What Happens At a Party...

a continuation of Somebody is Always Watching



It had been one month. One month since my friends decided to take the money. One month since the mysterious man inserted himself into my life. Some days, he was all I could think about. I thought of the devilish grin, and his last words to me that still chilled me to my core. “Somebody is always watching”. 

My friends, of course still saw nothing wrong with what they did. Each of them taking their $6,666,67 respectively. I vaguely wondered if that specific number bothered them; $20,000 was easier when it was going to be divided four ways. But now it seemed even the devil himself was laughing at them; and it felt like there was nothing I could do to help. 

“Alex, get over here! We’re up next in beer pong!” Brad yells, taking another swig of what I assume is Coors Light. Brad was obsessed with the stuff, and as he so slyly pointed out, do you know how many Coors Light you could buy with six grand? The answer, as I would keep hearing, would be almost 142 cases of 24. 

“Coming” I reply, getting up from the uncomfortable camping chair that sat in the corner of the garage. Brad’s parents were out of town, like they usually were on a long weekend. They’d often frequent their cottage just two hours away, leaving Brad home alone. So, while they were where they usually were when the long weekend hit, we did the same. We all gathered in Brad’s garage, inviting a few other people from our circle of friends to join. 

The weather was warm, causing us to have the garage door open, allowing people quick and easy access in and out of the party.

“Dude, get over here” Brad tells me sternly. I only then realize how slow I’m walking. 

“Sorry” I mumble, picking up a ball, facing off against Haley and Jamie. It felt like a life time since the four of us were even in the same room; of course, I did this by design. 

“Eye to eye?” Haley asks, and I nod. “One.. two.. three!” On three we both throw our balls, eyes locked on each other. I take my focus away from her eyes to note I had sunk my ball, she had missed; we were going first. 

“Boo” Haley pouts, and Jamie laughs, taking a drink of her mango white claw. 

“Did you really think you were going to beat him?” Jamie chuckles, throwing the other ball to Brad. He catches it with ease, and begins to get ready to throw. “Nobody beats Alex at eye to eye” she points out, taking the empty camping chair I had once occupied and sitting down, sighing loudly as she did so. Grabbing her phone she scrolls through her phone for a moment, before the music changes, blasting out the ultimate garage party playlist she’s found on Spotify. 

Brad shoots his ball first, and narrowly misses. He never was the best beer pong player, and he knew it. He often found himself picking me as a partner; it was his best chance to win. 

I take my shot, it swishing in the far left cup closest to Haley. She groans when she realizes it’s her cup. She takes the ball out, shaking it dry before picking up her red solo cup and taking a swig of her drink. While Jamie, Brad and I preferred the likes of beer or coolers, Haley was drawn to mixing her own drinks; she loved to control how strong they were. Dating a guy like Brad, I could see why she wanted to have control over something. 

The game and party continue. For the first three shots Jamie and I were going shot for shot; each of us eliminating a cup, both Haley and Brad missing, each time by a wider margin. 

I managed to forget about the past month for awhile, as I allowed the drinks to flow through me. I had a good buzz going, but was not drunk by any stretch of the imagination. The music blared, people laughed, more of our friends, and their friends joining the longer the night drew on. It was nearing midnight when there were over thirty of us in Brad’s garage, engaging in a beer pong tournament. 

“And in the finals we have... Alex against Drew!” One of our friends, Ryan yelled, the crowd of people cheering with him. I didn’t know Drew. In fact, before tonight, I don’t think I ever had laid eyes on him before. Must be one of Brad’s other friends, I thought, dismissing it as nothing. 

“Let’s go, eye for an eye” Drew takes one ball and throws me another, as he busies himself arranging his cups. It was a strange way for him to say it; it wasn’t an eye for an eye, it was eye to eye. 

“You mean eye to eye?” I correct him once I finish arranging my cups for the game to begin.

“No, I meant what I said.” His smile seems devious. My eyes narrow as I try desperately to remember if I knew him from somewhere. Something seems off; but it seems like nobody else is paying attention. Since our game hasn’t started yet, everyone’s attention is to their drinks, and the music. 

