It wasn't hard to get people to agree to show up to my house for a Halloween party. Brendon was always down for coming over to my house, same with Dallon and Josh, and I invited everyone else that had been at Dallon's party, figuring that even the ones I didn't know that well had a good enough time that they'd have fun at a costume party with weed and even alcohol this time.
I wasn't exactly keen on the idea of having alcohol at my party, especially because any time someone even brought up the subject all that would come to mind was the panic coursing through me when I realized my mother was driving me home drunk right before we got into a car accident that almost killed me. But of course this happened before I even met Josh, and of course I hated talking about it so no one brought it up, and Josh didn't know any better when I was hanging out with him, Dallon and Brendon while we sat trying to plan the party together in my basement.
"Why don't we get some booze this time?" Josh asked. "There wasn't any at Dallon's--"
"No alcohol. End of story." Brendon went into protective mode with me whenever alcohol was brought up. It was a traumatic experience for all of us and while Brendon wasn't happy with the memory, it didn't affect him the way it did me. He just wanted to keep me safe and respect my boundaries.
"Oh, okay," Josh frowned, and I put my hand on Brendon's shoulder. He was a little snippy about the way he said it.
"Charlie's mom was an alcoholic, and last school year she drove her home drunk and they got into a really bad car accident," Dallon explained to Josh. "It almost killed Charlie. That's why she has that scar on her forehead from the stitches."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Charlie," he said. "I had no idea."
"No, it's okay," I said. "We can have alcohol."
"What?" Dallon and Brendon both turned to me with a confused look.
"As long as no one tries to drive home," I said. "I'll take everyone's keys at the beginning of the night and put them where no one can get to them. I can't hold onto it forever."
"Charlie, you almost died," Brendon said.
"I know, but if no one drives while drunk then it'll be fine, everyone will be safe," I said. "I don't want to ruin the fun for anyone else that just wants to party."
Brendon and Dallon looked at each other hesitantly.
"I'm just not going to buy it," I said. "I'm already buying the weed."
"I'll pay for it," Josh said. "And I think it's really strong and admirable that you're stepping out of your comfort zone with something like this, Charlie, especially after such an awful event happening."
I smiled at Josh, and Brendon and Dallon still looked shocked that I was okay with it. I turned to Dallon. "I don't have anything to smoke out of though."
He smiled at me smugly. "Which one of my 50 bongs would you like to use?"
"50?! Jesus Christ, Dallon." Brendon gaped at him.
"I'm kidding, god Brendon," he rolled his eyes. "I only have like 10, but seriously which ones do you want to use?"
The night of the party, I had dressed in a stupid witch costume, I'd never enjoyed dressing up for Halloween unless it was something really scary that I could scare all the little kids on my block with when they opened the door, but after getting my period the day before, I just didn't have it in me to go all out with a costume and found a cheap one from Rite Aid to wear instead. I know, it's super basic to dress up as a witch as the hostess of a Halloween party but I wasn't having it, and my cramps were killing me slowly even after taking ibuprofen all day long.
