Confessions of a Commitment-Phobe

Chapter 03 | Gaming Pros

Chapter 03 | Gaming Pros

"She made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible."
― Ariana Dancu

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It wasn't until late in the night when people started getting so drunk that they were passed out in various places in the huge house, that the party finally started to die down.

I didn't understand how people could do that; get so drunk that they passed out or worse forget what they did the night before in the morning when they woke up. The thought of it terrified me. While I liked the occasional drink once in awhile at parties, I would always stop before I got too drunk. Unless I trusted the people that I was with, which more often than not I didn't.

Brian's house was big enough that people who didn't have designated drivers could crash until they were feeling okay enough to make their way home. Brian was cool like that and almost everyone who attended his parties weren't stupid enough not to take him up on his offer.

I didn't see Julian for the rest of the party, which I was glad for. I didn't trust myself to make good decisions around him at all.

I was currently sat in Brian Vega's living room playing Mario Party with a couple of semi-drunk teens, some I went to school with and some from school's a few towns over. Considering I was one of the most sober of the bunch, next to a pretty African American girl, whom I had never seen before and who sat next to me, I was totally crushing them all.

"Ugh, no fair, I was absolutely on that star space!" cried a broad chested, senior male I went to school with and whose name I was pretty sure was Henry.

The girl and I grinned at each other, both of us trying to hide our laughs. "Sure, sure," I told him slowly. "But you didn't have any coins."

He frowned, glancing down at his controller like he wasn't exactly sure what it was anymore. "But I could have sworn I had more than forty coins."

This time I couldn't stop myself from giggling, "You did, but you battled this lovely lady over here," I pointed at the girl next to me. "And lost. Remember?"

"Oh. Right," he said. "Boo."

The game ended soon after, with me winning, the girl who sat next to me getting close in second place, and Henry and the other guy being tied for last place.

The two guys grumbled and then left the room, most likely going home since it was starting to get late. I high-fived with the girl next to me and let out a whoop of victory.

She laughed at my antics then held out her hand to me, "I'm not sure if I properly introduced myself, I'm Avery. Just moved here actually."

I hesitated for a beat, but my hand clasped around hers. "Julia," I said by a way of introduction. "Welcome to hell," I spread my arms gesturing to encompass the room. "Home to all the crazy."

She laughed again, it was a soft and delicate sound, almost musical. "I don't know about that. Michigan seems pretty nice so far. I'm originally from Washington D.C., but my dad got a new job so now we're here."

Her voice sounded sad. I didn't want to be a nosy bitch, so hesitantly I asked, "You don't sound very happy about it."

She shrugged, "Transferring schools sucks, but I'm used to being the new kid. Hamilton will be just like the other hundreds of schools I've been to. When you move as much as me, you learn not to get too attached. I just...I had a girlfriend back at my old school. Her name was Marissa. We agreed to do the whole 'long distance' thing, but I..." she trailed off and an expression full of pain crossed her pretty face. She tucked a strand of dark curly hair behind her ear. "I know how those types of relationships normally end."