Chapter 17: Cheers
I had my second thoughts about Mercedes' house party. A big one was knowing if I could trust this whole truce or not. Joe seemed to like the girl quite a lot, even though she was loud and a bit of an attention seeker. That was the only reason I wasn't losing my mind of any of it too much. After all, everyone else seemed fine with this gathering of mixed social groups.
Even Rachel apparently wasn't acting as though she had a stick up her ass about it, and that was saying something. That girl could have a tantrum over just about anything if she felt like it.
Mercedes went out of her way to invite just about everyone that was in our homeroom. Santana seemed excited about that in her text messages to me. Mercedes had approached her and a few of her friends inviting them out. Though her friends were a little hesitant, Santana managed to convince a few of them to come along.
They must really think she was getting a little wild with all these parties she was going to.
So I found myself pulling up to Mercedes' abnormally large house in my beaten up truck. Her parents were dentists or something, so they apparently had a lot of money. It wasn't as big as Santana's house, but it was pretty decent sized. Coming from a girl that lived in a one bedroom apartment in the bad area of town.
I grabbed the crate of beer I brought along with me before I hopped out to let myself in the house. I could hear the music coming from the inside, which meant the party had already started. Arriving late was yet again, a great idea.
Walking inside, I was met by a party a little tamer than I was used to. There wasn't any broken glass on the floor or half naked teenagers running around. It became apparent that this wasn't one of those parties where the house was going to be trashed.
I finally found life when I located the living room. The furniture had been moved to the sides of the room and it looked as though more chairs and seating had been dragged in. Mercedes, Joe, Rachel and that gay Kurt kid were sat on and around the couch. Sugar and Puck were closeby, drinking beers and talking closely. I assumed they were probably flirting or something equally gross.
A few other kids I half recognised were dotted around the room talking and drinking. At the side sat in a little huddled group, I saw Santana with fancy pants Blaine and Tina the Asian nerd. They looked a little out of place, but not too nervous. I assumed that Mercedes had talked them into it and made them feel comfortable.
It was still weird thinking about her being nice, but I guess people turned into much when they fell for someone.
Santana seemed to spot me almost the instant I walked into the room and she broke free of her friends to run towards me. There was a smile on her face, and by the look of the glass in her hand with a pink looking drink inside of it, Mercedes had already given them alcohol.
"Brittany! I'm glad you're here… Mercedes said she invited everyone in homeroom, but I'm still happy you're here," Santana was beaming, and my brow rose.
"Yeah.. Happy to see you too,"
I thought she was about to hug me, so I thought fast on my feet. I held my fist out between us to offer a fist bump. She missed a small beat before taking me up on it and let her fist crack against mine.
I really was glad that she was there because she was my friend, but I could see Puck out of the corner of my eye smirking at me. He hadn't stopped giving me crap about Santana having a crush on me, and he was now whispering to Sugar. He was obviously talking about Santana and I.
I cleared my throat before moving to the side of the room with Santana in toe, towards where her friends were standing and staring at me. I put down my crate of beer to pull one glass bottle out. The nerds were silent as I used my truck keychain to open the bottle and take a drink. I knew they were just waiting to say something.
"Santana said you two were hanging out," Tina the Asian nerd piped up, as though she hadn't really believed Santana when she was told. She was certainly more confident now than she was when I grilled her about where Santana was after the incident with Rachel. I partly blamed the fact that the girl had probably never had a drink in her life and seemed a little unsteady on her feet.
Speaking of the big nosed devil herself, I looked over to where Rachel was lurking. I could feel her beady little eyes boring into me. The bemused look on her face as she pretended to listen to friends was obvious enough that she found it hilarious that the nerds thought they could talk to me now.
If I wasn't on my best behaviour, I would have marched across the room to kick her in the crotch.
"No!" Santana tried to cover up that she had talked about us hanging out when she wasn't supposed to, "I said we were studying together. For biology. You know, that paper we got assigned when you broke your hand and you needed someone to tutor you on what you missed in class,"
I rolled my eyes in amusement.
"Yeah, that paper,"
She really was the world's worst liar, but at least she tried. We can't all be expert deceivers like myself.
