Hometown Happenings: Delilah's Party

"Yo, hold up, bro. I need to fill up two," Marcus said, informing the owner of the hand that reached in to grab the tap.

"Two? Planning on getting drunk and making a scene, Marcus?" a voice questioned from behind.

"Nah, I need to get one for my lady friend," the dark-skinned teen replied, pumping the keg again.

The mention of a lady friend caused a murmur of jokes and speculation around the O'Dells' poolhouse. That's the location where Delilah insisted the keg of beer be set up. Complaints about having to walk outside and into the cold weather had grown pretty loud until Jayden Cooke, Delilah's cousin and co-host of the party, announced it was that or no keg.

"Did you hire this friend, Withrow?" a classmate snickered.

"Don't project your lack of game on me, Barrow," Marcus countered.

"Aw, Marky doesn't need to pay for his fun. He provides it," Rosita Veliz declared, slinking an arm around the tight end's waist. The Sugarbee rolled her eyes at the round of catcalls that followed in the cramped poolhouse. As part of the eye-rolling, the sexy dancer twisted her body to face Jed Barrow. "Shouldn't you be somewhere with your head up Prescott's ass?"

The senior class school treasurer turned red in the face as laughter rang out. A chant of "Brownnoser" chased the pompous wannabe politico from the room. The heartiest laughs came from Marcus, especially after an already tipsy Tandy Cantrell missed a high-five meant for her fellow squadmate, causing her body to fall onto a shocked Elvis Sponder. Always quick with a quip, Elvis reminded Tandy that he didn't swing her way despite her breast in his face. The distraction gave Marcus enough time to down his red cup, leading him to fill it up a second time.

"Save some for us!"

"Whoa! Must I remind you that there wouldn't be a half-barrel sitting here if it wasn't for me," the jovial teen pointed out, holding up one arm, leading beer to slosh down it.

"Thanks, Marcus!" rang out the majority of the poolhouse.

"No, thank Travis Tanner," Marcus jogged everyone's memories, referring to the name on his fake ID.

"Thank you, Travis!"

Chuckling, the bearer of two red Solo cups made his way toward the door and out. Flinching as the cold wind hit his jacket-less body, Marcus wondered again why they couldn't put the keg in the basement or garage. Scurrying toward the house's back door, he caught a glimpse of movement amongst several bushes. Halting, Marcus backed up to get a better view.

"Bro, are you insane?"

The question started the two teens making out against the back wall of the garage. The girl, a dirty blonde, shot Marcus an embarrassed look as she hurried in his direction and toward the back door. As Abigail Pharr stormed past him, Marcus couldn't help but glance down at her toned ass. Man, I need to start dipping my foot into the soccer girl pool. They got some great asses.

"Asshole," Abby spat at their interrupter.

"Hey, I meant the cold, not Chet's choice..." Marcus' protest died as the door slammed shut. Shifting his attention around to his teammate, Chester Ragg, the tight end shook his head at the wide receiver. "Are you that desperate for pussy that you want frostbite too?"

"Ah, it ain't like that," the shivering teen replied.

"Dammit, Chet, you've been doing shots already? You know your skinny ass is a lightweight," Marcus moved around his teammate, nudging him toward the door with an elbow. That's the best he could do with both hands filled. "Now get inside where it's warm, and go lock down that tough little blonde."

Once inside the mudroom that connected the garage to the house, Chet rushed off to find Abby. Shaking his head, Marcus muttered, "Where's Max? I ain't got time to play nursemaid to these damn fools."

Entering the kitchen, Marcus flashed a grin and a wink at a cute junior. The gestures didn't go over very well with her date, walking right behind her. Not giving a fuck, Marcus blew off the hard glare and warning to watch it. Unlike many of his teammates, the tight end didn't need to defend his honor at every opportunity. Instead, he often found himself watching out for the less confident guys.

"Naylor, you better not give Chet any more shots," Marcus warned, spotting Evan Naylor in the kitchen. Evan's girlfriend, Daisy Kirby, sat next to him as they mixed drinks. "Your sister might be a bartender, but your skills are piss poor."

"Chet didn't get anything from here," Daisy replied. "Kessler's running around with a bottle of tequila."

"Aw, shit," Marcus groaned. "Whatever, it's not my problem. I got me a girl waiting downstairs."

"Don't mock my growing skills," Evan remarked. "My sister's been teaching me things. Such as recognizing fake IDs, Travis."

"Oh, hell, no! I don't need you turning into a ballbuster like your big sis. Not that I wouldn't mind her sexy thang touching my balls," Marcus laughed, stopping in the middle of the kitchen. "And I better not see an exposé about fake IDs in The Buzzy Bee, missy."

