The Wrong Brother

Chapter 13 - When did this happen?

"Well, well, so you are the one who got our friend here hooked up." A tall guy, who I assume is on the football team, considering his body type and the Rutgers Football t-shirt he's wearing, stands up and pulls me towards him in a bro hug as well.

Ok, that's awkward.

"I'm Steve, nice to meet you, A." Did he just call me A?

"Nice to meet you too... uhn, S." I joke and he laughs. It's pretty lame, to be honest.

"The girl has a sense of humor. I like her." He turns to Dylan, but joking is just a way of making me feel less nervous, it doesn't mean that I'm comfortable. "Let me introduce you to the rest of us."

He puts his arm around my shoulder and then goes one by one telling me their names, which I will probably forget.

While Steve is being the host, Dylan is already sitting with the rest of his friends, a beer bottle in his hand.

"Here, grab a beer." Steve hands me the bottle, but I shake my head.

"Thanks, I shouldn't be drinking, I'm underage." It's not that I'm a prude or anything.

You know I've been drunk before, but one thing is to drink at someone's house, another is to drink at a bar in New York. I just don't want to go to jail.

I glance at Dylan and he takes a sip of his beer, looking amused. He is also underage, so he shouldn't be drinking either.

"Don't worry about it. The owner is a good friend of ours and you're 21 tonight." He winks at me, practically shoving the beer bottle in my face, so I take it.

I don't want them to think that I'm not cool, so I take a big sip, before turning to find an approving Steve looking at me.

The girl who Dylan is talking to makes room for me and I sit between her and my boyfriend. It's so cool to say that!

"So, Alex, what's your major?" Another guy from the group asks.

"Oh, I'm a senior in high school, I'm still not sure what I want to do after I graduate."

"You're in high school?" He asks surprised and I see the lips of one of the girls turning up into a smirk, whatever that means. All I know is that suddenly I feel embarrassed, which let's be real, happens a lot when it comes to me.

"Alex and I have known each other our entire lives. We just happen to have bonded now." Dylan shrugs and some of his friends nod.

"I think that's romantic." The other girl, that I now know is called Lauren, says. "That's how I met my boyfriend too, right babe?"

She turns to the guy next to her and he just nods before drinking his beer and turning to his side to talk to another guy.

I engage in a conversation with her and it makes me feel much better. I thought girls would be mean, but she's so nice. She's a sophomore and lives with her boyfriend off campus.

I feel so grown up in this crowd that I'm suddenly having my second beer and acting like a true new yorker, all the embarrassment gone.

I'm not sure how it happened, but I find myself making plans to visit all the cool places in the city with her. I could definitely get used to it here.

Time went by quickly and the rest of the night was intense. I got a bit drunk - well, everybody got drunk - we went for a walk around the city and ended up crashing at Lauren and her boyfriend's place.

This is something that I never thought I'd experience. This is a whole new level of going out and I don't think I've ever felt so grown up and I really like the feeling.