"Yes! Everyone needs a friend… A buddy, to help with their classes when they fall a little behind," Santana continued, her face turning a shade of red.
Blaine's eyes crinkled a little as he tried to figure out why his friend was acting so weird, and if this was going to go on any longer, I knew that Santana would probably start sweating. After all, if she and Blaine were any levels of close friends, he probably knew that she found me attractive. After all, if someone was into girls, they just had to find me hot.
"Hmm.." I hummed with a slight smirk on my face before taking another drink. "I'm gonna go over there for a little while,"
Santana nodded her head gently as her blush spread, Tina and Blaine both staring at her in amusement. It was funny to know that these nerds really weren't all that different than my friends and I. When one of us put a foot in our mouths, we were going to be the butt of a few jokes for a while.
With beer in hand, I found my way over to Puck and Sugar. Puck had obviously already gotten a few drinks in himself with how he greeted me with a wide smile and a big bear hug.
"B-Money, my bro," He mumbled into my hair with a hard pat on the back.
"Careful, man. Too many drinks and you're gonna leave someone disappointed in the sheets later,"
Puck pulled back, brows furrowing as he brushed off the comment with a skeptical huff.
"C'mon, I never leave a lady disappointed,"
Sugar found his response hilarious, laughing loudly through her nose. It looked like she'd already been through her fair share of drinks too. At first, I was starting to think that the two of them had been sleeping together already, but I followed the way his eyes darted to one of the new cheerleaders walking around the room. She caught his glance and giggled like an excited schoolgirl.
I didn't know why I thought he would have dramatically changed so quickly.
Maybe it was because I hadn't been sleeping with him for quite some time now, but he wasn't exactly exclusive before either. I actually think this was the longest I had ever been without having sex with anyone. That would be something brilliant to shove in Berry's face next time she decided to call me a slut.
I shot a look her way and she met me with an eye roll. I narrowed my eyes in response.
"It's weird having you and the Snoz in the same room without you murdering each other," Puck started.
"Mercedes called us into a truce. As much as I would like to slam her head into the wall," I tore my eyes away from Rachel to take a drink.
"That explains why this shit is so awkward," Puck hummed,
"I can fix that!" Sugar piped up, getting that twinkle in her eye that meant that she had an idea. From my experience, Sugar having an idea was a terrible thing.
"No, Sugs… It's o-" I started, before little miss loudmouth interrupted me.
"Spin the bottle!"
Every eye in the room turned to her, and she simply flourished at the attention. I was honestly wondering if she would be much better friends with the plastics at this point. I groaned loudly, quickly gulping down the remainder of my beer.
"Oh great! Thanks," Sugar snatched the now empty bottle from my hands, "Who's in?"
If this party was going to become some kind of glorified sleepover, I was definitely out.
"That's what I'm talking about," Joe piped up from where he was sat with his arm around his girlfriend
"Let's do it," Mercedes shrugged, leading Joe to the center of the room to sit down and start a circle that Sugar was so enthusiastically trying to form.
"I get to mack on some chicks," Puck finally added, rubbing his hands together like a greedy school boy, taking his place next to Sugar and patting the ground next to him. "C'mon Britt, don't be a sourpuss,"
More people started to fill in the gaps as I moved to sit down. Kurt dragged Rachel down with him, and she looked just about as pleased as I was about all of this. A few people I didn't care to know the names of joined, followed by Santana and her two friends.
"Lesssss do it, Sanny. Blainey Days," Tina dragged the two of them across the room to join the game. Blaine looked positively terrified about the prospect, straightening his neatly folded bowtie the second he sat down. Santana, however, didn't seem as excited or frightened as her two friends.
We met eyes across the circle and she shot me a small smile. I rolled my eyes and shrugged, as though I was silently apologising for my so-called friends behavior. Santana chuckled almost silently, shaking her head in amusement.
I guess the gravity of the game we were about to play didn't really hit me just yet.
"I suggested it, so I'm going first losers," Sugar stated, dropping the beer bottle to the ground to let it spin in a circle. She hummed dramatically as it spun until it finally landed on Rachel.
I crinkled my nose in disgust as Sugar let out a little squeal before crawling across the circle to get face to face with Rachel Berry.
