Nothing was more amusing than watching a bunch of desperate freshman attempting to buy certain beverages that they clearly knew nothing about. "The Gang", which at this point consisted primarily of Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Levy, and this other girl named Meredy that Gray had met in his psychology class. They were all sitting in Natsu and Gray's room. Gray sat with Meredy on his bed, while Lucy and Levy sat on Natsu's. Natsu himself sat backwards on a desk chair in between the two beds. He had a wad of cash in one hand, and his phone in the other, pressed against his ear.
"No, I told you, we have forty bucks between the five of us." He said through the phone. "...Yeah. I've got a written list for ya….. I know, I know."
"You have vodka on that list right?" Gray asked.
"Yes, I have vodka. Now shut the fuck up." Natsu hissed, covering the speaker on his phone with the palm of his hand. He then turned his attention back to the conversation. "Right. Meet you in the parking lot? On it."
With that, the conversation ended. The pink haired boy shoved his phone into his pocket and got up from his chair. "Alright. I'm gonna go meet the person real quick. She's heading out like, now."
"And she's not going to scam us?" Gray had a skeptical look on his face.
"Look man, Cana isn't about to skimp out on us here. She wants us to drink just as much as we want to get drunk." Natsu said as he headed opened up their dorm room door. "Plus, I don't see us having many other options, so trust me on this."
With that, Natsu left to go meet the sophomore who, for some reason, agreed to buy a bunch of underaged children alcohol. Lucy still wasn't too sure about the whole situation.
This was going to mark their first weekend on a college campus, and Lord knew that the world was going to explode. The combination of returning students who didn't get to party over the summers, and the little first years who were being released from their parents' rule for the first time in their life, was beyond terrifying. Lucy knew many people from her classes alone who were prepared to drink their livers away. As they had been chatting, Lucy discovered that Natsu had the most drinking experience in the group. He claimed to have been to several parties in high school, and pulled up pictures on his phone to prove it. He even showed off the case of Natty Light that his dad had bought for him upon moving in. Second on the list of drinking achievements was Gray, who had drunk before, but wasn't so much of a party go-er, which was the only reason his experience was limiting. Levy had gone to some parties over the summer, and drank three beers before being happily tipsy. Even Meredy had some amount of experience with alcohol. Lucy's experience ended with her one glass of wine at dinner parties her father would take her to. The most she had ever had in her life was two glasses at Easter.
Still, this group of barely experienced freshman somehow were some of the only ones she knew of who had an actual plan for getting their hands on liquor. It was six thirty when Cana got back from the liquor store. She showed up at the boy's dorm room with a very inconspicuous brown paper bag. She chatted for a little bit, wishing the gang the best of luck, before turning to walk down the hallway. Natsu and Gray were immediately interested in what the bag contained. They took out three glass bottles, and placed them on the floor side by side. The girls leaned over to inspect the labels. There was one very large bottle, that was covered in a label that faded from pink to yellow. The large text on the front read Svedka. Under that it said it was flavored like strawberry lemonade, which didn't sound awful. The next two bottles she at least recognized from movies and such. Jack Daniels and Fireball whiskey. Natsu quickly clung to the Fireball, which probably should have been concerning.
The group decided to part ways for a while. It wasn't quite time to start actually drinking yet, so they decided to take some time to get ready. Levy and Lucy both ran up to their room, bringing Meredy with them.
"What are you supposed to wear out?" Levy asked, pulling shirts out of her closet.
"I honestly have no idea." Lucy shook her head. She looked towards Meredy, who was leaning against Lucy's bed. The pinkette was currently wearing violet tank top and dark skinny jeans, with a black blue flannel tied around her waist. "Is that what you're wearing out?"
"Um, I think so." She responded, looking down as if to remember what she was wearing. "I don't really want to walk all the way back to my room to change so…"
"Where do you live?" Levy asked.
"CrimSor." Meredy saw the slightly confused looks. "Short for Crime Sorcerer. It's the one close to Hyberion Hall, all the way on south campus?"
"No way!" Levy was surprised. "I didn't know first years lived over there."
Meredy shook her head. "There's a handful of us, but it's mostly sophomores and juniors."
"Yeah, I don't blame you for not wanting to walk back." Lucy said, pulling a few shirts out of her closet, holding them up in front of herself in the mirror. "If you want to, you can borrow something to wear tonight."
"You sure?" Meredy asked.
"Yeah, of course!" Lucy smiled, immediately forgetting her own outfit to think of what would look good on the other girl. "Your shirt is super cute, but if you want something else to wear or shorts or a skirt or something, go ahead and pick one out."
