Somehow in that brief stretch of time, the Spice Girls and the guy had found shot glasses and were all filling up for a second shot. Riley saw Kenny grimace as she emptied her glass and moved closer to check in. "Hey, you doing ok?"
Kenny's eyes were bright as she said "I'm great!" then placed a hand on the guy's arm and said "Riley, this is Greg."
"Hey" Riley said, tilting her head in acknowledgement at Greg.
"We're gonna go play beer pong, do you want to come?" Kenny asked eagerly.
"No no I'm good. You two go and have fun" Riley gestured towards the beer pong table.
As Kenny and Greg walked away, Riley moved to position herself in a way that allowed her to watch Kenny as he leaned against a counter. Riley stood alone for some time, lost in thought, before she realized James was next to her filling up a red solo cup with water from the sink. "What are you supposed to be?" James asked, eyeing Riley's black shoes, black pants, and black long sleeve shirt under her unbuttoned flannel.
"Your worst nightmare" Riley responded moodily.
James just stared at her until Riley raised her top lip revealing her fangs and said "A vampire."
James eyed Riley's teeth and then, unconvinced, "Uh huh"
"Well what are you?" Riley retorted as she took in James' skin tight black leather catsuit and cat ears.
"I'm obviously catwoman." James said, annoyed.
Riley looked away as she replied "Right..."
"Whatever" James huffed as she stormed away.
"K byeee" Riley said sarcastically to the empty space where James had just been.
A few moments passed before she was struck by an idea. Seeing one of her first-year teammates, Hannah, Riley moved through the crowd to reach her. Riley hadn't noticed one of the other first-years, Katie, standing with Hannah but realized two sets of eyes were better than one. "Hey guys, will you do me a favor?"
Hannah and Katie looked at each other apprehensively before replying "Sure".
Riley hoped their fear meant they'd be even more reliable "You see Kenny over there?" Riley pointed out Kenny who was currently doing another shot with Greg. "Can you two watch her and let me know if she has any more shots/gets too drunk or tries to go anywhere?"
Hannah and Katie nodded, still nervous.
"Awesome. Here's my number. I'm just going to the beach for a few minutes so one of you can come get me too if I don't answer fast enough."
Both girls nodded again. Smiling reassuringly at them, Riley left them to talk to Kenny. "Hey Kenny" Riley pulled Kenny aside for a moment "No more shots ok, bud? I'm going out back to the beach for a couple minutes. Don't go anywhere and text me if you need anything. Ok?"
Clearly tipsy but not fully drunk, Kenny grinned and gave two thumbs and up and said "You got it dude".
Shaking her head, smiling, Riley said "Ok ya goof. I'll be back soon."
YOU ARE READING
Unknown Beginning
Fiction généraleRiley has just started over at a new college and is trying to navigate relationships with her new best friend, Kenny, while integrating to a new disgruntled hockey team. One particular captain seems to hate Riley and she doesn't know why but she's g...