"Pucker up, dollface," Sugar warned before she grabbed Rachel by the face and pushed their lips together. Puck hooted happily, throwing his fist in the air. A few people in the circle laughed as rachel was initially surprised. With the deepness of that kiss, it was obvious that this game was going to be messy.
"Puck-a-saur is up," Puck grinned impishly when the girls had finished. He spun the bottle quickly and everyone started to tap at the ground in anticipation as it slowed down. As childish as it was, everyone was getting into it.
"Cohen-Chang!" Puck smirked when it settled on Tina, who was laughing almost hysterically at being picked. Any shyness that girl had on a normal day was definitely gone thanks to a little liquid courage. Santana was sniggering as she pushed her friend towards Puck.
"I'll go easy on ya," Puck stated before pulling Tina into a messy kiss. Santana gasped in shocked amusement, her hands covering her mouth to suppress a laugh. Her eyes flickered from the kiss to meet my smile. She was having fun and letting herself get a little loose, and I liked to see that. I liked to see her happy.
I wondered if she played this game before, but I highly doubted it. Her friends didn't really seem like the type to want to, let alone I'm pretty sure that I was the one to take her to her very first high school party. Unlike her, I had played this game before. It was the place I experienced my first kiss with another girl during one of those games.
If I was being honest with myself, I think that I felt something then. Of course I liked it. Guys were hard and messy and used too much tongue. Women were soft. Their lips tastes like sweetness and it just felt better. It felt right.
"Britt,"
Pucks nudge took me out of my trance to realize that it was my turn and I had just been staring off into space. I cleared my throat and sent Puck a nasty glare before spinning the bottle. I watched as the neck spun before landing on Mercedes. I couldn't help but let out a low laugh.
"Bet you're regretting inviting me now, Wheez," I smirked, making my way across the circle to where she sat.
Joe looked between us, his eyes wide and excited. If I were him, I would have been a little more upset that my girlfriend was about to be kissing someone else, but he was a chill kind of guy. He was probably the person that we all wished we could be more like. Hell, if everyone was like Joe, then there probably wouldn't be any of this clique shit in school.
Rolling my eyes after I looked at him, I grabbed Mercedes' cheeks and crashed my lips on hers. She was soft, and a little reluctant at first to kiss me back. After getting over the initial shock of how I just grabbed her and went to town, she started to kiss me back. It was closed mouthed and reserved, but not half bad.
Better than having to kiss Puck, anyway.
Finally breaking the kiss after a few seconds and the boys hollering, I smirked as I returned back to my spot next to an overeager Puckerman.
"Not too bad, Pierce," Mercedes chuckled as she settled back into Joe's welcoming side.
The game continued on, and everyone around was getting gradually more and more tipsy. Myself included, of course. I needed something to get through this stupid game.
It was finally Santana's turn to spin, and I suddenly felt a tug of anticipation in the very pit of my stomach. It was the type of sinking feeling that I wasn't sure I had ever felt before, and my brows knitted together as I tried to settle that uncomfortable feeling. Whatever it was, I didn't like it and I took another swig of my beer.
Santana was reserved, tucking her loose hair behind her ear and straightening out her glasses before she reached out for the bottle. Her spin was delicate and soft, which was the way she did just about anything. The glass bottle spun slowly, before it landed on Rachel. My face, as though acting on its own accord, twisted into a disgusted expression. My lip curled.
Santana let out an audible giggle at the result that was chosen for her by fate, grinning from ear to ear. She obviously didn't have the same reservations that I did about the fact that she was about to kiss the person who had recently thrown a slushy over her and made her cry. The thought of that made me sick.
Rachel seemed unaware of the fact - confidently getting up to crawl towards Santana across the circle. Santana's eyes flickered to me and my the way her smile flinched ever so slightly, she was very aware of my distaste. Needless to say, my expression did nothing to uncoil the twist of fate. I watched Rachel's hand slither behind Santana's neck to pull her into a kiss.
Santana was very willing to let herself be taken into the embrace, her eyes flickering shut as she kissed her back.
It was disgusting to watch.
