What It Cost

Party Girls

The basement smelled like stale beer, and that sickly-sweet berry vape juice. Blue and purple lights flashed across the concrete ceiling. Someone had tried to decorate. Old banners, painted Greek letters with a matching house crest, graffiti covering the adjacent walls and floor.

Lilly stayed close to Tasha, their shoulders brushing, feeling the thrum of bass in her chest that vibrated the floor.

Tasha tapped Lilly's arm. "Oh... You see that guy coming towards us?" Tasha motioned with her chin, staring straight ahead.

Lilly followed her gaze to some tall, vaguely handsome guy weaving toward them with the grin of someone already a few drinks in.

"He's in my math class... Surprisingly really smart.. Kinda sweet, too."

He walked up to them and leaned in, too loud and too close. "Hey, Tasha! I heard you were coming!"

Tasha gave the guy a side hug, her award winning smile across her cheeks. She turned towards Lilly and introduced the guy to her. Chase? Jace? Jake? She could hardly hear over the music. Her brain floating somewhere above the clouds,  the buzz of her dab pen and the lingering ache of everything that happened with Noah. She inhaled from the pen again, the vapor smooth, the world a little softer at the edges.

Chase-Jace-Jake returned with two seltzers. Tasha laughed. "Wow! A drink I don't have to fight to swallow...? How'd we get so lucky?"

The guy grinned back at her, shrugging his shoulders. "I gotta do something to get you to come back again."

Lilly was entranced at how effortlessly her best friend made everyone feel important.

Tasha shot him a teasing look before falling into conversation. Lilly nodded at the appropriate times but her mind was miles away, on Noah in the narrow bunk hallway, on the way his breath had felt when their faces were so close her lips tingled remembering it.

Her can was empty before she realized she'd been drinking it. She shook it; nothing. The guy noticed and appeared with another, smiling like he'd done her some huge favor. Lilly accepted it, awkward and polite.

A group of guys clapped him on the back, dragging him toward a cluster of folding tables set up for drinking games.

"I'll catch you later!" he called to Tasha.

"Yeah!" she shouted back, waving.

When he was gone, Tasha leaned in. "Morgan and I had a group project with him... I think she's kinda in to him and that's why she wanted to come so badly."

Lilly nodded without really absorbing anything.

Drink two disappeared quick. Or was it three? She couldn't remember. They eventually migrated to the makeshift bar where a frat guy in a backwards cap slid over two shots and two fresh drinks.

The girls exchanged a look. Why not?

They downed the shots, winced, laughed, grabbed their drinks, and pushed into the crush of the dance floor. Tasha ran into her friend, Morgan, who pulled them both into a tight hug. Lilly couldn't help but smile. The three danced together, laughing with the beat of the music.

It felt good. Mindless. The bass guiding their movements, lights streaking across the floor as they laughed and swayed, the world warm and fluid. Lilly's anxiety sank below the surface, drowned out by alcohol and THC.

They danced for what felt like hours but was probably fifteen minutes. Morgan had wandered over to the drinking games, leaving Tasha and Lilly to their vices.

After hours blended into minutes, the girls pushed their way back to the makeshift bar for more drinks. They cheers'd and made their way back to the dance floor, shoving past sweaty bodies. The basement seemed to get hotter, like someone cranked the thermostat and then set the room spinning. Lilly barely had time to find the beat again before Tasha leaned down, yelling into her ear.

"Stay here!"

Lilly lifted her hands in surrender, wobbling slightly. "I'm literally not moving."

Tasha bounced off with a clear mission in her mind, weaving through the crowd until she reached the DJ booth. She stepped up into the small alcove, hand cupping her mouth, whispering something to the guy.

He gives her a thumbs up.

Tasha skipped back, smugly triumphant.

Lilly eyed her. "What did you do?"

Tasha wiggled her eyebrows, biting her lip in refusal.

Lilly rolled her eyes but laughed, and the two fell instantly back into dancing. Sweat glitters at their temples. Then the song transitions, smooth and intentional.

A guitar riff cuts through the bass. A familiar one.

Too familiar.

Lilly freezes. "NO—" But she's grinning. And already dancing.

Tasha threw her arms up triumphantly as Bad Omens exploded through the speakers, every frat boy suddenly deciding they, too, are lifelong fans. Lilly sang every word, her voice loud and off-key, her whole body buzzing.

"YOU DID THIS!" she yelled, laughing.

"You're WELCOME!"

They grabbed another round after that. Then another. Lilly had lost track of the count, and the time. Unsure if counting was something her brain could even handle anymore.

Suddenly, the music cut and the frat boys started ushering people toward the exits, calling out last rounds, shutting off sections of the basement. Tasha held a finger up to Lilly and disappeared into the crowd, finding Morgan and bidding her goodbye. Morgan slipped away and Tasha threw her arm around Lilly's shoulder. The two climb the stairs and made their way to the cool air outside.

When the two reached Tasha's car, they stopped. Tasha held her keys up, jingling them. "I... should not be driving."

Lilly placed both hands on the hood like she was fighting to stay upright, she stared forward but her eyes moved in circles. "I also agree. But like. Then what do we do?"

They stared at each other across the hood for a solid five seconds, drunk gears turning slowly.

Then, instinctively:

"Not it!" they yell, touching their noses.

They both gasp.

"You cheated," Lilly slurs.

"No YOU cheated!" Tasha fires back.

"Rock, paper, scissors."

"No! Just call him already!" Tasha leaned across the hood, staring at her best friend. "I'm sure prince charming is waiting by the phone for your call, anyway."

Lilly waved her away, cheeks turning pink. "Okay, okay, jeez..."

But the moment she turned the screen on, all humor dropped out of her stomach.

Three texts.
One missed call.

From him.

A cold rush slid down her spine. Her breath stuttering as she felt her heart threatening to break from her ribs. The alcohol wobbled into anxiety, sharpening the edges that the weed had softened.

Tasha peered over. "Uh ohhhh..." she whispered, dramatically slow.

Lilly swallowed as she hit his name, staring at her phone as it dialed his contact.

He picked up on the third ring.

Before Lilly could speak, Tasha hit the speaker button.

"Lilly?" Noah's voice was sharp, alert, threaded with worry. "Are you okay?"

Lilly bit her lip, stifling her anxiety. "I'm fiiiiine. Can you come get me?"

Noah exhaled. "Okay. Send me the address."

(HEY GUYS I AM BACK. I FINALLY POLISHED THIS CHAPTER.. I HAD TO SPLIT IT INTO TWO CAUSE IT WAS LIKE.... 4000 WORDS...)