"Wooo! Check this Greenbean out boys!" a boy hooted as he clapped a hand on the transfer student's shoulder.
The transfer student blinked as he looked down at the hand on his shoulder before looking around at the guys surrounding him.
"Looks like a shank to me boys," another boy named Gally snorted before taking a long swig of his beer.
The transfer student removed the hand from his shoulder and squared his shoulders. "Name's Thomas. Thomas Murphy. Newt got me on the list."
Gally raised his head at the kid's name and he exchanged a look with Frypan before nodding at the other boy to grab a cup. Frypan walked over to a bucket filled with a lime green liquid and filled up the cup to the top. He returned and thrust the cup into Thomas's hand.
"Let's see what you got shank," Gally said as he leaned against the counter.
Thomas licked his lips and looked hesitantly down at the cup. He could feel their eyes on him as he raised the cup to his lips, closed his eyes, and tipped the contents down his throat.
Sweetness followed by a sour aftertaste and sting of hard liquor burned his throat as he swallowed the liquid in two gulps, never letting the cup leave his lips. It was gross but he finished it and gulped for air, crushing the cup in his hand. He didn't know what was in it, but whatever they put into it, he felt his skin prickle and a warm feeling that filled him up, starting from his stomach and spreading to his toes.
The guys gasped, applauded, and clapped him on the back, congratulating his feat. A small smile appeared on Gally's face and he raised his beer bottle to the new guy.
"Not bad Thomas," Gally murmured. "You passed. C'mon in and enjoy yourself."
Thomas grinned as he wandered further into the house, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He was in – this was the biggest party on campus and it was his third week here. Not too bad for a transfer student.
He walked past a group of people playing beer pong with fierce intensity. A small group of people near one of the players watched as their friend landed a ball in their opponent's cup and he felt a pang of sadness. It made him think about his old friends Aris, Teresa, and Rachel. All of them had known each other since they were kids and had attended the same junior college. Then Thomas decided he wanted to pursue Architecture, which resulted in him transferring to the best college with the top ranked Architecture program in the world.
The first week had been rough – classes were challenging and he struggled to make friends until he met a guy in his History of Architecture class named Newt, who was struggling with the material. Thomas offered to help him prep for the first class quiz and Newt passed with flying colors. In return, Newt managed to get Thomas's name onto the list for Gally's house party.
"I don't wanna be here Newt," Minho moaned as he looked around, trying to find the quickest path to the door. He took a step in that direction and found it blocked by a lanky, blonde-haired guy giving him a pleading look.
"Look Min, ya need to get over Justin," Newt said as he looked him in the eye. "It's been a few months and…ya know, he's not coming back."
Minho bit his lip and folded his arms across his chest. He didn't want to think about Justin, his old Cross Country teammate who trained with him, worked out with him, and…dated. Justin was the only person that seemed to get Minho and they had a lot in common. Then Justin's brother got very sick and he was forced to go home and drop out of university to help take care of him. He refused to look Minho in the eye when they ended it, instead he looked past Min and said that it was goodbye for a while. That shucking hurt like hell.
Newt nudged his arm and leaned closer to him. "5 more minutes. Ya think you can do that, ya buggin' shank?"
Minho rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. Newt shot him a smile and headed towards the kitchen.
"I'll grab you a drink, okay?" Newt said over his shoulder.
"Okay," Minho muttered as he watched Newt leave. He looked around the party, watching people drink too much, dance, play beer pong, and a handful of couples sneaking off.
Then one shank, probably incredibly wasted, stumbled past him with three open beer bottles in his arms. He stepped on a discarded napkin and slipped, the three bottles flying out of his arms. The contents flew up and hit Minho before the bottles landed on the floor in hundreds of shards. The remaining liquid splashed on Minho's pants and socks and he stood there, drenched, pissed off at the shuckface who spilled the beers, and wishing that he was home now instead of here.
"Min I leave for a minute and–"
"I. Want. To. Go. Now." Minho declared through clenched teeth.
Newt opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Gally walking over to assess the damage.
"Walk it off shank," Gally told the guy on the floor. "Zart, you're gonna need to get the broom and pan for this one – careful everyone!"
He turned towards Minho and blinked when he saw how soaked Minho was. "Shower's upstairs, second door to the left."
Frypan appeared beside them and began guiding Minho upstairs. "Min you can borrow some of my clothes, 'kay?"
Newt sighed as he rumpled his hair and he glanced down at the cup he brought for Minho. So much for being good moral support – instead of Minho snapping out of his funk, the shank was more upset than before.
"Newt?"
Newt looked up to see it was Thomas walking towards him. He smiled and waved at Thomas. "Hey Greenie! You made it."
"Yeah uh," Thomas said as he caught his breath. "Had to drink something to get in."
Newt looked at him knowingly. "Green, sweet at first, then sour?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Ah Tommy that's nasty stuff," Newt said as he took a sip from the cup in his hand. "Ya might be a mess tomorrow morning – drink water now so it hurts less, yeah?"
Thomas winced at that and he gulped for air. He felt a little woozy and the alcohol hit him hard from the weird concoction. Newt put down his cup and quickly made a beeline for the kitchen to grab Thomas a tall glass of water. He returned and handed the glass to Thomas.
Thomas took a sip and swallowed, his head swirling. He felt like he was going to be sick.
"Tommy you look sick," Newt spoke up. "Ah…right let's get you to the bathroom now so Gally doesn't kill ya."
Minho stepped out of the shower, steam radiating off his body. He washed his hair four times to get the beer smell out of it and ran the bar of soap multiple times on his skin. He felt a little calmer after everything that had transpired downstairs but he didn't want to go back down there with everyone still at the party.
Frypan had taken his clothes to throw into the washer and left some of his own to wear while his were washing. He dried himself off and wandered out of the bathroom, towel around his waist. He opened a door and quickly shut it when he saw the bare back of a girl straddling a boy. He opened two more doors before finding an empty room with a bed, nightstand, dresser, and lamp. Judging by the sparse decorations, this was probably a guest room.
Minho closed the door behind him and tossed the pile of Frypan's clothes onto the end of the bed. He left his towel on the floor and reached for Frypan's boxers. Minho made a face as the waistband slid down his hips – while he and Frypan were similar in height, their bodies couldn't be more different. He had a t-shirt in his hands when he looked over at the bed and made up his mind. He balled up the shirt and tossed it to the side before pulling back the covers and getting into bed. He stared up at the ceiling and sighed as he messed up his hair.
Once I get my clothes back, I'm outta here, he thought.
He heard a buzzing sound coming from the end of the bed and he sat up, rummaging through the pile to find his cell. He unlocked the screen and read the text from Newt.
Newt
Ya still showering? I'm with a Greenbean from one of my classes – Gally gave him that punch and he's not okay.
Sent 9:14 PM
Minho
No I'm done. Just waiting for Fry to finish washing my stuff so I can go.
Sent 9:16 PM
Wow. How long did Greenie hold out for until losing it?
Sent 9:16 PM
Newt
I'd say half an hour. Seems to be okay now. Ya want me to come to you?
Sent 9:18 PM
Minho
Nah make sure he's okay – that punch is shucking bad news. Remember when Gally gave us that klunk?
Sent 9:19 PM
Newt
Was trying to forget that, ya buggin' shank.
Sent 9:19 PM
