I put my hands up in defense. “I just found out about it today.”
“If you guys are down, so am I,” Bella said.
Ricky took a moment to think. Eventually he shrugged, “Same, and I don’t mind driving.”
"Or we could Uber so that you can have fun too," Bella suggested.
Ricky was normally our designated driver. He did not care much for drinking because he couldn’t get past the taste of it. Sometimes I felt bad that he was always our babysitter, but he was the one to volunteer.
“It’s cool, I’ll do it.” He waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t need to drink to have fun.”
"Well, I do," I joked.
Instead of the chuckles I expected, I was met with blank and uneasy stares from my friends. Huh, weird.
***
We arrived at the party an hour after it began. There were plenty of people there, I could tell from the abundance of cars on Benji's front lawn. We could hear the music from outside of the house. There were people making out on the lawn, someone stripping in the driveway, and there was someone passed out on the front porch of the house.
Ah, your typical high school function.
It was clear to me that Benji hadn’t only invited high schoolers, there were college kids there as well. That was the only explanation for all the craziness that was already taking place. It was only a matter of time before one of his neighbors called the police to complain about the group of frat guys doing naked cartwheels down the sidewalk.
Justin was with us, Kailey had invited him after I told her about the party. I was slightly ticked off that she did that, because he was not there when I showed everyone the flyer. He would not have shown up if it were not for me.
Kailey's words were, ‘He's a part of the group. He’s our friend.’ Yeah, he was, or whatever. It wasn’t that big of a deal, I would be too inebriated to care about Justin, anyway.
The five of us got out of the car and took in the atmosphere around us. We had to go around the guys doing naked cartwheels. Scratch that—they were now doing handstands. I was ninety percent sure they were on some type of drug.
"Uh," Bella muttered. “I feel like this party is going to get busted pretty soon."
“Most likely," Ricky grumbled.
I sucked in a shaky breath. I was excited for the party, but I was also wary about going inside. Not solely because of unclothed guys—though that should have been the only reason—but because of whose party this was. I still had a teeny-tiny crush on Benji, and I did not want to make a drunken fool out of myself.
But luckily for me, alcohol was great at settling nerves.
The moment we entered the house I was met with a flash of heat. So many people in the house at once obviously meant that it was going to be hot, but damn, we were practically baking. No doubt I would be sweating in the next thirty minutes.
We watched as a cup got knocked out of someone's hand and fell onto the ground in front of us, the clear liquid splashing everywhere. The girl who spilled the cup was sobbing, her mascara streaming down her face as she knelt and attempted to pick up the cup. She was clearly drunk, because she could not grab that solo cup to save her life. A couple of seconds later, a girl came and scooped her up, taking her stumbling self somewhere safe.
We hadn't even walked five feet into the house yet.
I felt someone nudge my shoulder, it was Ricky. He pointed his finger and I followed the direction which led me to a girl standing on the counter. At first I didn't recognize her, as there was so much going on that it was hard to comprehend anything. Eventually, however, I did make out who it was.
I sighed as I watched my sister dance on top of the kitchen counter. She had on a very tight cropped shirt, and a skirt so short that I couldn't even be sure that one could call it a skirt. I had never been to a party with my sister, but I had witnessed her coming back from some. This was her usual attire.
"Slut,” Justin muttered thinking no one could hear him.
I glared at him. Regardless of my sisters and I’s strained relationship, I still felt defensive of her. Justin had said that as if every other girl in the house was not dressed the same way. He was merely trying to push my buttons.
Kailey tried to diffuse the situation when she noticed the clench of my jaw. "Justin means it in a good way."
Justin mumbled something under his breath, but the music was so loud that I couldn't hear what he said. Then, Emerson began to sing. Someone had handed her a microphone, and now her offkey singing was filling the living room. There was a group of people surrounding her, cheering her on and having the time of their lives.
Yeah, it's definitely time to forget this.
"Okay, enough standing around!" Bella yelled as she slapped Kailey and I on the back aggressively. She then grabbed Kailey's wrist and they both skipped off into the crowd. Justin followed closely behind them.
