Always

Chapter 17

Upon returning inside my house, I quickly assessed that my mom hadn’t returned yet, which was fine.  I hadn’t even been gone that long, really.  I jogged up the stairs, heading to my room.  Grabbing my phone off my desk where I had left it before my walk, I saw that I had a text from Lydia saying to come over whenever I was ready. 

It was still really early, but Lydia always liked Haley and I to come over early whenever she had parties.  Their motto was usually something along the lines of the earlier you start drinking, the better.  It used to be mine, too, actually, but tonight I had no desire to drink.  When I turned into such a bum, I didn’t know, but I suspected it had everything to do with Harry. 

I texted Lydia back saying I just had to get ready quickly before coming over, hoping to appease her.  I wondered how much I could get away with drinking tonight.  Or, not drinking, really.  After changing into a more party-appropriate outfit and putting on some make up, I gathered up my over night stuff. 

Sleepovers were an unspoken rule to parties; whenever there was a party, Lydia, Haley and I would have a sleep over to revel in the drunken memories of the night.  Sending a quick text to my mother, I explained that I was going over to Lydia’s for girl’s night and that I would be back in the morning.  It was almost the truth. 

When I arrived at Lydia’s, it quickly became clear that I would not be able to get away with not drinking much.  Entering the kitchen, my eyes widened taking in the vast assortment of alcohol scattered around.  Jello shots, jungle juice, some frothy pink drink in a watermelon, and bottles upon bottles of liquor decorated the countertops.  My jaw dropped open.  There was enough alcohol here to get the entire school drunk, even more so when you took into account the countless beers that were stacked in the fridge. 

Lydia’s parents were very wealthy, and their house boasted to that fact.  Huge, open, and impeccably furnished, it was the type of house I would never dare to throw a party in, much less as often as Lydia did, which was nearly every weekend.  Her parents took the approach that they’d rather she and her friends drink safely in their own home, under their supervision, than sneak off to a random house and do god knew what.  This being the case, I was still surprised when her mother strolled into the kitchen, smiling at me as if we weren’t surrounded by enough alcohol to kill a small fleet of sailors. 

“Hello, Joey dear,” she purred.  Lydia’s mom was the stereotypical wealthy mom- extremely fit for her age, botoxed perfectly, never a hair out of place.  She even had the fake boobs.  Despite her semi-fake looking appearance, she was actually really nice, always welcoming Lydia’s friends into her home, being more than gracious when it came to throwing parties. 

“Hello, Helen,” I responded politely.  “How are you?”

“Oh I’m fine, thank you sweetheart.  Ready for tonight?” she replied excitedly, handing a jello shot to me. 

“Guess I better be,” I joked, accepting it.  Lydia and her mom cheered, each grabbing a jello shot for themselves before eating it.  I followed suit, not even tasting the alcohol hidden in the fruity flavor.  We had just thrown down three more jello shots each when Haley entered the kitchen, arriving early just as I had, just as we usually did.  She smiled at me, once again acting as if nothing was wrong.  If she was going to smile and be pleasant, then so was I.  I didn’t want to get into anything tonight, anyway. 

Lydia’s mom excused herself while Lydia started playing music, getting herself psyched up for her party.  She insisted that we all try one drink of everything she and her mom had prepared.  While admittedly the drinks were all delicious, they were extremely potent.  To say I was sufficiently drunk by the time the first people started to arrive was an understatement.  While others showed up slightly buzzed from whatever pregame they had attended, I had already drank more than I needed to last the entire night.