“Who are you? How do you know Brad?” I ask him, unable to help myself. My heart rate begins to increase; something was not right. 

“I know him. Just like I know Jamie and Haley.” He points to them when he says their names. He throws up the hood on his hoodie so the only thing I can really see is the smirk he’s wearing. “Look like I’m up to no good?” He asks me, waiting to gauge my reaction before he takes his hood down. 

It’s past seven p.m so there aren’t many people around. It’s chilly, so I zip up my sweater, trying to survey the land. I note one small group of teens, a couple hundred feet away, all huddled together closely.

“They’re definitely up to no good...” I mutter, changing my glance to the older gentleman that was seated on the bench. He sat, jacket zipped up tight, all the way to his neck, hat on, tilted down slightly, so I was unable to see his face. That seems suspicious...

That’s when it dawns on me. While the older gentleman had gained most of my attention, Drew was also in the park that night. He was one of the teenagers, huddled in a group together, evidently watching and listening to my every move. 

“Are the others here?” I ask in a hushed whisper. I don’t want to draw too much attention to us so I shakily bring up my arm, to get ready to throw my ball. 

“One.. two.. three..” Drew calls out, and for the first time in a long time, I miss. Drew sinks his shot, earning a roar of surprise from the group that was watching. 

“You could say that.” Drew throws a wink my way, signalling for me to throw the ball back to him; he had first shot. 

“What do you want with us?” I ask him, as he throws the first ball. It misses, but barely. I’m not surprised when he sinks his next shot, into the cup directly in the middle of the pack. 

“It’s not what I want with you, it’s what it wants with them” he sneers, an eyebrow arching. He looks to be around our age, but he clearly isn’t from our area. He has jet black hair, which is unkempt and unruly. His hoodie looks old; there are several holes and rips along the sleeves. 

“Who is it? What is it?” I ask, surprising myself by sinking both of my balls. This earns me a cheer from the crowd, and Drew reluctantly gives the balls back to me. He takes away the farthest cup on the left, and the farthest one on the right, leaving me with four cups to go. 

“I know what they did” Drew tells me, trying to sound intimidating. It’s hard, because between the music and the shouts from our peers it’s hard to hear anything. “I know about the money.” My eyes go wide with surprise. Just how long was the teen standing in the park? 

“How do you know about that?” I ask Drew, sinking one ball but missing the other. Now I’m down to three cups, but my nerves are intensifying. This kid clearly knows a lot more about the situation than I thought; I needed to know how. 

“Don’t you remember what he said?” Drew asks me, as if the answer is obvious. He misses both his shots, but it looks intentional. What was he doing? 

“Of course, I remember what he said” I snap, taking the balls from the floor, getting ready to throw. I decide to look around the party to see who surrounded me. I note quite a few people I knew from school, chatting with Brad in the corner of the garage. Jamie is still seated in the camping chair in the corner, fiddling around with the playlist. My heart almost stops beating quickly until I realize Haley is nowhere to be found. 

“What did you do to her?” I shout, throwing both my balls in rapid succession. They both miss, just as I expect them to. This game didn’t matter anymore; something was wrong. 

“It’s not what I did with her.” Drew snickers, dropping both his balls. He doesn’t throw them; he simply lets them drop to the ground. 

“Wait, where are you going?” I ask him frantically. He begins to walk out the back door of the garage, and into Brad’s back yard. “Drew! Where is Haley!” I yell, and I stop dead in my tracks. 

“I knew we’d be meeting again” the old man looks up from the little black book that had been haunting my dreams for a month. He seems to cross something out, before putting it back into his back pocket. Why did he cross something out? Was he crossing out a name? 

“Why are you here? Where’s Haley?” I scream, my eyes darting all around the yard. Drew and the man look at me, a triumphant look in their eyes, before the begin to leave Brad’s yard. 

