I sucked in a shaky breath. “Yeah.”
He didn’t seem all that convinced, but he let it go. "Do you want to get back to the party?"
And temporarily forget about whatever the hell had just happened between me and my closest friend?
“Definitely.”
***
Spinning, swaying, lagging, that was what the building was doing.
By this point in the night I had lost count of how much I had. The only thing I knew for certain was that I was wasted as a motherfucker.
Javier and I had been together the entire night at the party. He couldn’t be around his girlfriend because we were pretty sure she left the party after their argument. He said Paxton didn’t go to the party at all. I hadn't seen Bella or Kailey; I assumed they left with Ricky. It sucked that all of my friends had disappeared, especially since this was the best party of the year. I wasn’t mad, though. I could have fun alone easily. The certain someone next to me made it easy.
So, it was just me and Javi. Plus all of the other people at the party, of course, but they were irrelevant. Javier was having a ton of fun for a guy who had just gotten broken up with, and itwasn't because he was drinking. He drank so little I wasn’t even sure that it was enough to give him a buzz.
At this point in the night, I was ninety percent sure that I had enough to drink. I couldn’t walk without stumbling, so continuing to drink was not in my best interest. But my drunk brain was hungry—it was hungry for more.
Just one or two more shots, maybe?
Yeah, totally.
"I'll be back," I shouted with my hands cup to the sides of my mouth.
Javier’s eyes that appeared darker in the dim lighting of the house fell on mine. "Where are you going? I'll come."
I didn't respond and instead pushed through everyone to get to the kitchen. There was a guy handing out drinks in red solo cups and I believed he was Poppy’s older brother. I recognized him from when he attended our school last year. He was the ‘adult’ present to ensure that it went smoothly and that no one goes overboard with the alcohol. It was a party full of teenagers, after all.
I smiled at him and he gave me a knowing look. In a rude tone, he asked, "You again?"
He said ‘again’ as if I was the only one out of all of everyone returning for more. Too drunk to give a fuck, I held out my hand, signaling to him that I wanted another drink.
The guy sighed as he reached for one of the red solo cups in front of him. He had plenty of cups already pre-poured so that he could hand them out quicker. When he moved to hand it to me, I reached for it, but before I could grab it he retracted his hand. He was staring at something behind me.
I gasped when I saw Javier standing over me. I didn’t know he followed me. I gave him a cheerful smile before facing Poppy’s brother and reaching for the cup. He took a step back as he shook his head dismissively.
Alright, this was somewhat funny at first but now I was getting pissed off. My eyes narrowed at the drink hogger, but held his hands up in defense before pointing at Javier.
"I think you’re done," Javier said firmly. He was trying to stand his ground without overstepping.
I let out an incredulous laugh. It was hilarious that he thought that he could tell me what I could and couldn't do. "You… you aren't my dad."
“Yeah, thank God.”
I reached across the counter in an attempt to grab one of the pre-poured cups that were placed on the opposite end close to Poppy’s brother. He tried to stop me from grabbing one but ended up pushing my arm to the side instead. That caused my arm to knock over almost every cup on the countertop and unintentionally create a huge mess.
I raised my arm up in the sky and watched as the liquor dripped from it, but I was having trouble focusing. My sleeve was soaked. The drink hogger was cussing me out, but I wasn't really listening because all my focus went into keeping myself upright.
I was upset with myself, but I was also upset with the alcohol for falling over.
Fuck you, cups, for being so unstable that you fall over at the touch of my arm.
I felt bad for the cups after insulting them in my head, so I tried to be nice and pick them up. I took one small step to the side to be better able to grab one, but another sneaky cup was in front of me and I didn't realize it. My foot glided over the top of it and I began to fall. It was a slow and dramatic fall, like the ones in the movies. Or maybe it felt like that because I was so intoxicated, who knew?
I was about to faceplant on the floor, but Javier caught me by my arm like my knight in shining armor. My hot, charming,bilingual knight in shining armor. Even when I was up and steady, he didn't let go of me.
"Sorry.” I pouted. “One more.”
