constellations [DISCONTINUED]

auriga

"Hey guys."

Josie opened the door for us, as bleak as always. Her house was big, not a mansion like Diana's but big enough to fill it with a lot of teenagers. There were friendly faces, familiar faces and faces that I honestly had never seen. We got there at 7:30pm, and miraculously, there were already some drunks stumbling around.

The one drunk who caught my eye was actually Gilbert. He didn't seem like the drunk type at all, it felt a bit weird and invasive to see him in that state, which seemed also a thought of Ruby, because she immediately went down on the bottle of shine, handing it over to Cole afterwards.

"C'mon Cole, I need your confidence right now."

"You've got it!" Cole drank it out "Now let's go get whichever guy you want, baby!"

I knew that 'whichever guy she wants' meant Gilbert, so I drank more shine and grabbed a bottle of beer from the cooler. I had never drunk before — except for a small incident with Diana when we were thirteen — so the taste caught me off guard. It was bitter, it pulled my muscles and flooded my buds, but soon that wasn't of worry anymore, because it started to buzz me off. I wasn't drunk, I remembered what it felt like and it wasn't that, I was simply happy and a little bit dizzy.

"Diana, what do you think of going outside?"

"Yeah, sure."

We went outside to Josie's patio, it was filled with flowers and trees close to the walls but lots of benches and small tables around the center, I grabbed my beer and sat on one of them.

"You know, I like this feeling. It feels nice, I feel like my body is just loose enough, just relaxed enough..."

"Okay, you are definitely tipsy" she said smiling "do you want me to grab you some water just to keep you cool?"

"Yeah, that sounds cool."

Somehow, in my slightly drunken mind, I forgot what Diana left for, so I just chugged the beer down and went inside to get another one. When I got there, I switched the beer for a paper cup — yes, like the ones that people get for children parties — with Bacardi and club soda that someone made for me. It was nice, but by the end of it I wasn't tipsy anymore, I was drunk, and drunk me didn't even remember Diana anymore.

That was when I saw Ruby stumble to the bathroom with a huge smile on her face, and Gilbert looking slightly confused.

Drunk me was curious.

Drunk me went up to Gilbert.

Drunk him went up to me too.

We were alone under the stairs.

"Princess!"

"Don't—" I tripped slightly "Don't call me that!" my vowels dragged more than they should

"Okay, caaaaarrots." I pouted angrily; well, not exactly angry, it just slightly annoyed me in my intoxicated state. "You look so adorable when you're mad!"

"W-What? Shut up! I do not!"

"Yeah you do. Anyway, I think I'm going out with Ruby on Friday. Crazy, right?"

"Pfft, that is not crazy at all! She's been in love with you since for ever!"

"Wait, what? How do you mean?"

"Yeah, she thinks you're cute and whatever, like you are, but she emph... empha... she highlights that a lot! She also thinks you're smart, which is also true, you are very intelligent."

"You think I'm cute and smart! You think I am cute! And that I am smart!"

"I don't!"

"You just said it!"

"Shut up!"

"You can't make me!"

Then I didn't kiss him, but I did put my hands over his mouth. I could feel him laughing with warm breaths under my palms, his lips curled up loosely, his eyes were glossed by the alcohol and my loose arms soon fell down by accident. He took my hands and chuckled lazily.

"You want me to shut up, right?"

"Of course I do, why do you keep saying stuff I already know! Also, you should look for Ruby, I think this party is a good ice breaker for your future date! Plus, I think I should leave, Ruby could—"

Then he kissed me, and I did kiss him back. It lasted maybe a second, and his mouth was slightly misplaced, and when we pulled back, he was still holding my hands. I let go of him and ran off, looking for a drink.

A couple shots later and a lot of running away from both Gilbert and Ruby, I ran upstairs looking for a washroom.

When I finally found one, well, I threw up everything I had in my stomach. After the most uncomfortable experience in my life, I locked the door, sat on the floor and texted Diana so she'd come see me.

When I heard the knock, I stayed in silence in case it was someone else, though shortly after I heard a familiar voice: 'it's me, please open this.'

Diana was sober, I could tell. I opened the door and started sobbing as soon as she came in. Thankfully, Diana is my white knight and she just saves me in every situation, so she just pulls out Listerine and a hair tie, so I did a high bun and rinsed my mouth with mouthwash. The taste was disgusting, but it felt better, I just needed to recover myself but could not stop crying. my makeup was everywhere and the bathroom smelled awful. I sort of remember diana opening a window and spraying Febreeze everywhere, then picking me up from the floor and washing my face. We must've been in Josie's bathroom, because she wiped all my makeup off with wipes.

She stepped outside so I could leave too and I took a glance at the mirror. I didn't like it. My hair wasn't in a cute messy updo, the bun was right on top of my left ear, lots of pieces of hair hanging out weirdly and despite Diana's efforts, some of my mascara hanged on to my lower lashes, so I just looked like a very pale, unbelievably freckly vampire. My lips were chapped and even with the Listerine I smelled like a mixture of vomit, alcohol and mouthwash.

"Anne?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's go downstairs, okay?"

"Okay..."

She grabbed my arm and took me to the living room, placing me in a couch. I had screwed it up, just like I thought I would. I kissed Gilbert, I threw up and cried on a bathroom floor. Plus I looked like shit. How did Gilbert even kiss me?

Diana suddenly was by my side with a paper cup and a jean jacket, it looked familiar.

"Here's some water, and Gilbert told me to give you this and say sorry. He didn't tell me why."

"Can't have it." I mumbled

"What?"

"I can't have it! Ruby won't be happy about it."

"She's fine with it, I checked. She said she liked him even more for being so kind to you."

I just nodded and took it, putting it on. I drank the water Diana brought and retied my hair. December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) was playing. It was September 2019, but yes indeed 'Oh what a night'.

Oh what a night.