"It's Daisy with a D," the newspaper reporter jokingly reminded her longtime classmate. With an added twinkle in her eye, she added, "And Nosy Nectar already reported about your Metropolis embarrassment. I bet they're even preparing a series about The Life and Failures of Travis Tanner."

"If your girl didn't write such glowing articles about my football skills, I'd put her over my lap and spank a few manners into her, Evan," Marcus remarked, earning more laughs and warnings from his classmates.

The teenager's jovial mood vanished after he turned around to head for the basement. Far down the hall, three large blobs made their way in his direction, with one of them nudging his head toward Marcus. The three blobs were the Brawny Boys, his offensive line teammates. Loyal to a fault toward Austin, Marcus sensed why Heath Farmer, the most fanatical of Austin's protectors, moved toward him with a purpose in his step.

Searching around for a way out, Marcus ignored the teasing from the others in the kitchen. Remembering another door behind him, he hissed a "You didn't see me" at Evan and Daisy. With a stroke of luck, Dixon Solis, the basketball team's tall center, walked into the sightline between Marcus and the Brawny Boys.

Dashing inside a small room, Marcus closed the door behind him. Reaching down to lock the door, he realized that he'd used up his luck as there wasn't a lock. Dammit, I'm not in the mood to deal with Heath's shit. I know damn well what he wants. Toby and Weston ratted me out for not taking Rory home immediately from Metropolis. It's not their job to watch over Austin on the field and his sister off it. Any further musings ended as Marcus realized that he wasn't alone in the room.

Turning around, Marcus noticed that he'd ended up in the O'Dells' laundry room. Second, a guy and a girl stood as far apart as possible in the small room. They watched Marcus nervously and with good reason.

"Uh, it's not what it looks like," Louis McCall stated awkwardly while adjusting his belt.

"Yeah, get your mind out of the gutter, Withrow," Hazel Tarte said with more confidence. Unfortunately for the brunette, she'd buttoned her top wrong.

"I didn't suggest anything," Marcus shrugged. "But you might need a better response than that. Heidi's just outside in the kitchen," he lied. The Heidi in question happened to be Heidi Ceet, Louie's girlfriend and Hazel's cousin.

"She is?" Louis nearly panicked.

"You didn't see me," Marcus told him, moving to the side to allow Louie to open the door and leave.

Waiting in tense silence, the football player took a sip from his beer as Hazel fixed her outfit. Showing no shame, she'd unbuttoned her whole top, flashing a lacy black bra momentarily.

"Sooo, are you enjoying the party?" Marcus questioned once his fellow laundry room occupant finished adjusting her clothes.

"You say a word and you're dead," Hazel hissed before exiting.

Peeking out, Marcus breathed a sigh of relief at the coast being clear. Hurrying through the kitchen, he made it to the basement door without spotting any of the three brutes. Opening the door, a dark-haired girl nearly tumbled into him.

"Easy there, girl," Marcus responded, unable to help as his hands were full. "Sorry about that. I guess we reached to open it at the same time."

"At least someone is a gentleman," Beyza Baris remarked. "Bunch of animals down there."

Allowing the party host's close friend to walk by, Marcus paused to scope out the dark-haired beauty, and he liked what he saw. Beyza appeared to have gone all-out for tonight's party. Her dark brown hair had a slight curl added for the special occasion, along with a tight-fitting black dress that showcased her medium-to-large breasts and firm ass.

"Looking good, Bey," Marcus commented, earning a smirk back. That's a girl looking for a new man. "Best of luck on your hunt." Damn, how did Tarver land her and blow it?

Shifting his attention back to the stairs, Marcus grumbled upon seeing almost ten people milling around. Wondering who stands around on stairs during a party, he made his way down, issuing a "Coming through" and "Excuse me" several times.

Nearing the bottom, Marcus took notice of an attractive and unfamiliar blonde standing on the floor. On the bottommost step, one of his classmates made a desperate attempt to hit on the sexy blonde. The starting forward on the Honey Hollow basketball team, Dennis Conway would win Most Obnoxious Student in a landslide. Feeling a need to help--and to learn the blonde's name--Marcus slowed down to greet the stranger.

"Enjoying the party?"

Confirming his guess, the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Marcus here can back me up!" Denny exclaimed, in a rare moment of excitement at seeing the football player. "Tell, uh, crap...Tabby? No, Tiffany!"

The blonde gave out a loud "Ugh!"

"Tell Tiffany that I do start for the team," Denny pleaded as the girl didn't appear to believe him.

