Far From Home - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Halloween Night
College parties were somehow nothing and everything like what Jake had seen on TV. The first one he had been to had been a fluke—a discombobulated mess that made his head spin as he thought back on it—but this one was a far different atmosphere. Everything was dark, but the ceiling was lined with little LED light strips that changed colors whenever the song on Kris' playlist changed. He didn't know how they had managed to get so many of them up around the house, but given that this wasn't their first year here—or their first party—he assumed they had all chipped in to the lighting fund a long time ago.
The music was loud, but it wasn't the same fifty obnoxious songs on repeat. Jake had to lean in to hear what Nat was saying as he followed her down the hallway, but everything seemed inconsequential once they reached the kitchen where Rose and another person were standing next to the fridge smiling over a couple of drinks in red plastic cups. Before Jake even got a chance to predict who he was about to meet, Nat patted Jake on the back twice and pushed him towards them to advance the introductions.
"Hey!" Rose yelled over the sound.
She may not have even been drunk yet, but it was funny watching her jump with anything remotely exciting. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail that bounced along with a cheerleader's energy. Something about it reminded Jake of his sister's boundless spirit, so he made sure to smile at Rose first before nodding his head in greeting to the person standing across from her without a costume.
"Jake, this is Blake..." Nat's hand left his back and walked over to her fiancé instead.
Jake offered a hand out instinctually, but Blake seemed almost confused by the gesture while taking up Jake's offering. They shared a single shake before Jake could give it too much thought.
"Hi." He muttered, not knowing what to say. "Do you uh, go here?"
Really, come on, dumbass.
"I did, yeah. I graduated two years ago."
The voice was... not what Jake was expecting. He didn't know how to place it. It was far too deep to belong to a girl, but something didn't match the same gravel of his own. Jake prayed the confusion didn't permanently etch into his face as he studied Blake's features for an answer. Blake looked to be a spitting image of Camilla. The two shared the same deep brown eyes and sharp jawlines, but where Camilla's dark brown hair was long, straight and sleek, Blake's was cut short and fell into a middle part similar to Connor's. The age difference wasn't as evident as he had expected it to be, but Jake accredited that to the Hispanic heritage in their youthful tan skin that didn't look a day over sixteen on either of the La Rosa siblings.
"Now they're taking the bar exam, so I get to be a trophy wife." Nat beamed.
"We were just talking about that!" Rose's eyes lit up.
Nat looked over to her fiancé with adoration. "Were you?"
"I was telling her about that car you want after I get the job downtown."
"The R8?"
Blake tapped over her shoulder. "That's the one."
Oh shit. Okay, so you're rich, rich, then.
"I can't wait to fucking drive that thing." Nat shook her head with a wild grin.
"They said they're trading in the Beamer though." Rose frowned animatedly. "Makes me sad, I loved that car."
Jake frowned—not about the car—but in confusion. Who's they?
"I'll sell it to you." Blake shrugged.
"Really?!"
"Absolutely."
Rose tapped the back of her hand out on Jake's chest. "This is why they're my favorite housemate-in-law."
"They?"
Jake didn't realize he was thinking out loud until the three of them went silent. They all shared a glance with each other that didn't look promising before Blake broke the awkward tension Jake had somehow created without knowing.
"I use they/them pronouns."
What.
"Oh..." Jake nodded his head with an awkward smile. "Right."
What does that mean?!
He tried to ration himself into it by thinking back to all the moments where Rose could have said 'he' or 'she' and instead said 'they'. It would be just like referring to someone he didn't know, right? But he did know Blake. They were right there in front of him and Jake could have sworn they were Camilla's sister, but maybe he was wrong? Maybe they were Camilla's brother and Jake had grossly misjudged their features for something else.
I don't know.
He just hoped his confusion didn't show anywhere in the smile he faked or the way his eyes tried to find somewhere to think. Nat cut across his glare and grabbed ahold of his arm, shaking him out of his thoughts.
"Come on, I've gotta show you the party room." She pulled him back towards the entrance where they came. "If you don't end up in here at least once tonight, I'm gonna be mad."
"What's the party room?" He called after her, his voice rising to cover the sound of Kendrick Lamar's 'DNA' playing from a speaker that seemed closer and closer by the second.
"It's the living room, but we threw all the furniture in the backyard. Literally just a big dance floor. Kris takes song requests, but she likes feeling like a badass bitch so good luck getting her to play anything that isn't on this playlist."
Jake grinned through the confidence booster that came with feeling the bass of the music in his chest. He hadn't had an ounce to drink tonight, but somehow he felt entirely comfortable without the alcohol running through his veins. As they got closer to the end of the hall, he could see the mass of people in the room, enough to form a crowd, but not close enough to touch if they didn't want to. A few shuffled by Nat on their way down the hall, and Jake began to feel his heart speed up as they stopped in the door to survey the large room.
Their living room sank down from the hallway by two stairs. It opened up into the back end of the kitchen he had just been in—a dining room scattered with people coming in and out of the back door and drinks on a makeshift table. The house was so much bigger than he had expected out of a rental property, but given the money that Camilla and Blake seemed to come from, it likely wasn't a financial burden on any of them. The ceilings were tall, the room was wide, and everything seemed to be in pristine condition. Jake only hoped his housing situation could be so fortunate some day.
