The Thing About Three

chapter thirty-five | a helpful hand

I FELT THE effects of alcohol when I looked up at the ceiling thirty minutes after knocking back cheap beer with Noah.

My whole body started to sway as I stared up at the white plaster above, my head swimming as I leaned back against Noah as we danced.

I hadn't planned on drinking that night, because I hadn't much experience with drinking and didn't see a need to drink to begin with, but that was before Noah talked me into playing a game of beer pong with him and his friends.

One game turned into two—because I had lost the first one and didn't like losing—and then two turned into me drinking more alcohol than I ever had before because the team we had gone against was good. I had to say no to a third round after adding up how much beer I had drank.

"Woah," I said, feeling dizzy. I leaned further back into Noah, closing my eyes. "Woahhhhhhhh."

Noah chuckled in my ear. "Is it hitting you now, baby? I told you that second round was a bad idea."

"Mhmm," I answered. "I feel dizzy."

"Okay, let's get you somewhere to sit, then." He pulled me away from the dance floor, stumbling into people because he was under the influence, too. We settled onto a couch in the living room, Noah leaving me to go grab a water.

"Baby, are you feeling okay?" he asked once he returned, handing me a water bottle.

I smiled. "I am!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up. "It's my first time being drunk! Isn't that great?!"

He laughed with me. "I'm glad you're a cute drunk and not a crazy one, but let's try and get sobered up before we really find out, yeah?"

He took my bottle from me when he noticed I was having a hard time trying to open it. He easily unscrewed the cap and handed the water bottle back over to me.

"Here you go," he told me. "You shouldn't be drunk for long since you ate all those appetizers at the hotel." He sat down next to me on the couch, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "Though, it's gonna be another story for me. I didn't eat much, and it's about to hit me hard. I can feel it."

"Ooh, Noah can't handle his alcohol," I teased in a singsong voice.

He rolled his eyes. "I can, just not on an empty stomach." He shook his head, and then changed the subject. "Have you decided about staying with me yet?"

I flopped my head onto his shoulder, snuggling into him. "Yeah, let's do it," it told him.

"Really?" he asked, pulling away to look me in the eye, seeing if I was being truthful or not. "Are you serious?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I can't really go home to my dad like this, anyways." I gestured to my inebriated state. "Could you text him for me?"

"Yeah, sure, baby," he told me. I watched him fumble to stand up and get my phone from his back pocket, shooting my dad a quick text that said I was staying at Hallie's before pocketing it once more. "Alright, you ready to go? Or do you want to stay?"

"Go," I said. "I'm getting kind of tired."

"Okay, let's go, then." He reached down to help me up, keeping an arm around my shoulders to keep me stable. "I'm gonna go grab my buddy Rolf and his date after I get you in the car, okay? They're both sober and already agreed to take us to the hotel."

My drunk brain didn't really understand what he was telling me, but I nodded my head like I had, and then laughed my way to the car as he escorted me because, "Rolf is such a funny name, Noah! Rolf! Rolf! It sounds like ruff ruff! Like a dog!"

Rolf didn't think it was too funny when I told him the same thing five different times on the ride to the hotel, but I still laughed like it was.