The seriousness of his tone contrasts ridiculously with the lightness of his request. An amused smile pulls the corners of her lips upwards. 

          "No problem," she assures. 

          "Good."

          He turns on the ignition and pulls out the car from where it's parked. 

          "Do you know the boyband Prettymuch?" he asks. 

          "No."

          "Alright, alright... That's fine," he quietly breathes, pretending to be hurt. She shakes her head, smiling at the teasing.

          "Do you have a problem with boybands?" He continues to interview. 

          "No."

          "Good answer."

          He grabs his phone, his eyes darting from the screen to the road, reading his friends' messages while going on his music application. He hears her clear her throat, trying to gain his attention. His eyes turn to her. 

          "This would be a bad time to die," she notices. 

          He chuckles. 

          "Don't worry."

          "That's exactly what everyone says before they die," she presses her lips together. He gives a chortle. 

          He chooses a song and brings his eyes on the road, singing to every single lyric by heart, dancing to the beat. 

          "You're going to finish by killing us at this rate," she laughs at his dynamism. 

          "Nah." he places, between two lyrics, speeding up, and her heartbeat following the pace, she opens her window and puts her head out, facing the sky, hair flying all about, a vibrant feeling of reckless youthfulness filling her up, a beautiful smile showing her white teeth, as she remembers her distant past where she was free of any crushing responsibilities. He lets one hand go from the steering wheel to push his hair out of his eyes, opening his window too, and resting an arm outside, looking at the refined and classy girl riding shotgun next to him. 

          She pulls herself back, giggling joyfully. Her expression fades away as she remind herself not to forget her mission. The exquisite sound to Felix lifts his spirit. They arrive to a elephantine house, party lights flickering on the first floor. She watches Felix turn off the music, and roll up the windows, as she ruffles and straightens her hair. He, on the contrary, doesn't give any second thought to his, leaving it resembling a bird's nest, but somehow adding charm to his person. They step out of the car, the music inside the residence attaining their ears. Many students crowd the entrance, greeting each other gleefully, plastic cups in their hands. 

          Annela opens her mind, even though the physical volume is earsplitting, the mental volume is comparably quiet, only filled with music or recurring thoughts. 

          Should I take her hand? She hears Felix think. Hell yeah. After locking his car, he walks up to her, sliding his fingers in hers to pull her towards the crowd. His excited eyes meet her reluctant ones. 

          "Don't overthink stuff," he advises, noticing her halfhearted walking pace, before turning his head towards the house again, waving to a group of guys.  

          I'm not overthinking stuff, she frowns, thinking to herself. Just preparing for all the physical contact. 

          He steps back to her level, circling her shoulders nicely, thinking she is shying out. He sends her a concerned look but she replies with a radiant smile. Scott is in front of the opened entrance door, distributing handshakes, pats on the shoulders, high fives and hugs as people walk inside. 

          "Yo Scott!" Felix hollers, a hand cupping his mouth while he strains his neck to help his voice carry over the noise. 

          Scott's head turns to the two young people, and he shrieks like an animal, attracting the attention of the rest of the group of boys next to him. They follow his gaze and jump to their feet, hysterically shoving themselves, and clapping their hands. 

          "What a bunch of idiots," Felix whispers in Annela's ear. The vibrating of his vocal chords makes the hair on her neck rise. 

          "Woo!" Scott happily yells. "Welcome to the crib!" He holds a hand up high. 

          Annela smiles, high-fiving him. With the contact, his life story is offered to her. Scott Vaughn, outgoing, generous, likes sharing what he has, has three small siblings, his father works in a bank, and his mother holds a surf shop, parents are divorced, had a hard time coping but managed to pull himself together. She crosses him out of the list in her head. 

          This is going to be efficient, she thinks to herself. Felix hugs each member and introduces his friends to her. 

          "The guy with the sempiternal baseball cap he always wears backwards is Conner," Felix starts. Anella recognizes him as the heavily muscled guy at the table during the lunch Felix invited her out. 

          "That's Jamie, the one with the ugly flowered black shirt." Her eyes glisten in hilarity. Jamie's brown eyes widen and he bolts towards Felix who runs off into the mob. Scott laughs. The group vociferates cheers as Jamie tackles Felix to the ground, staining his blue shirt with the green grass. Annela laughs. The energy of the lot is comical. Climbing back the stairs, the boys grin. Felix takes off his shirt and continues with the presentations. 

          "The dude right there is Matthew," he informs, pointing a thin pale young man, with long hair. "Plays guitar and all and that's Scott our host for the night," he finishes. 

          "Nice to meet you," she friendly smiles. 

          "Guys, I want you all on your best behavior for Annela tonight," he warns. 

          "No problem."

          "You got it bro."

          "Of course." 

          "I'm always on my best behavior," Scott confusedly claims. Roars of laughter rise up in the night air. 

          "Alright let's go inside before the party starts," Scott announces, winking at the group. 

          Jamie, right before stepping through the door frame demonstrates a perfectly executed moonwalk, gaining applauses from the bunch. Conner flicks his fingers on his throat while a letter O with his lips, creating the sound of a drop falling from a sink. 

          "What's going on?" Annela asks Felix beside her. 

          "If you wanna enter, you gotta show Scott a party trick, and if you aren't inspired or don't know any, you gotta do a dare he gets to give you," he explains. 

          "Ohhhh," she breathes, giving out a laugh and starting to think. 

          Matthew holds a handstand for fifteen seconds, and all eyes turn to Annela, the next behind the line. She looks around for an elevated surface and chooses the stairs of the front porch on which they are standing. She walks up and asks people to step further away from the stairs for a short while. She looks behind her to see if the boys are still paying attention and sees all of them gazing at her in inquisitiveness. She takes a few steps behind to gather impetus and runs towards the void. Gasps fuse from behind her as well as from the crowd as she executes a front flip and receipting herself with a professional stuntmen roll she learned during training. 

          "Woohoo!!" everyone cheers. She stands up and walks back to the lot, brushing off the dried grass on her clothes. 

          "Super impressive," Scott congratulates. 

          And it's up to Felix. 

          "Imma need Annela's help on this one," he explains to Scott. "Now bro, choose a number between one and ten, and tell it to me so that Anella doesn't know." 

          "Four," Scott whispers in his friend's ear, cupping his hands around his mouth. 

          "Ok, now she's going to read my mind and guess the number you told me," he explains. 

          Annela's eyes pop out of their eyesocktets in shock.