"...Then… Do you have a dark skirt or something? Pants are going to get hot."
"Oh definitely." Lucy hunted through her dresser and produced a black skater skirt with an elastic waist. She handed it over to Meredy, who quickly slid it over her pants, before pulling those down to her ankles and eventually kicking them off.
It took a while, but eventually Lucy and Levy both had outfits. Lucy donned a white and gray striped crop top, that was tight fitting around her chest, but definitely not uncomfortably so, with a navy blue skirt. Her hair was tied up in a simple bun, just enough to keep it from getting in the way. Levy decided to go with a dress rather than a shirt and skirt. It was a lace dress that was cranberry in color, had short sleeves, and a skirt that cut a few inches above her knees. A thin black belt went around its waist with a small black bow on the front. Yet another head band tucked her hair back on her head.
By the time the three girls were fully dressed, and had played a little with each other's make-up, it was about eight o'clock. Time always does seem to go by fast when you're getting ready. Feeling confident in their looks, the girls went back down to the boy's room.
"Hey there pretty ladies. Come here often?" Natsu said as he opened the door. He had changed from his previous outfit to a black tank top with two thick, red stripes going across it, and dark khaki shorts.
Gray was sitting at his desk, wearing just a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans, with a water bottle in his hands. If the shot glasses or half empty juice and soda bottles were any clue, there was definitely not water in it. Music was playing off of a laptop, also on his desk.
Natsu closed the door behind the girls, and immediately offered them drinks. "I think we should all celebrate our first week of college with a quick shot. What do ya say?" Natsu didn't even have to finish his sentence before Gray was filling up shot glasses. Lucy waited to be handed hers, and stared down at the clear liquid in her. She decided in that moment that she didn't like that she could see through it. She looked towards Levy, who had her own shot glass in one hand, and a bottle of ginger ale in the other.
"Alright! Ready?" Natsu put his own shot in the middle of the little circle that they all seemed to be standing in, the rest of the group following suit. "Cheers!"
In one motion, the freshman all brought their respective drinks to their lips, tilting their heads back to fit all of the liquid into their mouths. The burn was like cleaning fluid mixed with hand sanitizer. It hung around in Lucy's mouth far longer than she would have liked. "Aaah. That's painful." She stuck out her tongue. The feeling of fire in her throat wouldn't go away.
"You get used to it." Gray said as he handed her a bottle of soda to wash down the taste.
"Maybe vodka's not your thing?" Meredy suggested.
"Hey Lucy!" Natsu slung an arm over her shoulder. "Wanna do a Fireball shot with me?"
"I can't believe you like that stuff." Gray spat, taking a swig of whatever was in his "water" bottle.
Before Lucy could say anything, another shot glass was being handed to her, this time with an orange-brown liquid.
"Come on Luce. Do this with me." The grin on Natsu's face was hard to say no to. So, she took the glass and held it up. One of Natsu's arms crossed around hers so that the duo were linked together. A grin, not quite as big as Natsu's, reached Lucy's lips right before they took the shot in unison. Fire and cinnamon flooded her mouth instantly. Lucy coughed for a moment when she swallowed the alcohol, but quickly recovered.
"That one wasn't as bad as the first." She announced.
The group of five sat around and drank together until just before ten o'clock. In that time they had had beers, shots, and taken sips from Gray's drink, which had been discovered to be a whiskey and coke. The dark haired guy kept refilling it, and as the night went on, and more alcohol was consumed, he stopped measuring out shots all together, and just added whiskey and soda in random amounts. Levy and Lucy sat on top of one of the beds, giggling together about the names of elements on the large Periodic Table that hung from Natsu's side of the room. They passed around a few beers, not bothering to pay attention to which one belonged to who. Lucy vaguely noticed the stench of alcohol in the dorm room, or the layer of sweat between her and Levy as they sat with their arms pressed together, or Meredy inching closer to Gray. Everything around her just seemed to be happening too quickly for her mind to actually pay attention to it.
For the first time in her life, Lucy could say she was sufficiently buzzed. It didn't feel like it was always described in the movies though, so it took until the group decided to leave the safety of the boy's dorm room and make the walk across campus, that she actually started to really feel the effects. The best way she could describe how she felt would be 'fuzzy'. The world seemed to be moving faster than usual, and events blurred together. She didn't even know how their little group had gotten their destination, she just suddenly realized they were there.
While Magnolia College wasn't exactly a party school, they had their fair share of party atmospheres and traditions. One of which was gathering on the Greens. The Greens was the field out behind the townhouse area, known as the Crescents. Usually that space was reserved for upperclassmen housing. But, on a weekend night, it was the largest social gathering on campus. Everyone would meet up and stand around in the middle of the field, chatting away and mingling with random people.
