Cherries and Coffee

The Fight

Chapter 17

We tried talking Ray out of the party.

"Jade's gonna be tired when she gets home," Mel stated.

"We have classes tomorrow, we can't be out all night," I would add.

But once Ray gets an idea in his mind, there's no talking him out of it.

So that's how I ended up here. Back at Alec and Jared's place watching Ray shotgun a beer with Alec while Mel and I watch helplessly. I decided earlier not to drink, I'm hardly in the mood and I need to keep an eye on my roommate.

Mel didn't seem in the mood to drink either. She had a beer that she took a few sips of before switching it out for a bottle of water. Jared and Jade are chanting at the two, encouraging them to finish the drink. I can't blame them. They don't know that Ray's drinking is starting to spiral out of control, they just think it's a normal college party.

Alec drank the contents of the can faster than Ray could, making him the winner of their little game. Jade makes her way over to where I'm sitting on the couch and takes the spot next to me, leaning her back against the armrest and resting her legs on my lap.

"Well that was a bust, I was hoping Ray would win," she says with a hint of disappointment. "Now I owe Jared five dollars." She mumbled the last part and crossed her arms over her chest.

I laugh and intertwine my hand with hers. Across the room, Ray makes his way over to Mel, clearly drunk, and sits next to her. He pulls her onto his lap and wraps his arms around her stomach, his head leaning on her shoulder. Her hands find his and she wraps them around his then leans back. It's hard to say what she's thinking but her thumb rubs the top of his hands and she stares down, showing that she's consumed in thought.

"Damn I need to get a girlfriend," I hear Alec say. I turn my head to face him and Jared who are standing in the front of the room watching the two couples. Next to me Jade scoffs, "Ha. Good luck with that one bro."

Her response unleashes chuckles from the rest of the room. Alec rolls his eyes, clearly unamused. "Just you wait, one day I'm gonna get a hot girlfriend and you're all gonna be jealous."

By this point, everyone's just staring at Alec with a blank look. Even Ray.

"I'll have you know, I got super-liked twice this week on Tinder," he brags.

"Wow, twice!" Jared says sarcastically before taking a seat on the recliner next to the couch me and Jade currently occupy.

Now Alec started showing that he was pretty drunk. "I know man! I have a date with this hot redhead next week," he slurred, completely oblivious to Jared's sarcasm.

"Oh my god," Jade whispers. She has a mischievous grin plastered across her face. "What's her name?"

Alec pauses for a moment as if searching the depths of his mind for this girls name. Probably because that's precisely what he's doing. "Holly," he finally answers.

"Last name?" Jade pries.

"Silly goose, they don't show last names on Tinder."

"Age?"

He has to think again. "19, I'm pretty sure. My brains all fuzzy."

Jade bursts out laughing. "Do you even know her favorite color?"

"Yeah," he retorts defensively, "it's purple."

"Uhuh," Jade says before turning to me. "This is gonna end so bad," she whispers to me.