Making his way through the crowd Etien finds the stairwell Isaac had just come down from. Feeling a little guilty he isn't going after his best friend. He sent him a text asking if he was alright. Running up the stairs, the music below him quickly turns into vibrations on the floor, and faint yelling simmers down to a numbing mumble. One by one Etien knocks on all of the doors until he finally gets to- "Clara?" he asks, slowly peeking his head in, unsure if it's another couple having sex. "Are you alright?".
Clara wipes the tears from her face and gives Etien a stern look "Leave. I don't care if Isaac sent you, one of his henchmen is not what I need right now." Clara rolls her eyes and sniffles.
"Henchmen?" Etien laughs and walks closer to Clara "I always thought of myself to be more of a babysitter" Etien jokes. Clara snuffles a little at his joke. Etien had always had this comedic presence to him and something about it had always made Clara feel comfortable. On one hand, Clara envied his ability to always remain positive. On the other, she felt saddened by the fact of Etien always being the butt of all jokes.
"How do you do it?... Etien" Clara asks, holding back her tears.
"Do what?" Etien responds as he closes the door and walks to sit next to her.
"Handle all of the people who hate you? You always get made fun of and made jokes about, It has to hurt, Right?" Clara's voice starts to shake.
Etien lifts his head up to the ceiling and takes a deep breath "It's not too hard. I just know that the love from my friends will always mean more to me if I keep being myself." Memories flood Etiens' mind making him sad "If I change myself to fit in, they win, but if I stay honest and true to my friends, I'm sure the best will come eventually."
Teardrops start to fall from Clara's eyes as Etien turns to look at the near sobbing Clara. "Hey are you okay?" He asks, lifting her head.
Clara's red face was a spectacle for Etien. She'd always been strong and confident, the kind to lead the pack. Right now, however, Etien is reminded that they both are still young, innocent, and inexperienced kids. The electricity coursing through the both of them form a magnetism between the two compelling them to get closer. Etiens hands on her chin lift her head gently to his. Clara's heart pounded as she nervously pursued Etiens lips. As she got closer all she could think was 'Maybe this will teach Isaac a lesson'.
The sexual tension between the two had grown enough. Etiens body, finally starting to get rid of the alcohol realizes what he's doing and what he would be doing to Isaac who trusted him to just get her secret "wait Clara-" Etien tries to speak to hold the moment but Clara had other plans.
"No" She says, finally dissipating the gap between their lips. Etien falls back onto the floor with Clara on top of him, the two of them making out as if they had feelings for each other for years. Breathing heavy Clara takes off her shirt before continuing to kiss Etien. "Wait Clara are you sure about this? I- I mean what about Isaac a- and everyone els-" Clara put her pointer finger over Etiens lips, Etien had tried to reason with her, but she was too far gone.
"Shhhh, Etien, lets think of this night as…" Clara looks in the air pondering "A cheat night." Clara smiles sadistically "You cheat on your best friend, and I cheat on my boyfriend". Etien tries to get up and speak but Clara pushes him back down to the ground.
The electricity that was coursing within the two had now spread to static within the carpeted floor. Etien had started to sweat, he'd always dream he got the chance to do this with Clara, but not like this, not drunk and barely able to think straight. Etien tried everything to move his body, but he was stuck. "Trust me Etien, I know what I'm doing".
Downstairs Raya and Charlie were chilling by the drinks on the counter. Both of them holding their cups in awkwardness turn towards each other to speak. "You feel it too don't you" Raya says looking around the party and then back to Charlie.
"Yeah it feels like the earth just gained two more atmospheres named Isaac and Clara" Charlie says jokingly. Raya laughs at Charlies dumb joke. Surprisingly through this party Charlie and Raya had gotten to know each other really well. Raya had always thought that Clara was just being rude for not reason, but she also felt that Isaac was a little bit too obsessed with him as well. After tonight however, I think she finally understands why.
A notification sound goes off on Charlies phone which he pics up and takes a look. Intoxicated, he squints his eyes to view the message better, "need some air, I'll be by the docks" Charlie reads out loud. Him and Clara look at each other again, secretly talking telepathically before Charlie puts down his cup and goes out side to meet with Isaac.
Sitting silently on the docks Isaac thinks to himself about the last 30 minutes. He felt so horrible inside and even worse on the outside. The once warm, comforting night breeze slowly absorbed the cold ocean rift, turning the breeze into an icy call on his skin. Isaac tries to think about other things, his family, Etien, but nothing worked, Clara's words rang fresh in his mind and that ringing only got louder and louder.
Behind him a person appeared. "Its fucking cold out here Isaac" Isaac turns to see Charlie with his arms crossed trying to warm himself up. Isaacs face softens up from a cold glare to a humble refreshed look. "By the way, you spelled 'Docks' wrong. I wouldn't have noticed or cared enough to mention it but Raya insisted" He says taking a seat next to Isaac.
Charlie bumped Isaac on the shoulder, "So, what did you talk about this time?" Charlie says, trying to fill the silence in the air with words. Charlie knew this would be a touchy question to ask Isaac, after all he's not sure if he's even had enough time to process all of it.
"It's more like 'What did we yell about' this time" Isaac responds snarkily. Charlie smirks, happy to know that Isaac still has his sense of humor. Isaac takes a deep breath in before speaking in the raspiest tone Charlie had ever heard him speak in "I messed up Charlie, I messed up big time, and I'm not sure if I can keep myself together" Isaac squints while looking at Charlie, trying to make sure his tears don't surface.
Looking at Isaac almost in pieces, Charlie didn't need him to say it out loud for him to know how he felt, Charlie, as a matter of fact, knew exactly what he was feeling. "I had a friend, Once." Charlie says looking at the ocean, Isaacs head follows the same path as Charlies did. "He loved the ocean, he loved soccer, he was just like you. We were the best of friends but uh…" Isaac could tell this was a hard topic for Charlie, In the entire time they've known each other Isaac has never heard Charlie choke on his words.
"One day, I guess, he decided he didn't want to be. Our relationship turned professional, he expected me to do things that I couldn't even see myself doing. It took me until meeting you to realize that back then, I wasn't living my life. I was alive, sure, but it all meant nothing. I wasted so much time thinking about how to get our friendship back that I completely ruled out the fact that maybe our friendship was just, dead." Charlie takes a deep breath to keep his emotions in check "What I'm saying is, your life isn't tied to someone else, Isaac. You are free to do what you want to do and be who you want to be. You will make incredible gains, but you will also have painful losses. I'm not saying to give up on Clara, but maybe you need to at least start thinking for yourself?"
Charlie turns towards Isaac and recoils in shock to see his shiny eyes already staring at him. Isaac had wished for this, as much as he loves Etien, he's too inexperienced in life to give valuable advice the way Charlie does. Charlie returned Isaacs stare with a soft smile. Isaac stares at Charlie often but this time there was something different, there was something within Isaacs stare that intoxicated the air around them. "Did- did I speak out of turn?" Charlie says, trying to break up the tension from all of the staring.
"No," Isaac says, snapping back to reality. He pulls himself back and sniffles while looking back out to the water "Wow it is really cold." Isaac tucks his eyebrows and huddles up into a ball with his face turning red.
"See I told you, can we go back inside before we catch a cold?" Charlie complains.
"I want to stare at the stars a little more though" Isaac replies in a baby tone
"Well you can stare at them through a window, come on let's go inside, I'm not making you soup if you get sick that's Etiens job." Charlie takes on a sassy tone while standing up and walking away from the docks and back towards the house.
"Etien? What is he, my babysitter?" Isaac remarks