Grace; misanthrope // Jai Brooks

Chapter 15

Max would text me frequently, making small talk. He would ask what I was doing or how my day was going. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy his attention. I hadn't had any issues with Emma Cabot or David Waters since the dance and I was thankful for that. The day of Luke's party, Jai texted me a time and an address. I was anxious, remembering the last party I'd gone to and how it ended with me fleeing as fast as I could the moment I felt embarrassed.

My mom was pleasantly surprised that I was getting out and doing something that weekend. I thought hard about what I was going to wear. I chose a pair of high waisted jeans that were tattered with rips from the thighs to the knees. I paired them with a cropped black halter top and wore a mesh bell sleeve top over it. I wore a silver choker with dangly stars on it. I chose to wear my curly hair down. I felt pretty and was excited to have a good time.

When I got to the Brooks's house my confidence began to plummet. There were a lot more people there than I was expecting, and I hadn't told Chloe or Bella that I was going to this party. I felt very alone. The front yard was littered with drunk people but I didn't see any of the Brooks brothers. I decided to head to the front door. Before I could even open the door a drunk guy from the football team stumbled outside, nearly spilling his drink on me. I went inside and took a deep breath. My eyes wandered around, trying to spot Jai, or at least somebody I was acquainted with so I wouldn't look like an idiot standing all by myself.

I made my way to the kitchen to get a drink.

"Hey!" A voice said from behind me.

It wasn't Jai's voice. I turned around to see Max coming toward me.

"Hi," I said with a smile.

"Here, let me get that for you," he said, taking the bottle of vodka from my hand and pouring some into a cup for me. "Do you want to mix it with something?"

"Lemonade, please," I blushed.

He handed me my drink and leaned on the counter beside me.

"Oh, you have something here," he said, brushing my cheek with his thumb. "There. Got it."

"What was it?" I giggled.

"Uh, a speck or something," he said, sipping from his own cup.

Across the kitchen I spotted Jai. He was looking at me with the tiniest of smiles, but once our eyes met he lowered his eyes.

"Um, excuse me," I said to Max, squeezing past him and heading toward Jai.

He was with a bunch of his friends, watching as they played a drinking game.

"Hi," I said, happily, hugging him with my free arm, careful not to spill my drink. The usual scent of his cologne was tinged with the smell of alcohol and cigarettes.

"Hey," he said, squeezing me. "You came,"

"I totally came," I said softly.

He looked at me for just a moment. "You look really pretty,"

I pouted my lower lip and thanked him. Just then, everyone at the table began cheering as the drinking game ended.

"Want to play?" Luke nudged me.

I looked at Jai for his opinion.

"I'll play, too." Jai said to Luke and I.

We played flip cup and beer pong for a while. I was never much of a drinker but somehow I ended up being really good at drinking games. While I recognized a lot of these people from school I didn't really know them personally. But I was comforted by the fact that Jai and I were always on the same team. Heads turned as we dominated every game we played. I was so good and had consumed so much alcohol in a short period of time that I was feeling pretty tipsy after only being there for an hour.

"You go on, let somebody else have a turn," I said to Jai.

I took a break and staggered over to the breakfast counter to recuperate. Max took a seat beside me, greeting me with his gorgeous smile.

"Here, I got you this," he said.

He set down a glass that looked like the vodka lemonade I drank earlier. I raised it to my mouth and suddenly it was snatched out of my hand.

"I don't think so," Jai said.

"Jai, what are you doing?!" I protested.

"Look at that glass," he said.

I looked at the glass. Now, I realized my drink was fizzing.

Jai looked at Max, "You need to leave,"

Max put his hands up in defense. Luke had caught on to what was happening and stood next to Jai.

"Now," Luke demanded. "Out,"

Max scurried out of the house like a rat. It happened so fast, I was in shock.