I could tell that it was useless to just get past him, and after Echiko and the two boys disappeared into the bedroom with the door closed, I sighed and turned to respond to the guy. "Okada. And I'm trying to find my friend."
"Okada, that's a strange name for a girl." I could smell alcohol on his breath, or maybe it was just the smell of the room now, I couldn't be sure. He certainly didn't seem drunk.
"Okada Shizu, I'm from Kurashiki."
The guy seemed to perk up when he heard I was from out of town. Taking my hand, he led me to sitting back down on the couch. I was tired already, so I just gave in and sat down next to him. "Shizu, huh? I'm Masahiro. You know, I've kinda been watching you tonight, you've just seemed bored ever since I got here. Something bothering you?"
I didn't really like that this guy was watching me throughout the whole party, but then I figured I did stick out a little bit as the only one there who wasn't really having fun. "No, this just isn't my scene. My friends dragged me here and I was just waiting for her before I left."
"Well why don't you stay a little while longer? We finally just started talking, and you are so beautiful." I tried not to make a pathetic smile at that, how desperate was he to tell a girl she was beautiful after only talking to her for thirty seconds. Still, it was kinda nice to have a guy call me beautiful.
"You… really think I am beautiful?"
"Of course you are! You are dressed so elegantly and your hair is all nice, but you are at a party like this. I'm sure you have some sexy lingerie on underneath those clothes, but you are just hiding your true beauty to keep all the other girls from being jealous." His hand touched my knee, just below the hem of my skirt. I began to feel warm, not liking what he insinuated about me, but enjoying the attention. Usually with Echiko around, she was the one to always get attention from boys. My mind began to wander a bit, wondering if there were actually girls in the room that were jealous of me. On the other side of the room I saw Esumi, my prideful side secretly enjoying that she must be jealous of my swimming, and now maybe she was jealous that I had a boy from her school trying to feel me up.
Esumi turned to look towards me, our eyes meeting for a moment as my heart raced on what I should do. Grabbing Masahiro's free hand, I placed it on my side, his palm gently resting against my breast. The look on Esumi's face was priceless, and I felt incredible. I was so distracted though, I didn't even notice Masahiro lean in for a kiss. Before I knew it, his lips were locked with mine, parted slightly so I could almost taste his warm breath. It was sweet like fruit, and didn't seem to have any alcohol hidden within it. I slowly began to part my lips, caught up in the moment, closing my eyes as I felt his large tongue slide inside my mouth. One of his hands gently squeezed my breast while the other moved halfway up my thigh. I had never kissed a guy like this before, only heard about it from Echiko, but I could definitely tell why she liked doing it so much.
I began to lose focus on the room around me and even my own body, just enjoying having my lips locked with his. At one point he retracted his tongue and I replaced it with my own, pushing into his mouth with as much passion as I could muster. I felt even warmer than before with his body so close to mine. When our lips finally parted for a breather my senses began to return to me. My blouse was half unbuttoned, his hand inside my shirt as it rested on my new bra. His other hand was touching the outside of my panties that were already wet from how turned on I was. I could feel his finger slowly running up and down my slit through the fabric, letting the moisture there soak into the panties as he played with me.
My mind raced, I wasn't ready for this, I didn't want this yet, at least not from some guy I just met. Pushing him off of me, I stood up quickly, "Sorry, I really need to find my friend and get home." Without giving him a chance to respond, I made my way across the room through the few groups of people remaining. Someone had just left the bedroom that Echiko was in and had left the door cracked, so I opened it and walked on in. At least five different groups were using the room, a couple just making out, but some of them doing much more. I felt light headed, trying not to look at anyone in particular as I heard moaning and wet sounds. Echiko was on her hands and knees on the floor, Shunji kneeling in front of her while the other guy was pressed up behind her, her miniskirt blocking from view what I could only assume was him having sex with her. "Echiko, we need to get to the train station. Now." I was trying to be quiet enough so only the three of them could hear me, but my voice had a sternness to it that few people ever got to hear. Echiko knew immediately that she had fucked up, staying too long at a party that she had dragged me into. She saw my unbuttoned shirt and immediately understood that I was done for the evening.
Hiding Shunji's privates from view with her hand, she freed her mouth just long enough to get out, "Five more minutes, I promise. You can wait outside if you want." Shunji didn't look happy, but didn't say anything as Echiko resumed what she was doing to him.
I left the room, just wanting to be out of there. Recovering my school bag from the corner of the room, I left the apartment, closing the door behind me. Even with the sounds of traffic nearby there was a silence to the outside that I had forgotten existed. The constant drone of music and talking had put me into a stupor. I took a few deep breaths, my heart calming down as my head cleared. Part of me didn't know why I was so worked up, it was a high school party, and I didn't do anything that shocking. Noticing my unbuttoned blouse, I tried to button it back up with shaky hands. Each one seemed to take a minute to finally get back together, and Echiko came out before I could fasten the last one. With steady hands, she helped me get the last button before giving me a half hug.
"Let's go home." That was all she said to me. Walking back down the stairs of the apartment, she checked the time on her phone. It only took us a minute to get to the train station, and before we knew it we were walking onto the train bound for Kurashiki.
-
It was dark by the time we got off the train, the familiar lights of the Kurashiki train station guiding our way. Just outside of the station on the street, I recognized the parked car and woman standing outside of it. Echiko whispered into my ear, "Sorry, with how late it was getting I didn't want you to get in trouble. I called your mom and told her we missed the earlier train because of me."
My mom just smiled as we got closer, "How did the swim meet go?"
"The swim meet? Oh, that's right. I had a new personal best for my time. I ended up taking first place for my division."
"Oh that is just wonderful. You'll have to tell me and your father all about it when we get home. Echiko, would you like us to drop you off at home on the way?" Echiko nodded, not passing up a free ride home even though she was about five minutes of walking away.
The drive was uneventful and quiet, Echiko thanking my mom when we got to her house, and then a quiet drive back home. It wasn't quite as late as I thought it was going to be and mom and dad were indeed eager to hear about the swim meet. I did my best to give them as much detail as possible about the races I had that morning, but finally exhaustion was beginning to take over, and I asked if I could just get to bed. Hugging them both in turn, I ascended the stairs to my room and fell into bed without even bothering to change out of my clothes. I was going to set an alarm with my radio, but I was asleep before my hand could even reach out to set the time.