Tradition Comes Third

Getting Ready

Author's Note: Sorry this is a short, and bit boring of an update. It'll pick up soon. I promise!

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 Adrian and I had ordered a pizza and were sitting on the couch in front of the television. I had my feet up on the glass coffee table, and was reclined back as Adrian was flipping through TV channels. He had the remote in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other.

"Can you just stay on one thing?" I asked him.

"I will when I find something good," he said.

I rolled my eyes and took my feet off of the table. I gathered up the empty pizza box and plates and brought them into the kitchen. The sun was starting to set outside, and it would soon be dark outside. I didn't know what time you were supposed to go to a party, but I decided now would be a good time.

I ran up the stairs to my room. I changed into a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt, and then I pulled my arms through a red plaid shirt. I used my fingers to comb my thick mop of curls. I pulled off my large metal glasses, and squinted as I used my shirt to clean them off. I grabbed my backpack and filled it with clothes.

When I came back downstairs, Adrian had some reality show on where girls were screaming at each other. I dropped my backpack beside the couch.

"This is what you settle on?" I asked. "At least you're only on one channel."

"I'm glad you're looking at the positive, bud," he said. "Where does Julie keep all of her alcohol?"

"She doesn't," I said. "She doesn't believe in alcohol."

"Not even a bottle of wine?"

"She's pretty strict on upholding certain 'family values'."

"My Dad has some we can take," Adrian said getting up off of the couch. "He'll never notice it's gone."

"Why would we need alcohol?" I turned off the TV.

"Wow, you really don't know anything about a party," he said. "Bud, you need to start drinking before you show up."

"I don't want to drink though," I told him.

"Just a few at my house and that's it," he said. "It'll make it more fun."

I picked up my backpack and followed Adrian out of my house. I locked the door and followed him to his house.

--

At Adrian's house, his Dad was in the shower. He didn't see Adrian sneak into his office and pull one of the bottles of rum from the full rack. He hid the bottle under his pillow in his room, and grabbed a couple cans of cola from the fridge, and a few glasses. He mixed the two together and handed the glass over to me. I had never drank before, Mom was always strict on that kind of stuff. The worst was swearing. The last time I swore around her she made me literally wash my mouth out with soap.

I took a sip of the drink and it burned my mouth and throat. Adrian laughed at my reaction before taking a mouthful of his drink.

"It gets easier," he told me.

I tried to take another sip, but it still burned and I couldn't get the smell out of my nose. Adrian shook his head and set his drink down on his dresser and began to dig through one of his drawers. He tossed a shirt onto his bed, and changed into it. He took a couple more sips of his drink and he was soon finished. I sat down on his chair and looked at his cluttered desk. Mom would never let me leave my room like this. She was big on cleanliness. I saw an empty mug and looked over to see his attention was on his phone. I poured a bit of the drink into the mug.

We talked for an hour and Adrian made himself a few more drinks. I poured my drink little by little into his mug, and he never noticed. Adrian got up off of his bed and his knees started to wobble as he walked over to his desk. He sprayed himself with cologne and shot a spray at me.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"Girls don't like guys that stink," he said. "I thought you would have known that, Mr. Science."

I rolled my eyes and got up off of the bed. "Can we just go?"

"Never thought you'd ask!"

We crept through the halls of Adrian's house. He didn't want to alarm his parents and let the know he had been drinking. We sneaked past his Dad's office to hear him on the phone. His mother was in the living room, and watching a movie. Adrian elbowed me in the side.

"We're going out to Rick's to watch a movie, Mrs. Clarkson," I lied to her for us.

"Have fun, boys," she said without even turning around.

We walked to the party, and the cold wind was biting at my skin. Adrian was staggering beside me, and I had to grab his elbow a few times to stop him from wandering onto the road. When we got close, I could hear the music coming from the house. A line of cars were parked along the street, and a few people were talking on the lawn.

Nobody looked at us we went in the front door. The house was packed full of people, and bottles and cups covered every table and counter. There was multiple couples on the couches, and they were kissing heavily and their hands were exploring each other. The heat rushed up to my cheeks and I kept my eyes on the ground. It felt like a private moment I shouldn't be witnessing. I was bumped by a few people, and I tried to pull my arms in so that I did not hit anyone. I followed Adrian as he walked through the kitchen and out to the back yard.

The wooden deck had groups of people in circles drinking and laughing. Adrian weaved his way through the crowd of people. I tried to keep up, but I quickly lost him. I walked down the steps onto the damp grass. I looked around the yard, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I started to wander around hoping I'd see him or somebody else that I recognized.

That's when I saw her.