Chapter 10
Bex POV
"Hey Bex!" Sully called, catching up with me at my locker after class the next day. "A bunch of us are carpooling to that party tonight. Tawny's making her little brother be DD *(Designated Driver)*. You in?" He asked.
"Yeah, sounds perfect." I said slamming my locker shut. We turned and started walking towards the school doors together.
"Cool. We're meeting up at my house at eight. George Fuller and Javier Rangel are coming two – I don't think you've met them yet. Jason from lunch is two. And Tawny. And her brother of course, though Tyler – that's her brother – isn't staying. He's just dropping us off and picking us up." He explained.
Aw! His face lit up just from saying her name! That's so adorable.
"No Ashley or Haley?" I asked warily. I don't really like those two, they're kind of rude.
"No thank God!" Sully chuckled. "Haley's going early to help her brother set up. And, well, you know those two. Where one goes, the other follows! So Ashley's going with her."
Sully and I sniggered at that for a moment. Good, looks like I'm not the only one that doesn't like them. We walked on in silence for a second or two before I spoke up again.
"So, Tawny huh?" I said suggestively, giving him a sly look out of the corner of my eye.
He looked at me quickly, his ears turning pink with embarrassment. Clearly he thought he'd been subtle with his feelings. Haha, WRONG!
"Shut up." He said halfheartedly, shoving me away from him lightly. I stumbled a few steps in the other direction, before coming back and knocking my shoulder into his. I threw back my head and laughed, and before long, Sully joined me.
"You can't tell anyone." He said once we'd calmed down a bit. We'd just about reached my rental car by this point.
"Not even Tawny?" I joked.
"ESPECIALLY not Tawny!" Sully said a little too loudly.
"Huh? What? What about Tawny?" A figure that had been walking a few yards in front of us this entire time turned around and asked. What do you know, it was Tawny. Awkward!
I guess Sully and I hadn't been paying enough attention. In our defense, it was drizzling outside, so Tawny had the hood of her jacket pulled up over her head. That's my excuse for not recognizing her. There was another, smaller figure walking next to her, also wearing a jacket. They turned around when Tawny did, and I saw that it was a young, skinny looking Asian boy. Must be Tawny's brother.
Sully and I looked at each other. He was turning red, embarrassed at getting caught. "Oh, nothing!" We said at the same time before dissolving into laughter again at the awkwardness of the whole situation.
Tawny's eyes darted between the two of us suspiciously until our laughter had died down. "Okaaaay." She said. "Oh, Bex. This is my little brother Tyler." She said, gesturing to the boy next to her. So I was right. Good. "He's our designated driver for the night…you did ask her, right?" She asked, shifting to look at Sully for the last part.
"Oh yeah, he did!" I said when Sully still looked too embarrassed to form a coherent sentence. "I'm in. Nice to meet you Tyler." I said, waving at him. He waved back and smiled, but didn't speak. Must be a little shy. I didn't take it personally. "I'll see you guys tonight then!" I said, waving my keys and taking the last few steps to the rental car.
I'd hoped that Sully would take the opening to strike up a conversation with the girl, but before I'd even unlocked my door he'd said his goodbyes and went off to his own car. Tisk tisk.
Oh well. Maybe something will happen tonight! Alcohol does have a way of loosening people's tongues.
o*O*o*O*o*O*o
"Here we are." Young Tyler said as he pulled into a long gravel driveway.
Tawny and I were both squeezed into the middle seat of the Lawrence's' old Buick, so I had to lean over Javier to look out the window and catch my first glance of the legendary Party House. It was a rambling old two story building that somehow reminded me of a log cabin. About half of the windows had holes in them and the porch railing was broken and the pieces were lying carelessly on the ground. It looked like your typical abandoned house, except for the fact that it was teeming with teenagers at the moment, most of which already had drinks in their hands. And I couldn't see it, because it was so dark, but I could hear and smell the ocean…it must be close.
