She Was A Punk, He Did Ballet

Chapter 3-The Party

"I can't believe you got my mother to make me go." It's ten o'clock. The three of us walk up the stairs of Sam Michaelson's front porch, the party raving on the other side of the door.

My mom is always trying to get me to leave the house and go to parties and "be a normal teen". I feel like she'd prefer it if I'd come home hammered and puking than if I'd come home with textbook after a study session.

"I can." Wess says. "I just wish we could've gotten her to make you change into something nicer."

"I'm sorry do you have something against my hoodie?" I ask him. It's my favorite sweatshirt. All black with the words 'Viva La Rock 'n' Roll' in a splattered font on the back.

"No, of course not. I think you'd make a really adorable hobo." Reluctantly I slide the hoodie off and sling it over my arm, leaving me in my tight black tank top. I elbow Wess in the ribs and reach for the door knob, but before I can turn it, someone opens the door from the inside.

"Hey! Welcome to the party, Bro!" Sam and Wesley dap each other up and the jock glances at Nina and I over Wess' shoulder. "And who are these gorgeous broads?"

Sam straightens the collar of his shirt and grazes his tongue across his front teeth. I'm not gonna lie. He's hot. His dark hair is close cropped and nappy, while his bronze skin looks warm enough to touch. Those wide black eyes could really win you over.

I can't help the smirk that plays across my lips. Wess pats Sam's shoulder.

"Sorry, man. Off limits. These girls are my people."

"Aw c'mon, man." Sam takes my right hand and plants a kiss on it while Nina's fingernails dig into my left. I raise an eyebrow at the handsome light skin. "You're with that cheerleader right? Save some cuties for the rest of us."

The two guys chuckle as Sam lets us inside and quickly disappears.

"That was way hot." Nina squeals in my ear so I can hear her over the roaring music.

"Yeah, I think I'm warming up to this whole party thing." I shout back.

It's true, I don't typically like attention, but this kind of attention is something I can tolerate for one night.

"I'm gonna go find Suzie, will you guys be okay?" Wess yells to us in the thickening crowd.

"Yeah, go have fun, loser." I yell back. When he walks away, I drag Nina to the slightly quieter kitchen.

"Damn! This kitchen is huge!" Nina's jaw gapes open.

"Yeah, so is the rest of this damn mansion, you just can't tell when there's so many bodies clogging up the living room." I chuckle to myself and make my way over to the island in the center of the room that's covered in chips, dip and various brands of booze. I grab a red solo cup and glance over some of the labels.

"Pip, you're drinking? Here? In a stranger's house?" Nina comes up beside me.

"Yeah, why not? If I'm gonna be here, why not make it warm and fuzzy?" I open up a bottle of Jack Daniel's and fill my cup halfway. I add the pepsi and throw in a few ice cubes from a cooler.

"Is your mom gonna freak?" I shrug my shoulders.

"She won't care, so long as I don't get severe alcohol poisoning or completely hammered." Whenever Nina and Wess come over, my mom opens up the liquor cabinet. She confiscates car keys and calls up Wess' parents for permission so we can drink responsibly and hang out. She doesn't bother with Nina's parents anymore because her mom's not in the picture and her dad is always away on business. Most of the time, Nina practically lives with us. "Come on, you know her rules."

"Fair enough." She fills a glass halfway with Kinky Pink and drinks it straight, taking small sips at a time.

The two of us rejoin the party, not bothering to dance amongst the drunks. Instead, we find ourselves in the basement, getting roped into a game of beer pong with Wess and some ginger guy from the track team.

"Good luck, guys." Wess calls across the table. "Dawson, here, has been playing beer pong since he was eight."

"True story." Dawson winks at Nina who blushes profusely, and throws the first ball. It lands directly into the center cup. Nina, too throws a little plastic ball while keeping eye contact, and it bounces off the edge of the table.

"Ight, we start." Wess calls out and I toss back Dawson's ball. Without a moment's hesitation, he aims it back. It bounces off the table and lands in the leading cup. I glance at Nina and her nervous expression matches mine.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

"Bottoms up, ladies." Wess smirks while Nina and I each remove a cup from the structure. Mine is gone in seconds and Nina takes her time with her own cup.

They finish taking their turn, removing a total of four cups right off the bat.

By the end of the game, Nina and I hadn't managed to clear a single cup.

"In my defense, Nina's got terrible aim even when she's sober." I lock arms with Wess as he, Nina and I travel back up the stairs.

"So what's your excuse?" He asks.

My head lolls to one side, landing on his shoulder.

"I may be just slightly buzzed."

The party goes on and Wess stays by Nina and I to keep us from over-drinking.

At around 1 o'clock, things start dying down and most of the ridiculously drunk people were passed out somewhere on the lawn. People were walking out of the house after leaving guest rooms with scrappy hair and disheveled clothing. Others had just figured it was time to leave.

Eventually, the only conscience people left are Sam, Dawson, Nina, Wess, Suzie, her friend Marisa, and me. We all help Sam drag the furniture back into the living room and start to settle down around the glass coffee table. Nina and I take the love seat. Marisa wedges herself between Dawson and Sam on the sofa, and Wess sinks into the leather chair with Suzie on his lap.

"These are the realest moments." We all look up at Sam and wait for him to continue. "The best people are the ones who stick around when everyone's gone."

"Don't look at me," I shrug. "I'm only here because Wess is my ride home."

That gets a laugh out of everyone, except Nina who starts dozing off with her head on my shoulder.

"How about we make things interesting." Dawson stands and Sam follows him to the kitchen. They return with seven bottles of Budweiser, collectively. Each person gets a bottle set in front of them on the table. "Anyone up for drinking games?" Dawson asks and we all sit up. Even Nina perks up after her short nap.

"Any ideas?" Wess asks and a familiar British accent pitches a suggestion from across the room.

"How about a classic game of 'Never Have I Ever'?"

"He's British?" Emma whispers in my ear.

"Did I forget to mention that?" I whisper back.