by Gia Riley
He leans down and asks, “what do you want to drink?”
I raise my red solo cup. “You gave me this beer a few minutes ago.”
“Then you need to drink faster. Let’s do a shot.” He hands me a Dixie cup filled with red Jell-O. It smells like cherries, my favorite. “Down the hatch,” he tells me. He’s smirking while he watches me swallow.
Immediately I gag. “That’s strong! Did you put the whole bottle in there?”
“It’s a little Jell-O and a whole lot of vodka”
I chug the only thing I have to chase the alcohol, the beer. It’s equally repulsive. “My mouth tastes like shit. Do you have some water?”
“No water here. Want some jungle juice?”
Juice sounds safe but I’m not stupid. I know this particular kind is laced with something strong. I set my beer down, knowing I won’t be taking another sip. Now that I’ve tried it, I know I’ll never be a beer girl. “Does the juice taste like ass too?” I gesture toward the cup of beer.
He laughs at me and shakes his head. “No. You’ll love it. It’s fruity.” He lifts a trashcan lid, and I assume he’s going to throw my cup away. Instead, he chugs the rest of the beer in my cup, grabs the ladle hanging from the side of the Rubbermaid bin and pours juice into my cup straight out of the trashcan.
“Don’t worry, it’s clean. I washed it with soap and water earlier today and we buy a new one for each party.”
Cautiously, I take a small sip of the juice. All I taste is fruit punch and I sigh in relief. If there’s any alcohol in it, it must be heavily diluted. This is a drink I can easily tolerate.
He fills up his own cup and asks, “better?”
“Much.” It’s strange not seeing any familiar faces as I look around the room. Sipping my drink, I sway back and forth to the music. Pitbull is yelling “Timber” and the crowd on the makeshift dance floor is going wild. We played this song at my old gym to pump ourselves up for competition. I stare off into space, reminiscing about my old teammates who I miss terribly. They’d never be out partying right now.
“You want to dance, Sophie?”
“I’m not ready for that yet.” I appreciate the offer, so I try to make small talk instead to let him know I’m not a total bore. I nudge his arm to get his attention. He leans down to hear me. “You never told me your name.”
“It’s Caleb. Drink that up and I’ll pour you some more. Then we can go get some air.”
Air sounds perfect right about now. I chug the rest of my jungle juice and it goes down without a fight. It’s delicious. Once I’m finished I hand my cup over to Caleb. He dumps a little clear liquid into it instead of juice.
“What’s that?”
“The shot of the night. We call it a bender. Everyone has to try one.”
I don’t want any more shots, but he holds it in front of my face and waits for me to take it out of his hands. The quicker I get this over with the faster I can get some air. I toss it back and although it’s strong, I kind of like it. Warming me from the inside out, I take another.
“Good girl.” Caleb pulls me by the hand through the crowd to our next stop. There’s still no sign of Cara. I would be worried if we weren’t at her brother’s house, but she probably knows a lot of people here. We walk up a flight of steep stairs. At the top, he opens the window and crawls through the small opening. He holds his hand out for me to grab onto. There’s no lady-like way to get through in a skirt so I slide through the narrow space the best I can. Once through, I’m left standing on a small fire escape with a view of the entire main street. The breeze is refreshing, but with nobody else within earshot, I’m nervous about being out here all alone with him.
“So, you’ve really never been to a party before?” Caleb asks.
“No. I’ve never had time.” It’s the truth. Gymnastics keeps my schedule packed.
“You had time tonight?”
“Cara forced me to come. I was going to stay in.”
Unexpectedly, he reaches out and cups my jaw in his hand, running his thumb over my bottom lip. “Your lips are bright red from your drink. I want to bite them.”
I back away from his touch and he releases me. He’s a little too forward for my taste, but I don’t want to be rude. “You said you don’t bite, Caleb.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe I lied.” He takes a step closer to me, eyeing my body up and down. It’s sending up a bright red flag.
“Can we go find Cara?”
He takes another step closer, closing the distance between the two of us entirely. “You don’t have to be nervous, Sophie.” He reaches for my hand dangling at my side.