"Don't talk to me," Marcus told Denny. Motioning for Tiffany or Tabby to move away, the football player inquired as to why she was at the party.

"I'm visiting my cousin for the holidays," she informed him. When Marcus asked the identity of her cousin, she added, "Tristan Ritt."

"Ah, he's a good actor. Now, you're going to want to avoid guys like Denny." Marcus examined the room, spotting one of his teammates. "Have you met Howie yet? No? Then let's go meet him."

After finishing his attempt to mimic Lacey as a matchmaker, Marcus felt good about himself. Howie Cline, the team's backup quarterback, looked ready to faint at the attractive stranger's apparent interest in him. Making his way finally to the side of the rec room that served as tonight's dance floor, Marcus began to scan for Quilla Falkenburg. Usually a stuck-up rich girl, Quilla shocked him earlier in the night by sitting on his lap.

Spotting the busty choir singer with dark auburn hair, Marcus smiled. His prospect for the night had her body plastered against her friend, Lux Chaumont. Sure, he'd rather have Quilla dancing like that with her BFF, but Cheyenne Tissle was supposedly out at Wasp Lake. With visions of a potential threesome swirling around his mind, Marcus made his way over to the two high-maintenance girls.

Suddenly, he halted as another person moved in to make Quilla the middle of a body sandwich. This one was a guy, and one very familiar to him.

"Oh, hell, no," Marcus grumbled, watching as Quilla put her hand around the back of Oscar Vargas' neck. Walking closer, he hissed at his friend. "Oscar!"

It took four hisses of his name before Oscar noticed Marcus. Whispering into Quilla's ear, Oscar left the two girls. "What's up?"

"What's up is that Quilla's with me for tonight!" Marcus responded, gesturing in her direction.

"It's not my fault that you left her all alone," Oscar replied.

"I went to get us a beer!"

"Cool, thanks," Oscar said, reaching for it until Marcus snatched his hand away.

"Bro, go find your own girl for the night. Quilla came on to me."

"She got bored. You snooze, you lose, man," Oscar laughed, walking back over to their contested classmate. "Good find Cheyenne."

"She's not in town," Marcus spat. Ever the eternal optimist when it came to finding women, his attention perked up as he noticed Lux leaving the dance floor. Intercepting the school's sexy actress, he offered her the beer meant for Quilla.

"Thanks!" Lux responded, taking the cup and continuing to move past Marcus.

Throwing his free hand up in disgust, Marcus left the dance area. Back in the other part of the rec room, he scanned its occupants. Noticing a significant group missing, he uttered, "Where the hell are the cheerleaders?"

"Right here," Margo Lintz waved from where several junior year cheerleaders stood.

"I meant the real cheerleaders," Marcus responded dismissively. Downing his beer, he decided to go look for some soccer girls.

---

"I'm just saying that I think she's been slacking off in her duties," Caterina commented. The bottle blonde sat shotgun in Kaitlin's car.

"I don't know what the big deal is. Whitney has a good reason to be away for a week. It is the holidays," Roxanne pointed out from the backseat, which she shared with Yumi.

"Yeah, she's at a funeral," Yumi added.

"She's not at a funeral. How many times do I have to say that?" Caterina asked in exasperation. "Finn Singer's mom died ten years ago."

"I agree with Roxie. We always have the week off between Christmas and New Year's. The squad's been doing it for like forever," Kaitlin reminded the co-captain.

"This year is different!" Cat insisted.

"Why?" Roxie asked.

"Because it's our senior year. And because Bianca's up to something," Caterina explained. "She's got a new routine that the Sugarbees have been practicing over and over. We can't slack off!"

"Football season is over. That's our time to shine. Sure, we cheer at the basketball games, but halftime in the fieldhouse is when the Sugarbees get their moment," Kaitlin pointed out. "It's how things have always been done."

"Not for our senior year," Cat stated. "We can't be shown up by those bitches. We can't let them have the last word."

"Uh, what are we supposed to do? Cheer at baseball games in late spring?" Roxie questioned, her view of that idea evident in her voice.

"We can do that?" Yumi asked in awe.

"We don't want to do that. They don't finish the season until after the school year ends. I don't want to be a graduate still showing up at school games in uniform," Kaitlin explained to her teammate.

"Well, sometimes a few girls will go to games to cheer on the team," Roxie recalled.

"Yeah, that's if they're dating or got a thing for one of the guys on the team," Kaitlin responded.

"Can we do it this year? I want to!" Yumi declared excitedly.

"Stop talking about fucking baseball!" Cat screeched. "We need to focus on now!"

"Gawd, what's up your butt?" Kaitlin asked, glancing over to her side.

