A/N: Brace yourself for this chapter!
Chapter Five: Under the Influence
"Kate!" Lizzie yelled as Kate opened the main doors of the high school to leave. "I heard Claire's parents are out of town, and she's throwing a party tonight."
Kate turned around, smiling cunningly. "You're not as dumb as you look, Lizzie. I'm glad to see you made the right decision for once."
Lizzie wasn't sure that was a compliment, but she ignored it."Well, come on. I know someone who can drive. She said she would take us to the mall. The first big party of the year is like the Oscars. It's also unofficially a fashion show."
That night, Lizzie showed up at Kate's house wearing a pink tube top and a short jean skirt. Under her outfit, she had on a brand new bikini. Lizzie hadn't chosen a single thing. Kate did the shopping and chose what Lizzie was going to wear.
Eyes turned as Lizzie entered the house, and about an hour into the party, Lizzie was having the time of her life. She danced, talked, and participated in several chicken fights in the pool. Lizzie found herself on the shoulders of Josh Williams, a senior at Hilridge, more than any other guy.
Josh was a star tight end on the varsity football team, and he was also on the lacrosse team. This made him buff, which worked wonderfully with his dark hair and gorges dark brown eyes. He was your typical tall, dark, and handsome guy that got drooled over all the time. Of course, his silver BMW convertible didn't help that factor much.
"Hey, we should join the Olympic chicken fighting team or something," he said to Lizzie after they won their third chicken fight in a row. "We make a great team." Lizzie blushed lightly. Josh really did seem like a nice guy.
"Hey, Josh, come over here for a sec. We need your help," a football player called from the back door of Claire's house.
"I'll be right back, Liz," he said to Lizzie. "You don't mind if I call you that. Liz, I mean," he added, a little flustered as he started getting out of the pool.
Lizzie smiled and blushed again. She loved it when guys babbled like that. "No, Liz is great," she replied, following Josh onto the deck.
"Cool, I'll be right back."
"Okay," Lizzie called as Josh disappeared into the house.
A few minutes later, four football players, including Josh, stumbled into the backyard rolling a large metal barrel bellowing, "We've got the beer!"
Cheers rang out as the boys carefully rolled the keg to a stop and heaved it onto a table. Lizzie's heart stopped. She knew this was illegal, and if she ever got caught, well, she didn't want to think of the punishment her parents would come up with.
"Hey, Lizzie, can I get you a drink?" Josh asked, walking towards her.
"No, I don't think so," Lizzie replied, uncertainly.
"Are you sure?" he asked, surprised.
"Well, maybe just a small one."
"Okay, cool. I'll be back in a sec."
Lizzie's conscience was screaming at her to run away, but Josh was so popular, and if Lizzie could get with him, then maybe she could make Ethan jealous.
"Here you go," Josh said, handing Lizzie a full cup of beer in a clear plastic cup.
Lizzie looked at the cup. There had to be about ten ounces of beer in it. Josh was chugging down his cup right next to Lizzie, but the tanish liquid with the white foam on top just didn't look very tempting.
"Hey, I thought you were thirsty," Josh said, eyeing Lizzie's full cup of beer.
"Oh yeah," Lizzie said. Then, caving into the world of peer pressure and popularity, she took a small sip. It was disgusting, and she speculated how Josh could chug half of his cup down without even taking a breath.
"You'll get used to the taste," Josh said, noticing the grimace on Lizzie's face after she took her first sip. "I thought it was nasty the first time I tried it too."
"Oh," Lizzie said, not feeling encouraged at all, but she took another sip anyway, followed by a bigger sip and then a bigger one, until she was gulping down her cup just like Josh had done.
"Hey, Liz, don't drink it too fast. You'll get a stomachache," Josh said, watching Lizzie chug down her cup of beer.
"This stuff isn't so bad," Lizzie said, taking a final gulp. "I think I could use another cup."
"Okay, I'll be right back," he said.
Josh jogged back to the keg and got two more cups of beer.
"Thanks," Lizzie said, taking one of the beers from Josh's hand. Suddenly, the world seemed to tilt and she started to tilt with it. Some of the beer sloshed out of the cup.