"Eik!" Tawny let out a girly squeak and hit George and my legs repeatedly in her excitement.
I threw back my head and giggled, already feeling giddy and I hadn't even gotten out of the car. I needed this evening after all this week's stress of moving to a new town and having to make all new friends. I just needed to relax and have a good time.
Tyler put the car in park and we all filed out. I stood there for a second, making sure the cramped ride here hadn't cramped my stylish clothes.
I was wearing the best outfit! Nessie had helped me pick it out on our shopping trip yesterday. It was this short, tight, long-sleeved dark blue dress with a lace overlay. It ended well above my knees, showing off my Texas tan (might as well flaunt it while I've got it. It probably won't last long around here). And I had paired it with a pair of knee length high heeled black boots that had just been sitting in my closet forever. I don't really wear them that often because they're only, like, four inches high, and I normally wear much higher than that – if I'm wearing heels that is. But since I'm going to be drinking tonight, I'll have enough trouble keeping my balance in these babies.
I also had on a long necklace with a multicolored fake crystal on it, dangly earrings, and a obnoxiously clunky bracelet on my right wrist. My long brown hair was curled to perfection. Even my make-up turned out great, emphasizing my blue eyes and high cheekbones.
I looked great.
I pulled on the hem of my dress, halfway to guard against the cold and halfway to make sure it was straight before sticking my phone in my boot and hurrying after my group. They'd stopped shortly inside the door around a cooler. Instead of holding cans, it was filled with a mysterious red liquid. There was a stack of red solo cups next to it. Everyone in my group grabbed one and dipped it into the cooler, filling their cups.
"Trashcan punch." Jason explained after taking a big gulp out of his and seeing my confused look.
"Oh." I said, accepting the cup Sully offered. I love that stuff. It never comes out the same twice. Always an adventure! I took a sip. All I could taste was red fruit punch and vodka. Oh well, I like them both! "Oooh. Good!"
Tawny chuckled and grabbed my arm. "Come on. Let's get rid of our jackets." She said, tugging me further into the house.
"I'll come with!" Sully said hurriedly, and I couldn't help but smile again. Of course he'd go wherever Tawny goes!
"Take mine two." Jason said, taking his jacket off and tossing it at Sully.
"Sure." Sully agreed good-naturedly, even though Jason hadn't really asked. He knew Jason didn't mean that to come out rudely. That's just how really good friends talk to each other. He turned towards George and Javier and gestured towards their jackets, silently asking if they wanted him to take theirs as well.
"Thanks anyways, but I think I'm gonna head back outside." George said before lifting up his cup and chugging. "Toooo many people." He said once he'd finished.
It's true. The place was packed. It'd been really cold outside, but it was hot in here, even though the door was left open and a lot of the windows had holes in them. There were just so many people in here, talking and dancing to the music and everything that their body heat worked like a furnace.
"Yeah, I think I saw some guys tossing around a football out back." Javier said. George nodded and they both walked away, disappearing through the crowd.
I looked back over my shoulder to find that Jason had already struck up a conversation with two girls sitting an old fireplace over in the corner. 'He's such a ladies man.' I thought, shaking my head good-naturedly.
"Come on." Tawny said, tugging me along. "Everyone always just throws their jackets in the upstairs hall closet."
"I wouldn't depend too much on that railing." Sully said from behind me as we were going up the stairs. He tapped the hand I had resting on the railing to make sure he had my attention. He reached over and grabbed it himself, jerking it back and forth. The whole thing wobbled. Not exactly what a stair railing is supposed to do... "It's not very sturdy." He warned.
I took my hand off of it after that, and was extra careful the rest of the way up.
We got rid of our jackets and Sully led the way back to the party. I was midway down the stairs, with one hand trailing along the nice, solid wall for balance, just mindlessly looking over all the dancing people below and my now empty cup dangling from my hand when I saw something that froze me in place. Sully continued down the stairs obliviously, but Tawny bumped into me – not having expected me to stop so suddenly.
