Kiss of A Titan
Chapter 24

Ruth's demeanor had made it quite impossible for me to tag along with them but I was determined to do what I had in mind and that was to find out if Richard was the person I saw at the park or someone else. As for the aftermath, I wasn't sure of what I would do yet if he were to admit that he was actually the one who rescued me from an early death.

"I choose to come with you", I was not sure of how Ruth was going to respond and I watched her frown a little before walking up to Amanda. She whispered something Chloe and I didn't hear into Amanda's ear not minding the fact that she was doing it right in front of us.

"You can with us as long as you promise us not to do anything rash", Ruth said and walked away keeping her knapsack below her armpit. We watched her leave heading for the main road till she stopped by the roadside waiting for us to join her.

"Rosalie, that's how she is, so don't hold a grudge against her", Chloe said, breaking the silence.

"I get what you mean, but why the knapsack? It's not like you guys are going hiking in the woods", I asked, pointing at the little bag Chloe wore on her left shoulder.

"Uh....our swim suit is inside", "Swim suit?", "It's a pool party and we might get to swim just like the rest of the girls who are going to be there", Amanda explained with her hands akimbo.

"Now go change into something nice and bring you swim suit along with you", I nodded and went inside to change for the party against the wishes of Chloe's second warring friend who seemed quite fervent in her desire for me not to join the party. Sooner than later, I was ready to leave the house with the three ladies and we left the neighborhood in a taxi as soon as I came out to join them at the front porch.

Fifty minutes later, the taxi dropped all four of us at the front gate of Richard's apartment. Their house was a duplex mansion having two floors and a broad courtyard that gave a broader room for two to five cars to be parked at one corner of the spacious vicinity. One of the servants assigned to escort the guest inside helped us find our way easily to the backyard of the house which was somewhat noisy and rowdy with a couple naked teenagers of both gender wearing clothes that barely covered their bodies that was fairly exposed to the sunlight particularly the ladies whose skimpy swimsuit enhanced their feminine attractiveness which they intently displayed for the boys to see.

Ironically, the boys were fewer compared to the girls and most of them were already getting their bodies wet in the pool by the time the four of us joined the party whilst a large number of the ladies were exhibiting their hot sexy bodies as they walked by the four edges of the pool.

I peered around the people having fun splashing water in the pool searching for any sign of Richard as I trailed beside Amanda following behind Ruth and Chloe in front after the servant showed us the way in through the interior part of Mansion to the venue where the party was being held in and around the pool perimeter.

"That's what Clyde sister told me about the reason why this party was held", "So you mean the boys here are all-", Chloe said as we walked idly ignoring two dark-skinned girls in a yellow bikini outfit who walked by us to the other side of the pool which wasn't too deep to cover those playing with the bluish water.

"Yep...joining the Titan team, Clyde intentionally had this party for the boys to join the athletic team. You can say it's the hottest way of recruiting guys for the team this year", Ruth explained and made for a bench underneath a fancy umbrella which happened to be the last unoccupied bench on the left flank of the pool. Then we quietly walked past three ladies who were getting warmed up by the heat whilst taking a nap on the two benches before the last one. They didn't seem to mind if their bare skin were getting sunbaked by the heat emanating from the sun shining in the bare sky with no clouds in sight after a few hours of sunshine and were savoring every ounce of the heat they can derive from getting their bodies warmed up by the heat.

All four of us got seated facing each other on the bench and watched the other guests derive a lot more out of the fun in the party which had long started before we arrived.

Unfortunately, Richard was nowhere to be seen nor were the sight of his two close friends seen amongst the few boys jumping in and out of the water that kept splashing over the four corners of the rectangular pool whilst teasing the ladies they were also having fun with water in the pool. Unknown to me, I wasn't the only one waiting for him to show up in the party and three ladies already in their sexy swimsuits were anxious as I was to see him attend the party that was ongoing in his own backyard. All three of them stood by the side of the pool near the bald guy playing the disc jockey and were not too intrigued by the bulging muscles of the boys loitering in the water at each corner of the pool. "Where the hell is he?",

The angriest lady in the midst of the two other girls, questioned furiously. Her two friends who stood beside her looked around to check if they could see his shadow but nothing came out of their flimsy search. "Even Clyde and Linder isn't here either", "Who knows? Maybe they are up to something", "But he should have been here already", "Now, he's not", "And what's more surprising is the fact he's absent from a party that is being held behind his own house", The shorter one among the trios with wavy hair, rejoined.