"Hey, you okay?" Josh asked, eyeing her with concern.
"Um, yeah, I'm fine." Lizzie didn't feel completely fine, though. She thought she saw the lights start to dim, and she had difficulty focusing on Josh's face. "Hey, wanna dance?" she asked, suddenly.
Inside, the living room had been turned into a dance floor, and the furniture had been haphazardly moved to the sides of the room. The room was jammed with people bumping and grinding and spilling their beers everywhere. Lizzie took Josh's hand and led him onto the dance floor.
A thick, pulsating beat came heavily out of the speakers. It had the kind of base that could make one's head swim. Lizzie started slowly moving her hips and Josh followed suit, placing his hands on Lizzie's moving hips. The two swayed into the dining room where the dancers thinned out. Lizzie drank the rest of her beer and asked Josh for a refill, which he did, getting one for himself as well.
Lizzie felt like she had left her body, and she had been given the remote control to this other body on the dance floor. Her mind was swimming, and had trouble processing her thoughts. She wasn't even positive to what she was doing. Every once in a while, the world seemed to tilt, and she would stumble into another couple.
Josh returned to the dining room to see Lizzie on a table, dancing to her own rhythm. The table was surrounded by guys and girls, cheering Lizzie on and whistling and whatnot. "Yeah," Josh yelled. "That's my girl!" He climbed on the table with Lizzie and they started to grind. Then, other kids started climbing up onto the table and the dancing continued as another song with a faster beat came on.
"You're a great dancer," Josh yelled to Lizzie over the music. "I didn't think you could be so wild. It's sexy."
Lizzie smiled, still processing what Josh had said. Something about wild and sexy, but Lizzie just couldn't put the words together. Before she had the chance, though, Josh leaned in and kissed her. Lizzie couldn't really process what was happening, but instinct told her to kiss back. Josh's tongue tasted like beer. Josh finally drew back, smiling. "You're a great kisser, too," he said and reached in for another one.
Lizzie woke up the next morning with a headache that sent shots of pain down to her toes. When she opened her eyes, the light made the pain in her head ten times worse. Lizzie groaned.
"Lizzie, wake up. You need to watch your brother while your father and I go run some errands this morning," Lizzie's mom called out from the bottom of the stairs. "Lizzie? Are you awake yet? It's noon."
Lizzie groaned again. "Yeah, I'm up," she croaked.
"Lizzie, are you okay? You don't sound very good."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just woke up. That's all." her mom's talking was making Lizzie's head hurt worse.
"Okay, have a nice afternoon." Lizzie heard the front door shut and a car pull out of the McGuire driveway. "Good, they're gone," Lizzie mumbled to herself. Just then, a wave on nausea passed over her, and she stumbled to the toilet just in time. Then, she flushed the toilet and slowly got up. She staggered over to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the Tylenol. Lizzie struggled to open the bottle, and when she finally did, the pills went flying all over the bathroom. She cursed under her breath. Lizzie took four of the remaining pills in the bottle and swallowed them with a swig of water. Then, she started crawling around the floor, picking up all the pills she had sent flying.
"Somebody looks and smells a little green. Is it a lizard? No! Is it Godzilla? No! Is it Lizzie? Yes!" Matt yelled the last word, startling Lizzie who tried to stand up but banged her head on the back of the sink. Lizzie let out a yelp while struggling to her feet.
"Get out of here you bad breathed toad," Lizzie angrily retorted.
"If anybody had bad breath, it's you."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Just get out!" Lizzie slammed the door to the bathroom. She could feel her brain pulsating in her scull. Maybe she just needed a shower and a bunch of mouthwash.
By the time Lizzie's parents got home, Lizzie felt a lot better. Her screaming headache had diminished into a dull roar and she had cleaned herself up. Lizzie had gone to bed with the same clothes she had worn last night and her hair had been a mess. Not to mention her breath, which could have killed Godzilla.
"Lizzie, Kate called you this morning around 11," Lizzie's mom said.
"Oh, thanks. I'll call her," Lizzie replied.
"Gordo called too."
"Oh."
