"Come on, come on. The party isn't going to wait forever," Eli said while simultaneously pushing through crowds of people and guiding Jake to the main entrance. It wasn't too far, but the number of people crowding around made it seem quite a bit farther. "Alright, alright, jeez calm down. It's not like we'll miss anything super special. And besides, there is such a thing as being fashionably late," Jake replied, trying to catch up to Eli. It was like being in a crowded High School dance, only without music or dancing and more struggling through gaggles of people whom you didn't or barely knew, though Jake knew that would change in time.

Soon enough, Jake and Eli were at the main entrance, which to their surprise was locked. "The hell?" Jake asked, trying the door while wondering why the hell they would lock the main entrance. "Oh, right," Eli said, bringing a hand to his face. "Don't ask me why, but they locked these doors last year too. For some reason they think it makes more sense to use the side exits rather than this one, I guess." Jake gave Eli a sideways glance, but then his eyes drifted to a table that seemed to have punch, and it seemed relatively easy to get too, not to mention there was a rather attractive looking woman standing there in a very... interesting set of clothes, along with a couple of others. "You know what, Eli? Go on ahead." Eli gave Jake a look of puzzlement. "Well that's a first. You're not going to stand us up, are you?"

Jake chuckled a bit. "Of course not. Just give me like five minutes to mingle and grab some punch, I'll catch up."

Eli scoffed, rolling his eyes in the process. "Isn't that the point of going to the party?" It was then that Eli noticed the girl with the red hair as well. "Ah... I see," he said, nodding in acknowledgement. "Alright, just don't make me start beer-pong without you.," he said, giving Jake a wink.

"Can do. See you in a few minutes, dude," Jake said, turning back to the woman. He couldn't help but stare just a little. Jake had a thing for redheads and girls with interesting personalities, and at a glance, Jake could tell she had both. [i]Less ogling, more mingling,[/i] Jake thought to himself, approaching the punch bowl with a casual stride. As he got closer, he saw another guy come up to her and start a conversation. Well, that pretty much eliminated his chances of just talking with her, but that was okay. To be fair, Jake didn't even know yet if he would indeed like this girl, or even if the other person was her boyfriend or something. Either way, Jake supposed it didn't matter too much, and whatever happened, he would take it in stride.

He picked up one of the cups by the punch bowl and poured himself some, taking a quick sip. "Mmmm, good stuff. Too bad it's not spiked," he muttered, turning to the girl. He put on a friendly smile and approached her and the guy who was with her. "I'm sorry, I have to ask; am I the only person who thinks this punch should have a bit of vodka? I mean, this is college, right?" he said, with a chuckle, taking another sip of the sugary liquid. Despite it's lack of alcohol content, Jake did find it to be particularly good. "But hey, in all seriousness, this is pretty good." He took a pause before continuing. "Anyways, my name's Jake. How's it going?"