CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: Drunk People are Miracle Workers

*MITCH'S POV*

"WHOOOOOO'S READY TO PARTAAAAAYYYY?" Mat yells. He's wearing an Irish flag as a cape (God only knows where he got that). Most of us yell back some sort of enthusiastic response that's generally wordless. Lily just facepalms, but I can see her shoulders shaking so I know she's laughing. She and Ashley are drinking chocolate milk, whereas most everyone else has found beer or something alcoholic. Even after only being here for less than five minutes. But hey, nothing wrong with that. Now the real party starts.

AS the night goes on, the entire house slowly slips into drunkenness. Except for Lily, who's basically useless because she can't stop laughing. For whatever reason, she finds us being drunk really funny. Even Ashley gets a little bit tipsy. Some people are dancing, some are talking. I think Mat tried to throw Preston in the pool once or twice. I'm having a good time.

At least, I was until I downed way more vodka than I should've, straight from the bottle. Then I was having a great time. Everything sort of fades out about an hour after that, when I drank the rest.

-oO0Oo-

Oh. My. God. I did not expect this level of sheer… shenanigans. I've never really been around drunk people, save for the drunk Skyping from Mitch. My college is a dry campus, and I was a goody-two-shoes in high school. I almost wish I'd been a little more adventurous, because drunk people are fricking hilarious. The drinking itself isn't so funny. It actually makes me nervous. It's more the heightened sense of self-importance that the boys seem to get. Like, for example, Mat was convinced that he could carry Preston all the way from the second story of the house down to the pool to throw him in. It was kinda funny to watch him chase Preston all the way outside, where he did not succeed at getting him into the chillly water. And then he tried again a couple hours later. I'm pretty sure he didn't remember trying the first time.

I spent some time dancing, until Mat tried to grab my ass. I smacked him pretty good for that one. It didn't matter, though, because he just went over to somebody else and tried to grab their ass. Rob was trying to twerk. I told him that he was too white and that he'd never get a job that way. He almost started crying. I felt bad, but it was also kind of funny. Like, here's the grown-ass man, crying because a girl told him he was white. I gave him a nice hug until he stopped crying. It took about five minutes of back rubs and reassuring him that he'll have a job someday to get him to calm down.

I had a good chat with Louise. She's really nice. Jerome did a good job picking her. Ashley was a little bit tipsy, but not enough to be out of her brain. I haven't seen Preston's girlfriend since they all got home. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Preston since Mat tried to get him in the pool again about an hour ago. I'm starting to actually feel like a mom.

These crazy kids, I tell ya.

I walk outside around 3:30, desperate for some fresh air. Mat follows me out, and we start up a conversation. Turns out, we like a lot of the same stuff. Not that he'll remember that. He's totally hammered. He practically falls into the pool even sitting down eight feet away. Drunk people are miracle workers. I'm pleasantly surprised when he's able to keep up a halfway decent conversation, even if it is constantly derailed. I don't even notice when an hour passes. I only realize exactly how long it's been and how much alcohol he's actually consumed when he just passes out mid-sentence.

I half-drag half-carry him back into the room. God, he's heavy. I mean, I knew I had noodle arms, but damn. By the time I've gotten him upstairs (thank god for that elevator) and into his bed, he's thrown up on himself once but still managed to remain passed out. I change his shirt, then set him up in his bed so that if he throws up it'll go into the garbage can that I drag next to his head. I go back downstairs, where it seems that everyone else is starting to pass out as well. Everyone else seems to have made it into their beds okay. I take a deep breath and survey the damage.

I'm pretty sure that nothing got broken, but there's bottles and red cups everywhere. I find a big garbage bag in the kitchen and start cleaning up so that there'll be less to do tomorrow. Suburban mom strikes again, I guess. It only takes about fifteen minutes to get rid of the worst of it. I go back outside and roll up my jeans, sitting on the edge of the pool and sticking my calves in. The cold water wakes me up, but I'm only able to leave my legs in the pool for a short amount of time. I start going over my travel plans in my head. I have to leave the day after the day after tomorrow. I guess that would just be the day after tomorrow, because technically it's morning. I check my watch. 5:22.

I should probably get to bed. I stand up and stretch before walking back inside. I walk around the kitchen and the living room, making sure I didn't miss too much when I was cleaning. Well, sort of cleaning. All of a sudden, I hear voices.

Strange–I thought that everyone went to bed over thirty minutes ago. I think they're coming from the hall. As I get closer, the sound gets louder and then suddenly very quiet. I walk a little bit faster and pull out my iPod just in case. I start talking before I round the corner.

"Hey, I thought I heard voices out here. I was just coming to see if you–OH MY GOD!"

A/N TIME! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME: Hey guys! QD here with super-speedy update. I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but I already have the next chapter written so hopefully I'll get that typed up fairly soon. Get ready for a big change [insert evil author smile]. I don't really have much else to say, so on to the facts!

-I switched around the POV order in this chapter because once Mitch's memory cuts out, so does his POV. This story is kind of like Lily and Mitch retelling their story, so obviously Mitch can't tell what he doesn't remember. Plus, I had to get that cliffhanger in there [insert evil author smile].

-The college I plan to go to is, in fact, a dry campus.

-I am a huge goody-two-shoes. Hooray.

-Return of maternal QD!

-I like going outside when I get overwhelmed. It clears my head.

-I really do have noodle arms.

-Vomit doesn't really gross me out. I have a pretty strong stomach as far as that stuff is concerned.

And the fictions:

-I would not be able to carry Mat. It would be more of me dragging him by some limb.

-Like I said, I've never been around drunk people, so how I represented them was probably inaccurate.

I think that's everything! Just an FYI, there probably won't be Mitch's POV on the next chapter and there definitely won't be an author's note for reasons I'll explain later. As always, thank you guys for reading, reviewing etc. Your support means the world to me. Internet hugs to every beautiful individual! Much luv!

-Quiet Defiance

PS - don't forget to follow my Twitter for updates on my progress! Username in my bio :)