"What time did you get home last night? I didn't see you come in. Your dad and I were so tired, we went to sleep at around nine."
"Uh." Lizzie didn't know. She didn't even remember coming home last night. "By curfew?"
"Oh, good. I knew that I could trust you." Lizzie's heart cringed. She didn't remember when she had returned home last night, but she was positive that it wasn't around her 11 o'clock curfew. "Hey, what's up with you and your friends, anyway? I know it's been tough with Miranda gone and all, but you seem to have lost contact with Gordo, and you've been hangin out with Kate almost everyday after school and on the weekends."
"Oh, you know how people change," Lizzie replied. "I'm gonna go call Kate now. Lizzie turned and hurried up to her room before her mother's interrogation had a chance to continue.
"Wow, you really know how to snag the older guys," Kate said to Lizzie over the phone.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lizzie replied, honestly.
"Don't be silly. You and Josh were getting pretty close on that dance floor. You guys were all over each other."
"You don't mean Josh Williams, do you?"
"Lizzie, stop jokin around. We all saw you and Josh grinding and makin out on the table. I can't imagine what you guys did when Josh gave you a ride home."
"Josh gave me a ride home?"
"Don't play stupid Lizzie. It's startin to piss me off."
"I swear I have no idea what you're talkin about."
"What do you remember from last night?"
"Uh, I went to Claire's house because there was a party, and then I did a bunch of chicken fighting and then Josh offered me some beer and then we were dancing."
"Man, you must have been smashed. How much beer did you have, or remember having, anyway?"
"Well, three I think."
"Three's not supposed to be enough to make you forget, though."
"Hey, there's a first time for everything."
"That's for sure. You're gonna have a blast at school Monday. You may not remember everything from last night, but everybody else does."
"Great."
"Yeah, I'll see you Monday. Bye."
Lizzie's heart was pounding in her throat. There was no way that she could believe she kissed Josh Williams, but the more she thought about it, the more an image of Josh's mouth closing in on hers and his tongue in the back of her throat became visible. She just hoped that was all they did.
A/N: So what did happen between Lizzie and Josh? Let me know what you think of this chapter!
Chapter Five: Under the Influence
"Kate!" Lizzie yelled as Kate opened the main doors of the high school to leave. "I heard Claire's parents are out of town, and she's throwing a party tonight."
Kate turned around, smiling cunningly. "You're not as dumb as you look, Lizzie. I'm glad to see you made the right decision for once."
Lizzie wasn't sure that was a compliment, but she ignored it."Well, come on. I know someone who can drive. She said she would take us to the mall. The first big party of the year is like the Oscars. It's also unofficially a fashion show."
That night, Lizzie showed up at Kate's house wearing a pink tube top and a short jean skirt. Under her outfit, she had on a brand new bikini. Lizzie hadn't chosen a single thing. Kate did the shopping and chose what Lizzie was going to wear.
Eyes turned as Lizzie entered the house, and about an hour into the party, Lizzie was having the time of her life. She danced, talked, and participated in several chicken fights in the pool. Lizzie found herself on the shoulders of Josh Williams, a senior at Hilridge, more than any other guy.
Josh was a star tight end on the varsity football team, and he was also on the lacrosse team. This made him buff, which worked wonderfully with his dark hair and gorges dark brown eyes. He was your typical tall, dark, and handsome guy that got drooled over all the time. Of course, his silver BMW convertible didn't help that factor much.
"Hey, we should join the Olympic chicken fighting team or something," he said to Lizzie after they won their third chicken fight in a row. "We make a great team." Lizzie blushed lightly. Josh really did seem like a nice guy.
"Hey, Josh, come over here for a sec. We need your help," a football player called from the back door of Claire's house.
"I'll be right back, Liz," he said to Lizzie. "You don't mind if I call you that. Liz, I mean," he added, a little flustered as he started getting out of the pool.
Lizzie smiled and blushed again. She loved it when guys babbled like that. "No, Liz is great," she replied, following Josh onto the deck.
"Cool, I'll be right back."
"Okay," Lizzie called as Josh disappeared into the house.
A few minutes later, four football players, including Josh, stumbled into the backyard rolling a large metal barrel bellowing, "We've got the beer!"
