by Raathi Chota
“He’s on Park Town High’s basketball team,” Benny stated as we looked at him.
“W-we never saw him that night of the game,” I said.
“Yeah, well, he sat out because he loves to play dirty. I think his name is Quinton,” Benny said as my eyes widened. That’s why he looked familiar; he’s from the other party.
“He’s gonna cause trouble,” Tiffany stated as Benny grunted.
“Yeah, well, I don’t want him looking at my girl and ruining the party,” he said, then walked toward Quinton.
“Benny, wait,” I called out, but it was too late since he gripped Quinton’s arm.
“Look, I don’t wanna start a fight, but I saw you looking at my girlfriend, and you’re that Quinton guy who sat out by the game, so I suggest you leave before I fuck you up,” Benny said as I stood behind him.
“You’re a real sourpuss, Nielson. Hey, there’s beer pong, babe,” he said, then waved at me. Benny was about to punch Quinton, but Liam appeared and held him back. I noticed a crowd formed around us, and half were from Park Town High.
“What’s goi—Hey, aren’t you that school we beat a few weeks ago?” Liam asked as he pointed at Quinton.
“Unfortunately, and who knew that you of all people would score?” another guy said as he stood next to Quinton.
“Look who I found flirting with my boyfriend,” Melissa sang as she shoved a girl from Park Town High into the circle.
“You don’t belong here, so just go and crash someone else’s New Year’s party,” Marcus piped up.
“We’re not going without a fight,” Quinton stated as he glared at Benny.
“Instead of a fight, why don’t we make things fun?” Liam asked with a grin. Benny threw his head back and groaned while Liam placed a hand on Benny’s and Quinton’s shoulders. He spoke to Tyler, who turned the music down. “Yo, Ty, give us a fast beat.” People backed away as I knitted my brows. Tiffany grabbed my hand and pulled me back closer to Tyler, where we got a full view of the crowd.
“All right.” Quinton nodded as he took off his jacket and threw it across the room. I drank the rest of the cold liquid as a hip-hop song played. Quinton and his friend danced as everyone watched. I tilted my head at their unusual moves, then again Liam always wanted peace. Quinton was good, and he was built for it since he’s quite buff and tall. The crowd went crazy, and my eyes widened as Benny and Liam danced. They were ten times better, and I wasn’t saying that because he’s my boyfriend, but the breakdancing was incredible.
“Shit, I’m getting some of this!” Aidan cheered as he walked past us and joined Benny and Liam, which only made Park Town High nervous. I cheered as Benny went on the ground and did a hand glide. Marcus joined, which surprised Tiffany and me as he did a backspin. The girls from Park Town High stepped forward as they swayed their hips. I laughed as Miranda and Melissa stepped forward and joined them.
“Is this some kind of Step Up scene?” Tiffany asked as Park Town High backed away.
“Better than fighting at a party.” I laughed as we looked at our friends. They looked like they had fun. Liam and Aidan literally danced the people out of the house, and the rest of the people applauded. Tiffany went to Aidan while Miranda approached me. “You got moves, Stevens.”
“They come in handy,” she said, then refilled our drinks.
“Didn’t know you could dance like that,” someone said as I spun around. Jaden stood in front of us with a smirk molded onto his face as he looked at us.
“What are you doing here, Jaden?” Miranda asked.
“Well, hello to you too, ladies,” he said then turned to Miranda. “Just helping a friend out. I ditched my own party to come here, which is way better. You two remember my party, right?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled and turned to Miranda, whose eye twitched.
“And how you and Keene got so fucking drunk that you just decided to jump in my pool from the roof.” He looked at Miranda, then smirked. “Then comes the fun part.”
“Stop,” Miranda demanded as I raised a brow.
“Right, Lana?” He turned to me.
“What?” I asked as I looked at Jaden and Miranda.
“Oh, she doesn’t know,” Jaden stated, then let out a dry laugh. “It’s quite funny that you lost your virginity to Levi at my party yet you don’t know that she lost hers too.”
My eyes widened as I stared at Miranda, who looked at the ground. Jaden disappeared into the crowd, which left tension between us.
