Growing Up and Other Tall Tales

Chapter 84

It is my unpopular opinion that board games are the contemporary youth's quintessential shortcut to having fun with friends or getting wasted under the sham of having fun with friends or not having friends anymore.

Finding out that Aiden's brother is Kathy's invite to the party should have been jarring but I think my senses have been burnt out by the bright Christmas lights because I feel surprisingly numb to the idea of Kathy and Prince. Prince is the cute ('Friend') model and apparently, according to Aiden, Kathy is 'Hot Topic.' Nick and Amy have been swept away in some romantic getaway so when I was perfectly and joyfully prepared to extend my courteous luxuries of festivities to a bottle of cheap wine and Christmas specials, Aiden calls me, two hours before the party, that I have to, under any and all circumstances, come to said event.

"Prepare your assholes, assholes," Ace growls when it's his turn. "I'm gonna wreck everyone tonight."

Unimpressed, Ryder flips the top card over and proclaims, "Name three movies starring Meryl Streep!"

Pandemonium starts way ahead of schedule with Ace screaming, "The Prada and the Devil movie! The umbrella lady!" before elbowing Prince into a wrestling match who pitifully argues that the legitimate name should be given or he should die

"Batman!"

"Wrong!"

"Then pick another one! There's like a dozen more!"

It had taken me more than a while to find Aiden and even more a while to stumble into Kathy and more time than it should to figure out whose house exactly I am gate-crashing. Missy and Sandy are nowhere to be seen despite being the generous hosts and I've been to enough high-school raves to know that entering someone's house during a party without their permission is legally not considered criminal.

"Eggnog?" I read Aiden's mouth more than actual hear him

I nod gratefully.

We infiltrate the kitchen and are a safe distance from the merry crowd, but still close enough to spy into everyone's drunken frolics.

I take a gratuitous sip and then feeling Aiden looking at me, "What?"

He snickers. "You've got a nog mustache,"

I glare at him and licked my upper lip clean triumphantly. He snorts. I grin widely and stupidly at him making him push my face away with his palm. He goes back to drinking from his own party cup with Christmas trees. He looks incredibly soft in the gentle low light and a loose sweater colored the most vibrant Christmas red, and his hair is curling softly at the tips, like they just finished drying after a warm shower. I hide the second smile.

"Is the eggnog a front for the booze?" I smack my lips at the alcohol

"Yeah, I get my brandy and rum from the black market."

"Quite the trade."

"It's right alongside the kidneys and livers." I chortle and he goes on in mock disbelief. "I'm glad my calculated risk is amusing to you. I'll have you know I fought for a worthy cause."

"The cause being?"

"Me. And everyone else. But mostly me."

"I'm glad I'm let in on the secret."

"You are special."

Hello again, cold sweat. It's been too long.

"Where's the bathroom?" I place my cup on the counter and turn to Aiden who sweeps his eyes off the crowd to look down at me

"Down the hall and to the left." I throw finger guns at him before turning around and closing my eyes in shame. Aiden calls out from behind me. "Hey, the room on the right is dedicated for presents. I'll meet you there after you are done. Also ignore the skull sticker on the bathroom door; Duke has a compelling need to vandalize—"