Tightrope

20

THEN

WILL

Becca and I didn't go to parties often.

Maybe it was because we weren't invited very often, but I liked to think that we were simply exclusive and quite selective when it came to the people we hung out with.

Which was pretty much just each other.

Nevertheless, she had convinced me to come to this party.

Well, no. She had dragged me to this party, telling me it would be a small gathering at one of the girls' houses.

It wasn't a small gathering, and it wasn't even at a girl's house.

Becca and I arrived at our very first house party at around seven thirty in the afternoon. There was music blasting loudly, and cans of soda everywhere, as well as some scattered bottles of beer.

Beer.

We were thirteen, for god's sake.

"You're on my team," An older guy told Becca and pulled her closer to him by the waist. They seemed to be playing some weird spin-off of ping pong with red cups and some sort of liquid.

Becca looked confused at first but then seemed to agree to play with this guy. His opponent waved me over, and I joined the opposite team.

"You guys know how to play?"

I said no just as Becca said yes.

"You throw the ball, and if it lands on a cup, the opposite team drinks. If you fail it, you drink. The first one to get rid of all cups wins." The guy explained, and I wanted to ask what was in the cups but didn't.

I shot the ball, and it didn't get in. I drank from the cup.

"Is this beer?" I asked, wiping my mouth, disgusted.

The guys seemed to be confused. "It's beer pong, so...yeah."

I didn't want to drink alcohol. I had never drunk before, and I didn't know if now would be a good time. But I liked the beer, and I liked the game.

So I kept drinking.

After a couple of rounds of beer pong, I went over to the cooler to grab another beer.

Another guy was standing beside the cooler, holding a bottle of clear liquid.

"You want some?" He slurred.

"Sure," I said, not even bothering to ask what it was.

The guy poured some of the liquid straight from the bottle into my mouth. It burned as it went down, and it left behind an odd taste. I felt like I would smell like rubbing alcohol to anyone who came close enough, so I figured another beer could help mask the smell.

Becca spotted me as I took the first swig from the new beer bottle.

"What are you doing?" She asked, frowning.

"I'm having fun. You were right, parties are fun." I answered, drinking more beer.

I was starting to feel a little dizzy. Maybe it was the heat.

"Will come on, give me that..." Becca insisted, trying to grab the beer bottle from my hands, but I refused to give it to her.

"Lighten up, Becca. Have a drink." I shrugged her off.

"You're thirteen, Will. You shouldn't be drinking. It was a stupid idea to play beer pong, I'm sorry, okay?" She apologized.

It wasn't her fault. She hadn't been the one to invite me or force me to drink.