“Miranda, what happened?”
“We were drunk, okay? You were off with Levi, and Keene just wanted to keep me company since we were at a big party. I let him take my virginity.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked as my jaw dropped.
“Well, things were rough after we left the party, then Levi left, so I didn’t think it was important.” Miranda pouted as she ran a hand through her blonde hair.
“I feel like a such a bad friend for hanging out with Keene now,” I mumbled.
“It’s okay. He asked me so many times before we did it, and I said yes. He’s not that bad, Lana. I actually prefer him over Levi.”
“Sure, you do.” I laughed, then looked up to see Marcus and Benny.
“Who knew our boyfriends could bust a move, huh?” Miranda quickly asked as Marcus swung his arm around her shoulder.
“You could literally see it on Liam’s face that he wanted to do that for a long time and now was his chance,” Benny said as he placed his hand on my back.
“It was fun. Hey, midnight’s in, like, twenty minutes,” Marcus said as he looked at his phone.
“We’ll go help Liam and Aidan with fireworks. I don’t trust them. Meet us on the back porch in ten,” Miranda said, then winked at me. Benny’s arm snaked around my waist as he motioned upstairs. He walked on as I trailed behind and finished my drink. It was only my third drink. When I walked into his room, he shut the door and pinned me against the door. Thank goodness my cup was empty as I dropped it.
“I’m so glad I got you when we’re still sober,” he whispered, then kissed down my neck and hugged my waist. I ran my fingers through his hair, then raised his face so that I’d kiss him. His hands tugged my jacket, and I helped him pull it off, then locked my arms around his neck. I moaned as he deepened the kiss. His hands traveled everywhere until one reached between my thighs. I jumped up and locked my legs around his waist as he spun around and walked to the bed. Benny hovered over me then kissed down my collarbone. I leaned back and gripped his hair, to which he groaned. He placed an arm on either side of me, then came up and left a long, sweet kiss. He straddled me, then pulled off his black baseball tee to reveal his toned, hard chest. I didn’t know why, but I liked neck kisses. Benny was certainly good at it as I tilted my head to the side. When I saw his small digital clock, it showed that there were five minutes left until midnight. At the same time, I felt Benny’s hands go under my body and to my bra strap. My eyes widened as I placed my hand on his chest. He immediately stopped and looked at me. “What’s wrong?”
“Err…the…f-fireworks! I wanna go see them,” I mumbled, then sat up. “Plus, you’re the host. You should be there too.”
Benny slowly nodded, then helped me off the bed. I grabbed my jacket while he put his shirt back on. I gave him a tight smile, then entwined my fingers with his as we walked to the back porch. Mostly everyone was on the back porch or kitchen while music played through the house. Benny and I stood outside while we watched Marcus and Liam set up the fireworks.
“A toast to 2016…what a shitty year,” Aidan said as everyone raised his or her cups in agreement. “We lost friends, did strange things, but most important, we made new friends. Half of us wouldn’t be here together if it weren’t for the senior year we’ve had so far.”
“I’m gonna help them.” Benny pointed to Liam and Marcus, who were arguing.
“Twenty-seventeen better be lit, otherwise I’ll be disappointed as fuck,” Nick said, and everyone agreed.
“And we wouldn’t be here if a certain someone didn’t get into a car with four hot guys,” Carter mumbled beside me. I playfully rolled my eyes because they’d all be here, everyone except me. When Levi wouldn’t come for Christmas and came for summer instead, I’d be in my room on New Year’s Eve or in Dad’s office while he was on patrol. Benny stood next to me again as we did the countdown. I looked around and thought what a year it had been. At the beginning of 2016, I would’ve never thought I’d end it with these people.
“Three…two…one! Happy New Year!” Everyone cheered as the fireworks went off. I turned to Benny and gave him a small smile.
“Happy New Year.” I smiled and cupped his cheeks. As soon as we kissed, a strange feeling whirled through my stomach, and the memory of Madam Saga entered my mind. I pulled away from Benny, and he frowned. I went to kiss him again but stopped as someone called out Benny’s name.
