Re: Near the Front Door: Dante & Mars
None of the movies that she'd watched on the subject of house parties had proven to prepare her for whatever this was. Because it (thankfully) wasn't a frat house rager with migraine-inducing music and kegs in every bathtub. It also wasn't small-time wine and cheese shared between a handful of people over a stupid board game. So Mars hadn't really known what to expect, but upon walking through the front door, found that this party was most akin to the sort of small-time, warm and fuzzy gatherings that were usually plagued by an stabby killer in a ghost mask. It wasn't going to be reassuring that most of these randos were dressed in some kind of mask or costume. Not that she was worried about that kind of thing, this town had to be the most boring speck of population in miles and miles.
Googling about house parties had led her down a cluster of blog articles, all of which suggested that it was customary to bring a gift. Mars had no idea what kind of gifts were bought for houses, or why even, but she settled on a bottle of some sparkling pink Moscato from the pizza place where she worked, which should convey that the stuff wasn't fancy or imported. But it was soft pink, bubbly, and popular; all of these things made Mars think of Hannah. The bottle was stickied with a faux satin bow and left, without a card, on one of the tables with all of the snacks.
Mars had even dressed up, just a little, in the theme of the party. Her "Cleopatra" look was really just a gold headband with a bunch of gold-looking coins glued onto it, and some blue-black eyeliner that formed massive, bat wing swoops from her eyes. The rest was jeans, slouchy boots, and a poppy-red sweater that went perfectly with her hair.
It took her all of five minutes after arriving to realize that she knew next to nobody. That was sort of fine with her. After glimpsing at least two of her siblings disappearing into the kitchen, Mars decidedly avoided that direction. No thanks. Something made Mars want to cut and run. She even pivoted back toward the front door, and took one step before stopping in her tracks at the sound of somebody's friendly Hey!
Mars hesitated, and offered a small smile. "I'm... not sure. I was thinking about running away just now. But that could be because of the music," which really wasn't offensive or terrible at all, but Mars felt inclined to blame her discomfort on something.