Erica grabbed two beers from a cooler.
"Here's to forgetting...crappiness altogether," she exclaimed, ripping the cap off of hers and chugging the bottle until it was halfway full. "I got you this."
Gordo eyed her uneasily and pushed the bottle away.
"No thanks. I drove."
"No worries," Erica said, beaming. "We can crash here."
Gordo looked around. These were not his type of people, and quite frankly, it worried him that they were Erica's friends.
A tray carting person strode by with a tray full of shots. Erica grabbed one, and downed it in an instant.
"Here?" Gordo asked nervously. He himself wanted to leave at that very instant.
"Yeah. The girl that lives here is one of my best friends. I do it all the time."
Erica scanned the room anxiously as if she was looking for someone better to hang out with. Impulsively, Gordo thought that she was going to ditch him, and grabbed the beer out of her hand.
"I thought you didn't want that," Erica said, glancing at him with a bemused look.
She thinks I'm boring, Gordo thought to himself. I need to prove her wrong.
He downed his, just as she had done hers. It stung his throat, and he wanted to spit it back out. But he kept it down for his own pride's sake.
"Wooo! Go Gordo," Erica yelled, kissing him on the lips. The crowd of partyers eyes were drawn to the couple, and as Gordo looked at their faces closely, he recognized a few of them from school.
They were giving him the strangest looks. I guess I'd better prove them wrong, thought Gordo to himself, and he continued to kiss Erica.
"Erica McKenzie!" a voice that Gordo did not recognize called. ""I've been looking all over for you."
A girl about their age slumped over to Erica and threw her arms around her shoulders in a loose hug. It was clear that this girl had already consumed way too much booze.
Gordo concluded that the girl must be the friend that Erica was talking about. The girl had jet black hair, with pink streaks, and several piercings adorning her face. Kohl-black eyeliner rimmed her eyes, cast atop alabaster white skin with bright red lips.
"Gordo, this is my best friend Jen," Erica said, struggling to support the girl's weight.
Jen raised her glass.
"The very best," she exclaimed. "Welcome to my house. What can I get you to drink?"
Gordo racked his brain for the name of any alcoholic drink, but his rapid search proved to no avail.
"I'll just have another one of these," he answered, tapping his empty beer bottle.
Jen threw her glass on the floor, and got Gordo another drink.
"You guys have a great time," she said, stumbling away.
Erica took Gordo's hand.
"C'mon. Dance with me."
As soon as they got out onto the dance floor, Gordo felt surprisingly uptight as Erica wrapped her arms over his body. He glanced at the couple next to him, and suddenly felt extremely out of place.
"Maybe we should just talk for a little while," Gordo commented, and Erica pouted.
"I think you haven't had enough to drink," she said, running her hands down his chest. "Let's do some shots or something."
She pulled him over to the kitchen area, and grabbed two shot glasses and a bottle of liquor.
"I don't think you can keep up with me," she said, as she filled the two shot glasses.
Even though he had had only one drink, Gordo's judgement was already becoming a little too clouded. A contest seemed like the best idea in the world.
Sixteen shots later, it seemed that much better.
"When the liquor burns my throat, I just think of medicine," Erica slurred. "But that makes me think of my mom, so I want to drink more."
"You know what would be so much quicker?" Erica yelled. "We should totally just drink it straight out of the bottle!"
She took the bottle of liquor in her hand, and poured its remnants into her mouth.
"Great idea!" Gordo yelled back. "Give that to me."
Erica dangled the empty bottle from her hand.
"Oops. All gone."
"I need another drink," Gordo exclaimed, and tore the liquor cabinent open trying to find something. He hadn't felt that free in his whole life.
"Vodka," Erica yelled, opening a bottle and pouring it into his mouth. "I love vodka as much as I love YOU."
She drank the rest in a couple of gulps.
"I LOVE VODKA!" she exclaimed. "Do you know where the bathroom is?"
"Why do you need a bathroom? Let's dance!" Gordo yelled, knowing no inhibitions to his name.
Erica ran out with him onto the dance floor, and the two quickly got into the spirit of things. In all actuality, they made out more than they danced, but that was overlooked on the dance floor.
"I love you," Erica slurred into Gordo's ear. "But I love vodka too. And I loved it first, so..."
She threw her head and laughed.
"Do you do this every weekend?" Gordo asked.
"OF COURSE," she yelled. "The party is always the same..."
She started her sentence, but started to slow down. Erica gradually developed a pallid demeanor, and clutched her mouth with her hand.
"I really need a bathroom now," she said.
But she could not get to a bathroom quick enough, and vomited all over their neighbors.
"Hey!" the man yelled angrily.
"Sorry," Gordo slurred apologetically as he rushed Erica to the nearest bathroom.
Immediately, she positioned herself by the toilet, hurling while Gordo held her hair back.
After about a half an hour, she passed out on the floor, and Gordo sighed while leaning against the door.
Leaning against the frame of the door, he heard loud voices involved in a very loud conversation on the other side.
"Did you see that that whore Erica McKenzie came with a new guy?" one female voice said. "That girl has changed so much."
"I know. Remember middle school?" a male voice answered.
"She was so good at track. I was on the team with her, but she missed so much," the girl remembered.
"She was like the smartest person in our grade, too."
"She still is. Jen told me that she graduated early or something," the girl stated.
"Probably so she can party all the time," the boy retorted. "Every time I see her, she's completely drunk."
"I know, I know...but she did get a 33 on her ACT the first time."
"Still, she's a whore. Remember that beach party over spring break?"
Gordo heard a great amount of laughter escape from the other side of the door frame.
"Remember how she started yelling at her mother she was so drunk?"
"Look what you did to me, Mom!" the male voice imitated. "I still can't believe she made up that huge story. Everybody knows that she missed so much school because she was an alcoholic. Still is."
"Yeah, like whose mom would do such a thing?"
"I think she just wanted attention."
Through Gordo's pounding headache, he still had a thread that could string thoughts together. And he knew that they were talking about Erica. His Erica.
And he knew that they didn't know the whole truth.
Feeling rather brave and chivalrous, Gordo opened the door.
"You don't know what happened to her," he yelled. The couple gave him an amused look, knowing very well who he was.
"And you do?" the girl said condescendingly. "Who are you anyways?"
"I'm her boyfriend. We're going out," Gordo stated with an immense feeling of importance.
"That's what the guy last week said," the girl retorted.
Gordo couldn't help it anymore. He slapped the girl on the face, leaving himself stunned. As the girl clasped her face, Gordo looked down at his own hand in horror.
Gordo, he thought to himself. What has this girl done to you? You're drunk, and you just slapped someone. A girl, for that matter.
But Gordo's thoughts were soon interrupted as the guy decided to retalliate for the girl. He delivered one blow to Gordo's face, sending him to the ground in the bathroom. He was unconscious, as was his girlfriend, and they laid there together.