As I begin to chase after him, I’m stopped when I notice something strange in the bushes. I almost jump out of my skin when I realize what I’m seeing. She was lying there, her face a pale blue. She was on her back, and if I didn’t know better I would have thought she was sleeping. Shakily, I go to find her pulse at the same time I fish my phone out of my pocket. 

“911, what’s your emergency?”

I don’t think, I just immediately begin to see if she’s breathing. I feel no pulse and see no signs of breathing; but I had to try. 

“Hello?” 

“My friend- she’s dying” I pant, tilting her head back to open up her airway. I put my phone on speaker so I’m able to hear the 911 operator. 

“Sir, where are you?” The operator asks me. 

“88 Milbury lane” I manage to say, before I find the spot on her chest I need to start pressing. 

“One.. two.. three..” I count aloud to help keep my rhythm. 

“Remain calm, help is on the way” the soothing voice of the operator disrupts my concentration for a moment. “Ten.. eleven.” She counts along with me, as I hear sirens in the background. By this time people have started to come out from the party, and take note of the scene that has unfolded in front of them. 

I can hear Brad’s screams and yells, but it feels like I’m underwater. My arms begin to feel like jelly; it’s the longest two minutes of my life. I feel lucky we live so close to a hospital; I wasn’t sure if I could keep going much longer. 

I didn’t know CPR, but I kept doing what they lady on the phone instructed me to do. With my arms numb and mind racing, I feel my vision start to blur, and strong arms wrap around me. It’s the last thing I remember before everything goes dark. 

*** 

It’s been one week since Haley’s death. Even after my attempt to save her, I was too late. It was hard not to feel responsible; what if I had gotten to her sooner? What if I had figured out Drew faster? After myself and everybody else at the party had been questioned, it was determined there was no foul play; she had died of an apparent cocaine overdose. 

“It makes no sense!” Brad yells, slamming a fist against the wall. Brad, Jamie and I are sitting back in his garage, dressed and ready to head to the funeral. “She didn’t do drugs, this has to be a mistake” 

“That’s what came back on the tox screen” Jamie tells Brad gently, trying to comfort our friend. Jamie pats his back gently, Brad allowing tears to slip out, though he hurriedly wipes them away. 

“I don’t care” Brad mumbles. “Somebody did this to her” he seethes, wiping his eyes and sniffling. 

“Brad, do you know Drew?” I ask, unable to keep silent any longer. I knew Haley didn’t do drugs; we all did. The worst thing she ever tried was weed a few years back. 

“Drew? No, never heard of him” he replies, his eyes full of questions. “Why?” 

“He was at the park. That night. With the money” I elaborate because it’s clear at first they don’t know what I’m talking about. 

“Dude, enough about that effing money” Brad sneers. “I’m sick of it. The money has nothing to do with this. Somebody did this to her! And when I find out who, they’re dead.” I’ve never seen him so angry. I know better than to say anything further; it was obvious neither of them were going to believe me. “Let’s go.” he gestures; it’s time for the funeral. 

We walk silently to Brad’s car, when I realize I forgot my wallet in the garage. 

“Dude, get it quick, we can’t be late” he tosses his house key at me so I’m able to get into the garage. I run around the house, almost running into the figure that stood outside the door. 

“You.” I point. “You did this.” Drew shakes his head and laughs, the old man laughing along with him. The man pulls out that little black book again, and points to it with a smirk. 

“Oh, my dear boy, don’t you remember?” He repeats the same question Drew had asked me the night before. 

“Of course I remember” I snap, angry that I was being put in the middle of all this. “Haley didn’t do anything. She didn’t do drugs! She was a nice person, she didn’t deserve this” I plead with them, though I’m not sure why; it’s too late, she’s gone. 

“We like to think we know the ones we love” the man tells me, beginning to pace. “But in reality, we all have our secrets” his words are cryptic, and they don’t make sense. 

“What are you talking about? What does that mean?” I have too many questions, to which they provide me with no answers. This was beginning to make my head spin. I didn’t take the money, why was I being put in the middle of this?

“Somebody is always watching” he whispers, before they both disappear into the woods, and out of my life once more.