Bitter & Sweet

2. A Dreamless Void

6 days earlier...

Mom's knocked out on the couch with a half empty wine glass in hand.
I quietly walk up to her, carefully taking the glass from her hand and take a sip from the wine.
Gross. I strongly prefer beer. Wine's got too much taste and it never fully leaves your mouth.

Carl has this friend who's a friend of the guy that is hosting a party at his house tonight and despite my disliking for that dude, I'm going.

Otis Wyatt is hosting the party. He's popular surprise, surprise — he is the local Virginia chess champion, which.. shocker actually.
He's the type of guy who plays dumb to fit in while we all know he's secretly, not so secretly — a straight A student, most likely going to Harvard next semester.
But all that information doesn't mean shit to me, because he is the dick to the head.

Grace Campos, one of my friends was at a time blindingly in love with Otis Wyatt.
Three years ago when Otis started playing chess at our school's chess club, his first match was against Grace. Otis won and Grace grew obsessed with him, which at first was only because she had this obsessive wining complex.
I wouldn't say she started stalking Otis, but she did track all his matches, took notes, tried figuring out his way of playing until finally she reached his level and found herself in another match against him. Whoever won got a 300 dollar price or something and a one on one private lesson from an US chess champion.

Otis probably thought it was going to be an easy match, but since Grace had been tracking his playing tactics, the game went on for two hours until Grace actually won.
We all thought Otis would be furious (I mean I was there) but instead he asked Grace out.
Grace didn't want to go at first but for some reason changed her mind.
Anyways when they where on the date another night, I received a call from Grace in which she told me they hooked up and how amazing it was. That was her first time.

The following week of school, Otis didn't talk to Grace at all, and the week after that there were pictures going around the internet. Of Grace.
When me and my friends found out we immediately went up to Otis. Elijah another friend, beat the shit out of him, me and Carl included.
But Otis had friends too and it soon turned into a bloodbath before the teachers could finally break us apart.
Bottom line, Otis is a dickhead and we all got detention for two weeks.
Otis's chess career ended soon after that — he was supposed to go to France to play against high leveled players, but the news spread and the fucker got what he deserved.

As I think back to all that, I almost change my mind into not going. Grace obviously isn't going to be there but Isa is and I wouldn't want to miss her.
Call me selfish or whatever, but my friend's are also going to be there so at least I'm not the only selfish person there.
Besides... free booze.

I'm late at the party.
  It started one and a half hours ago, but I had to wait until my mom was knocked out.
She took a whole two hours to finish her bottle of wine.

Music is blasting in my ears and it is hard to find Carl with all the sweaty bodies pressed up against me. I strangely feel at place.
Finally I see Carl standing with Elijah, his boyfriend Leo and my other friend Hazel.
When I reach them I exclaim, "Hazel are you drunk already?!"
"W-what?" Hazels shouts with her hand against her ear.
"Never mind," I mutter.

Carl and I grab a drink and get to talking, and with talking I mean shouting, trying to hear ourselves over the music that is slaughtering our eardrums.
"So have you come across Isa yet?!"
"No. I haven't seen her!"
"Maybe she's— oh wait I see her at the pool!"
I spin around and notice I'm a little light in my head already.
I shoot Carl a grin and walk towards the pool hearing Carl yell, "Get 'em tiger!" I point my middle finger at him before walking through the back door.