I sip on my beer, contemplating my worse life decisions. This is up there. We've only been at the party a half hour maybe and it already blows. I'm awkwardly standing by Token, (not really) pretending to be a part of this conversation. Whenever I come to these things I always end up just following him or Clyde around like some lame stray dog. I should've just done what I knew I wanted to do. Bailed on the guys and hung out with Tweek. If having sex counts as hanging out. Then I did something stupid like inviting him. I need to be more careful or I'm gonna scare him off. I shouldn't have come here. Now I can't stop thinking about how he rejected me. It was like I was trying to test him before I declare my feelings for him and psychotic idea of moving in together. This is why I didn't let myself think about this stuff before. Felt better… Now on top of having to be here, I'm here depressed about that.
I tune back in. I realize most of the people originally in the group Token was talking to have disappeared and it's only one girl left. Fuck, he's courting her. I shuffle off without a word. Now, what am I supposed to do? Someone runs into me. I'd be angry but it's a girl so I just set her straight and apologize.
"Craig!" It's Jenna
"Oh, hey…" We aren't really friends but we know each other and I am in her house and at her party. But if she's here where's Kenny. I still haven't seen him.
"I'm surprised you came. Kenny said you wouldn't." I was too stupid. She grins, "But I'm glad you did."
"Yeah," I chuckle. "Party's aren't my scene."
"I can tell," she laughs. She glances at my almost empty beer. "I'm heading to the kitchen for some shots," she mentions. "You wanna join?"
"Sure," I say causally and trail her through the crowd. Oh, thank God. Although I feel like Jenna's being a little flirty and that's making me uncomfortable. Because I know she has a thing with Kenny, not because I'm gay. This is fine if she's gonna give me alcohol. If I'm drunk enough, maybe I can enjoy this. The music's actually good too.
We end up meeting Kenny and a few other girls in the kitchen. Jenna starts pouring the shots. "Hey, man, you made it," he says to me.
"I'm only here to get trashed." Kenny starts laughing and I think he's on something.
"Want some molly?"
"Not that kind of trashed…" I eye him.
He gives me that Kenny smile and shrugs. "No pressure. We can still make that happen."
"I don't get drunk that easily."
"We'll see," he says. Jenna finishes and the group raises their cups and we all down our shots. It's not bad. I don't visibly react. Neither does Kenny. He turns back to me right after he takes his and says, "Wanna have some fun?"
Kenny laughs loudly some more at my face. "Not like that, fucker!" He punches my arm. "I meant a drinking contest."
Jenna gasps, "Oh, that's a great idea! I wanna play!"
"I know a version that uses teams," Kenny says, thoughtfully. His eyes still smile even when he doesn't. "I don't know how well it will work though."
"But I'm kind of a light-weight."
Kenny's face lights up at Jenna "Then it's perfect, babe!"
"I don't have a partner," I glare at him. "And you're gonna cheat and give me someone you know will lose."
Kenny keeps on giggling and laughing. He slaps my chest. "Alright, alright… What about…" He scans around. His face lights up for the second time. "Tweek!" Tweek? My head snaps the direction Kenny's looking. "You two are close so you can trust him, right?"
Tweek just entered the kitchen unknowing of the conversation being had just a few feet away. "Tweek!" Kenny shouts. He gets some friends to also call until the blonde looks over curiously. Kenny motions him. "Get the fuck over here!"
"What even is the game?"
"It's two teams," Kenny tells me slowly. He reminds me of a slow computer. "They both have a heavy-weight and a light-weight… and the light-weights drink against each other and then the heavy-weights go and whoever drinks the most… wins."
"We don't even know if Tweek's a lightweight."
"Then that's your advantage and you know I'm not cheating," he says. "I'll still beat you."
What's going on? I only had one beer and one shot. Am I… Why is Tweek here?
Once he comes over, I pull him over a little so only he can hear, "You seemed pretty sure you didn't want to come."
"Weird. I don't ever remember saying no," he says, pulling away vexed.
