When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

“What’s wrong with the shirt? It has little flamingos on it and everything…”

“Never mind, you’re perfect,” Avia sighed, pulling him out of the bathroom by the collar. “Now please, let’s go!”

They pulled in front of the beach house around nine. In all technicality, house was an understatement. The mansion would have taken up half a city block, had it not been isolated in the middle of nowhere. Avia just barely caught a glimpse of the white sandy beach peeking past the haunting lichgate oaks and their veils of Spanish moss. Avia beamed, a new wave of excitement grabbing her reins. The driveway was already full so she scanned the property for somewhere she hopefully wouldn’t get blocked in.

Stretched before the house was an endless lawn with dozens of vehicles planted across it. Avia found an opening in front of shrubbery tigers and between two BMWs. She put the vehicle in park and breathed in the blasting music and tumultuous thrashing that echoed from the mansion’s open windows.

“You sure you wanna go in there?” Avia asked, looking over to see Cheshire’s eyes widen in apprehension.

“What?” He blinked then followed her gaze to the house. “Oh, yeah, totally. Let’s do this thing.”

“Wait, you forgot something.”

“Hmm?”

“Ears.” She pointed to the two cat ears still poking through his hair.

“Oh, thanks,” he replied. His cat ears quickly faded, replaced by human ones on the sides of his head. “Now I’m ready.”

As soon as the pair stepped through the side door into the kitchen, the smell of marijuana and spilled beer flooded Avia’s nostrils. Drinks sloshed over plastic cups as dancing bodies tried to match the bass under what looked like amped up Christmas lights. Some were grinding, others ridiculously throwing their limbs about, but no one cared. They were free.

Shaking off the initial wave, Avia beamed and set her six-pack of beer on the kitchen table. Not that the gesture would be noticed by anyone. There was enough booze to stock an entire liquor store. American, imported, cheap, expensive. BYOB had a totally different meaning when your parents had money.

Looking to their left, she saw a group of girls already stumbling around, holding onto each other in a stance of unity against lightweightedness.

Though the amount of alcohol was expected, the open drug use was the real surprise. A guy with a pink turtle tattooed across his arm sat on the loveseat with a smoking blunt in hand. He was stoned out of his mind, completely oblivious to the couple making out on the seat next to him. A few feet away, a group of four or five people stood around a card table. She couldn’t see exactly what they were doing, but the open prescription bottles and Jack Daniels said enough.

A thundering crash shattered Avia’s train of thought. Cheshire jumped and nearly fell on top of her. It was then that the football team charged down the stairs, bare chests painted with red and gold.

“Avia!” She tried to find the source of the voice, but couldn’t see over the crowd.

Seconds later, Noah had pushed his way through the masses. “I’m glad you made it! Who’s this dude?” He motioned his red cup at Cheshire, who looked as pale as a ghost.

“Oh, that’s my cousin, Charlie. He’s visiting from Jacksonville for break.”

“What’s up, C-Man?!” Noah boomed, pulling Cheshire into a series of fist bumps and high fives.

“Oh… Um, uh,” Cheshire stammered, trying to figure out the lengthy handshake. “Nothin’ much, bruh. Just here to party, you feel me?”

“Hell yeah, bruh. My boy Leo’s about to pull out the funnel tubes. You game?”

“Maybe in a lil’. I wanna start off slower, ya know?”

“Yeah, I get you. See you two around!” Before Avia even realized what had happened, Noah was gone, sinking back into the drunken crowd as quickly as he appeared.

“Seriously?” Cheshire asked, grabbing a cup from the table. “That’s the dude who you let… tap that?” He gestured to her ass.

“Whatever ‘bruh,’” she teased. “And hey, he was really sweet when he was sober.”

“I guess alcohol just reverted him back to his primal state,” Cheshire muttered, taking a tentative sniff, then wrinkling his nose at whatever was in his cup.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, grabbing a beer from the table. “There’s too many people here, it’s driving me insane. Just need to get a few drinks in me and fade out. Maybe hit up those guys in the dining room.”

“Yeah…” Cheshire absently replied, his face growing pale again.

Avia rolled her eyes. “What is it this time?”

“It’s just... I don’t want you to mess yourself up. Has anything weird happened lately? Like maybe you haven’t come all the way back after a trip?”

Avia’s grip on the bottle tightened as she remembered her episode in the kitchen that morning. She quickly forced the memory back and shook her head in denial. Before he could protest, she started dancing her way towards the crowd.

“Still, maybe you should try to take it slow!” Cheshire called after her. “Don’t push your luck, ya know?”

“Not a chance!” She finished her drink and tossed the empty bottle out of the room. “I came to have fun, just like you wanted me to. My fun just isn’t on this side!” She blew him a kiss, then disappeared into the thrall.

Within hours, Avia was wasted. She had found her way to the center of the hoard and was wildly swinging about her hair and arms. She vaguely

recognized her own voice slurring the words to every song at the top of her lungs, but everything was starting to haze over. It was a constant rotation—drink then dance, drink then dance. Every shot seemed to take her farther away, but no matter how much she drank, she couldn’t completely cross over. Occasionally, her vision would go black, but her sight would