His Sister

Alone

 I wave goodbye to my mom and dad as they back out of the driveway and disappear down the street in their car. I turn around and go back into the house, watching as Jay emerges from the hallway and throws streamers around. I laugh as he twirls and tosses the colored confetti above his head. They float to the ground and he approaches me with a wild, enthusiastic grin on his face. He looks like if trouble was a person.

"Are you so fucking ready for this?" He hoots, pumping his fist.

"Oh, totally. So ready." I say dryly with a stale laugh.

I make my way toward the kitchen and Jay follows hot on my heels. We set up a few snacks and Jay nonchalantly tosses some boxes of condoms on the counter top. I gawk at him in disbelief as he tries to arrange them a certain way.

"Don't put them on the counter! Pass them out to people or something." I exclaim as I open my arms.

"Do you want people making a baby in your bed?" He asks blatantly, folding his arms.

I shake my head as he grins, "Exactly. Now, let me see..."

He takes off toward the front door and reappears moments later with three guys and a massive keg. My eyes widen and my jaw practically hits the floor. A blonde guy with green eyes says that they have two more to bring in, so I help them move the kegs into the backyard. We set them up a safe distance from the pool. After all, we don't want any drunk people getting pushed into the water and drowning while trying to do a keg stand or something. The guys leave afterward and Jay and I begin to set up. A few more friends arrive to help finish up the job and once we're all done, we flop onto the couch and make conversation. We hang around for an hour until Kyle jumps off of the couch and starts up the music.

In practically no time at all, my house is completely filled with teenagers. Picture frames shake against the wall as the bass of every song vibrates throughout the house. Like any good host, I make my rounds and visit with people that I recognize. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. I feel a little overwhelmed, like I haven't had any time to enjoy myself, so I head out to the backyard for some fresh air. This was my first mistake of the night. Almost as soon as I set foot on the back patio, I'm being lifted into the air by a horde of guys. They place a cardboard crown on my head and take me over to the first keg. I laugh and try to get down, but they set me down right in front. A large crowd forms around us and begins chanting, egging me on to do a keg stand. The guys who put me above their heads lift me up again, this time chanting along.

"Keg stand! Keg stand! Keg stand!" They shout.

I want to resist, but I know that there's no point. Tonight is all about fun and enjoying myself. There's no harm in that. They take ahold of my legs and I grip on to both sides of the keg. They lift my legs a little higher as one of the guys helps put the nozzle in my mouth.

"Ready?" Someone shouts from the crowd.

I nod and they lift my legs above my head. A tidal wave of beer pours down my throat. I can hardly believe I'm doing this. I manage to go for what feels like a full five minutes before sputtering and twisting my body to the side. The guys quickly help me down and the crowd falls silent. I look around, hiccup, and then throw my hands in the air.

"Fuck yeah!" I shout.

Everybody in the backyard goes nuts and begins cheering. This definitely isn't me, but they seem to like whoever I am at the moment. Which is definitely the alcohol. I try to fight the dizziness in my head as I push back to the house. Jay catches me just as I'm about to open the door and throws his arm around me.

"Man, this party got kicked into full swing real quick. It's fucking awesome! How you feeling?" He asks, taking a drink from a red solo cup.

"Like a million bucks," I say, burping a little.

He hands me a red cup and I look at it for a moment.He nods at me and I quickly take a sip. I cringe as I force myself to swallow hard. It burns every bit of the way down my esophagus. Jay smiles, almost like he's proud of his concoction.

"It's really strong, huh?"

I wipe at my mouth and smile, "Yeah. Here, wait... I know something."

I take his wrist and pull him into the house with me. We venture into the kitchen and make it into the equivalent of an alcoholic mad scientist's lair. In less than an hour, I'm completely intoxicated. Even though I'm normally a lightweight, I don't think I've ever been this drunk. I act like a complete idiot with my inhibitions out of the way. I dance, laugh, and yell without a care in the world. My vision becomes a massive blur of undefined shapes and colors as I dance around the house, occasionally stopping to socialize with people. There are a lot of people I can't even identify, but I'm sure many of them are strangers. Alcohol becomes easier and easier to drink as the night goes on. I start to drink it like it's water, relentlessly pushing my body closer to its limit. As I wander through the house and make frequent stops, I bump into someone who I'm pretty sure is my friend, Jo. Albeit I can't be a hundred percent sure, I'm almost certain.

"Tara! Great party!" She tells me cheerfully.

"T-Thanks." I stutter as she grabs my upper arm.

Jo gives me a look of concern, "You doing alright?"

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I am living." I answer nonchalantly.

"Have you had a lot to drink? Maybe you should get some water." She suggests, trying to keep me upright as I stagger a bit.

"No, no... It-It's fine. It's no big deal. I'm fine." I dismiss her and try to walk away and continue being social.

"No, I think you need to sit down and drink some water." Jo replies sternly.

As she guides me to the kitchen, I start to notice how bad I feel. I have the spins worse than I ever have before and my stomach feels like I swallowed a colony of fire ants. Jo force-feeds me some water before I start moaning at her to take me to the bathroom. She helps me to the door and I request that she waits outside. Reluctantly, she agrees and I close the door behind me. I've barely taken two steps when I fall to my hands and knees on the bathroom floor. I wretch violently until my body has nothing left to give. My throat and nostrils burn like what I can only equate to the surface of the sun. I crawl a few feet away from the mess that I've made and lie face-down on the tile. The cold floor feels amazing on my fiery skin, offering little relief to me. My eyes water as I begin to dry heave, not bothering to sit upright. I can't move. I think I'm dying. I try to move, but my limbs are like lead weights. Lying on the floor, I watch the door slowly open in front of me. The world spins a little bit faster around me before disappearing completely. I am alone.