"What's wrong girl?" Tawny asked, putting a hand on my arm. She followed my gaze to a couple standing just inside the doorway.
The guy was tall dark and handsome. Every girls dream. And when I say tall, I mean tall. He towered over everyone in the room. It was Paul, and he was looking good. But there was a girl with him.
I'd never seen her before, but I felt a sudden unexplainable rush of hate towards her. Even so, I had to hand it to her. She was pretty. She had on tights, a skirt, and a really cute pink V-neck sweater that fit her like a second skin, and her luxurious black hair fell perfectly straight over her shoulders. But she had both her hands wrapped around one of Paul's arms. He had his head tilted down so he could hear whatever she was saying. But his eyes alternated from looking into his cup to scanning the crowd.
They looked entirely too comfy.
And she is way prettier than me.
I don't like this.
I couldn't even explain it to myself, but I suddenly really just wanted to go over there and rip her clingy little hands off of him. That's crazy though! I barely know Paul, and I don't even know her at all.
I still couldn't help feeling a little hurt though, but I quickly replaced it with anger and teenage recklessness: a perfect mixture for trouble.
"Nothing. Everything's fine." I said coming back to myself. I actually think I saw red there for a moment. And maybe turned just a little green…figuratively of course. "Let's go get wasted!" I grabbed her arm and we clambered down the stairs.
Hey, if I can't be the prettiest girl at the ball, then I may as well be the drunkest.
o*O*o*O*o*O*o
About three beers later I stumbled into a familiar face.
"HEEEEEY!" He yelled, throwing his head back and holding his cup up to the sky in an extremely enthusiastic toast. "I'm Quil. We met that one time at Jakes!" He reminded, throwing his arm around my shoulder.
A happy drunk – my favorite kind!
"I REMEMBER!" I yelled back just as loud. I clumsily bumped my cup against his before shot gunning what was left of it.
"YEAH!" Quil cheered, before downing his as well.
Then we both just threw back our heads and laughed and laughed and laughed…for no apparent reason – you know how drunken people do.
"What are you even doing here? I thought this was a Forks party!" I slurred.
"Res kids never miss a party. Besides. It's on our land. We always crash. THE QUILETE ARE THE PARTY MASTER KINGS OF WASHINGTON!" He bellowed out that last part, and a cheer went up from around us. We dissolved into laughter again and I stumbled around on my high heels.
Just then, Matt appeared at my elbow.
"HEY MATT! Thanks sooooo much for inviting me. This party is awesome!" I slurred, wrapping my arms around his neck in a quick hug.
"No problem!" He slurred back. "Glad you're having fun! I got you a fresh one." He took my empty cup of beer and replaced it with a full one.
I brought it to my lips and started gulping it down, but I only drank about half of it before a warm hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled my arm down and taking my cup away. I looked up, surprised, and wiped the little bit of beer that had sloshed on my face away. Then I looked down at my arm and the hand that gripped it. It was Quil's hand. Quil had taken my beer! I gave him a what-the-heck look, but he didn't look the least be apologetic.
"You need to slow down." He warned, but he chuckled a little bit like he was amused. But his sentiment was lost when he brought MY cup to HIS mouth and drank it for me. Jerk. He just smiled when I glared at him.
"Aw come on!" Matt groaned. "It's her first Forks party! Let the girl have some fun! Party pooper."
Yeah! A second ago Quil had be laughing right along with me, joining in on my drunken antics. Now he's wanting me to calm down?
Quil looked like he was about to say something, but Matt started talking again.
"So anyways," Matt said, bringing our attention back to him. He crumpled my old empty cup in his hand and threw it towards the trashcan. He missed, but just shrugged and turned back to me. "A bunch of us are about to play shot roulette. You in?" He asked me, completely ignoring Quil.
"What's that?" I asked.
"THE BEST GAME EVER! Come on, I'll show you." Matt said, grabbing my arm and pulling me after him without waiting for my answer.
