Yael | Ongoing

Chapter 11: Beer Pong!

Sam
10:10 PM

I had no issues whatsoever with beer. But a game where you either get completely drunk (which was the more favorable option) or you drink yourself so stupid that you'd make the Three Idiots sound like Albert Einstein, I wasn't so comfortable with.

"Do I really have to do this?" I asked.

"Pretty much," Sharon uttered as she stepped to my right side and gave me a hug which should have been reassuring. The night was still young and yet I felt like I'd known her my entire life. In a way, I had, but just not from a distance. It felt like I'd known her intimately all this while.

"Well, you heard the lady," Charlie said as he stepped to my left side and punched my shoulder lightly with his fist.

"Who's my opponent?" I asked. I tried to make it sound like a UFC lightweight drinker tourney.

"We don't know yet," said Charlie. "Your position was more or less forced on you but we do need a volunteer."

"Can I have something to eat? I'm starving," I spoke, trying all I could to relieve myself of the fate which awaited me. I didn't want to get drunk because I know what I'm like when I do. My personality just flips. One moment I'm good old Sam, the next I'm Wheezy Jefferson. Allow me to drink hard enough and I just might turn into Gary Busey.

"In a minute. I had someone go out to get more food. They just mowed through the food I got like hyenas at a carcass," he lamented.

"So, what do we do while we wait?" Sharon inquired.

"Well, we could not stand around in the middle of the living room like we're planning something menacing," someone said. The voice was female but I didn't know who it belonged to.

"Hey, Tinu," Sharon and Charlie said at the same time. Then they glanced at each other like the other person had just committed a felony.

"So, this is Sam, I presume," Tinu said as she approached me and quickly ran her eyes up and down my body. Then she looked at Sharon and gave her an affirming wink which made Sharon look away, embarrassed.

"Yeah, I'm Sam," I replied. "And you are?"

"Tinuade," she said. She offered a handshake which I accepted. "But you can call me Tinu."

"Great," I said, not knowing what else to say at that moment. "Nice to meet you."

"Ditto."

Without thinking, I reached out and wrapped my arm around Sharon's shoulder. She looked up at me and I met her eyes. We didn't say anything to each other but we did understand each other's eyes. And non-verbal cues and body language. I didn't really know what I felt for her but I didn't want to use that word. It was a strong and sensitive word and should only be uttered in the direst and most pressing of situations.

Which I clearly wasn't in.

"I'll be right back," Charlie said as he walked away towards the kitchen.

Sharon wrapped her left arm around my waist and I had to resist the urge to turn and look at her. It was a match at this point about who could do the most ludicrous thing to the other person and I was game. So I looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

"I would say get a room but..." She started as we both looked at her. Then she raised her hands and gestured around her. "We're already in one. So, by all means..."

"Up yours, Tinu," Sharon uttered.

Tinu just laughed and crossed her arms as she looked toward the kitchen area.

"I wish this cup would pass over me," I said, trying to sound like Jesus.

"Well, you're stuck with it. Good luck though," she said, slapping my chest lightly. She was trying to sound like Satan. And doing a good job of it too.

"Okay, then, why don't you be my opponent. You play badminton so you have good hand-eye coordination. You'd mop the floor with me."

"How do you know that I play badminton?" She asked, turning to look at me.

"Lucky guess," I said as an obvious lie. She punched me.

"Well, it's true. I would slaughter you at beer pong but do I really want the satisfaction of doing that to you?"

"Yes, you do."

"Yes, I do."

"So, what's stopping you?" I asked.

"Well, I can't be the one to destroy you and then later rub your back as you deploy the contents of your stomach into a toilet bowl."

"Wow, someone has suddenly grown a conscience."

"Shut up," she said, laughing again.

I was having a great time. And I couldn't get it out of my head that we were holding each other side by side and just having idle conversation. It seemed too good to be true but it was good and it was true and I was just going to accept that.

"Okay, listen up everyone!" I heard Charlie say. We both turned to look at him as he was covered by a deep blue haze. Looking at myself and at Sharon, we were both covered as well. It made her eyes appear green like she had neon contact lenses on. God, she was beautiful.

"We've almost run out of food but I have someone on it who will be back anytime soon. So, we need a volunteer for beer pong. We already have one person," he said as he turned and lifted his arm in my direction. "And we need someone who will go against him."

There were murmurs in the crowd because, for some reason, no one was enthusiastic enough about getting so drunk that passing out wasn't just a possibility but a guarantee.

"I'll go." Someone said.

"Aha! A formidable opponent," Charlie said, sounding like he was playing Dungeons and Dragons. "Step forward."

He pulled out of the crowd slowly as I saw people moving around, allowing him room to move. Charlie gestured in my direction and before I moved, Sharon gave me a light squeeze with the arm she put around me and then let me go. I walked up to the table and the other person made his way to the other side.

"For the first round, we have someone who has never taken more than one bottle of beer in one sitting, Sam," Charlie said.

People cheered and whooped in the crowd.

"And, for his opponent, someone I've never met but looks like he's going to completely clobber his opponent, Maxwell."

More cheers and praises.

"Maxwell?" Tinu asked in a light voice, almost like a whisper, which made me turn around. She stood behind me with Sharon and I had no idea they were there.

Charlie raised both arms. Looking at him, this whole thing started to feel like I was in the Hunger Games and had no way of getting out except finishing my opponent off.

Then he spoke. "Let the games begin!"