“I’ll be back,” he said and walked into the house. I followed, then walked into the kitchen where Melissa was sitting on the counter swinging her legs. I stood in front of her and noticed that she took a shot.
“Happy New Year, girl! Take a shot with me,” she said and gave me a drink. We took the shot in one swing, and I let the alcohol burn the back of my throat. I put the glass down to see Melissa smirk. “So…where did you and Benny disappear to?”
I thought back to what Benny and I did a few minutes ago. I nervously bit my lip as I thought what would happen if we continued.
“We almost had sex,” I mumbled.
“What?” she yelled over the loud music.
“Benny wanted to have sex with me,” I said.
“What?” She cupped her ear.
“We were gonna have sex!” I yelled, and everyone in the kitchen stared at us. Melissa’s jaw dropped while a random guy from school walked past and high-fived me.
“All right, Lana!”
“So why didn’t you?” she asked, then hopped off the counter.
“I-I don’t know. We’ve only been dating for, like, a month,” I said.
“Understandable, but Nick and I had sex way before we were even dating,” she said as I turned to her. “Yeah, Kelly dared me to, so I did and…let’s just say he was quite nervous. We had sex, which meant a lot to him, and then he said I’m the only girl he would ever want to be with.”
“Wow.”
“Maybe Benny didn’t mean that. Did he say it directly?”
“Well, he just stated that he’s glad that he got me when we’re still sober.” I shrugged. “I don’t know why I stopped. I just don’t want to disap—”
“I got it!” Melissa said, then pointed at my empty cup. “You need to get drunk.” She grabbed a bottle of rum. Melissa was probably on the verge of getting drunk as she filled our cups and added soda. I flicked my hair over my shoulder and looked around the kitchen. I saw Axel leaning on the wall opposite us. He smirked as he raised his can.
“Cheers, pumpkin,” he said as Melissa handed me my drink. Melissa and I raised our cups at Axel, then drank the fresh alcohol. I finally got used to the taste as the liquid filled my body. Melissa held up the bottle and motioned for a refill. Axel strolled to us and threw his can in the trash. He took a cup and held it out as he smirked. “Let’s get fucked.”
***
The party just seemed to get started after midnight. Everyone was either alive or high as fuck. I walked into a room where people played beer pong. I glanced down and saw multiple cups and smiled as I took one.
“Hey!” someone called out as I drank it. The people looked at me as if I were a freak. I looked back and forth at them as I finished the beer and put the cup down.
“Don’t stare at me.” I pouted.
“Then quit drinking our game. Either you play or watch. So what are you gonna do?” the girl asked.
“Don’t make me choose!” I whined, then took another cup.
“Whoa, okay, she’s on our team,” a random guy said as he took the cup from me and pulled me to his side of the table. I swung an arm around him and his friend’s shoulder as they threw the ball. They gave me a weird look, and I grinned.
“I’ve been playing with balls all week,” I said as they turned to me. “True story!” I said to the guy who thought I spoke bullshit. “First it was big balls, then medium sized, and now they’re small.”
“Good to know,” the guy on my right mumbled.
“I know, right! I wonder what balls I’ll be facing next.”
“One can only imagine,” the guy on the left added.
“Uh huh. I wanna be surprised, motherfucker!” I squeezed my arms so that their cheeks touched mine.
“That’s great, err…you should go lay down or something,” the guy on the right mumbled as he pried himself off me.
“You’re right…I need to go find my balls,” I said, then took a cup. Everyone groaned as I skipped out of the room. I drank the beer in one gulp as I walked through the house. There were a few more people from Park Town High, and they started fights throughout the house, so Benny was busy. I stared at the familiar door that I hadn’t been to all night. I pushed it open and saw a few people. Since I’m quite drunk and it’s dangerous to walk down the stairs, I jumped onto the wooden rail and slid down. I felt a nip in my butt as I frowned. I glanced around and saw Keene. I hopped over to him, then bent down. His eyes widened. “Do I have a splinter in my ass?”