"Oookaaaay. Bye Quilly! See you later!" I called over my shoulder waving enthusiastically at him.
Quil waved back, but he seemed distracted. I don't think he wanted me to go with Matt…but I was too drunk to really care. So I tripped along behind Matt as he led me from the kitchen and back into the living room.
I couldn't stop myself from looking over by the doorway, where I'd seen Paul and Miss. Pink Sweater earlier. They weren't there.
'Probably in a closet somewhere making out.' I thought cynically, pretending not to notice how I suddenly felt angry and hurt again. We'd sort of bonded during that shopping trip, in a just friendship kind of way of course. But now it seemed like my subconscious had taken a more possessive view of Paul. Like I only wanted him to flirt and smile at me. No one else. It's completely ridiculous, even I knew that. But I still couldn't help being a little hurt.
Though, now that I think about it, being upset probably contributed to my playing such a ridiculous game like shot roulette in the first place.
"Okay." Matt started when we came to a stop at a group of people seated in a circle on the grungy living room floor. In another circle inside of the circle of people were a bunch of drinks and, in the very center of both circles, was a beer bottle. "Here, sit down." He gestured towards the circle of people and they scooted closer together so Matt and I could sit down. "So, basically, those cups are filled with different mystery drinks – some alcoholic, some not. We just kind of mixed a bunch of random stuff together. And you spin the bottle and whatever it lands on, you have to drink. Get it? And they usually taste disgusting. Hence the name shot roulette."
I nodded to show I understood him and pulled the hem of my dress down, just having noticed that it had rode up when I sat down. "Got it." I assured him.
"Newbie goes first." I looked across the circle to see who had spoken and saw Jason Degal from lunch smiling drunkenly at me.
I smiled back and reached into the middle of the circle, careful not to knock over any of the drinks, and spun that bottle. It landed on a disgusting looking brown one. Ew. Everyone laughed at the look on my face as I picked up the cup and brought it to my face.
Without giving myself the chance to think, I downed it. "Arg!" I gasped when I finished and everyone cheered. It wasn't that bad. There was Coke in that one, that's probably what made it brown. And definitely quite a bit of alcohol. I'm not sure what kind, but it made my throat burn on the way down. It could have been worse.
And then it was the next person's turn. Around and around the circle we went, stopping periodically to fill holes in the circle of drinks with the stash on the coffee table. The game really was fun. People make some interesting facial expressions doing this stuff.
After about our fifth trip around the circle, I felt a warm hand on my arm. I turned to find Paul crouched next to me, his face really close to mine. An irrational attack of happiness filled me.
"What do you think you're doing?" Paul asked abruptly. He seemed mad.
Well, too bad. I'm mad at him to now that I've remembered about Miss Pink Sweater.
Sometime in the two seconds I'd known the guy, I'd developed a crush on Paul. I hadn't even known it myself, but it'd happened. And then I get all excited for a party, my first party with my new friends, and there's Paul. Flirting with Miss. Pink Sweater. Urgh!
Now that Paul's face was right in front of me, I couldn't get that image out of my head from when I'd first seen him tonight. With Miss Pink Sweater hanging on his arm. Her saying something, and then his responding smile.
And then he has the nerve to be mad about something! Uh, no.
"I don't know." I said, copping some serious attitude. "Why don't you go ask Miss Pink Sweater what she thinks I think I'm doing?" Typical drunk Bex. Just expecting everyone to just know what I'm talking about, and letting stuff slip out without thinking about it. Oh well, I wasn't in the mood to regret things.
"What?" He asked, confused. His hand was still resting on my arm, but now he wrapped his fingers around it, as though I would make more sense if he held onto me tighter, and he stared at me intently, like he was trying to read my mind or something.
"Hey Bex, it's your turn." Matt said, unknowingly interrupting my tense moment with Paul and saving me from having to explain myself.