“I’m fine, but I came with Cara, so I should hang out with her too.” My arms are starting to tingle and my lips are numb. “I need to sit down.” I find a spot on the window ledge and set my cup down next to me. A bead of sweat runs down the center of my back and I fan my face trying to create an extra breeze. My long hair is sticking to the back of my neck. Lifting it up, I feel cooler instantly.
“You okay, gorgeous?” Caleb asks. He’s leaning against the railing smirking at me.
“My face is tingling.” I’ve never been drunk before but the longer I sit here, the more numb I become. My body becomes weightless and all I want to do is dance around and shake my ass. Caleb dumps some of his punch into my cup. “More?” I question.
He shakes his head yes. “If you drink that you won’t be buzzed anymore.”
“What will I be then?”
“Drunk. Isn’t that why we’re all here?” he says with a laugh.
I rest my head against the side of the house and close my eyes. When everything starts to tilt, I open my eyes back up and decide he’s right. Now’s my shot to live it up. Who knows when I’ll get to another party or if I’ll get to another at all.
Throwing twenty years of caution to the wind, I grab my cup and chug what Caleb poured in. Buzzed isn’t going to cut it tonight. Tonight I want drunk—I want to be like everyone else. While the alcohol still makes me nervous, I’m smart enough to know I’m nothing like my father and I never will be. I raise my cup to Caleb. “You only live once right?”
“Atta girl.” Caleb squeezes my thigh, inching his hand closer to the hem of my skirt.
We sit for a few more minutes and surprisingly, I could float right into the sky. Caleb was right, drunk is awesome. “Let’s go dance, Caleb. I want you to dance with me.”
“I thought you didn’t dance?”
“I thought you didn’t bite.”
“I definitely bite, Sophie. We can go to my room if you want to find out where.” He inches his hand even closer, his fingertips now under the hemline of my skirt.
“I want to dance, Caleb.” He laughs at me and helps me climb back into the house as I struggle to find enough balance to crawl through the window. His hands are on my ass, pushing me through and I land inside with a small thump. Caleb climbs though, thankfully not stepping on me in the process. He holds out his hand and pulls me up off the floor. Holding my body tightly against his own, he pretends to bite the top of my head. It makes me giggle uncontrollably. “Let’s go dance,” he whispers.
“Okay.”
I’m only two steps down the flight of stairs when my vision starts playing tricks on me. “Caleb, help me.” He jogs back up the stairs and I climb onto his back, but he’s tall and we misjudge the small doorway in this aging house, smacking my head on the top of the doorframe. “Shit!” My vision blurs even more, this time not from the alcohol, but the force of the impact on my skull.
He sets me down on the ground but my legs feel like rubber and I fall against the stairs, hitting my head again on the bottom step. “Holy hell.” Caleb bends down and inspects the front of my head where I bounced off the door frame and step. “That’s gonna leave a mark, Sophie.”
“It doesn’t even hurt. I need to dance!”
“Can you stand up?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” I hold out my arms for him. “Up!”
C
aleb spins me around and puts his front to my back, grinding into me from behind. His hands roam my body before resting on my hips, his thumbs tucked under my waistband. It’s a heady mix of lust and danger—and I like it. I’m zoned out; enjoying the connection my body has with Caleb’s when my phone vibrates in my back pocket. We jump apart from the unexpected sensation. I chase myself around in a circle like a dog trying to bite his own tail before Caleb pulls the phone out of my pocket for me. “Thanks, C. Hello?”
“Where the hell are you?”
“Right here!” I exclaim animatedly.
“Where is here?”
“At the party!”
“No, Sophie. Where are you standing?”
“In a house!” Caleb turns me around and nuzzles against my neck, kissing me softly. It feels strangely good. “Sorry, Caleb, they ask stupid questions.”
“Sophie. What house and what room?” someone yells through the phone.
“The dancing room! Ouch! Caleb, don’t bite me. Did you know Cara brought me here?”
“You’re talking to Cara, Sophie. Are you wasted?”
“No. I’m Sophie, silly.”
