You're My Sunset

Chapter 8 - The Party

Lily's p.o.v

The carnival was fun. It was only a few days till the history project was due. Ryder's tower-building skills had improved, and I must say, our practice models looked pretty good. Ryder had been walking me to class every day. I kind of enjoyed it, actually. Today when he came to take me to class, he said, "Hey, Amber's throwing a party for all of us at her house tonight. Even though it'll only be us there, she's going full out. DJ, dance floor, home bar, the works. You in?" "Sure," I said. "Okay. The party's at eight." I nodded.

***

After school, I headed home to change for the party. I needed to look my very best. I took a shower and when I got out, started deciding what to wear. I had many dresses to choose from. My favorite color is blue, so I decided to wear my sparkly blue strapless. I slipped into some heels then curled my hair and grabbed my black purse. Then I applied some smokey eye makeup. Finally I was ready.

I walked downstairs to say goodbye to my mother and wait for Ryder. When he pulled up,  I swiftly got in the passenger side. "Wow," Ryder said, and whistled.  I blushed. He was wearing jeans, of course. Typical. No suit and tie for him! We quickly drove to Amber's house. When we got there, the party was up and running. The DJ had the music up loud, a large disco ball spun overhead, cookies and chips were on the table, the floor had been cleared for dancing, and Amber had turned the kitchen into a fully-functioning bar.

As soon as we walked out, I was overtaken by Amber and Mia, Ryder by Hayden and Drake. Hayden and Drake towed Ryder away from the kitchen, while Amber and Mia towed me toward it. "Come on, Lily. You need a drink," Mia said. Amber and Mia exchanged secret looks and I thought, What is going on?

I didn't wonder long because soon my mind was preoccupied with other things. Mia ran to the kitchen and came back with many bottles of my favorite: rum. "Let's play Truth or Dare," she suggested. "You can either take the dare, or take a shot." she said, gesturing to the bottles. We nodded and sat in a circle.

 Amber went first. "Okay, Amber," I said. "Truth or dare?" "Dare," she replied with a smirk. I smirked back and said, "I want you to do a lap dance to Hayden." She hesitated, then took a shot. "Mia, you're next," I said. "Truth or dare?" After some thought, Mia chose truth. "What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?" I asked. "Well, back when I was with Josh, I ran up to a guy in the hall, thinking he was Josh, and hugged and kissed him and told him I loved him and the guy turned around, and it wasn't Josh," she said. We laughed. "Okay, your turn!" Mia said. "Truth or dare?" "Dare, of course," I replied, smirking. "Okay," Mia said. "Go over there and kiss Ryder." I took a shot.

                                                         *2 Hours Later*

I'd taken more shots than I cared to admit. I was feeling dizzy and Amber and Mia looked triumphant. Suddenly I felt something come up my throat. I ran away and got to the bathroom just in time. Amber held my hair while I threw up into the toilet. Afterward, Amber and Mia took my hands and guided me somewhere. They plopped me down and ran off.

 I looked up to see Ryder's concerned face. "Hey, Ryder," I said. He took my hand and stood up. "Come on. Let's get you home." At this point in time, I was so out of it I would have followed him off a cliff. He put me in the car and drove quickly to his house.

He helped me walk to his room, where he laid me down on his bed. He took one of his t-shirts from his dresser drawer. The last thing I saw was him fingering my dress. Then, blackness.

Ryder's p.o.v

Hayden and Drake took charge of me for the evening. They kept me away from the kitchen. They wouldn't even let me have one drink! I could hear the girls in the living room, playing some kind of game with alcohol. Unfair! Why did the girls get to have all the fun? The boys kept me busy with games and strength challenges, but the rewards were cookies and chips from the table. We did this for two hours straight.

 I was dying to break away and see Cupcake, but the boys practically held me captive. Then Amber and Mia came in with Cupcake and sat her down right in front of me and left. One look at her and I could tell she was drunk. Totally, completely, drunk. I knew I had to take her home right away before she passed out. So I got her to the car and drove her to my house. I put her on my bed and contemplated my next move.

I had to get her dress off of her and wash it, or else both it and her would smell like rum and her mother would figure out she got drunk. So, hesitantly, I got a T-shirt from my drawer. Then I slowly, without looking, took her dress off of her. Still not looking, I slid my T-shirt on her. "Sweet dreams, Cupcake," I said and kissed her forehead.

I then went downstairs to call her mother and tell her she was sleeping over. I was pretty good at lying to adults back then. When I finished with the phone call, I headed to the living room to sleep on the couch.

                                                                                ***

Lily's p.o.v

"Ugh," I moaned. I had a killer headache. It was crushing. I tried to open my eyes, but the light invaded them. Needles of pain struck my eyes and I quickly shut them. I moaned again. The door opened and Ryder came in. "Morning, Cupcake," he said. I groaned a response. He fed me an Advil and I somehow fell asleep.

I woke up later, feeling much better. Ryder was sitting beside my bed. "Feeling better, Cupcake?" he asked. I nodded and sat up. "What happened?" I asked. "And why am I wearing your T-shirt?" Before he could answer, a horrible thought struck me. "You didn't....We didn't....." "God no!" He said. "I'd never do that with you without your permission!" I sighed in relief.

He continued on. "You got drunk at the party last night and I took you home." "Who undressed me?" I asked. "I did," Ryder admitted. "But I didn't look." I smiled. "Thanks. And I really mean it." "Anything for you, Cupcake," he said. He picked up my hand and kissed it, English-style. I giggled. "You want any breakfast before I take you home?" he asked. "Yeah," I said. "I'm starving!" He laughed and we went downstairs together, where Ryder's mom was cooking up some chocolate chip pancakes.