Drift (Drift Series) by Michael Dean Page B

very put-off and distrusting. Her arms were folded as she stared at him sternly, as if disgusted by his poorly chosen timing.
    Darryl swayed from side to side. Shade made a gesture to him, slapping both arms against her sides and tossing her head back, looking like she said “fine .” She paused briefly to lean over and tell her friends something. Then, she followed Darryl, who now stood in front of the sliding glass doors into the media room. I could only assume at this point that they were going somewhere more private, probably to Darryl’s third floor villa.
    Why Shade was even going to humor him in his current state was beyond me, but I decided I couldn’t afford to speculate what may transpire. I would follow and find out firsthand. I excused myself from “Mack Daddy” Scruffy, who was dangling himself by one arm onto another poor, unaware, slightly-buzzed girl, and slowly made a path through the party. Scruffy was so out of it that he didn’t even hear me pardon myself. His slurring come-on lines never stopped spewing into the unsuspecting girl’s ear. I couldn’t help but laugh a little, I had to give him his just due—when it came to girls, he was determined.
    I entered the media room, keeping a keen eye on Darryl and Shade, who were climbing some stairs nestled deep in a corner of the room. A handful of people were involved in some competitive game play and questionable activities at a couple of the game tables. The scene became a little quieter when I slid the glass doors shut, isolating me from the outside noise, except for the music still booming from the home’s outdoor stereo.
    I bobbed and weaved through the room , doing my best not to draw attention to myself. They disappeared through the door at the top of the stairs. I slowly walked up the stairs, glancing over my shoulder from time to time, making sure I wasn’t noticed. At the top, I very quietly turned the knob. The door creaked open and I lowered my head and peeked in the room.
    I couldn’t hear anything due to the noise of all the activity in the basement and decided to take a chance and enter. I very softly shut the door. Everything became silent now, with the slight exception of the muffled oices and music that vibrated the floor beneath me.
    I was standing in a massive living room filled with exquisite furniture and all the trimmings. A beautiful, gigantic oil painting hung on a wall over a plush couch. As I tiptoed further into the room, I could see that it was a hand-painted family portrait. The gigantic picture took up almost an entire wall. The only thing I could think of was how vain could they be? They probably paid more for that artwork than most people pay for a small car.
    I kept my ears tuned to my surroundings while scoffing at the overpriced scenery . Shade was in the far side of the room asking Darryl why they needed to talk in his room. I wasn’t exactly sure of his justification, but it was something to the effect that sometimes his buddies came up to use the bathrooms to avoid long lines and he didn’t want any distractions. I zeroed in on their diluted voices and saw them climbing a spiral staircase with black wrought-iron handrails. I crept to the base of the stairs and craned my neck watching them enter another door at the top. Again, like a thief in the night, I followed.
    This time when I reached the door at the top , I was relieved to see it slightly open. Confident, I started to push open the door into Darryl’s room.
    Only dim rays of moonlight shone through the windows and sliding glass doors, those dangerous doors that opened up on the same side as the cliff.
    Even though the space was mostly dark, I plainly made out the features in Darryl’s room. To my right was his gargantuan bed, positioned perfectly to give him a splendid view of the valley outside. Smack in the middle of the room was a two-sided fireplace that sat unlit, surrounded by two large couches on either side of it, complemented with a couple of