I think I know who's on the roof now. I decide to head up there, as sitting on a stranger's couch and talking to nobody stopped being fun as soon as it started.
I walk through the door to the roof, and hear the voices before my eyes adjust to the dark(became night in a hurry, it seems). Someone says "It's Trevor's friend--don't worry, she's cool." It is at this point that I realize I'm not entirely sure why I even walked up here...was I coming to join the festivities or put a stop to them?
In either case, I quickly survey my surroundings. We're on the roof of one of the apartment buildings, obviously. There are no taller buildings too close to us so we've got a good vantage point to look in every direction, the view stretching back into the city and also of the entire party area. Four guys--no, five, didn't see Trevor in the shadows at first--are on the roof with me. Three I recognize. It's good that Barry is one of them, actually, because if two people had that power--
He's already guiding me to introduce to the two strangers. One is a somewhat large kid named Andy who's growing an afro and seems to be avoiding eye contact. Shyness? From the looks of him he would have plenty of reason to be. The other one, Mike, has spiked hair and is clearly soused. There's something vaguely familiar about him that I can't quite place.
"Have we met before?" I ask.
"I hope not," he slurs. "I would have to remember somebody like you!" I'm pretty sure that was a pickup line, or an attempt at one. He's drunk enough to make it seem harmless enough, or maybe I'm just feeling charitable.
I sigh. "Sorry, I'm just...tonight's making me feel real paranoid for some reason. I've even been seeing things..."
Barry walks up and places a beer in my hand. "Here's something to settle the nerves then."
"I dunno man," Mike says. "When I'm seeing things I find it best to lay off the hard stuff."
"I don't think Red Stripe should count as hard stuff..."
I wander over to talk to Trevor. "You disappeared on me," I say.
"I did?"
"Yeah, you were talking to Euphrates, I turn my back for five seconds and you guys were all gone."
"Oh, well, we were going on a beer run and you were talking to someone so I didn't want to bother you," he explains. I don't know why I feel annoyed...I've barely said five words to Trevor so it's not like he should know that I didn't want to be left alone with Richards. Then again, Barry did just call me 'Trevor's friend.' Whatever, I'll let it slide. I need to knock this habit of getting irked so easily.
Everybody has gravitated over to the roof's edge, the one facing the party. Mike chucks an empty bottle, which sails and hits the side of a garbage can, startling a couple people standing a few feet from it. I look out and see that Larry Lance and Tobias actually showed up but they appear to be leaving. "Oh shit," I say aloud.
"What? I didn't hit anyone," Mike says.
"No, not that, I just saw that a couple guys I invited are leaving and I didn't get a chance to talk to them."
"That sucks," Andy says. "Maybe you can still catch them."
"I'm not that fast, but Will could have told me," I say.
"Will's your boyfriend, right?" Trevor asks. He didn't mean anything by it but that idea makes my blood run cold for a second.
"No, I only live with him." That got everybody's attention.
"You're living with a dude and he's not your boyfriend?" Barry asks.
"What is he, gay?" Mike interjects. Ha.
"I mean, it wasn't by choice. Wow, that sounds crazy, what I mean is we work for people who decided we had to share an apartment."
"That makes no fucking sense," Mike says. Finally, someone who understands!
"Look, can we stop talking about me?" I say.
"Yeah, let's not scare off the poor girl," Barry says. "She's the only thing standing between us and a total sausage party."