“Err…first, you’re drunk, and second, maybe,” he said as I stood up straight and he stood behind me. Blake approached me with a smirk tugged on his lips. He shoved his hands in his pockets, then looked around.
“Hey, baby girl, where’s your boyfriend?”
“He’s upstairs, being Batman.” I winked.
“Oh, then what am I?” Blake asked as he placed his hands on my cheeks.
“Mm…the joker.” I giggled as I rested my palm against his chest.
“Then that must make you Harley Quinn,” he whispered and inched closer as he stared at my lips. I closed my eyes, and my hand traveled down as my fingertips brushed against his muscles. My eyes shot open as I felt a pinch, and I immediately let out a squeal. I looked over my shoulder at Keene, who held the splinter.
“Got it,” he said, then threw it on the ground. I spun back around to face Blake, and realization hit me that he was going to kiss me. Being the stupid drunk that I was, I yelled in his face, then walked away.
“Hey, princess,” Levi said as he took my hand in his.
“What are we doing?” I asked as he pulled me toward a group.
“Playing the old classic, truth or dare.” He smirked as I looked at the group. It was the worst idea ever since Parker, Kelly, Jennifer, Austin, Carter, Blake, and Levi were in the circle.
“I’ll go first.” Jennifer smirked as she spun the empty beer bottle that was in the middle. I eagerly watched as it landed on Austin.
“Dare.”
“I dare you to strip and only get dressed when it’s your turn again.” She smiled. My eyes widened as Austin nodded, then took everything off. Once he was done, he sat crossed legs and covered his crotch with one hand, then spun the bottle with the other. It landed on Blake, and he immediately replied with truth.
“Weak,” Keene called out from the sofa, where he smoked with Jaden.
“How long have you gone without having sex?” Austin grinned.
“I don’t know, a month I guess,” Blake answered, then spun the bottle. It landed on Kelly, and Blake smirked as he looked around the circle.
“Dare,” she said as Blake turned to Levi.
“I dare you to give Levi a hickey,” he said as Levi’s eyes widened. He showed Blake the middle finger as Kelly walked over to him. She sat right in front of him, then leaned forward as she pecked his lips. We watched as she kissed down his neck and started to bite on his collarbone. I glan
ced up to see Levi with an expressionless look. Once she was done, she walked back to her seat, and I looked at the hickey.
“Damn, that’s one hell of a hickey,” Jaden called out. Kelly spun the bottle, and this time it landed on Carter. He also took a truth, and Kelly licked her lips as she looked at me.
“Is it true that you and Lana had shower sex?” she asked as my eyes widened.
“No,” Carter replied as he shook his head.
“That’s not what it says in the picture,” Austin sang as Carter looked away.
“What picture?” Levi and I asked in unison. I watched as Austin reached for his phone, then swiped through it. He gave the phone to Levi, and I leaned over to get a closer look. I remembered that day. It was when Carter slept over. Thank goodness my back faced him, but it still disgusted me as I glanced up at him.
“You scumbag! What the fuck?” I snapped as I took Austin’s phone and threw it at Carter.
“Dick move, Halls,” Keene said as he shook his head.
“Who else has this?” I asked Austin.
“Well, the soccer team and half the guys in school,” he responded as I glared at Carter.
“Oh, fuck you! You fucking shit!”
“Lana, calm down. You’re drunk,” Jennifer suggested.
“Fuck no! How dare you do that to me?” I demanded.
“It’s his fault. He wanted proof!” Carter pointed at Parker.
“He doesn’t need proof, and you know that!” I said, then I turned to Jennifer. “What’s the size of this asshole’s dick?” I pointed to Carter.
“As small as my middle finger,” she replied as people laughed.
“And Kelly, how is the so-called player in bed?” I glared at Carter.
“Ehh.” She waved her hand in response.
“There’s your proof!” I yelled at Parker.
“Ooh.” Jaden laughed.
“I’m sorry, Lana. We only knew each other for a few days…I—”
“No, fuck you, man. No guy should ever do that!” I said, then grabbed Blake’s can and threw it at the blond.
“Okay, I deserved that,” Carter mumbled as he tossed the can aside.