I tore my gaze away from Paul, but not before watching Paul turn and shoot a cringe worthy glare Matt's way. As if to prove to Paul that I was fun two (at least as fun as Pink Sweater) and to protest his rudeness, I reached in the center of the circle and grabbed the beer bottle, spinning it really hard as an outlet for my anger. I think I got the longest bottle spin of the entire game – what an honor – and it landed on a really interesting looking yellow drink.
"A pretty drink for a pretty girl." Matt said with a cheeky wink as he reached out and handed me the drink.
I threw back my head and laughed, but Paul didn't seem amused. I actually think I heard him growl. His grip on my arm tightened and his other hand clenched into a fist….was he shaking? Na, I just must be drunker than I thought.
Paul moved to take the drink from me, so I hurried up and drank it. Oh man! It was almost straight tequila in that one and…a little bit of yellow Gatorade? Interesting…it tasted awful. I shook my head really fast as, like that could get rid of the aftertaste.
"BEX." Paul hadn't really raised his voice, but his tone was so serious that he didn't need to. My head turned in his direction and I suddenly felt like a little girl faced with her parents wrath after she'd done something really wrong. That actually probably wasn't too far off from what was about to happen. Because Paul seemed really mad. His black eyes were practically shooting out flames, and his mouth was set in a hard line.
I think I just got my first glimpse of that famous Lahote temper I've been hearing about, but I wasn't the least bit pleased to have it directed at me.
Paul used his hand that was still wrapped around my arm to jerk me up onto my feet - as though I weighed nothing. "Are you kidding me?" He asked angrily, spinning me around to face him and paying absolutely no attention to the other roulette players who were now all looking up at us as though watching a particularly enthralling soap opera. "You have no idea what's in those." He continued. "You don't even know how much you've had to drink. That's dangerous Bex! You could get alcohol poisoning! This is stupid. This is so stupid. Whose idea was this?" He barked out, finally acknowledging the rest of the players.
"Dude, chill out. It's a party. Loosen up." Matt said, standing up as well, his voice shaking a little bit. And I don't blame him. Paul's looking pretty scary right about now. And this had been his idea.
"So, your idea then, huh?" Paul said, glaring. He let go of me and stepped closer to Matt, staring down at him threateningly.
Oh God. Please don't fight. That would be so embarrassing.
"Yeah man, we were just trying to have some fun." Matt said, sounding even more nervous.
"Oh I know what you were trying to do." Paul growled.
"Calm down Paul." I hissed. "It's no big deal. This is a party!" I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back, but he wasn't budging. If anything, he got up in Matt's face even more.
"Man. Some people need to take a chill pill." Matt mumbled, taking a step back. I think that was his attempt at getting out of the fight, but still trying to save face. But Paul didn't seem to care, because he kept on getting up in Matt's face.
"And some people need to choke on it." Paul retorted, taking another step closer.
Urgh! He's so irrational! And it's starting to cause a scene. The group I'd been playing shot roulette with were all still looking up at us, and other party-goers were stopping their dancing and gathering around, expecting a fight. God, what is Paul's problem? It's none of his business what I do! This doesn't even affect him!
I tried tugging on his arm one more time, but he didn't pay me any attention – too focused on his ridiculous display of masculinity I guess – so I pushed Matt back a little bit so I could squeeze in between them. Even though I wasn't really sure what was going on, I knew it had something to do with me, so I felt responsible.
I put a hand on each guy's chest, trying to push them away from each other. Matt moved back a half a step, but they still continued to glare at each other.
Oh, this is so not going to end well.
Luckily, Tawny pushed her way through the crowd, just in time.
"Yo Bex, you alright?" She asked, gesturing with the bottle she held to the two angry dudes I was standing between.
"Yeah. I'm just surrounded by idiots." I bit out. I glared at Matt and then at Paul before looking back at Tawny. "I've gotta get outa here."
"Come on girl. LETS GO TO THE BEACH!" She screeched drunkenly, offering me that bottle.
