Eddie Park

The House is Alive

The house is alive,
But its quiet outside.
It shakes to its core.
A home is no more.
~
At least not tonight.
Tonight its a zoo.
The house is alive. Its heart beats from the basement; a stereo system poised at the bottom of the
steps. A generic party-mix of songs fill the home as the bass hits heavy and constant through the first
floors support beams. From the outside of my friends two story suburban home all is quiet, not a hairs
out of place. Sams parents went to Florida for the week. Early December is when we found out that
they were leaving and early December is when the planning of the party began. I was in college, Sam
was in Highschool, since it was his party the invites were left to him. By the end of the first week the
entire school knew, people he didnt even know would approach him about it. There was a point when
Sam knew the number of people was getting too high but the excitement kept him inviting people and
word continued to spread
Its 7:30 PM and everythings ready, the 5 of us in the inner friend group came early to drunk
proof and prep the house while Sam made the alcohol run. Next week is New Years but the party begins
now. All the breakables have been hidden, check. All the animals have been put up stairs, check. His
parents bedroom has been locked, check. Sams fridge is packed to capacity with 12 cases of beer and a
plethora of liquor, all the condiments have been hidden in miscellaneous drawers and cupboards to make
room, and the island in the middle of the kitchen has been cleared and covered with red solo cups. Beer,
liquor, music, and pong; add people and youve got a party.
Over my friendship with Sam his house became a second home. Almost every day in highschool
this is where wed end up when the day let out. Big groups of us would take the bus, walk down the hill,
and infest Sams house until it was time to return to our own. I remember once when four of us climbed
up on the roof. We went out the bathroom window onto the first floors roof then hoisted ourselves up the
rest of the way, it was a nice day. Spring had just come after a long winter and one of Sams neighbors
saw us. She started hollering at us to get down, we were 15 and 16. While she was hollering a delivery
man pulled up to drop something off at the house across the street. The man stepped out of his van to
this lady screaming in the road. She attempted to get him on her side so we would get down. He was in
his 20s, being badgered by this woman. The only thing he said, and it came out in a Russian accent
which made it even better, was I know it is Spring when kids are on the roof. He then promptly
delivered his package and left. She called the police shortly after. Sams dad thought it was hilarious.
When I met Sam I didnt really have any friends, I was an overly anxious introverted sophomore in high
school but Sam and his friends (now mine) took me in and accepted that. This created a bubble of the
select few I could feel truly comfortable around, his home is a safe haven to be myself, a place to be
without worry - but tonight this safe haven was going to be over run.
Lets smoke before people start getting here one of the six of us says, Its the only chance
well get without moochers. So we head up to Sams room. Sams room sits above the two car garage

and its large. We walk in and assume our positions throughout the middle of the room in a circle. Sam
sits down at his desk and starts packing his piece with bright green bud. The smell is fresh and potent
and as he lights the bowl the smoke begins to envelop every crevice of the room. He passes the piece off
to Wilson and starts up.
Sam shakes his head back and forth like a bulldog. Guys! Are you pumped? Cus Im pumped!
He stands up and turns on the fan. And to think we almost had to cancel because your sister bailed on
the keg. This is directed at Erika.
She responds. Well how the hell was I supposed to know she was gonna flake! Who cares
anyway, we got the beer didnt we? Wilson takes his hit and passes it off to Erika.
Yeah, but a keg wouldve been nuts. Sam shakes his head disapprovingly. Now were stuck
with Milwaukee's Best and Miller Light... Itll have to do.
Wilson chimes in. Yeah! Screw your sister!
Jay Speaks up. I would. Have you seen her?
Erika is one of the guys at this point. She's been hanging out with us on a day to day basis
forever so she knows how to deal with us. Straight up, fuck you guys. She hucks a lighter at Jay, who
catches it and passes it off to Alex. Alex takes a hit from the bong and passes it off to me.
Being the peace keeper I am I speak up before I take my hit. Hey guys...Cant we all just Shut
the hell up? I take my hit.
The earliest to arrive are kids we all know, mutual friends. One sophomore comes in and starts
talking about a curfew, about how he has to get wasted before 10 oclock. Then people Ive never met
start meshing into the crowd. The music emanating from the basement is covered with the roar of
teenagers ages 16 to 19 cracking beers and tossing ping pong balls. Its 8:30 and the counts already at
50, I step outside for a breather. The back porch is surprisingly quiet compared to the jungle inside. Im
not the party type and the beer tastes like piss so the cool and quiet December air is a nice change of
pace. I light a cigarette to give myself a reason to be outside in case anyone comes and questions my
solidarity, like I even need an excuse but I dont feel at home here and I dont want to come off weird.
The cigarettes gone quick, the nicotine buzz quickens my heart rate but ironically calms me down, I
crush it into the already half full ashtray and make my way around to the front of the house.
There are no cars out front and this is increasingly surprising as more and more people walk up
the street towards Sams house. Sams out front, staring back at the front door, I walk up alongside him
and ask what hes doing. He looks at me then back at the house and says The musics all the way up,
people are shouting, but it is silent out here. Sam was right and it was weird to say the least, hed
counted the number of people to be at about 80 now. Just as we were going to go back inside a short,
black haired girl walks up to us. I dont know the girl and assume shes going to say hello to Sam but
instead she questions us both Is this where the party is?. Sam and I look to each other, then back, she
gets her information and goes in. Turned out Sam had no idea who he just directed into his house but he
didnt mind, he was just ready for this to go down as the 2013 banger of the year.
Inside is crazy, the music is shaking the floor and so are all the tipsy kids whove massed in the
kitchen and living room. Sam and I find the rest of the 6 person host team and take celebratory shots,
its 9 o clock. After the shots the group disperses to mingle, I tag along with my friend Jay. Jay starts
talking to old wrestling buddies and almost instantly Im out of the loop again. I never did sports in high
school, I never joined any clubs or teams, I stuck with my small friend group and basically shied away
from all other social aspects of highschool, I never cared enough. I find myself moving through the