A week into the school year, and Lucy was able to recognize some of the people there at least. A few were friends she had made in orientation, people she knew to live on her hallway, or people she had classes with. Most of them were complete strangers. She couldn't tell how old they were, but some stood around drinking right from glass bottles, while others attempted to conceal their drinks in soda bottles or travel mugs. In front of one town house, a group of guys had pulled out a school provided dining room table and were yelling over rounds of beer pong. Other girls, in very short dresses, shrieked as they jumped into each other's arms. There were puddles all over the ground, some were maybe caused by water, while others were clearly the effect of the shattered glass in the center of it.
Lucy stuck to her friends. She made sure that they never left her side even once. She and Levy linked arms, to make sure they never separated. That was when the two girls noticed the linked hands between a certain pink haired girl and raven haired boy, and immediately they started giggling and whispering in each other's ears.
"Oo~oh. You think they're gonna date?" Levy laughed through her words, pointing at Gray and Meredy.
"No, you think?" Lucy gasped. "How scandalous."
The girls started laughing louder together, which drew the attention of Natsu. "What? What's goin on?" He walked up to the two girls, holding a six pack with both hands. The roommates both looked at it, confusion on their faces.
"Natsu…." Lucy stared at the beers. "Where did that come from?"
The pink haired boy looked down at the items in his hands, then back at his friends. "I found it."\
"Hahaha! You found it?" Levy for some reason thought this was the funniest thing. "Where the fuck did you find a six pack?"
"I ran into a bunch of seniors, and I followed them back into their house, and I went into their fridge, and it was full of beer, so I took it." The boy explained his discovery of these beers very matter of factly. The girls on the other hand, were shocked and amazed.
"You what?!" Lucy couldn't believe this kid. "You stole them?"
"No. I found them." Natsu stuck his tongue out. "Come on Luce, it's not like I can give them back."
"Let's just drink them." Levy said, tapping her roommate on the shoulder. "It's not going to hurt anyone."
"You two….." The blonde looked between her two friends. "If we get found out I'm kicking your sorry ass Natsu."
The chemistry major just waved off the comment. "We can go down to the river to go drink them or something. No one will be there."
"Oooh." Levy cooed at the idea. "I like that."
"Fine. Docks it is."
After deciding on their destination, the trio turned around to look for the other two who had been with them, but the pair was completely gone. With the massive crowd that there was on the Greens, there was no way in hell they were about to find them.
"Let's just go." Natsu shrugged, and began walking towards the end of the townhouses, where they would be able to get to the main pathway that went through campus. The two girls followed after him, not really wanting to lose another member of the group after having lost two already. Gray and Meredy were quickly forgotten.
The walk to the docks was quick. The three freshman weren't so drunk that they were stumbling over their feet, but walking down hills was noticeably difficult. If not for the fact that they knew they needed to follow the brick, which led right around the pond, and passed Mermaid Heel, the all girls dorm, they probably wouldn't have been able to find their destination. The group walked across a road, and around the boat house, then they were on the river.
The river at night was a beautiful thing normally, but when all of the lights on the docks were a little blurry from the alcohol, it was even better. Levy, Lucy, and Natsu found a place along the docks to sit down, and hang their feet over the edge and into a cool river water. Natsu took out one beer for each of them. He used his keys to put the caps off of them. Lucy studied the label briefly. It said SUMMER LOVE in big, Word Art letters, with what kind of resembled a baseball in the middle of the sun in the back. There were all sorts of weird colors and shapes on it that she couldn't quite make out. The freshman all cheered their bottles before taking the first sips from it.
"That's nasty." Natsu stuck out his tongue. He paused for a moment before taking another swig anyways.
"Anyone else tasting straight orange peel?" Levy asked.
"Definitely orange peel." Natsu confirmed. "And maybe just the slightest hint of ass."
The girls couldn't help but chuckle. "Congrats Natsu. You stole us a bunch of shitty beer."
Natsu just shrugged. "At least it's free?"
The rest of their time on the docks was spent forcing this beer down the hatch, and chatting when they could think of stuff to talk about. There wasn't a set topic, their minds just kept picking up one thing and dropping another. Occasionally one would pause their sentence to take a swig, only to hate the taste of their worst ever find.
The vibration of Natsu's phone paused conversation completely. The flame-head pulled his cell out of his pocket, taking a drink of beer as he checked it. "So…." He took a moment to figure out what he wanted to say. "Apparently Gray needs the room."