This Could Be Us

Chapter Four - Death Juice

Anna, Carter, and I were all singing at the top of our lungs as we reached the address Tony had given Carter. We turned right onto a long and wide pathway, about a half of a mile long, that lead the way to a large house with a huge yard. The house was completely lit up inside and there were tiki torches surrounding the front porch. Everywhere you looked there were people standing with a red solo cups occupying their hands.

"Damn! This looks like quite the event!" Carter said as we started walking towards the house from his car.

I felt a bit of nervousness hit me as we walked through the party-goers and into the house. The music was so loud that people were having to shout over the music or talk in each others' ears just to have a conversation. I followed Carter as he made his way through the crowded hallway and into the kitchen.

It was quieter in the kitchen, thanks to the swinging door that blocked out a lot of the noise. I looked around at the enormous kitchen we had just entered. It was about five times the size of my own kitchen, and I was surprised to see there were only a handful of people in the room. On the floor sat three kegs and two giant tubs of some red liquid.

"Carter! My man! Glad you could make it!" The blonde guy, who had been sitting on the counter next to the kegs, shouted out.

I turned to say something to Anna, but when I turned she was nowhere to be found. I wasn't really surprised that she wandered off, because she disappears all the time. So I stood there awkwardly waiting for Carter to finish his conversation with the blonde guy, whom I guessed to be Tony. I hadn't been listening to their conversation, but when I looked back over at the two of them, Tony was looking at me and smiling.

"Carter, who's this dime you've got with you?" Tony asked, nudging Carter in the chest with his elbow.

"This is my friend Aria," he replied with his signature smile.

"Friend huh?" Tony smirked at Carter before turning to me. "You a beer drinker?"

I felt my face scrunch, involuntarily, at the question. I hadn't had very much to drink throughout high school except a few wine coolers at my aunt's wedding a couple of years ago. My uncle made me drink an entire beer towards the end of the reception, and it was possibly the nastiest thing I had ever tasted.

Tony laughed, at my expression probably, and reached back and grabbed a red solo cup off the counter. He walked over and handed me the cup and proceeded to put his arm around me. I looked down into the cup he had handed me to see the red liquid that I assumed came from the giant tubs.

"What is this?" I asked Tony, who again laughed.

"Death juice! A mixture of many types of liquors, punch, and Sprite." He replied. "Drink that stuff and I promise you will have a good time!"

I looked nervously over at Carter, who had grabbed a cup of the death juice himself. He held his cup up and smiled. "Cheers?"

I followed his lead and held my cup up, same as him, and we both took a drink at the same time. At first, I could taste a nice fruity mix. Then, almost immediately after, came the burn and a warm sensation tingled through me as I swallowed.

"Wooh!" Carter shouted after he took his second drink of the death juice. "I can see why you guys call it death juice. This shit is strong!"

"Too much of it will knock you on your ass. Drink responsibly!" Tony laughed as he removed his arm from my shoulders and plopped himself back on the counter. "Go enjoy yourselves now!"

The two of us made left the kitchen and made our way back through the hallway and out to the front lawn. During our time inside, a lot more people had arrived at the party. We followed a group of people to the backyard where there were three long tables set up - two of which were being used for beer pong and another where people were drinking out of cups and then trying to flip them face down.