people catching glimpses of conversations I should be having, all the do you remembers and have
you heards.
I walk aimlessly in circles interacting with friends for seconds before they return to their own
talks. Ive been playing the loner game for the past four years so it comes easy to occupy myself by
looking occupied, I keep a smile on to make it look like I belong when in truth Id prefer the night end
early so I can stop acting. Its not really acting per se, its more like hiding apathy and awkwardness.
Per se is a weird word. or is it a phrase? Wilson and Alex, two of the 6, are playing pong and I use the
opportunity to stop moving, I lean against the fridge and watch. The movement never stops around
them; young girls who cant hold their drink are screaming and falling, kids are piled high onto the
couch in the living room, and I can see the back of one kid crouched over the toilet in the bathroom. By
all other accounts this is a high school party, but to me its a test of willpower for two reasons. 1:I cant
trust myself to drink in large groups after the time I blacked out in wildwood and ran around shirtless
shaking peoples hands. Long story short we were having a party, the girls bailed, I got trashed, the girls
showed up. 2: I would much rather retreat upstairs and smoke more than stay down here. In fact, that
doesnt sound half bad.
At the top of the stairs there is a hole in the wall, now this hole isnt new but everyone who
doesnt consider this their second home thinks that it is. At the top of the stairs, next to the hole, is Sams
room and inside Sams room is an overly drunk 10th grader trying to apologize to Sam for the hole he
just put in the wall. Slurring his words he manages to mutter, What can I...I do to make it up to you
man?. I walk in the room and Sam looks at me, then over to Jay whos sitting on the bed, then back to
the kid. Sam shrugs, tells him he can pay for it by grabbing him a beer and the kid leaves. You know,
thats the tenth time someones mentioned the hole, they arent helping, Sam stops and takes a hit from
the bong in his lap then passes it to me. Before taking a hit I ask what the numbers at, people wise, and
get One-hundred and thirty-ish as an answer from Jay. I light the bowl piece and inhale hard thinking
how I only know about one-tenth of the people there, an outsider in my own domain. Weird. We finish
smoking and head back downstairs.
A black kid is leaning against the wall dividing the kitchen and living room, hes dressed in all
black and stands with a half smoked blunt hanging from his lips. The three of us move over to Wilson
and ask if he has any idea who the kid is, His names Dunn, hes from Chester and he hasnt moved
since he came in...or passed that blunt, no one seems to know him and they walk around him
accordingly. The acid that the 6 took earlier in the night is starting to kick in and Jay makes sure Im
feeling it too, no ones playing pong so I hoist myself onto the island and watch the world move around
me like a kid on a safari. I think to myself Look at all the foreign animals, the elusive cheerleader in a
chugging match with the pygmy band geek. My eyes dip in and out of focus catching only shapes and
figures. What appears to be two giraffes in a vicious battle, swinging their necks wildly, turns out to be
two seniors making out on a couch.
A stumbling drunk 10th grader, the same one from upstairs, comes barreling into the room and
Im back in my head like a nature documentary. Now watch as the rabid, fledged, sophomore falls into
the unprepared predator known as the jock. The kid goes down, spilling his beer almost entirely on
the varsity football player. The guys drunk so it takes him a second to get his bearings after being
soaked, he looks around trying to grasp the situation. Seeing all this, Jay, Sam, and I grab the kid before
the jock has a chance to retaliate and carry him outside with a friend of his in tow. Jay and Sam have a
couple pounds on me so I let them do the heavy lifting, I was mainly there for moral support. The kids
propped up against the garage wall asking for more to drink. We tell him hes flagged and cant have