Cheers rang out as the boys carefully rolled the keg to a stop and heaved it onto a table. Lizzie's heart stopped. She knew this was illegal, and if she ever got caught, well, she didn't want to think of the punishment her parents would come up with.
"Hey, Lizzie, can I get you a drink?" Josh asked, walking towards her.
"No, I don't think so," Lizzie replied, uncertainly.
"Are you sure?" he asked, surprised.
"Well, maybe just a small one."
"Okay, cool. I'll be back in a sec."
Lizzie's conscience was screaming at her to run away, but Josh was so popular, and if Lizzie could get with him, then maybe she could make Ethan jealous.
"Here you go," Josh said, handing Lizzie a full cup of beer in a clear plastic cup.
Lizzie looked at the cup. There had to be about ten ounces of beer in it. Josh was chugging down his cup right next to Lizzie, but the tanish liquid with the white foam on top just didn't look very tempting.
"Hey, I thought you were thirsty," Josh said, eyeing Lizzie's full cup of beer.
"Oh yeah," Lizzie said. Then, caving into the world of peer pressure and popularity, she took a small sip. It was disgusting, and she speculated how Josh could chug half of his cup down without even taking a breath.
"You'll get used to the taste," Josh said, noticing the grimace on Lizzie's face after she took her first sip. "I thought it was nasty the first time I tried it too."
"Oh," Lizzie said, not feeling encouraged at all, but she took another sip anyway, followed by a bigger sip and then a bigger one, until she was gulping down her cup just like Josh had done.
"Hey, Liz, don't drink it too fast. You'll get a stomachache," Josh said, watching Lizzie chug down her cup of beer.
"This stuff isn't so bad," Lizzie said, taking a final gulp. "I think I could use another cup."
"Okay, I'll be right back," he said.
Josh jogged back to the keg and got two more cups of beer.
"Thanks," Lizzie said, taking one of the beers from Josh's hand. Suddenly, the world seemed to tilt and she started to tilt with it. Some of the beer sloshed out of the cup.
"Hey, you okay?" Josh asked, eyeing her with concern.
"Um, yeah, I'm fine." Lizzie didn't feel completely fine, though. She thought she saw the lights start to dim, and she had difficulty focusing on Josh's face. "Hey, wanna dance?" she asked, suddenly.
Inside, the living room had been turned into a dance floor, and the furniture had been haphazardly moved to the sides of the room. The room was jammed with people bumping and grinding and spilling their beers everywhere. Lizzie took Josh's hand and led him onto the dance floor.
A thick, pulsating beat came heavily out of the speakers. It had the kind of base that could make one's head swim. Lizzie started slowly moving her hips and Josh followed suit, placing his hands on Lizzie's moving hips. The two swayed into the dining room where the dancers thinned out. Lizzie drank the rest of her beer and asked Josh for a refill, which he did, getting one for himself as well.
Lizzie felt like she had left her body, and she had been given the remote control to this other body on the dance floor. Her mind was swimming, and had trouble processing her thoughts. She wasn't even positive to what she was doing. Every once in a while, the world seemed to tilt, and she would stumble into another couple.
Josh returned to the dining room to see Lizzie on a table, dancing to her own rhythm. The table was surrounded by guys and girls, cheering Lizzie on and whistling and whatnot. "Yeah," Josh yelled. "That's my girl!" He climbed on the table with Lizzie and they started to grind. Then, other kids started climbing up onto the table and the dancing continued as another song with a faster beat came on.
"You're a great dancer," Josh yelled to Lizzie over the music. "I didn't think you could be so wild. It's sexy."
Lizzie smiled, still processing what Josh had said. Something about wild and sexy, but Lizzie just couldn't put the words together. Before she had the chance, though, Josh leaned in and kissed her. Lizzie couldn't really process what was happening, but instinct told her to kiss back. Josh's tongue tasted like beer. Josh finally drew back, smiling. "You're a great kisser, too," he said and reached in for another one.
Lizzie woke up the next morning with a headache that sent shots of pain down to her toes. When she opened her eyes, the light made the pain in her head ten times worse. Lizzie groaned.
