Dreams // Newtmas

8. Drunk

Thomas didn't know what to wear. He had been standing in front of his closet for the past hour and still had nothing. How did people ever decide on what to wear to anything?

In the end, it was Brenda's constant pressuring that forced Thomas to make a decision. It was going to be her first time going to a senior's party since Thomas hadn't let her go when she was a freshman and she obviously wanted to get there before the party was over. And considering the fact that Thomas was the one driving her to it, his being ready to go mattered quite a bit.

That was how Thomas showed up at Teresa's mansion of a house wearing a pair of black jeans and  a white t-shirt with a red flannel shirt over it. So basically, what he always wore to parties. Brenda looked like some sort of model compared to him but that was because she had actually prepared for it, something he should do more often.

The two made their way to the back of the house where the party was taking place. Teresa's parents were okay with her having a couple of parties now and then so long as they took place while they weren't at home and they stayed in the back garden. This meant Teresa could hold parties pretty much whenever she wanted and never had to worry about getting in trouble. It made just about everyone else jealous and her popular so it was a complete win-win situation. For Teresa anyway.

The garden was already full of people playing games, taking selfies, dancing and drinking what was most likely to be cheap beer from plastic cups. There was music playing from a number of large speakers that Teresa had no doubt rented for the night. They were worth the money though, the music was so loud you could feel the beat reverberating in your chest.

Brenda tried to say something but the music drowned out her voice. As he was about to ask what she had said, Kayla and Izzy materialised out of nowhere and dragged her away before Thomas even had the chance to tell her to be careful and have fun like a good overprotective brother.

In the next few seconds, Minho appeared out of the crowd of already half wasted teenagers. He was grinning from ear to ear and carried a plastic cup filled to the brim with beer in each hand.

"Yo, Thomas my man!" He yelled "Finally decided to show up did ya?" He held out one of the cups to Thomas, the liquid sloshing over the edge of the cup a little as he stumbled forward.

"How much have you had to drink?" Thomas yelled back, taking the cup. Staying sober wasn't a priority of his, especially since Brenda and him would be spending the night at Teresa's with the rest of his friends as per tradition. Also, if he was going to be dragged out to a party, he was going to try and have a little fun at least. And for Thomas that meant getting so drunk he could barely stand by the end of the party. It was a bit weird but it made him happy and he didn't go to many parties anyway so what was the harm?

"A lot," Minho replied, his voice slurring the words. The bright smile stayed intact however. "Now c'mon ya ugly shank, we gotta get you loosened up a bit."

With that, Minho proceeded to grab Thomas's arm and pull him into the crowd.

//

It was after roughly an hour that things began to go south for Thomas. Teresa had finally convinced him to join the rest of them on the dance floor and he was so far past sober that he didn't mind a dance or two.

Before that, it had been all fun and games. Thomas spent most of his time with the Gladers as he had expected. He had also been right in thinking that they would be the life of the party. Minho turned into an absolute daredevil, jumping off the highest things possible into the pool and just acting like a lunatic in general, Frypan was concocting his own cocktails out of drinks he found in Teresa's cellar (Frypan was the only one allowed down there and only took the drinks that cost less than twenty dollars since they wouldn't be noticed or missed if they were.), Teresa had a string of people following her every move and Chuck was loving every minute of it.