I accepted and gulped down a couple swallows. Yum, Hpnotiq. My favorite! And just like that, my party mood was back. "Whoooo!" I yelled when I had to stop for air. That seemed to break the tension in the room two, because everyone cheered back and then went back to their dancing and drinking.
I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Paul grind his teeth together and walk away - hopefully to go cool down. I shot him one last glare before linking my arm with Tawny's. She led the way out of the living room, through the kitchen, with us passing the bottle back and forth the whole way and giggling like crazy.
We stopped when we made it to the back patio, and Tawny plopped down on the floor, set down the Hpnotiq bottle, and started taking off her heels, yelling to everyone in hearing distance to come with us down to the beach.
I threw back my head and laughed at her craziness before starting in on my own shoes. But I tried to do it standing, which is really hard to do when you've had as much to drink as I have and your wearing heels...Funny that it never occurred to me to sit down when Tawny had just done it seconds before.
I got one boot off and set it next to me, and then set to work on the other one. But Tawny had already gotten both of her shoes off and wanted to get going.
"COME ON BEX!" She screeched, still giggling. She started tripping down a path in the back yard with most of the other kids on the patio. "TO THE BEACH!" She yelled, shoving her fist in the air.
"I'm workin on it!" I laughed, throwing my arms wide. Unfortunately, this also threw me off balance, so I stumbled around for a second and might have fallen if someone hadn't grabbed my arm and steadied me.
"Thanks." I said, but I frowned when I realized who had helped me. It was Paul. "Oh. It's you." I groaned, jerking my arm away from him. Got back to work, trying to get that other boot off.
"Hey, come on, you don't wanna go out there." He said softly.
"Um, yes I do actually." I got the zipper on my boot all the way down. Now I just had to pull my foot out of it – easier said than done though.
"It's cold and wet. And it'll probably start raining again soon." He warned. "Not your kinda thing."
"SOOOOO?" I asked defiantly. "And what is that supposed to meeeeean?" I almost fell over again, and Paul had to reach out and steady me again.
"You don't exactly strike me as the outdoorsy type." He chuckled. I had regained my balance, but he kept hold of my waist – probably for the best. I'd probably do some more stumbling before this night is over.
Besides. He was really warm. And it felt really good.
And I finally got my boot off.
"What?!" I said, flinging my boot away from me dramatically. "I'm outdoorsy!"
Paul shot me a look like 'yeah, right.' And I felt the need to prove him wrong.
I leaned down and picked up the Hpnotiq bottle Tawny had left. "What! I am!" I persisted, taking a swig. "I'm outdoorsy in that I like getting drunk on patios." I splayed my hand out as though showing off the patio. "That counts!" I finished defensively when Paul started laughing at me. It had sounded a lot more credible in my head. Paul was so obviously the outdoorsy type, and I didn't want him to think that I wasn't. "Well. If you'll excuse me, I've got a beach to go see." I'd just remembered that I'm still mad at him from earlier. It's just very hard to remember stuff like that when you're feeling all bubbly and alive, and Paul is standing right in front of you in all his gorgeousness with his big strong hand on your waste.
I made to leave, but Paul stopped me again. "Like I said, it's really cold out there." He warned with a chuckle.
"SOOOOO?" I repeated. "Come with me. Keep me warm." I said with a coy grin. Oh my. Was I flirting with him? Yes. Yes, I was. And, it might be the alcohol talking, but I don't even regret it.
Paul gave me this incredibly sexy, crooked smile in return and took the Hpnotiq from me, chugging about half the bottle before tossing it in a trashcan on the other side of the porch. Then he reached over and took my hand, and I shivered from the electricity that shot it's way up and down my arm. His hand swallowed mine, but it felt perfect. And delightfully warm. I knew I was probably smiling like an idiot, but I couldn't bring myself to care.
"Alright, let's go." He said finally, leading me down the path Tawny had disappeared down earlier - presumably leading down to the beach. Take that Miss Pink Sweater!
o*O*o*O*o*O*o