"Maybe he's in the house hiding from you...", "Perhaps he knew beforehand that you might show up in his party that was obviously planned by his minions", "He's not the type that hides from others just because he hates them", Lori remarked adamantly with her hands folded underneath her two robust nipples. Then she caught sight of someone wearing only green shorts whose physique were similar to that of Richard joining the party from the other end of the perimeter but more masculine and manly than her ex-boyfriend. For a brief moment, her hopes of seeing Richard heighten but a closer look at the lookalike told her otherwise. Her companions saw the imposter as well and watched him take a dive into the pool to join the fun after shaking hands with a few boys sitting beside the pool with their legs in the water.

"Isn't that-?", "That must be Ben, Richard's elder brother", "I guess he must have come back from the working overseas", The chubby one commented. Lori watched Ben swimming to and fro with disappointment staring boldly on her face. It was clear to her that her hidden plan to patch up her already severed relationship with Richard wasn't going too well as she had hoped it would and she had wanted it to get sorted out before summer ending. But most of all, she knew from experience that it was easy for him to find another girlfriend and she wasn't planning on making herself a second fiddle.

Her eyes roamed around the rowdy gathering for some minute till she left to go rest her legs at a corner beside a boy engrossed in a conversation with another girl. Her friends joined her as well when they saw that she left first and they haven't fully settled to sit down on the spare bench when the chubby girl saw us having some drinks that Chloe collected from the attendant for all four of us from the mini-bar which was erected on the grass below the raised platform that served as the party venue for all the guest to have fun.

"Lori, I think some troublemakers is here as well", "Who?", Lori questioned and the chubby girl beckoned at us drinking at the far side, obliviously chattering amongst ourselves. She followed her friend's gaze and saw our group. "It's those two, right?", "Claire, I'm lost here. Who the hell are they?", The third girl asked not too sure what the chubby girl was talking about.

"Yeah...It's them for sure...", Lori stuttered at the recognition of Chloe and me. It perplexed her deeply as to why we were at the party which wasn't open for all the girls in school to attend.

"It looks like someone else invited them here", Claire whispered softly and eased her weight on the bench.

"Hold on a second, can't you two tell me who we are talking about here?", "Well...if you really want to know, Lauren,...we saw the blonde girl and her new friend confronting Richard a few days ago and It's likely they are here to see him as well for obvious reasons", Claire explained glancing at Lori to see if she would say anything but Lori remained silent as she fixed her gaze at us.

"Are you sure about that?", "Yeah....Every girl in school already knows that he is no longer befriending Lori, so it's only obvious that...", "You might be wrong about their intentions", "Doesn't look like it", Claire said and gestured at me getting up from my seat at the sight of Richard strolling into the party venue with Clyde and Linder accompanying him to where his brother was still deep in the water while Chloe and the others seemed obnoxious about the whole last minute entrance thing of the Olympic star that intrigued some of the girls who were came to meet the trios in spite of being ignored by all three men. Lori stood up from where she sat down as well and saw Richard clasping hands with his brother who was still in the pool.

Judging from the way he was dressed, it was clear to her that he wasn't interested in joining the party nor was he planning on having a swim like his older brother but from the look of things, they had something planned to do here and she already knew the obvious reason for him coming late to the party.

"Here comes Cronus and his entourage", Claire jokingly said as she got up to join her friend standing. Lauren followed soon afterwards and returned back to the place where they had been standing earlier. Lori wasn't pleased when she caught me watching Richard and his crew from where I was with Chloe and the others. Irritated by what she saw, she whispered something into Claire's ear without Lauren hearing what she secretly told her friend.

Little did I know that Lori's intentions about me were viciously wicked. I was paying less attention to everyone present in the party after Richard's magnanimous entry into the party with his teammates and was completely lost in thought the moment he appeared out of the blue. Ruth and the others were partly apprehensive that I might act up again and their worries worsened when I stood up from my seat but they didn't move. Neither did they stop me since they were as well, too spellbound to see the girls in bikinis flocking around those that came with him.

It didn't occur to me that I had taken a few steps away from where the others stood transfixed at the way the crowd of boys were all cheering wildly around him and by now, he was already shaking hands with the group of half naked boys in shorts who came to welcome him with their bodies all wet. Taking advantage of the distraction, I drew closer to the crowd flocking around the pool, not too concerned that I was heading into the midst of the boys and girls that had neither shirt nor dress to cover their naked body parts except for Richard and those that came with him, especially Clyde and Linder.

All my attention was directed at Richard shaking hands with the boys that were invited to the party whilst he stood beside his brother that was still in the pool and I was too engrossed at the way he was smiling while hugging and clasping hands with the boys even though their bodies were wet. His smile reminded me of his face I saw in the river where he saved me from death and every bit of the memory kept replaying in mind as I stealthily plod towards him without being aware that I had ventured a few meters away from the pool. His eyes were about to meet mine when someone nudged me from behind and the next minute, I saw myself falling down into the pool.