"Lizzie, wake up. You need to watch your brother while your father and I go run some errands this morning," Lizzie's mom called out from the bottom of the stairs. "Lizzie? Are you awake yet? It's noon."
Lizzie groaned again. "Yeah, I'm up," she croaked.
"Lizzie, are you okay? You don't sound very good."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just woke up. That's all." her mom's talking was making Lizzie's head hurt worse.
"Okay, have a nice afternoon." Lizzie heard the front door shut and a car pull out of the McGuire driveway. "Good, they're gone," Lizzie mumbled to herself. Just then, a wave on nausea passed over her, and she stumbled to the toilet just in time. Then, she flushed the toilet and slowly got up. She staggered over to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the Tylenol. Lizzie struggled to open the bottle, and when she finally did, the pills went flying all over the bathroom. She cursed under her breath. Lizzie took four of the remaining pills in the bottle and swallowed them with a swig of water. Then, she started crawling around the floor, picking up all the pills she had sent flying.
"Somebody looks and smells a little green. Is it a lizard? No! Is it Godzilla? No! Is it Lizzie? Yes!" Matt yelled the last word, startling Lizzie who tried to stand up but banged her head on the back of the sink. Lizzie let out a yelp while struggling to her feet.
"Get out of here you bad breathed toad," Lizzie angrily retorted.
"If anybody had bad breath, it's you."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Just get out!" Lizzie slammed the door to the bathroom. She could feel her brain pulsating in her scull. Maybe she just needed a shower and a bunch of mouthwash.
By the time Lizzie's parents got home, Lizzie felt a lot better. Her screaming headache had diminished into a dull roar and she had cleaned herself up. Lizzie had gone to bed with the same clothes she had worn last night and her hair had been a mess. Not to mention her breath, which could have killed Godzilla.
"Lizzie, Kate called you this morning around 11," Lizzie's mom said.
"Oh, thanks. I'll call her," Lizzie replied.
"Gordo called too."
"Oh."
"What time did you get home last night? I didn't see you come in. Your dad and I were so tired, we went to sleep at around nine."
"Uh." Lizzie didn't know. She didn't even remember coming home last night. "By curfew?"
"Oh, good. I knew that I could trust you." Lizzie's heart cringed. She didn't remember when she had returned home last night, but she was positive that it wasn't around her 11 o'clock curfew. "Hey, what's up with you and your friends, anyway? I know it's been tough with Miranda gone and all, but you seem to have lost contact with Gordo, and you've been hangin out with Kate almost everyday after school and on the weekends."
"Oh, you know how people change," Lizzie replied. "I'm gonna go call Kate now. Lizzie turned and hurried up to her room before her mother's interrogation had a chance to continue.
"Wow, you really know how to snag the older guys," Kate said to Lizzie over the phone.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lizzie replied, honestly.
"Don't be silly. You and Josh were getting pretty close on that dance floor. You guys were all over each other."
"You don't mean Josh Williams, do you?"
"Lizzie, stop jokin around. We all saw you and Josh grinding and makin out on the table. I can't imagine what you guys did when Josh gave you a ride home."
"Josh gave me a ride home?"
"Don't play stupid Lizzie. It's startin to piss me off."
"I swear I have no idea what you're talkin about."
"What do you remember from last night?"
"Uh, I went to Claire's house because there was a party, and then I did a bunch of chicken fighting and then Josh offered me some beer and then we were dancing."
"Man, you must have been smashed. How much beer did you have, or remember having, anyway?"
"Well, three I think."
"Three's not supposed to be enough to make you forget, though."
"Hey, there's a first time for everything."
"That's for sure. You're gonna have a blast at school Monday. You may not remember everything from last night, but everybody else does."
"Great."
"Yeah, I'll see you Monday. Bye."
Lizzie's heart was pounding in her throat. There was no way that she could believe she kissed Josh Williams, but the more she thought about it, the more an image of Josh's mouth closing in on hers and his tongue in the back of her throat became visible. She just hoped that was all they did.
A/N: So what did happen between Lizzie and Josh? Let me know what you think of this chapter!