Chapter 4
I’m waiting underneath the gigantic tree that’s in front of my house. The trunk is bigger than me, so it can keep me out of sight.
After my friends dropped me off at home, I told my mom I was tired and went straight to bed.
I waited to hear her go to her room and then I redid my hair and makeup.
I hope Kai doesn’t notice I fixed everything and changed.
But then again, it might be better if he knew I put effort into looking good for him.
He put my name as beautiful in his phone. That’s has to mean something.
Headlights catch my attention as they flicker off. A black Honda Civic pulls up next to me.
“Get in,” Kai whispers as he rolls down a window.
I jump into the back seat, and then Kai slowly drives away, trying not to rev the engine. I swiftly turn my head to look behind me to make sure my mom didn’t notice.
I sigh in relief when I find all as it should be.
As long as my mom doesn’t see the back door unlocked, I should be fine. She doesn’t typically wake up in the middle of the night; at least I don’t think she does. I put the thought in the back of my mind. There is nothing to worry about…yet.
“I’m glad you could get out,” Kai says.
“Me too.”
“This is my buddy Owen.”
He turns toward me. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
I hope Kai hasn’t been drinking too much. I’m not sure how much he had to drink before he picked me up. He looks to be driving fine.
“Are we picking up your friend?”
“Yes. I’ll show you where she lives.”
Me: Omw.
Paige: Hurry. I’m already outside
The voices from the apartment echo out to the parking lot.
The apartment is a fourplex. People are coming in and out of all four apartments.
No wonder it’s loud. The closer we get to the apartments, the more the vibration of the bass from the song “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne vibrates my body.
How do they not get in trouble for this?
“Who all lives here?” I ask.
Kai points to the top right apartment. “My brother and his friend live there, and I do too, now. The rest of the apartments are people he goes to school with.”
There is some sort of hesitance in his voice every time he brings up where he lives. I wonder what the story is there.
“They’re all fine with partying like this?”
“Looks fun.” Paige giggles.
“Yeah. We all party every weekend.”
“Is your brother going to care that we’re here?” Paige questions.
“Nah. He’s cool with it.”
“And he’s cool with you drinking?” I ask.
“Yeah. He says he would rather have me party with him so he can keep an eye on me.”
His brother is cool. I could never do that with Brynlee.
The closer we get to the apartments, the more it smells like a skunk. That must be weed. I’ve never smoked before. I’ve heard it makes you laugh and gives you munchies.
Owen wraps his arm around Paige and leads her ahead of us. She looks over her shoulder at me with a growing grin. “Come on. Let’s get you a drink.”
Kai and I try to follow behind them. The apartment is filled with so many people; we’re all basically elbow to elbow. Everyone's hands are holding either a bottle of beer or a red Solo cup. The kitchen isn’t any better. I stand next to Paige in the only empty corner.
Owen pops open two Four Lokos and hands us each one.
I take a sip gagging as it runs down my throat. I cover my mouth, my eyes watering trying not to throw it back up.
Owen laughs. “Guess you’re not ready for the hard stuff.”
Paige narrows her gaze between me and her Four Lokos she has in hand. After seeing my reaction, she sets hers down. “I think I’ll take a Corona.”
Owen laughs again as he grabs two Coronas out of the fridge, opens them both with a lighter, and hands them to us.
I hesitantly take a small sip of the Corona to make sure it doesn’t have the same disgusting taste as the Four Lokos. To my surprise it doesn’t. I guess I’ll be sticking to these for the rest of the night.
“This is crazy,” Paige says in my ear.
I nod in agreement. I look around and notice that every person has some kind of drink in their hand. How old is everyone? Some look way too old to be hanging out with people under twenty-one. Who am I to judge? I’m only sixteen. Good thing I look older than I do.
Kai walks side by side with someone who closely resembles him. He has the same skater hairstyle Kai has and bright-blue eyes. He’s taller and a little more filled out than Kai.
“Blakely, Paige, this is my brother, Kevin. Kevin, these are my friends.”
Kevin lifts his beer toward us. We clink our beers together, and all three of us take a sip.
Kevin doesn’t pay much attention to us, and then he’s gone.
Kai leans his hips against the counter, brushing his arm against mine.
I feel a rush of giddiness and excitement.
My heart flutters, and a wide grin spreads across my face.
I can't help but think this good-looking guy could have anyone, yet he's choosing to get to know me.
Out of all the people, he's interested in me.
