11 Days With Keira Rudd

5: The Day Keira Rudd dragged me to a party and convinced me to get drunk

"The Day Keira Rudd dragged me to a party
and convinced me to get drunk"

[Day 5]

"I-I thought she was only joking when she said that she would take us to a party", Jake White shouts shocked as he realizes that he thought wrong. Loud music is pumping through our ears and I can barely hear what he's saying. How can people dance to this music? How can they pretend that the music isn't too loud? If I don't leave early, I am totally going to suffer from tinnitus.

"Tinnitus. A noise such as buzzing, ringing or whistling, heard in the ear without an external stimulus and having multiple causes just like the exposure of too loud noise. Tinnitus caused by short-term exposure, such as attending a loud concert, usually goes away; long-term exposure to loud sound can cause permanent damage."

"She is never joking!", I shout back, but he shakes his head, pointing to his ear. Signalizing that he doesn't understand a word I'm saying.

"H-h-h-eeeeeeeeeeeeey neeeeeeeeeeerd. What are yeer doin' here?!", a boy with blonde hair and dark-brown eyes slurs, jabbing a finger into my chest and I have to admit that I don't recognize his face.

"W-who are you?", I ask loudly, but it seems like he isn't even listening to what I'm saying anymore. The stranger is already talking to a beautiful girl with black hair.

"HOW DID WE END UP HERE?!", Jake complains and I simply shrug. To be honest, I don't know how she convinced us to accompany her to a party. I don't know why we decided to go with her anyway. We could have easily said no, but somehow I wanted to spend more time with her. 

My parents were more than amazed when I asked them whether I can go to a party. Jake's parents were also pretty happy about him going to a party with other teenagers even though it's Monday. It's a school day. Who in their right mind would throw a party on a school day? I've read that teenagers like to go to parties, but usually they are held on Fridays or Saturdays. Someone said that it's because of their hangovers. Hangover. I had to research the definition because I couldn't figure out what it meant. "Hangover: Nausea and headaches often caused by way too much alcohol."

So I imagined having headaches and nausea without drinking alcohol and easily figured that people have to sleep a lot after going to a party which would also explain why parties are usually on Fridays or Saturdays. Understandable.

"Where even is she?", Jake asks when we leave the crowded living room and enter the empty backyard. The loud music is slowly drowning in the distance and I inhale deeply. Fresh air. I'm still alive.

"I don't know. I've lost her the second we entered the house", I admit and Jake nods understandingly.

"Me too. Why did we even agree on this?"

"Because we want to break through our social awkwardness Jake", I remind him before he sits down on one of the empty chairs.

It has already been five days since Keira Rudd sneaked into my life. Five days and she's changed me into someone I don't recognize anymore. The old Riley Young would have never agreed to go to a party especially not on a school day. There have already been a lot of firsts for me since I've bumped into her. 1. Being pushed off a cliff and surviving the fall. 2. Being in contact with a female human being who isn't my mother. 3. Having a make-over and secretly enjoying the outcome. 4. Breaking into someone's property to use their Jacuzzi and 5. Going to a party with Jake White.

"She is nuts you know that right?! After everything you have told me about your weekend I can't believe that you are still friends with her", he says, his voice is quiet and he looks at me with a weak smile on his face. Jake was surprised when he saw me in school this morning. My hair was styled the way the hairstylist had taught me. And after weighing the pros and cons I've decided to wear some of my new clothes which gained me a few glances here and there. My black glasses were the only trait reminding of the old Riley Young.