Leave The City (Book 8 of Adopted by the Josephs)

15. Samantha

"Whoo hoo!" Brandi said as we pulled away from Uncle Brendon and Aunt Sarah's. "You're gonna love this. Dylan builds these huge bonfires. Someone always gets a keg or two. Or four."

I laughed.

"Make sure I don't overdo it!" I said cheerfully.

We laughed and I whooped again. This was going to be fun! I've never been to a bonfire on a beach before. I'd been to some of the parties the seniors held on the weekends. Usually they were at Dylan or Blake's houses but this weekend, they wanted a bonfire as the weather was starting to turn cooler. Cold for these California raised kids, slightly cooler for me and my Ohioan blood.

We pulled up to the beach Dylan had set up for the party. The bonfire was already raging, music pumping from Dylan's expensive sound system in his open Jeep. Headlights of cars parked in a circle around one area, with one of the guys tapping a pretty large-looking keg.

"Hey Mustangs! Your Head Cheerleader and Point Guard have arrived!" Brandi whooped as we got out of her car.

"Whoop! Sam and Brandi are here!" Callie, our team's Centre, cried out. We carefully made our way over the sand, me being more careful since while my balance is fine now, it's still different, especially on a surface like sand. Brandi helped me stay upright.

"Hey! Dylan?" Brandi called out.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning around and smiling at us. He was 6'5", blonde, tanned (duh, California), with dark brown eyes that reminded me of Uncle Brendon. Very soulful. He was in a few of my AP classes. And he was very, very good-looking.

"This is Sam's first beach bonfire!" she cried out.

"A bonfire virgin!" Dylan called out. "Bonfire virgins get the first cup out of a newly cracked keg!"

"Oh," I said. "I don't know."

Beer is really 'carby.' It could mess with my blood sugars because carbs convert into sugar.

"C'mon, Joseph," Dylan said, putting his arm around my shoulders and handing me a red Solo cup full of beer. "You gotta break that bonfire virgin cherry. Drink up!"

Everyone cheered. So, I put the cup to my lips and took a sip. No idea what type of beer it was, but it tasted pretty okay.

"Chug, chug, chug!" people around me started chanting. I tried to chug as much as I could, but the carbonation got up my nose, and I choked a little. Everyone laughed, but it didn't seem malicious. I took a breath and finished the rest of the cup. Everyone cheered. The music was turned up, and everyone sang and danced. I grabbed another cup of beer and went over to a bunch of blankets where some of the girls from my team were sitting with their boyfriends or girlfriends.

"You've really never been to a beach?" Aaron from the boys' team asked.

"I've been to a beach," I said. "I mean, we have beaches and water in Ohio. They're just not this nice, and we can't use them from, like, November to May."

"Why not?" Gaby, a girl on my team, asked.

"Idiot. It snows in Ohio in the winter!" Tyler, another guy on the boys' team, said.

"And bathing suits don't do much under snowsuits," I laughed. "Besides, the towels get wet when you put them in the snow."

Everyone laughed.

"So it's the bonfire that you've never done," Aaron said.

"Right. Well, no. I've been to bonfires. My dad had one for my birthday at the end of my freshman year. I've never been to a bonfire on a beach before."