Memories of the similar incident replayed in my mind after I lost balance and fell into the water.

Everyone else in the party except for the bar attendant, stopped what they were doing at the splash of water that came soon after I accidentally fell into the water. Chloe and the rest of us hadn't changed into the swim suit we brought along with us yet and the outfit I wore to the party was completely drenched by the water.

"Help me! I can't swim!", I shrieked as I kept tussling with the water in order to keep my head from being swallowed by the water. The culprit stood by the side of the pool pretending to aghast like everyone else was at the sight of me struggling to get out of the water.

"Oops, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there",

The culprit said apologetically even when she didn't appear to be sympathetic about pushing me into the water. Chloe and the others came rushing to the scene but they stood with the crowd of people beside the pool instead of coming to my rescue like I had thought they would. To make matters worse, almost everyone had stopped swimming and had left the pool to meet Richard except for Ben and some other guy. They, including Richard, didn't seem to be too concerned if I was going to drown right there in front of them while some of the girls were making fun out of the way I was trapped.

"I saw what you did", Chloe confronted the culprit and pushed her aside even when I was still fighting hard to stay alive in the pool. The culprit only frowned at her and walked away to the other end of the pool from whence she had come from. Richard paused for a while to overcome the shock of seeing me struggling to stay buoyant on the water and watched the culprit leave the engrossed crowd who felt entertained by my demeanor to meet her friends. And he was surprised to see the culprit arriving at where Lori stood watching the scene unfolding.

Although the water in the pool wasn't too deep, my legs could hardly touch the bottom and my hands in the air were swerving against the water uncontrollably with every ounce of energy I had left to keep me afloat. Before long, two of the boys that were swimming on the water came to my rescue and I was guided to the poolside by the two rescuers.

Chloe assisted in getting me out of the water and Amanda brought a blanket to cover my wet body completely whilst the older rescuer opened up a path through the crowd for me to pass through accompanied by Chloe and Amanda. As for Ruth, she joined the crowd of dumbfounded spectators to watch Richard's older brother helping to make a path into the house.

"Make some room!", Ben shouted at the crowd and beckoned at Richard. Richard responded but he stopped halfway to hear what his brother had to say to him. He didn't follow us further when he met Richard but left Chloe with enough directions to get me into the house. I was shivering by the time Chloe and Amanda followed the servants into the house to help get my clothes dried off and later on, we didn't wait behind to witness the rest of the party.

***

A couple of minutes after having lunch with aunt and her two children on Sunday afternoon, I received a call on the phone from Chloe which coincided with the exact minute I was getting my clothes in my room ready to for laundry and the phone rang thrice before I could get fetch it from the heap of clothes that lay on the bed. I was too preoccupied in getting the clothes folded to hold the cell phone. Instead of holding it up with my hands, I held the phone with my right shoulder close to my ears. The fabric of the light gray tunic I wore was a great distress for me to steady the phone on my right ear which tilted my head to the left but somehow, I was able to pay attention to the message she had to pass through to me on the phone.

"Hello, Chloe, why'd you call?", "Hi, there... Rosalie, I...uh... really need you to do something for me", "Sure, anything for you, Blondie", "Very funny, I'm sure if you would agree to this but it's an upcoming party tomorrow after school", "A party, huh?", "Yes, and I need you to be there with me....", "I'm not sure if I'll be going considering what happened last time we went to a party together", "I know, I know and uh... I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know it would end that badly for you", "Me neither", "As a matter of fact, have you told your aunt about it?", "Definitely not, she would freak out if she finds out that I almost drowned twice", "Of course, she would. That's for sure", "So, what's this party all about?", "Well.... from what Clyde's sister told me, the party's for gymnasts only and majorly, the girls in the athletic team wants to celebrate the new school year, so....", "So, what you have been trying to say is that this party meant for the girls in the athletic team, right?", "Yep, thanks for the clarification", "You're welcome; can't you ask Amanda to go with you? I mean, I don't want another unfortunate incident to happen, again", "Amanda's kind of busy right now and I completely understand your position",

"You do?", "Of course, I do. I really would be afraid of those girls after what they did to you if I were in your place but I really need you to be there", "You got it but let me guess, you still want me to go the party?", "Precisely, yes, I cross my heart and pinkie swear that no harm will come to you", "You sure about that?", "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll be fine. I'll be there to look out for you, I promise", "Okay... I'll see if I can make it", "Thanks a lot; I really owe you one big time", "Don't mention it", "Oh, right, before I hang up, please put on something decent or a sexy dress to the party", "I'll keep that in mind", I said and ended the call. The next day after school, Chloe and I had already made it to the party. There were quite a good number of other invitees to the occasion but the guests majorly comprised female gymnasts from the athletics team. Though the house of Linder's parents wasn't as fancier as Richard 's father's mansion, it was large enough to contain the number of guests who were in attendance at the party.