I know I lack confidence, but I need to learn to open up, be myself, and recognize that I am beautiful and deserving of this good-looking guy.
“Cheers,” he says and raises his Corona toward mine. I clink my beer against his, and we both take sips.
“Is this like a weekly thing you guys do?” I ask.
He nods. “The parties aren’t always here. But we do party almost every weekend.”
“Sounds fun,” I say, glancing around at the lively scene. “Do you ever get tired of it?”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Not really. I get to see my friends that I don’t go to school with and meet new people.” He gives me a warm smile. “I’m happy you came out and we get to spend more time together.”
I feel a blush creep up my cheeks and look down at my beer. “I’m happy I came too. I’ve never been to parties like this.”
“What do you usually do on weekends?” he asks.
“Hang out with Paige. We’re always together. We always end up at the mall,” I admit with a shy laugh because that is where we first laid eyes on each other. “I also like to read, watch movies, stuff like that.”
“Cool,” he says. His blue eyes shine, and I can’t help but think about how handsome he is. “Hopefully we can hang out more.”
“I’d love to,” I say, feeling a flutter of excitement. “What do you like to do?”
“Not much. I’m usually at school or work. And then the parties on weekends. I don’t know…” He sighs. “I used to do a lot more. Like fishing, hiking, and exploring the mountains with my dad,” he replies.
“Why don’t you do those things anymore?” I ask, taking another sip of my beer.
“My dad’s been going through some stuff, and he’s the one I would do those things with,” he says, looking a bit bashful.
“I’m sorry,” I say, genuinely saddened to hear all of this. “Hopefully things will get better.”
We continue to chat, the conversation flowing effortlessly. With each passing moment, I feel more at ease, grateful for the chance to get to know him better.
“Do you guys want to play beer pong?” Owen asks.
Paige and I both look at each other, shrug our shoulders, and head over to the table where there are ten cups on each end.
“How do we play?” Paige asks.
“Each player on the team takes turns throwing the ball into the cups. If the ball lands in the cup, one of the players has to drink the beer in said cup,” Owen says as he pours small amounts of beer into each cup.
“You want to be on my team?” Kai asks me.
“Sure.”
Paige and Owen are already on the other side of the table, lining the cups up in a pyramid shape.
“You guys go first,” Kai says.
Paige takes a ping-pong ball out of Owen’s hand and throws it our way. It hits the corner of the room and bounces to the floor. Paige bursts into laughter as she watches it roll away.
“Wow, Paige.” I giggle with her.
She puts her hands on her waist. “Let’s see you try.”
Kai hands me the ball. With a flick of my wrist, I toss the ball and watch it go through the air and land right into the cup.
All four of us erupt in an “Ooohhhh!”
Fifteen minutes later, Kai and I only have two cups left. Owen and Paige have three.
I move my hand in a back-and-forth motion as I try to aim my ball into one of their cups. Before I can throw the ball, Owen waves his hands over the cups, distracting me. “What are you doing? That’s not fair.”
“It is fair. You’re allowed to distract the person throwing the ball when you’re at the last couple of cups,” Kai says.
I dart my eyes toward Owen and glare. I squint, thinking that will help with my aim. Flicking my wrist, I throw the ball. Owen pulls his hands away, and the ball lands in a cup. Squealing at my shot, I jump up and down, adrenaline running through my veins. I can’t believe how good I am at this.
Both Owen and Paige groan.
Owen grabs a ball and throws it with no intention of making it in. To my surprise, it makes it in. Kai grabs the cup and chugs the beer.
Kai takes the ball out of the cup with water in it that is set to the side to clean off the ball. I doubt that cleans it, anyway. He takes a couple of steps back, moves his hand back and forth, throws the ball, and it lands in the last cup.
Both of us squeal, “Oooohhh!”
“We won,” I say.
“Of course, we won. We’re a great team,” he says with a wink.
“Yeah, yeah. You two are annoying,” Paige says.
“Don’t hate,” Kai says. Both of us erupt in laughter as we watch Owen and Paige chug the last of their beer.
A few hours have passed, and Kai and I are playing pool in the living room in the apartment downstairs. My lips are feeling numb. Is that normal when you’re drinking? I’m not sure how many beers I’ve had.
“Your turn!” Kai says.
I grab my pool stick, lean over the pool table, and move my stick up and down before hitting the ball.
“Here.” Kai comes behind me and positions his body on top of mine.
His chest is against my back. Our cheeks connect, radiating warmth between us.
His mouth is close to mine. So close, I could kiss him.