Now Kenny has a stupid smirk. Ugh. "Everything's set up. Light-weights go first and then us," he explains. "It has to be a full shot to count. Whoever has the most shots by the end wins." He laughs.
Tweek looks confused. "What?"
"We're having a drinking contest," I tell him. "You're on my team."
"I don't drink," he tells me.
"It's fine," I say, sighing. Kenny's an idiot. "You're playing as the light-weight. You don't have to drink that much." Tweek blinks at me. I can't read him. I still can't believe he came. But I shouldn't be surprised, should I? He never makes any sense. I should be confused if he actually does what he says. "What?"
"Are you guys ready?" Kenny asks.
I look at Tweek, "Well?"
"Fine," he says. The tables set with two full bottles of Svedka and then two shot glasses on each side. Tweek goes to the left. I stand next to him and Kenny stands behind Jenna.
"Alright, I'll set a time. You guys have thirty seconds to drink as much as you can," Kenny says. Tweek stares at the shot glass. He glances at me and I give him a thumbs up. I wonder why he chose to come. I wish this hadn't happen so I could've confronted him immediately, though it seems he was prepared to deflect and probably lie about his reasoning. How'd he get here anyway. I bet he did the smart thing and took and Uber. But he said he doesn't drink… Then why'd he fucking come here?
"Go!" Kenny yells. The crowd that's formed around us starts cheering.
Jenna and Tweek both pour a shout in sync and down it at the same time. Jenna goes for her second but Tweek puts the cup down after that and sits there while she finishes her second.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"I can't drink anymore. I'll throw up," he tells me deadpan. He's such a fucking liar. I hate him so much. In lying to Kenny about how we're close, I ended up with someone who really would purposely make me lose.
I palm my face. I can't believe this. Kenny's holding his stomach, laughing at Tweek's unexpected actions. The time runs out and Jenna successfully downs another shot and a half. She's very drunk after this, stumbling away with her friends.
Kenny and I step up and Kenny opens a new timer. "Ready?" I nod. "Go!" he pressed start and we both start taking shot after shot after shot. Two are gone easy. Three and four are a bit slower. Five, Kenny's contemplative. I'm not, I down it and hurry for another. Kenny downs his and then stops. I take my sixth. "Wait…" he says annoyed. He pours another but just stares at it while I down another. "You're… crazy," he says. I really must be. But I feel okay so far. I'm definitely tipsy already. That's expected. I have to drink more to make up for Tweek though. How many have I had? Enough? I take another just in case. The timer goes off.
"Did I win?" I don't know how much I took.
Kenny looks around. "Was anyone keeping score?"
Tweek says, "Jenna took three and you took five. So, you two have eight." He explains it slow too so Kenny can keep up. I start to snicker but I'm glad he is talking slow because I wouldn't be able to keep up otherwise either. Tweek's so amazing. "I took one and Craig had eight so we win."
"Ha, ha, yeah!" I root, with my fist in the air. The crowd goes wild. I go to give Tweek a high five but he couldn't care less.
"I'm going to the bathroom," he says and leaves me hanging. I watch after him, wondering if I did something wrong. Everyone disperse and I realize I can't find Kenny anymore. I also realize I'm buzzing and having a great time now that I had those drinks. I could even dance. Let's dance. I start heading towards the living room where everyone's dancing.
Someone grabs me as I pass by. "Whoa, man, you good?" Clyde asks me.
"Yeah?"
"You're face's all red."
"I drank a lot really fast but I feel fine." Clyde makes a face. "Drinking contest."
"Oh," he says. "Did you win?"
"Don't ask me dumb questions."
"Against who?"
"Kenny."
He laughs. "You should slow down. I don't want to have to be responsible for you."
"I didn't drink that much," I assure him.
"Alright," he says, skeptically. "You know how you are when you're drunk."
"That was one time," I roll my eyes and keep on my way.
I don't know who the DJ is but he's killing it. It's been nothing but bops since we got here but now that I've been drinking I can enjoy them properly with easy swaying.