Likewise, James's family had a swimming pool erected in the middle of the house but it was very smaller than the pool I fell into not to mention that it was highly overcrowded with the guests splashing themselves in the water that lay open for anyone to take a dive.

I had secluded myself away from the swimming pool area and kept myself glued to Chloe while we waited for the party to start. Clearly all the guests were from Houston High and I was anxiously ready not to make any silly mistake that will cost me the whole school year.

Contrary to the party held at Richard's home, the party, which lasted till six in the evening, was livelier and more entertaining in every aspect. Paige was given the mantle to speak for the host in the occasion and before the party started after everyone gathered inside the party venue, she cleverly announced to everyone that the party was meant to have double celebrations which firstly, was to strengthen the ties of the girls from the Titan athletic team which coincided with Linder's sister birthday party. Everyone was thrilled to hear that she was having the celebration held together and were more pleased to listen to the hot beat music rolling in the background.

As expected, a lot of the boys attended the party and the likes of Clyde and Linder from the Titan team as well were duly present to hang around with the ladies in skimpy outfits. Everything went smoothly without any interference on my side since much of the attention was given to the host of the party rather than the guest themselves. It was not until Tyler arrived late in the party just before five in the evening that the fun started heading in the wrong direction. Chloe had beckoned on me to have a dance with him since apparently he had saved me from the pool along with Ben at Richard's party and to Chloe, his appearance at this party meant that I had a shot of getting acquainted with him but he was quickly taken to the dance floor by celebrant of the occasion. To avoid Chloe's anger, I quickly located the restroom to ease my nerves since the whole music had a giddy effect on me.

Inside the bathroom upstairs reserved for the guest, I went to get my hands thoroughly washed at the wash basin after using the toilet. I wriggled the faucet on and allowed water to stream out, ignoring the mild sounds of a girl moaning and groaning in the other closed toilet beside mine. I wanted to cover my ears but I knew I would be done in a jiffy. As I settled down to get my hands washed, not to amuse what I was hearing from the next toilet, I suddenly got lost staring at my reflection in the water. Similar feeling I felt when I was drowning took control of me and I felt like I was drowning all over again. The thought of how I felt underneath the water returned back to me and I started panting in shock. Only the sound of water pouring out of the faucet cloaked my ears completely. It was the first time after the traumatizing event that I was reliving it again. As a result, I left the faucet running and drew backwards in shock. Little did I know that the sink below the water was closed and the water was about overflowing to the ground below.

It was alarming and horrifying after drifting into that state of confusion. Then the door flung open behind me and I fell into the awaiting hands of Chloe. She had been looking for me ever since I disappeared into the bathroom. She too was surprised to see me in that state but she was distracted by the sight of water splashing on the ground.

"What the heck...?!", She exclaimed and went over and turned it off. I sobered myself up and rested closely on the wall. As soon as she was done, she turned around to look at me, recovering my breath more slowly than before. Before she could speak, we heard a loud scream which took us by surprise. Chloe led me out of the bathroom into the main room only to find out that a pandemonium had occurred and the guests were no longer dancing like they were doing before I went to the bathroom. Chloe and I looked at each other in astonishment before going to the scene of the ruckus.

The source of the commotion had occurred in the room upstairs adjacent to the bathroom where Chloe and I came out from. We went there alongside a group of curious bystanders only to discover Linder, in the midst of Clyde and two other boys, trying to throttle Tyler to death while his sister lay unconscious on the ground with blood on the ground below her head. There was also an object which was stained with blood on the ground not too far from where her head was lying on the floorboard.

"It's not me. That thing fell by accident!", Tyler cried but his pleas could barely save Linder's clutches. Linder hit him hard on the face but he was pulled away from him. Tyler bolted out of the room through the midst of everyone that was horrified at the scene.

It was clearly written on everyone's faces that something ugly had occurred which marked the end of the party. Linder was quick to get his sister rushed to the hospital with the help of Clyde and his friends. Apart from the incident, I went home thinking about my mild trauma and wondered if it was as a result of what happened that had triggered that sensation but I stopped thinking about it believing that it was nothing more than a mild shock which might have occurred as a result of stress. This is what I told Chloe when she tried inquiring what had caused it and she was quicker to be convinced than I thought she would.