He grabs both of my hands and hits the ball, and it goes into a pocket.
I was so distracted that I barely watched.
Kai lifts himself off of me, and the coldness of the space by my cheek hits me.
It’s disappointing…having him so close only to feel him pull away.
I stand back up, scanning the area around me. The party is dying down. It’s not as crowded as it was. Where the hell is Paige? I haven’t seen her in a while. My phone reads four a.m.
Oh, shit.
I lost track of time. I should probably get home. As I walk over to Kai, I stumble a little and try to catch my balance.
“Whoa, are you okay?” Kai runs to my side and holds me up.
“Yeah.” I giggle, trying to play off that the room is spinning. Nausea rushes up my stomach.
Shit.
I can’t puke in front of Kia. He’s going to think I can’t hold my alcohol. I inhale and exhale, trying to push it back down. It helps a little, but then when I focus on the room, it spins and the nausea rushes back.
“You don’t look so good.”
Kai is right in front of me, or so I think; I can’t tell. There’s two of him.
I nod.
He wraps his arm around my waist and walks me to the bathroom.
The second I see the toilet, food and alcohol rush out of me. Kai holds my hair as I lean in, throwing up the tater tots I ate earlier.
Well, this is embarrassing.
As I rinse my mouth in the sink, I notice how bloodshot my eyes are. Everything is still blurry. I want my bed now.
“Can you take me home?”
He nods his head. “Let me find out who the DD is tonight. We usually have a DD that drives everyone home at the end of the night.”
Huh. Why does it shock me that they are responsible?
He wraps his arm around my waist again, leading me out of the bathroom.
“We need to find Paige,” I slur.
“Let’s get your water first. I don’t know if you’ll be able to walk yourself inside your house alone.”
By the time we get upstairs, it seems like hours have passed. There aren’t so many people here now, which makes it easier and less embarrassing.
Kai sits me down on one of the kitchen chairs, unscrews the water bottle in his hands, and gives it to me. “I’ll be right back.”
I look at my surroundings. Some people have passed out on the couch and the floor. Others are still talking in huddled groups.
“B.” Paige is finally in my sight.
“Where have you been?”
“I was downstairs. I saw Kai carrying you up. You don’t look so good.”
“You’re not drunk?”
She shakes her head.
“Why am I drunk and you’re not?” I mumble.
She smirks at me. “I’ve taken it slow.”
“This is embarrassing.”
“Why? That’s what a party is for. To get drunk and have fun. Are you having fun?”
“I was until now.” I drop my throbbing head into my hands.
“We should get going. It’s five in the morning,” Paige says.
What the fuck? Just a minute ago, it was only four. Time goes by fast when you’re drunk.
“Are you guys ready to go?” Kevin asks.
He must be the DD tonight.
“Have you been drinking?” Paige asks.
“No, I’m the DD tonight.”
Thought so.
“How? We saw you drinking.”
Kai and Owen come up behind Kevin.
“That was earlier. I haven’t drank for hours. I’m already sobered up.”
“Can we just go?” I groan. Trying to get up, Kai comes to my side and walks me out.
The closer we get to my house, the more my nerves are pounding through my body.
I’m nervous. I’m really hoping my mom didn’t lock me out like that time Paige’s mom locked us out.
I can’t imagine sleeping outside feeling like this.
We dropped Paige off first so I could have a little more time to sober up. My nerves are making me sober up fast.
“Are you going to be okay getting into the house by yourself?” Kai asks as we pull to the curb down the street from my house.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
“Let me walk you to the door.”
My eyes spring open as I shake my head. “No way.”
“Come on. Let me walk you. No one looks awake anyway.” He looks over at my house.
No lights are on. I’m sure everyone is still asleep. But there is no way I can risk it.
“I’ll be fine. I promise.”
He sighs. “Okay. We’ll wait here until we get a text from you saying that you’re inside.”
I nod. “Thanks for the ride, Kevin. See you, Kai.”
“Sure thing,” Kevin says.
Nausea swarms my stomach the closer I get to my house.
I try my best not to step on anything that will make a sound.
Praying that the sliding door is open, I reach for it, sighing the second it moves.
I open the door enough to get myself through it.
Once I’m through it, I look around to make sure no one is up.
There’s no one in sight. It’s dead as night.
Except the sun is coming up, so it’s not so dark.
The moment my bedroom door clicks shut, I release all the tension I have been bottling up inside since the ride over here.
Me: I’m inside.
Kai: Get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight Beautiful.