Ignorance Is Swiss!

8 ♦ Life's Like a Sock of Vomit

8 ♦ Life's Like a Sock of Vomit

Valerie stood in front of the door with me, the knob only centimeters away from my hand. "Are you okay? You seem scared."

I didn't know how so. Without a mirror, I did my best to find out by looking at my clothed body and feeling my face. Although I couldn't understand how I looked that way, I knew why I would have seemed it. In reality, it was more of an anxious than scared. That kind of party was not new to me, but the idea of talking to a guy I had never conversed with before, with the goal of a romantic pursuit, was intimidating. However, I just shook my head.

"I'm fine."

She shrugged her bare shoulders and flipped my hair around. "Alright, Kiddo." Although I was only two months younger than her, she called me by that nickname as if I was two decades younger instead. "Let's go in." She scanned my costume again and shook her head. We went inside, strolled through the corridor, and took a turn into the living room.

The smell of alcohol, party snacks, and a hint of sweat occupied my nose almost immediately. People gave us glances and platonic waves, and no one was surprised by the fact that we just walked in without the ringing of a doorbell. Desiree and Sarala were already laughing with Ava, causing Valerie's grip around my shoulder to tighten. Once they left her alone and met up with a few people we knew who were standing around, it was our turn to make an impression.

Keep calm, don't be boring, act as cool as possible, I reminded myself. The heat of her house became more stiffening as we neared the girl, and I became aware of my limp again as my brain switched its focus back to my physical body.

Valerie opened her mouth to greet her, taking her arm off of my body. I was relieved by the space I finally acquired. Ava turned to us and smiled, her attempt of being a sexy mummy enough to make me laugh out loud. I held my hand over my mouth and looked down, trying to keep my giggles in. Valerie kicked my throbbing shin, causing me to yelp in pain in order to stop me from ruining anything else. Ava stared at me oddly, but before she could address it, a guy I had only seen around tapped on her shoulder.

She turned around and faced the guy who was over a foot taller than her. It wasn't that she was short, necessarily. In fact, she was the average height of a girl. This boy, pale with dark brown hair and multiple pimples on his cheeks, just happened to be one of the tallest in my school. She crossed her arms and stared at him, her neck probably strained from how high up she had to look.

"What now?"

"Do you have any more cups?" he asked, waving a plastic one in his hand. "We ran out."

"How did you even run out?"

"Well, we kind of have to set up for beer pong, Ava." We all glanced at the table, cluttered with half filled cups and a ping pong ball resting on the edge. She shook her head and snatched the ball off of the table.

She waved it in his face, needing to heavily extend her arm to do so. "You are not playing beer pong, Jake! How many times do I have to tell you that? My parents are coming back with my cousins from the Philippines tomorrow. I can't mess this place up as much as I could during other parties."

He snatched the ball out of her hand. "Come on, Ava! Baby!" The nickname made her cringe. "Don't be like that! I'll help you clean up afterwards."

"No, you won't."

"How do you know that?"

"That's what you said before."

"Ah!" He called exasperatedly. His arms flung up and lazily fell back down at his sides. Ava crossed her arms and moved her hip to the side. "I will this time. Come on, I'm getting bored."