"We don't want to know," Roxie mumbled, getting a frightened nod from Yumi.

"I don't want to leave behind a legacy of getting shown up by the Sugarbees. I hate them. I hate them all!" Cat said, slamming the car's console.

"Hey!" Kaitlin exclaimed.

"Wasn't your mom a Sugarbee?" Roxie asked from the backseat.

"Mine was!" Yumi announced cheerily and unnecessarily.

"This is about Whitney allowing Bianca a chance to steal our spotlight. It has nothing to do with my mom," Caterina insisted.

"Uh-huh," Roxie sounded, nudging Yumi with her elbow.

"Whatever. We're here," Kaitlin announced. Surveying the long lines of parked cars, she complained. "See, this is why I wanted to leave earlier. Now we're going to have to walk pretty far."

"But my tummy hurt," Yumi whined.

"Have you been buying cupcakes at Dream Muffs again?" Cat questioned, turning around with her accusation.

Yumi didn't need to answer as the guilt was written all over her face.

---

"Alright, listen up. We're down three squad members in Whitney, Lacey, and Aurora. So let's be on our--" Caterina started to warn as they approached Delilah's house on foot.

"Rory's not coming?!"

"Yumi, we told you already that she can't," Kaitlin explained patiently. "Rory had her date with Kieran this afternoon. Her mom can't cover for her twice in one day."

"Yeah, when I went to pick Rory up as her alibi, her dad was asking a lot of questions. I think he's suspicious," Roxie informed the others.

"But it's not the same without Rory," Yumi pouted.

"And we're also down the sophomore squad," Caterina continued.

"Not them too!"

"It sucks, but you can't blame Delilah for banning all sophomores," Kaitlin remarked. "Not after what happened at Fletcher's party."

"Yeah, that was bad," Cat agreed as they came within one house of the O'Dell residence. "And talk about timing."

The four cheerleaders watched as Dawson Fox and a half dozen sophomore members of the football team stomped away from Delilah's front door. Grumbling and swearing, threats rang out amongst the younger teens.

"Wait until I call the cops on the party. Nobody fucks with us, right?" Dawson crowed, earning agreement from his crew.

"You better not, or you're in deep shit, Fox!" Kaitlin snapped, marching up to the future starting quarterback.

"What's your problem?" the cocky teenager challenged, feeling emboldened by his friends' presence.

"No, we're talking about your problem, you little shit," Kaitlin snapped, shocking her friends. The other three cheerleaders blamed Katie's stress on the tenuous state of her relationship with Palmer Malloy. "If the cops show up and bust the party, then you will never date a Honey Hollow cheerleader ever."

"You can't do that," Dawson whined.

"Oh, we can't? Tell them, Cat."

Caterina appeared thrown off by Kaitin's threat, but she swiftly recovered.

"Sure, we can blackball you. You'll have to wait until college to date a cheerleader as we'll put the word out to other high schools."

"Wait, you can do that?" Dawson looked around at his friends for support, but they'd already started to back away from him. "Hey, I didn't really mean it. I was, uh, just blowing off steam."

"Good. Now blow off from this block," Kaitlin ordered, with a shooing motion.

"Bye!" Yumi called behind them politely.

"Damn, I'm kind of liking the pissed-off girlfriend version of Katie," Roxie commented.

"I'm not," Yumi responded.

More smartass jocks awaited the cheerleader foursome at the front door.

"Sorry, this is a basketball and Sugarbee party. No cheerleaders allowed," a junior year member of the basketball squad proclaimed. One of his friends slapped his back in agreement. Another friend slowly drifted away before the shit hit the fan.

'I'm sorry. Which guy are you again?" Cat inquired.

"You know me, hot stuff. I'm Ra--"

"It's doesn't matter!" Cat screamed in his face. "What matters is that you're a nobody. You have no say in who gets inside this house."

"Hold up! Jayden put us in--" the second junior year basketball player argued.

"First off, Jayden didn't tell you to keep us out. Second, this is Delilah's house. Not her cousin's. Thirdly, this home belongs to a former cheerleader captain," Cat rattled off. "And while Mrs. O'Dell probably disapproves of this party, I know that she absolutely wouldn't allow you or anyone else to ban Honey Hollow cheerleaders from her home. So get out of our way. NOW!"

Stunned into silence, the basketball players didn't move as the four girls entered. Immediately, Cat spotted Wilbur Winkie walking past the foyer. Removing her coat, she snapped her fingers at him.

"Winkie, put our jackets wherever they're supposed to go. Oh, and send a few of your teammates to get us a round of drinks."