Who would really enjoy kissing Rachel Berry? Surely Santana didn't. She was obviously just being eager because she was playing the game. That was the whole point of the game after all. It wasn't as though any of us actually wanted to kiss anyone that was chosen for us. Thankfully, they split apart and I fought an urge to make a gagging sound.
"What's wrong with you? That was hot," Puck whispered into my ear with a creepy smirk. Maybe my gagging sound wasn't as supressed as I thought.
"You're a pervert," I grumbled, finishing off my beer and snatching his almost full one from his hand after rolling my bottle behind me. He let out a little protest, but I shot him a side eye that made him bite his tongue. He really did know me well enough to know when to shut up.
Santana was giggling like some kind of school girl as she relaxed back into her space after the kiss, and that made me all the more disgusted. She obviously didn't hate kissing Rachel.
Not as much as I wanted her to hate it. She was having a great time.
I grumbled to myself as the game started to progress again. What irritated me the most, was how Santana didn't even look my way to see if I was okay with the whole scenario. She was grinning and talking to Tina and looking across the circle at Rachel. She seemed to not consider me at all, that that annoyed me. I thought we were friends. Who cuddled.
I drowned out the game until it came to being Mercedes' turn. It was a cruel twist of fate when she spun the bottle and it landed on Santana. Today, that little nerd was getting more action than she had gotten in her whole life.
Puck hooted beside me, blessing the game Gods that he and Joe were the only men playing. I felt that feeling in the pit of my stomach, watching how Mercedes laughed and Santana grinned widely at the outcome. She was loving being able to kiss all of these girls.
I hated it.
I would rather have massaged my face with a cheese grater than watch the two of them kiss. But no matter how much I didn't want to witness it, Mercedes crawled across the circle to plant a kiss on Santana's lips. Perhaps it was the fact that I had kissed them both and knew what it felt like for both sides.. But I hated it even more than Rachel.
My knuckles turned white with how hard I was gripping my beer bottle. The sound of my grinding teeth drowned out the sound of hooting and hollering of the teenagers around me in the circle. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rachel staring at me suspiciously. If I needed something more to piss me off, it was Rachel Berry sticking that huge nose back where it didn't belong.
"Dang, you've got some lips on you, girl," Mercedes laughed happily when they broke apart. Santana's face flushed how it did when I gave her a compliment. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only person who could do that to her. That was great.
I wasn't unaware that I had trouble with my anger management. It was the thing that I struggled the most with throughout my life, but I was starting to think that I was doing very well with it recently. I had only beaten up two people since the start of the semester, and those two people were sitting around the circle with me. I was redeeming myself, and that was probably the best behavior I had been on for a very long time.
But now? Now I felt that hot rage spinning in my stomach, tightening my chest. Puck seemed to become a little uneasy where he sat next to me. He had known me long enough to know that it always meant trouble when I stiffened up. He reached behind himself to pass me another beer. I wasn't even aware that I had finished mine off yet.
I was angry, because this game was stupid. That was all.
I snatched the new beer as the game progressed, eagerly drinking it as though it was keeping me quiet. It some ways, it was. I was edging into being a ticking time bomb.
There was something about watching Santana enjoy this.. Enjoying kissing ever damn girl in our grade as though it was the best thing in the world. Of course.. I knew that she was a lesbian. I knew that she liked girls. Heck, I knew that she liked me. She checked me out when she thought I wasn't looking.. And she liked kissing me. Perhaps some part of me enjoyed her attention. Maybe that part of me thought and hoped that I was the only person she looked at and thought about in that way.
That's because she was mine.
"It's my turn again, bitches," Sugar's obnoxious voice dragged me out of my thoughts as she threw herself into the middle of the circle to spin that damn bottle. My finger nail tapped on the side of my beer bottle as we all watched it spin.
It was some mighty cruel twist of fate that it landed on Santana. Again.
I couldn't stay and watch that bullshit anymore. It was disgusting. Standing abruptly, I practically kicked Puckerman as I rose, all eyes in the circle turning to me.. Including a very wide eyed, shocked Santana.
"Fuck this," I grumbled, marching out of the large living room and throwing my beer bottle against the wall, smashing it into a hundred glass shards.
