Summer Milestone

Drunk Words

Chapter 4

~JOSH~

We party on the beach for another couple of hours, playing stupid drinking games and dancing to loud hip-hop music. I myself perform a challenge to chug one pint of beer and end up feeling really sick to my stomach.

As time wears on, the night of fun is slowly coming to its end. The thirteen people that were here when the night started have now dropped down to six and eventually four, leaving just me, Zack, Dakota, and a guy named Joe. The four of us sit upon the little drop-off in front of the shoreline as we continue to chug down our beers, getting even drunker as the night wears on. Which is actually pretty fucking stupid now that I think about it cuz how the hell are me and Zack gonna get home? Shit, I didn't even think about that before I got so damn drunk! Who the fuck would think about that though?!

"Hey, hey, hey, yeh, Z..." I grumble as I slap his chest to get his attention. "... How da fuck are we gonna get home?"

From what I can see through my foggy vision, Zack takes a glance at me and then bursts into laughter. "Pshhhhh! I don't fuckin' know."

"I can drive you guys home," Dakota offers and then I remember that he barely had anything to drink tonight. He's never been much of a hardcore drinker now that I think about it.

"But you're supposed to drive me home tonight... cuz I'm like, totally wasted," Joe murmurs as drool slips out of his mouth.

"Pretty sure I can do both, man," he says, taking a look at his watch. "It's past midnight, we should probably get going."

We all get up from our spots on the ground and wearily start making our way to Dakota's car, and just as Joe takes the front passenger seat, all that liquor he ingested comes back up and explodes like a volcanic eruption all over the dashboard.

"Aw, fuck, dude!" Dakota exclaims.

"Shit... I'm sorry," Joe says after a small belch.

"You're fucking disgusting, man," Dakota mumbles as he gets some supplies from the trunk to clean the shit up. And while he does that, we have no other choice but to wait for a while, and so Zack and I return to our spots on the drop-off as we lay down side by side to look up at the stars.

"Stars are pretty," I mutter, not really processing my thoughts before I say them.

"Yeah," he agrees.

"I love looking up at the stars," I say even though I have no idea why "I love looking up at the stars."

"Yeah," he agrees again.

"I love this place... I love the ocean... I love... bein' so fuckin' drunk..."

"Haha, ditto... but we're gonna hate it when we come out of it... I think I'm actually starting to come out of it though," he says, rubbing his eyes.

"... I love that you're back..." I turn my head to him. "I... I-I..." I yawn. "... I love you, man."

"Wait, what?" He suddenly turns his head to me so that we're facing each other.

"You heard me."

"Don't you think that's a little weird?"

"Why? Don't you feel the same way?"

"Well... yeah, of course, I do, but... it just sounds weird, that's all."

"I don't give a fuck how 'weird' it sounds. I love my best friend in the whole fucking world, is that so wrong?!" I start to yell as I reach my last sentence.

"Ha, yeah, you're right. There's nothing wrong with that. I love you too, dude."

"Aw, I got you to admit it!" I tease him.

He rolls his eyes. "You're really annoying when you're drunk you know that, right?"

"I'm this annoying when I'm sober too, dummy."

"You're never this bad," he murmurs, but my drunk ass still hears him.

"Hey, can I ask you a serious question?"

"Sounds like you just did... but yeah."

"Do you think I'm... do you think I'm a loser?"

"What? Of course not, you're the coolest guy I know."

"I feel like such a fucking loser sometimes. Especially while you were gone. It's like I'm invisible without you."

"You're not a loser, shut up."

"I am. It's like... without you... I have no friends... and I barely ever feel happy on my own."

"What about Anna?"

"She's a great girl but... sometimes I feel like she secretly hates me or something..."

"I doubt that. She seems like she's pretty into you. Especially after you saved her life."

"We saved her life," I correct him, even through my drunken stupor. "Speaking of which... are you ever gonna tell me why you don't swim?"

"It's just something that I wish I could forget about, that's why I don't like talking about it. But... since you are my best friend, I guess you deserve to know..."

Unfortunately, before he gets the chance to explain, we hear Dakota's voice call us, "Let's go, guys!"

When we get into the car, it still reeks of Joe's vomit so the car ride home is a bit uncomfortable but hey, it beats drunk driving and ya know, killing somebody. Though now I kinda wonder how the other kids got home all wasted and shit. I guess that's their problem.

Anyways, Dakota drops me and Zack off first, helping me out of the car especially since I'm the one who's totally wasted while Zack seems to be a bit more clear-headed by now. I lay on my bed and instantly fall asleep. By morning, I experience my first hangover and I don't remember a thing from last night. Honestly, the last thing I can recall would probably have to be saving Anna's life from drowning but beyond that, the night is a blur.

I look at my bedside clock and see the bright red numbers reading 10:56 AM. As I pull myself up from the bed, I feel a burning in my chest and my headaches like a bitch. Damn, fuck these stupid hangovers! You may be having fun the night before but the morning after you feel like complete shit.

I'm suddenly blinded by the bright sight of the light shining into my darkroom as the bathroom door opens and Zack appears, wearing nothing but a towel. I give my eyes a minute to focus and while they may burn from the light I still manage to see Zack's figure and for some reason, I can't take my eyes off of him. With his blonde curls all wet and water droplets dripping down his pale white flesh, I suddenly realize how hot he really is. I mean, I always knew he was a lot better looking than me but seeing him how he is right now is actually... drawing my attention, I don't know why.

"Like what you see?" He says jokingly, noticing me gawking at him.

I scoff but I know my face is surely turning red.

"Yeah, sorry for blinding you, I just forgot my cologne," he says, grabbing it from his bag on the couch and heading back into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

I sit in my bed for a minute just thinking to myself about what just happened. Did I seriously just check out my half-naked, guy best friend because I couldn't help but notice how hot he looked semi-clothed? Whoa, that was a little weird. I blame the hangover.