"Yeah, let's go."
***
The party was being held at Matt Corelli's house. At least, it was the house Matt lived in, but it very distinctly belonged to his extended family. The Corellis were all big in the alumni community. Four generations had attended the university. From what Tessa knew, Matt's dad and his four brothers owned the house, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. The Corelli family name adorned buildings and benches all across campus. Each year they were honored by any group that could think to honor them. They were a peculiar family, and Tessa found it odd that such a prolific group of people only had one college aged member.
The house was large and had once served as a boarding house in the early days of the university. It actually had a historic site marker out in front while inside was the normal day to day life of a college guy. Parties at the Corelli house weren't uncommon, and Tessa could see why as she approached. Dozens of windows peered out into the world, currently illuminated by bright light, but often empty and ominous. Matt's popularity was nothing short of celebrity on campus, but Tessa knew him from classes. In another odd turn, he was one of the most grounded people she had met in college. The extravagance of his family's wealth had done nothing to affect their salt of the earth character.
Matt had been goaded into throwing the M party by his friends, but once the idea had rooted in his mind, he had taken full charge of the situation. As the girls approached, a gruff looking bouncer glared at them from the door. They started up to the entrance, but stopped for Brandi to wait on Trevor. She had been texting him since they left the coffee shop, and likely before. The lanky young man looked incredibly anxious as he walked up to the group of four women.
Brandi greeted him with her bubbly personality, "Hey!" Staci gave an uninterested wave while peering down at her own phone. Tessa and Alissa smiled politely. Brandi had a quick, awkward conversation with Trevor, and they headed towards the door.
Music thrummed from inside the house, but Tessa couldn't actually see anyone from the windows. She'd been in the Corelli house enough to know people often lingered near the back in a section Matt used as an actual living space while the front rooms remained blocked off and preserved like a museum. The bouncer held up his hand. The man was massive, and his face a permanent scowl. He didn't look at the girls, but eyed Trevor with a dangerous intensity. "Names?"
Brandi rattled off her name and the girls recited theirs in turn. The bouncer glanced at each of them as they spoke, but didn't bother to check the clipboard in his hand. Finally, Trevor spoke up, and the bouncer checked his name off a list. "Go in, straight down the hall, first door on the right. Someone will greet you."
The bouncer stepped aside, all the while glaring at Trevor who kept his head down. Tessa felt bad for him and wondered how much the bouncer knew about the nature of the party. Following his direction, they headed down the hall, growing closer to the sound of music. Passing through the door, they entered yet another hallway where a woman waited.
The first thing Tessa noticed about her were the huge breasts jutting out from her chest. The woman looked like a fertility goddess who happened to be lost in a hallway at the moment. She smiled warmly at the group as they approached. "Hello, I'm Marion," she said, a soothing tone somehow rising over the noise coming from the adjacent room. "Need to go over some ground rules with you."
Tessa was struck by the woman's beauty. She judged her to be in her mid forties based on her mannerisms and something about her eyes, but Marion's figure did little to indicate she was a day over thirty. As she spoke, she exuded a sort of glow, and every sentence ended with a smile. The other girls seemed awestruck by her as well, and Trevor could barely take his eyes off of Marion's fulsome rack. He managed a hard gulp, but could express little else, though his hands moved in front of him to discretely cover his crotch.
"Once you go in, you'll be sectioned off in the den and the adjacent bedrooms for the rest of the night. If you have an issue, come knock on this door, and I will take you outside. Once you leave, you unfortunately cannot come back." She paused for a moment to draw a small heart shaped capsule from her pocket. As it moved, its contents rattled. "This is M." She opened the small container and showed it to the group, making sure each of the saw it. The pill was unimpressive and could have easily been mistaken for an aspirin other than its purple color. "These cases will be handed out to everyone at 8:55. Everyone will gather together for a moment while everyone takes their dose. After that, no one is allowed to leave the premises. Again, if you are distressed or wish to depart the party, come to me. We'll put you in a room to ride out the dose. We have some therapies to work through it."
