LAILAH #3
“Nope, not gonna happen, there’s no way I can go from not drinking ever to a game of beer pong.” I shook my head vigorously.
“Fine, I’ll drink all the beer, but you’re going to play with me,” Parker said, reaching down and grabbing my hand. “Trust me, this is going to be a night to remember.”
“I am so going to regret this tomorrow. I just know it.” I let Parker tug me back downstairs.
We managed to get in the next game of beer pong fairly quickly, and Parker explained the rules for me.
“You’re going to toss the ball into the cup; when you do, they need to drink it.
The same happens in reverse when they have a ball land in one of our cups.
I had three of the cups filled with hard cider, so you have to do those, I’ll do the rest.” Parker was grinning.
We managed to win, even though I sucked at the game. I managed to get the ball in the cup twice, much to Parker’s delight. I ended up having to drink two of the three cups of cider. By the time we finished the game, my whole body felt warm and tingly all over.
At some point, Cami appeared by my side to check in on me. “You good, Lala? I just want to make sure that moron isn’t pushing you too far.”
“I love you for checking in on me, but I’m actually having a great time!” I said, grabbing her into a hug. “What about you? Are you having fun? Did you find a cute girl to hang out with?”
Cami smiled and shook her head at me. “Lala, tipsy is a good look for you. I knew somewhere in that perfect outer shell there was a wild child hidden.”
“Lailah, come on; now, we have to go get our groove on,” Parker said, grabbing my hand again waving to Cami. “You coming, half-pint?”
“What did you call me, asshat?” Cami said, laughing as she followed after us.
“I have no idea how to dance,” I yelled over the pulsing music.
“You don’t have to, just let the music move you,” Cami said. “Close your eyes, and just let your body figure it out.”
Taking a deep breath, I took her advice and closed my eyes, letting the music flow across my skin.
I danced all the time at home while I cleaned, or Kyle and I would have dance-off battles with video games, but never something like this.
A song I knew came on next, and I started to relax into it, singing along and swaying.
The song was remixed and moved with a slightly faster beat that just pulled my body along.
I opened my eyes and found that I’d drifted father into the mob of gyrating people.
I looked around to see if I could find Cami.
She was off having some dance battle with another guy, and they could both dance crazy good.
Then I felt someone behind me, I stiffened when the person put their hands on my hips gently.
They didn’t crowd me but just guided me along with the beat.
I looked over my shoulder and saw that it was Parker.
“I hope you don’t mind. A few guys were on their way over to make a move, and I figured I might be the lesser of evils,” Parker said into my ear.
Someone bumped into us and caused him to pull me against him, so I wouldn’t fall.
We both paused a moment, unsure of what to do next.
Parker loosened his hold, letting me move away if I wanted.
I’m not sure if it was the alcohol or the fact that Parker felt safe to me, I leaned back against him and let him lead.
One song flowed into another, and Parker and I spent the rest of the night on the dance floor.
Cami came to join us with another girl, and we showed off every bad dance move we all knew.
Utterly exhausted and dying of thirst, I had to get something to drink.
I grabbed Cami and forced our way out of the crowd.
We burst out of the people, laughing when a girl ran into me, spilling her full beer all over me.
“Better watch where you're going, charity case, wouldn’t want to ruin too many clothes,” the girl who ran into me said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking off.
“What the hell is her problem?” I grumbled, wiping at my shirt. My happy buzz was officially killed now that I was covered in warm beer.
“What a twat-a-potamus, she should be watching where she’s going,” Cami yelled after the girl.
Parker emerged out of the dancing mass and walked over once he spotted us. “What happened? You okay?”
“I’m fine, but some bimbo just spilled her beer all over me,” I explained. “Looks like we’ll have to head back. I’m not spending the rest of the night in wet jeans.”
“You also smell like a homeless drunk,” Cami said as she leaned in and sniffed me.
“Gee, thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Are you guys going to be okay getting home?” Parker asked, looking at Cami.
“Yup, I only had one drink when we first got here. Tonight was all about Lala getting the full experience, and that includes a hangover tomorrow.” Cami gave me a thumbs up.
“That is a horrible thing to do to your best friend,” I scolded her.
Parker just grinned, watching our interaction. “Sounds like you’re in good hands to me, Trouble.”
“Trouble is the opposite of what I normally am,” I said defiantly.
Cami coughed, trying to cover her laughter at that statement. “Yeah, says the girl who ends up in trouble whenever unsupervised.”
“Whatever,” I said, waving a dismissing hand. “Thank you, Parker, for forcing me to have fun. I actually ended up having a blast.”
“Give me your phone,” Parker said, holding out his hand.
I reached into my back pocket and pulled it out, handing it to him. He then proceeded to add his number into my contacts and handed it back over. “You really should put a lock on your phone, you never know who might be slipping their number in.”
I bit my lip at his scolding since Cami also was on my case about why I didn’t lock it. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Parker gave me a side hug since I was still covered in beer, and we made our way back to where Cami had parked.
“Look at you, ya little player! Two numbers in almost as many weeks; I’d say you’re on a roll,” Cami teased as we drove back to Ashfall.
“He really is very sweet, he’s like a big teddy bear that just wants to have fun.” I smiled, remembering his body against mine. He definitely wasn’t fluffy like a teddy bear; nope, that was solid muscle I felt.
Cami helped me to my room, and I fell into my bed like it was going to save me from the shifting ground beneath my feet.
I felt her pulling off my shoes, but I didn’t manage to stay awake long enough to hear her leave.
Darkness enveloped me, but it wasn’t the blissful void of sleep.
No, this was something different, I felt afraid of this black world.
It seemed that I had fallen into one of those dreams where some unknown evil was chasing me, and it was all I could do to keep running.
The danger was closing in on me, claws catching in my hair—
“You have a new text message.”
My phone notification cut through the darkness and pulled me out of my nightmare.
I groped around to find my phone and looked at it with one eye.
It was Parker making sure I’d gotten back okay.
Letting the phone drop, I rolled over, and this time when I shut my eyes, I was blessed with a dreamless sleep.