metulji - jan peteh

Beer pong

'Time for some fucking beer pong.' Kris announced shoutily, still holding my bottle of prosecco, which was now completely empty. I didn't think he had noticed yet, and who was I to burst his bubble?

Nace had spent the last 10 minutes setting the game up, doing everything precisely; the same amount of beer went into each cup, even the way he had lined them up was not a millimetre out of place. Whatever had made us sloppy and irritating had made him into a total neat freak.

'Pick your team. Wisely.' Kris looked at Bojan particularly when he said this, narrowing his eyes slightly in what appeared to be a total look of competitiveness. He did not look ready to lose.

'Fuck you. I want the lovebirds.' Bojan turned to us, half-dazed. 'If you mess this up for me, there will be consequences.' Although it sounded like a total joke to me, his face was completely concrete; concerningly serious. 'Don't you give me that look, Jan Peteh. I will crush you.'

My pupils wandered slowly to Jan, who hadn't changed one part of his expression through the whole conversation. Now, hearing Bojan's accusations, he cocked his head back and laughed. 'Bojči, I'm on your team.'

'I will crush you.' His eyes became thin slits, holding contact with Jan for a few uncomfortable seconds, which felt a lot longer than they actually were. I took the opportunity to shoot a worried glance to Nace, who donated me a sympathetic smile. Jure was surprisingly quiet, considering how loud and outgoing he had been before. His dilated irises fixated on nowhere in particular. At this point, I noticed that he didn't actually have a shirt on, and I was also unsure of when he had taken it off. I don't think I'd ever seen someone so adversely affected by alcohol, but, then again, he was Jure - he wasn't much better than this sober, just minorly less oblivious.

'Rules. If you get a ball in, the opponent drinks. Whoever loses gets the leftover cups poured over their head.' Kris drawled, eager to get on with the game.

'Everyone knows how to play beer pong, Kris.' Jan interjected, looking around the room for support. Within a second or two, all of us were nodding.

'Shut up Jan, or Bojan won't be the only one crushing you tonight.' Kris spat, thrusting his empty bottle towards him threateningly.

'Kinky.'

I high-fived Jan for his quick response. The utter disgust on Kris' face caused me to erupt into a total fit of giggles. His expression displayed nothing other than pure disappointment, a comical look for the brunette.

'LET'S GO!' shouted Nace, looking at the standoff between Kris and Jan and deciding that he couldn't be bothered with it. We quickly hurried into our teams, positioning ourselves around the table, opposite each other. Jure and Jan were the first at the front of the two lines, developing real concentration faces as they picked up their balls.

'If I get one in, I can drink it?' Jure asked, turning to his team, who exchanged glances.

'Sure.' Bojan shouted, evoking a smile from Jure.

'No, Jure, you can't. Someone from the other team has to drink it.'

'Why?'

'Because you don't want to be drunk in this game.' Nace explained, despite him dealing with a total lost cause.

'But I do.' He gestured to himself, and Kris rolled his eyes.

In an attempt to shut down the conversation, Bojan threw a ball. It bounced perfectly before the first cup, and then landed inside with a satisfying splash. He stood there, very proud of himself.

'Oh, it's on.' Kris muttered, picking up the solo cup and draining it within seconds, an action which evoked a look of pure disappointment from Jure, who had been ready to drink the lot. He attempted to slam it onto the table, and, despite succeeding in getting the intended noise, the cup crushed instantly and he whacked his hand harshly onto the table. Trying to mask his pain, he snatched the ball from Jure's hand and threw it.