“Stay right where you are. I’ll find you.”
I hang up the phone and hand it to Caleb. I stick my ass out at him, waiting for him to put my phone back in. He smacks it hard before tucking the phone into my back pocket. I take another Jell-O shot from the bar we’re dancing next to and although strong, it goes down like water. I could take on the entire world right now in my state of euphoria. I hold my arms out and spin in a circle with my head tipped back. I’m too hot and need relief, so I pull my shirt up over my head to free myself, leaving me in my tight cami. I tuck it under my bra and the air on my exposed stomach is cooling. After swinging my shirt in the air, I let the fabric fly, unsure of where it ends up landing.
“Jesus, Sophie. You’re smokin hot,” Caleb says in appreciation.
I smile and keep dancing, in my own world entirely. I hop up on top of a coffee table and continue shaking my ass. A small crowd forms around me and I become the most interesting person in the room. “Drink up bitches!” I yell to the mass of sweaty bodies. Everyone cheers in response, fist pumping the air to the beat of the music. This is the most alive I’ve ever been in my entire life. Why I’ve waited so long to experience all of this is beyond me. Alcohol is fun and powerful, not at all scary like I thought.
As I find my groove, I’m yanked off the table and thrown over a strong shoulder. The pressure on my full stomach makes me nauseous. There’s a lot of shouting, jostling of my small body, and dizziness. The dizziness is unbearable. When I finally get put back down, I’m in a bedroom. But I’m not tired. I want to dance.
CARA’S WIPING TEARS FROM HER eyes and I’m angry. When I invited Sophie here tonight, I had intended on getting to know her better. After she told me she couldn’t make it, I was bummed to say the least. Imagine my surprise when Cara told me she was here. Derailed by the jackass who took her to the library, she lost her roommate in the mass of bodies. I don’t know who I want to kill more right now, Cara for losing Sophie or Caleb for getting her wasted.
To make matters worse, Sophie looks fucking sexy as hell in her boots and skirt. From the moment I saw her standing in front of me in her pink bath towel, she’s been on my mind. She’s also completely clueless about how gorgeous she is. In fact, I’ve never experienced a girl as hot as she is who doesn’t act like a stuck up bitch. Instead, Sophie’s insanely shy with me and I can tell I make her uncomfortable by the way she refuses to look at me when I’m talking to her. When I called her on the phone and her breathing noticeably increased, I wanted her in my bed.
Usually, chicks willingly sit on my lap, offering up favors while practically begging for a night with me. Hell, there’s usually a girl waiting for me in my bed by the end of one of these parties. I should say no to them, but I want to feel as much as they want to please me. Knowing Sophie is the exact opposite of all of those qualities appeals to me entirely too much.
I’ve had my fair share of women, I won’t pretend I haven’t, but Sophie’s an athlete too and we share a love of sports. As she was telling me about her major, I laid on her bed wondering how this insanely beautiful girl was still single. Then I’d caught her with her nose in her pillow, trying to get closer to the smell of my cologne, and knew I was in for it. It actually turned me on to know she wanted more of me. That was a definite first.
Inviting her here tonight was my attempt at knocking down one of her walls, hoping a more carefree Sophie emerged—one that wasn’t too nervous to speak to me. But we didn’t have a chance to get any closer thanks to Caleb getting her drunk off her ass before I even got to say hello. This wasn’t what I had in mind when I wanted to see her break out of her shell.
“Where’s Caleb? He makes me drunk. I love drunk,” Sophie babbles from the edge of my bed. I open my drawer and take out one of my T-shirts. I have no idea where the other half of her outfit is, but the thought of her losing it in the first place makes me want to break shit.
Slowly, I walk over to her sitting on the bed. Her eyes are glassy and somewhat spaced out, but she watches each move I make. I place the shirt over her head, pulling her arms through each hole like a child. Her body is swallowed up by the black fabric that hangs loosely off her small frame. While she looks hot wearing my clothes, she shouldn’t have ever lost hers to begin with.