Overhead the lights were red. The vermilion cast a glow on everyone underneath, faintly illuminating their shadows through the cautionary color that Kris had assigned the song. His eyes searched the room for her infamous crown, and when he found her it sent his heart racing. Kris' traditionally braided hair was curled underneath the silver piece, flowing down to the middle of the emerald green dress that hugged her body like it was made just for her. She was beautiful, but she wasn't what nearly set Jake's body on fire with a single glance.
That was reserved for Connor. Fucking Connor. He was absolutely stunning, and it took every ounce of Jake's will to convince himself to keep breathing. Dancing next to Kris, with his black painted fingernails pointing to her like he was singing to her and her only, was Connor Morgan. Everything he wore was black except for the silver crown on his head that matched Kris'. He always looked so fucking good in black. So good. Goddamnit, Connor. His smile was dangerous—his teeth shone out under a playful grin and God, did Jake wish he was looking at him like that. Jealousy was a new-found tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't ignore as his eyes watched Connor's confidence radiate under the red glow that matched the fire in his smile.
"Fuck."
He swallowed back all the other words he wanted to say because none of them seemed appropriate to what he felt. Nat seemed to take shock at the only word he did say as she had the wherewithal to follow his glare out to the middle of the room.
"She's single, in case you haven't figured that out. But, it'd be kinda weird to bang someone who looks just like me, don't you think?"
Jake furrowed his brow as he broke his gaze from Connor. "What?"
"My sister."
"Oh." He fumbled. "No... I'm not– I'm not into girls."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "That makes two of us."
"But Blake–"
"Is non-binary." She cut him off.
Non-binary?
Jake forced himself to take in a breath of hot air, but it didn't seem to make his brain work any faster. He'd never heard the word before, and he had absolutely no clue what it was supposed to mean. Somehow, he still felt like he was supposed to.
Nat could read the evident confusion in his brow from a mile away.
"I'm bi, but I have a preference for masculine identities. For me that usually means dudes and non-binary people."
"Isn't bi liking girls and guys though?" He frowned unintentionally while thinking.
"Can be, but not always. It's liking two or more genders, but that doesn't have to mean just the binary genders."
What the fuck are binary genders?
Jake wasn't any less confused than he was when he first met Blake, but he decided to nod anyway like he had any idea what she was saying. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally piss off his closest friend here over something as stupid as an ignorant misunderstanding.
Note to self: research gender.
He turned his attention back into the room.
The song had changed to something Jake was unfamiliar with, and with it the lights flicked to green. Connor's color. No, Jake no. It's just a fucking color. Connor was leaning over talking into Kris' ear when someone came up behind him with a hand on his shoulder that looked much too comfortable to be just 'friendly.' Jake watched his reaction to the guy behind him, that wicked smile coming back as he reached around his back before whispering something into his ear to include him in conversation. It shouldn't have felt this bad, but it did. Nearly four months had passed and Jake couldn't tell whether pain or anger had taken up a bigger chunk of his heart right now.
He was envious of the mystery man behind Connor, who he had subconsciously decided to name 'The Asshole' until he deemed him worthy enough of anything else. The Asshole was the same dirty blond as Jake, dressed in plain clothing despite this being a Halloween party, and taller than Connor by nearly half-a-foot. Connor hates tall people, what the fuck does he see in you? At least Jake and Connor could see eye to eye, but he would have to look up to see this motherfucker, and Jake knew Connor hated feeling small more than he hated feeling trapped. Despite the fact that he and Jake actually shared a decent amount of qualities, Jake had convinced himself that The Asshole was the furthest thing from Connor's 'type.'
You're thinking like a fucking dick, Lee. Get your head out of your ass.
Jake had always thought Connor to be the perfect embodiment of the phrase 'if looks could kill,' but he never knew what that really meant until he was on the receiving end. Connor's eyes had never looked so dark, so powerful, so intimidating. They grazed by him on accident, but stayed in a torturous curiosity once they realized who they were looking at. Jake was unmistakable—his costume was himself. Connor could have picked him out of the crowd by his jersey number alone. He tilted his chin up in such a careful way, Jake wasn't sure if he was flirting with him or getting defensive. Sometimes it was hard to know the difference with Connor, a calculated glare to one person could be a teasing stare to another. It was all in the smile—mockery looked different from interest. Tonight, it painted something far more concerning: satisfaction.
"He's hot." Nat mumbled as Jake's face flushed red—little to anyone's notice under the beaming color of the lights.
He swallowed down his own intimidation. "I know."
"Best of luck my friend."
She swatted his arm with the back of her hand just like all the other girls in the House of Dobovic did when they were getting ready to leave him to his own devices. Jake felt it, but his response was slowed by the painfully loud thump of a heartbeat that clouded his thoughts with the dull reminder of feelings he thought he was beginning to bury, but apparently couldn't dig deep enough.
I'm gonna need a fucking drink.
"He's my ex."
Like flipping a switch, Nat's entire outlook changed.
"Ooooh, no honey." She clutched onto his arm. "No, nope. Not tonight... You're coming back to the kitchen with me."
Jake wanted to protest, but he knew it was for the best. Connor was here with someone else anyway. The Asshole be damned, Jake knew better than to think he had any influence in Connor's choices, bad ones or not. You don't even know if it's a bad choice. Shut the fuck up and keep your opinions to yourself you whiny bitch.
Like reading his mind, Nat patted her free hand out on his shoulder.
"Let's go get you a drink."
Jake had no choice but to follow.