"Are you sure you want to trust Will with all that?" Kaitlin asked, watching as Winkie banged into a wall.

"He'll be fine. Fear is a wonderful motivator," Cat stated. "Okay, girls, let's mingle."

Unfortunately, Caterina's confidence hit a roadblock as the foursome walked into the living room. The reason: A college student one year older than her with chocolate cherry brown hair. That young woman didn't notice the cheerleaders, but the other girl at her side with honey brown hair did. A quick word caused their whole circle to turn and face the newcomers.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in. It's the traitor," Violet Fitch remarked with a sneer. The previous year's dance squad captain, Violet, had a personal beef with the cheer squad's co-captain. Violet's aunt, Naomi, had been a Sugarbee with Cat's mother. She'd taken it as an insult when Cat opted to take up the gold and black pom-poms.

"Hey, Honey, still trailing after this tyrant?" Cat asked the honey brown-haired girl, who appropriately enough was named Honey Yarwood.

"Still living in Whitney Diamond's shadow?" Violet responded for her friend. But, before she could continue her insults, a body slammed into hers.

"Hi, Vi!" Yumi greeted, hugging the ex-dance captain. Just as Cat's mom had been a friend and squadmate of Violet's aunt, so had Yumi's mother. The difference was that having moved away from Honey Hollow until last summer, the sweet, ditzy cheerleader didn't quite grasp the bitter tension between the cheer and dance squads. "How's college?"

"It's fine," Violet replied, freeing herself from the hug. Unlike Cat, Yumi's decision to cross enemy lines didn't cause such fury inside Violet. That's likely due to Yumi's returning to town just after the dancer graduated. In Caterina's case, Violet had seen the traitor as a more suitable choice to someday succeed her than Bianca.

"Is there a problem here?" a new voice asked, causing Cat to grind her teeth.

"Not unless you're spreading crabs around the party, Yelena," Cat greeted her rival, Yelena Mishkova. The blonde-haired sex kitten of the Sugarbees was accompanied by Jasmine Fadel.

Now faced with more than double the number of dancers than cheerleaders, Cat cursed her missing trio of friends. Not sure if a fight would break out, she debated between attacking Yelena or Violet.

"Hey, Jasmine," Roxanne greeted.

"Hey, Roxie. I think Daisy and Heidi are in the kitchen," Jasmine mentioned about the whereabouts of the cheerleader's other friends.

Never a fan of the cheer/dance feud, Roxie went off to find her other friends. Following Roxie's lead, Yumi started wishing the other current and former Sugarbees a happy holiday. Roxie's abandoning them and Yumi's fraternization with the enemy frustrated Cat.

"What the hell, Jasmine?" Violet snapped before Caterina could. "Is this how Bianca runs her squad? Sugarbees and cheerleaders are not friends."

"Oh, lighten up," Kaitlin groaned, having her own more important relationship issues to deal with. "You know your nickname was Fitch, the Bitch, right?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" shouted a short, athletic girl with dark skin and curly black hair. "This is not happening. You hear me? There is to be no drama between the squads."

"She just called me a bitch," Violet pointed out.

"I don't care," Delilah O'Dell, party host, replied, not having any fighting in her house. "I'm calling this, uh..."

"Neutral ground," Beyza supplied from her good friend's side.

"Yes, neutral ground. And no arguing, Cat. You too, Yelena," the Sugarbee co-captain cut off the protestations even before they left the girls' mouths. "This is a party. We're supposed to have fun, not call each other bitches. And no, I don't care if you two find it fun to call each other bitches."

"You go, cuz!" Jayden cheered on from the doorway. Laughter and agreements followed. A few guys yelled for a catfight to break out, but they shut up as other guys pointed out that might happen later on once the girls had more to drink.

"Listen up as I'm only going to say this once. You girls are my friends," Delilah said, motioning to the dance squad before swinging her hand toward the cheerleaders. "And they're my friends. I will not tolerate any fighting or feuding tonight. If you do, then I'm kicking you out. No exceptions. Go it? Got it?!"

"Got it," rang out a chorus from the two squads.

"Good! Now let's have a few drinks, flirt with some boys, and dance our asses off," Delilah ordered, clapping her hands.

Agreeing about the flirting part, if not fucking, Cat left the living room to check out the male prospects in the house. Specifically, the bottle blonde vixen was on the prowl for college students home for the holidays. After her massively disappointing hookup with Bobby Hooper the other night, Cat needed a rebound.

After ten minutes of wandering around the first floor, along with demanding to know where Winkie was with her drink, Cat prepared to venture down to the basement. However, a growing feeling began to nag at her. It almost felt as if she was being constantly watched.