There’s no way I want to scare her or yell at her before she has a chance to get to know me, but going off with a guy she’s never met and accepting drinks from him was the stupidest thing she could have done tonight. It’s one of the reasons I kept my own sister away from this place for as long as I could. At least Cara knows she messed up. No use yelling at her anymore for something she can’t fix any easier than I can. All we can do is keep her away from Caleb.
“What’s wrong, Cara? You want a drink?” Sophie asks.
“I couldn’t find you for over an hour, Sophie. You scared the shit out of me,” Cara tells her as she wipes her eyes with a tissue. “I thought you were in trouble, which you clearly were. Kipton’s been pissed at me since we got separated.”
“I’m good. It’s all good. You want to dance?” Sophie stands up, my T-shirt falling to her knees reminding me how tiny she really is. Being all of a hundred pounds, it obviously wouldn’t take much for her to get wasted.
“Your party’s over, Sophie,” I remind her while I continue to pace back and forth over the plush carpeting in my bedroom. Running my hands through my hair, I try to figure out how to handle my next problem—Caleb. He will be set straight at some point tonight. Sophie sits back down on my bed and Cara plucks another tissue out of the box before joining her.
I roll my eyes at her dramatics. Maybe I was a little hard on her, but she needs to stop worrying about guys all the damn time. “Cara, please stop crying. I can’t take you upset too.”
“Then stop yelling at me! I get it. She’s drunk. I lost her. I’m sorry, Kipton.”
“Carrraaaa, I’m not lost. I was downstairs drinking, then upstairs drinking, then through the window drinking, then dancing and now I’m sitting here with you two party poopers.” She bounces on the bed trying to get Cara to smile. Cara’s wired the same way I am though and doesn’t give in to Sophie’s playful mood.
“Sophie, I was so scared something happened to you. It was my idea to drag you here and then I lost you. Caleb doesn’t have the best reputation you know.”
Sophie reaches over and hugs Cara. “It’s okay. Stop crying and have a drink! Caleb took me, not the boogeyman. He’s not even that scary. Did you know he bites?”
“What do you mean, Sophie? Who bites?” At the mention of Caleb’s name, I start to lose my cool again. When I walk back over to the bed to get details out of her, I notice a mark on her neck and a shadow on her forehead. After turning on the bedside lamp, I discover the knot near her temple. “What the hell happened to your head, Sophie?”
“Caleb hit my head and dropp
ed me,” she says with a giggle.
“He did what?” Cara and I shout in unison.
“He ran me into the wall, but it didn’t hurt. Then I fell off his back and went boom.” She crashes her hands together for added effect before continuing. “Ya know, I don’t feel anything actually. It’s amazing.”
“Kipton, that bump looks bad.”
“It is bad, Cara. If she wasn’t wasted I’d take her to the emergency room. But she’ll get tossed off the team and in a lot of trouble if I do.” I crouch in front of Sophie and run my hand over her forehead. She automatically leans into my touch and looks into my eyes. Her skin is as smooth as satin under my rough fingertips. I’m mesmerized by her gorgeous blue eyes as she places her tiny hand around my wrist, holding me in place. The connection is too intense. Quickly, I stand up and lean against the wall to slow down my breathing.
“How much did you drink, Sophie?” Cara asks, oblivious to the mini moment I just shared with her roommate.
“Um. Beer, wiggly shots, regular ones too. Oh, and juice out of the garbage. Can you believe they drink out of the trash around here?” She laughs hysterically, falling over on the bed in the process.
“Shit,” I grumble. How the hell could Caleb give someone her size that much alcohol? If he had any intention of screwing her tonight I’ll fucking kill him. He’s already going to hear about the hickey. As I start to envision bashing his face in, Sophie’s expression changes. Her skin becomes pale and her carefree smile disappears. Something tells me she’s not loving being drunk anymore.
“Cara, bathroom,” Sophie says in a panic while holding her stomach in both of her hands.
She will never make it down the hall in time so I grab the small trashcan next to my bed and rub her back as every ounce of alcohol she consumed reappears. When she starts to dry heave and fights to catch her breath, Cara starts to cry again. “This is all my fault. Sophie, I’m so sorry.”