anymore. He starts flailing on the ground until his friend steps in and tells us hell handle it, we head
back in. Its 10:25 and the counts at 200.
By this point Im loose and ready to mingle. Backed by the hallucinogen and the safari in my
head I dive into conversation; if you can even call it that. Words fall recklessly from my mouth towards
a kid Ive never met, he nods with confusion on his face as I cant help but tell him how life is like an
endless loop. A loop, mind you, is something that comes full circle, and here we are. We wake up and
fall asleep, we go to work and then we go back home, we live to grow old to have kids to start the cycle
over. If you really think about it, and I mean really really think about it, youll see the loops in your
everyday life. Our planet, which is looped by the moon, endlessly loops the Sun, I could go on but the
kids already gone so I start wandering with my head in the clouds. I walk into the living room and sit
down on the edge of the fireplace, I stare back through the living room and watch as the movement
never ends. People are walking every which way and once one leaves my field of view another walks in.
Sam, Jay, Wilson, Alex, and Erika are nowhere to be found, at least not inside. Theyre all out back
seated around a table on the deck smoking cigarettes, I join them to reunite the 6.
As I walk outside from the kitchen they all turn as a wave of sound flies by me, chants and
screams of the drunk. The calm of outside-life is unprecedented in comparison to inside-life, I can hear
myself breathe. There is a cloud of smoke forming above the group and I choose to add to it. It feels
normal out here, just the boys (including Erika). There is a demolition in progress behind the glass door
but out here the work site is closed until people begin pouring out back in waves, bottle necking, and
crashing into each other through the door. We are the breakers, constantly trying to force people back in
but like the ocean it doesnt cease.
People walk in and out as the back door morphs into a turnstile. The sound of a high school cafeteria
comes outside in bursts and it only takes a few minutes for us to realize just how loud its getting out
back. Sam stands up, tens and twenties of people have gathered on the back porch. Everyone! Weve
made it this far without the cops showing up! Lets keep it that way! A single-filed line forms and
people slowly begin the trek back inside. Its 10:50 and the counts 220.
With most of the animals put back into the cage of a house its calm again. Were all sitting at the
table, the six of us and the unfortunate boyfriend of Erika. There were a few girls huddled off the porch
by the covered pool.
Sam pulls a fresh cig from the box and holds it by his lips. He pulls a lighter from a pocket and
lights his smoke. Between inhales he speaks. So, this is nuts. Im actually really surprised the cops
havent been called yet. He taps the wooden table.
I talk, following suit with his fresh cigarette. Well, I mean there are only 3 cars out front. Mine,
Alexs and whoever owns the third one.
Jay speaks up. Oh thats Jennys car. Alex peed on it a little while ago.
Alex cracks up I had to go, yo.
Sam. Ah, makes sense.
Jays got this look on his face, hes shifting in his seat. People are starting to finish their cigs and
getting ready to head inside.. Right before it finally happens I see it coming. Jay is sitting across from
Erika, Erikas boyfriend is standing behind her. Jay stands up abruptly, pushing the table as he goes. Out
of his mouth comes something that can only be described as a projectile. Right over Erikas head and
right into her boyfriends face. Jay turns his head while its still going and its like someone swung a
firehose. It sprays down towards the girls by the pool. They scream realizing what exactlys happening.

One tries to escape the firing range and runs straight onto the pool cover. She makes it halfway before
she understands that the situations escalated. The pool cover drops two feet, directly into water thats
been sitting there since September. The girl buckles at the knees when the ground vanishes beneath her,
she falls onto the cover and into what waters seeped through. She scrambles for the side of the pool and
pulls herself up and out on the other side; half soaked. Erikas boyfriend is letting out a disgusted wail.
Most everyone else starts heading back inside. Someone goes to get towels for the girl and Erikas
boyfriend, I go get water for Jay.
Here man just drink this, that was ridiculous. I hand Jay the water. Bet you feel better
though.
What are you saying? That was awful! Erikas boyfriends still trying to cope.
Jay takes a few sips, gargles, then spits. I feel so[ooo] much better.
Awesome yo, Im heading inside. I pass Jay a few paper towels and head in.