Jellyfish

11. 3, 2, 1

The pants Miles had put me in we're unreasonably tight and I didn't know how to feel about the way he kept looking at them. I knew Miles was flirty, it had been long enough for me to know that loving was just who he was, but this was different. As much as I told myself not to take him seriously, it was hard with how much he seemed to be struggling at keeping his hands to himself. We'd bid goodbye to Mrs. Leroy over an hour ago, piling back into Frankie's car and heading first to the store on a nacho hunt, then on the road to Isaac's house. The entire time, Miles was making himself very obvious and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, I had a suspicion that Miles and Frankie were dating, not to mention he hardly knew me well enough to be interested like that. Maybe that instant pull happened to attractive people, but certainly not to people like me. On the other hand, Miles was definitely holding the nachos only to stop his hands from wandering to the backseat.

I was confused, to say the least, and it didn't get any better when we got to Isaac's house. Unlike his other celebration, this was most definitely a party with strangers, music, and lights that I'm sure he paid big bucks to install. It would be a lie to say I wasn't just a little bit thrown off by the sheer size of both the party and the house when I stepped out of the car. Miles, of course, took that moment of shock to finally put his hands on me, rather south if I had to say. I jumped a bit noting that despite genuinely trying to comfort me, Miles was also being a sneaky bitch and it was his devious smile that snapped me out of my shock. I pulled away from him, walking alongside the less grabby Frankie who also seemed a bit surprised by the New Years turn out. All three of us managed to fit on the path to the door, Miles bouncing with excitement while Frankie and I shared a quiet apprehension.

"This is gonna be fun you couch potatoes," Miles sighed when we hesitated at the open door. "I get August, but you should be used to this Frankie. No more skittish kittens, we're finding the alcohol first."

Forgotten were the tight pants and the nachos in Miles' mind, now it was all about the alcohol as he dragged us through the halls. I trusted Miles's guidance and took the opportunity to look around as we walked finding nothing but money oozing out of the walls. Isaac lived big for sure, nothing but the biggest and the best decorated his house. With how top class it all looked, I found myself a little pissed that Oliver made as little as he did. I wasn't entirely sure what Oliver did for Isaac, but it had to be something valuable if the company made Isaac enough for a mansion. Surely, he could dish a little out to his employees and God knew that it could majorly improve our quickly declining lives, now more than ever. I shook my head, mood dipping at the thoughts of real life. Every outing I took with my friends seemed so far from how I lived, it was easy to forget that there was only dread to return to in the end.

"Dear God, August." Miles shook his head, bringing me back to the present. "Please drink this and stop thinking whatever you're thinking. You look horribly sad and it clashes with my makeup."

I frowned looking first at the cup, then at Frankie who was already shrugging and sipping on his own. "What is it?"

"Liquid fun," Miles laughed, spinning on his heel and quickly disappearing into the throng of people dancing in the living room.

With Frankie beside me, I felt confident enough to take a sip and oh lord was that part one of one of the worst decisions I'd made in a long time. It was around then that my memory begins to fail me for obvious reasons. Being inexperienced in any type of alcohol that wasn't wine or tiny cocktails, it did not take long for me to get drunk off my ass. Unlike Miles, Frankie didn't leave my side that night, at least I couldn't remember it if he did. He wasn't a big fan of alcohol, still isn't and we would decide to be sober buddies one day very soon after that stupid party. Whenever we go out now, we have each other there to remind us that drinking is stupid, bad, and will lead to things that could potentially destroy everything. Of course, at the time of the party we were nothing of the sort, just new friends getting comfortable around each other and boy did we get comfortable. What it took for me to get comfortable was dark lighting and loud music. What it took for Frankie was a couple cups of mixed vodka.