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Did Penelope just Scooby-Doo him? ‘Let’s split up so we can cover more ground!’ The chicks on one side and the stoner and his dog on the other. At least that much was accurate, although Declan was sadly dogless. She’d also already left to go mingle with the crowd, leaving Declan with no choice but to follow her instructions and go look for Santiago outside. It was all well good and her to go and search the bottom of the punch bowl, but what was he supposed to do? Turn over the rocks and filthy cigarette butts in the car park looking for a drug dealer? In a slightly fouler mood he left the bright lights and possibility of alcohol behind him and stepped into the gloomily lit car park. The management of the venue clearly put a lot more stock in keeping the front end clean than the back carpark- pieces of rubbish drifted in the slight breeze, spilling from a foul-smelling open skip.

Declan kicked against the edge of the curb, his dress shoe clunking painfully against the concrete. He swore briefly- the leather toe of the shoe was a lot thinner than what he was used to. Nursing his foot, he leant against the outside wall of the hall, feeling the slight vibrations of the music’s bass echoing through. God, what he’d give to ditch this joint and hit up a piano bar or club in town. By now, the nightlife would be kicking off in a good way. Instead he was searching a crappy lot for a drug dealer’s car. How disappointed his parents would be. Not that they weren’t already.

And there it was. A Lamborghini clad in firetruck red that Santiago probably thought made him look cool as fuck, but in reality merely stunk of ‘douchebag with a trust fund.’ Declan would put money on him being the sort of guy who would honk and try to switch lanes to gain a car length during a traffic jam. The driver’s seat looked empty from where he stood, but he moved closer to make sure. Trying his best to avoid looking like either a creep or a car thief, he peeked in the driver side window. 

Yep, ‘el Diablo’ must have already gone in. The seat was empty and peeking from the bottom of the passenger side footwell Declan spied a collection of empty bottles and cans. [b][color=c1a259]‘Oh ho, pregaming for Homecoming, eh Santiago?’[/color][/b] He murmured to himself with a smile. Declan rubbed his chin. Actually, he probably should have followed his example. A little alcohol maybe would have loosened him up a little. 
Anyways, it was time to return to his date, apologetic but empty handed. While she hadn’t been as uptight as he had expected, being a student of this god-forsaken school for rich pricks, he still wasn’t massively looking forward to being back in her company. 

He sauntered back over to the entrance, hands in pockets. What stopped him was the sight of a slight figure, cigarette in hand and cloud of smoke above his head. With all the skipping and tardies Declan had, he’d barely had the chance to meet most of his schoolmates but this one looked a little familiar. His name... Archie? A thought struck him- just how long had the guy been standing there? Hopefully not long enough to notice him creeping on Santiago’s car. 
The other thing that attracted him to the boy was the smoke. After an uneasy meeting with his date and the promise of several more hours of enduring shitty music and his stuck-up classmates at least a bummed cig would mellow him out a little.

[b][color=c1a259]‘Hey.. Archie. What are you doing out here? Thought the party had only just started in there,’[/color][/b] he asked, slightly edgily.