Marion's speech was well rehearsed and strangely soothing. If it had been anyone else explaining the proceedings, Tessa would have likely backed out. Marion continued after pocketing the M. "Everyone still on board?" No one said anything. Brandi nodded, though not as eager as usual. Marion went to a nearby shelf and retrieved a metal box. Withdrawing a key from her other pocket, she opened it on a table beside her and the group saw an array of phones and other devices. "Can't have people calling out or taking unwanted pictures. Privacy is of the utmost concern. Put your device in here, and you'll be able to retrieve it upon your departure in the morning."
The group did as they were told, and Marion continued explaining some other more mundane things like the location of the bathroom, where to find drinks, and what parts of the house were off limits. Finally, she opened the door behind her and ushered the five of them in with a sweep of her dress. Tessa looked over her shoulder at Marion and said, "Thank you." Marion returned a motherly smile as the door closed behind them.
They were in a small antechamber filled with purses and shoes. The girls quickly dropped their things, each trying to find some sort of private spot to secure their belongings. Trevor, for lack of a better thing to do, kicked off his shoes. The girls left theirs as well, Staci being quite disappointed as she had spent quite some time picking out the perfect pair to go with her outfit. They moved into the area Matt called his den. Their host appeared immediately to greet them.
Matt appeared as if from thin air. He was smiling and clearly already a bit drunk, "Guys! You made it. Trevor, you fucker, I knew you'd come. Tonight's going to be amazing. Oi, Tessa! See, I knew you had a little bit of a freak in you." He stopped immediately and put his finger to his lips. "Hang on. I'm being an ass. I will go elsewhere and be an ass there. Drinks are...uh, that direction. Big event in about thirty minutes. Nobody get weird."
Without addressing her directly, he grabbed Staci's hand and led her off into the party. Tessa realized who Staci had been texting. Brandi and Trevor said they were going to get drinks and offered to bring back some for the other girls. Alissa declined, seeing someone she knew and making a quick departure. Tessa shrugged and said yes, but didn't expect to see the pair again for a while.
She drifted into the party keeping her eyes peeled for Jacob. About twenty people altogether, she guessed, though she didn't know what other rooms people lurked in. The main den was a cavernous circular room with several couches and inset seating areas. Unsurprisingly, she saw almost every person paired up. A few guys looked uncomfortably alone and eyed her hopefully as she moved through the room. "Tessa!" came Jacob's voice over the din of music and conversation.
He sat on a couch opposite another couple who looked awkwardly stuck together in a tangle of limbs. Jacob jumped up and jogged over to her. "Glad you made it. Gotta say, I was getting a little worried."
Tessa blushed, thankful of the room's dim lighting. "Yeah, I came with Brandi. Took a little longer than we expected to get here, I guess." She noted that Jacob dressed like all the other guys in the room, a loose t-shirt and some shorts. She'd never seen him so casual and her stomach fluttered with thoughts of why the men had chosen such relaxed attire. "I was about to get a drink, do you want one?"
Jacob looked back at the table he'd been sitting beside for a moment, but then led the way over to a small, makeshift bar. "Vodka ok?" Tessa replied with a noncommittal nod. Jacob quickly mixed together two drinks and handed one to her. She took a sip and winced at the pungent taste, but then took another longer gulp. Jacob did the same.
They went over to a free spot on a couch and sat down. "Listen, before anything else gets started, I needed to tell you something." Jacob took another long swig from his drink as Tessa watched him expectantly. "We've been talking for a while now. And we've sort of gone on...well, not dates, but group oriented activities. I don't want...well, I don't want tonight to change things for the worse. Like, I don't want you to think less of me for wanting to do this."
His candidness shocked her more than anything else. The vodka went straight to her head, and the room swirled slightly as she listened. "Oh," she said, softly. "Me too? I mean, god, this could totally make you think of me in the wrong way."
