"What in the world," Haru said, and I nodded.
"A whole new world," I told him, ushering him towards one end of the massive display. "Check it out."
Gin, vodka, whiskey, beer, rum, brandy, cider, wine coolers, cocktails, sake, and soju were all lined up in glasses or bottles or jugs across the expanse of the connected tables. Jack Daniel's to Coors to Smirnoff to Hennessy to Bacardí to Jinro to Corona to Captain Morgan to Absolut to Don Julio to Tanqueray to Junmai. Gold, green, black, blue, silver, white, red, purple, pink, glassy. A few bottles looked too cheap to have been brought by the twins themselves, and others looked too expensive to have been brought by anyone but. Some were half empty, some were mostly full, some were all gone, and almost all had been opened at least once.
It was every shelf imaginable displayed right in front of us, there for the taking with none of the price and every single chance of trouble.
The tasteless weight of a sleeping pill echoed down my throat, and I grasped Haru's shoulders.
"Which one you wanna try?" I asked.
Haru gawked. "Which one...is safe?"
"None of 'em," I admitted, because it was true.
I scanned over the inordinate amount of alcohol, trying to see which would go down easiest, before settling on a bottle of half-drunk rum and snagging a plastic cup. I dragged Haru towards the sodas and took the barely-touched bottle of Coke, pouring the two down.
"Rum and Coke," I explained, the bass still drowning out most of my voice. "Not too strong." I handed it to him. "Drink up."
Haru stared at the cup like I'd given him someone's blood. The flashing lights from behind lit him up in black shadow and neon watercolor. Cloud Avenue slithered back to my vision.
I glanced around before snagging a beer out of a pack, gesturing it at him. I pushed it against the edge of the table, slamming it down to pop off the cap, foam blooming around the mouth.
Haru clutched his cup and I leaned closer. My hand gripped his forearm.
"Don't think," I said. "Just try it."
He faced me, the same open and pleading look painted over his face like last time, as if he was trying to find a better answer than what I'd given. When he saw there was none, he just nodded.
I held up my fingers, counting down from three.
Three, two, one—
He tilted the cup back just as I lifted the bottle to my lips.
Beer hit my tongue and throat; bitter, watery, icy, and threatening a grimace in my eyes. I pulled away, just to see Haru staring down at the cup with a frown.
"Not good?" I yelled.
"Tastes like Coke," he replied.
"Just wait," I said, laughing. I pushed the cup to him. "Down it and we'll get a different kind."
Haru blinked. "How hard does it hit you?" he yelled.
"Guess we'll see!"
And to my shock, he took that on faith. In one go, Haru downed the rest of the cup.
This would be fun.
But before I could comment on that gutsy move of his, two arms collapsed around my neck, pulling me right out of the moment.
"Angel!" Maia boomed in my ear, breath already scented with vodka. "Haruki! Flip cup, upper level, c'mon."
"Drinking games? I thought you hated those," I called back, discarding my beer without another sip.
YOU ARE READING
Suicide Buddies
Teen Fiction"My mother once told me there are three, and only three, truly defining moments in your life. One: When you don't know. Two: When you realize you don't know. Three: When you know. This is about the third one." --- Angel Young is going to die. Or at...
Vodka and Valor
Start from the beginning
