The First to Fall ⚢

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 • 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧

"What can I get for you pretty ladies?" he asks obnoxiously—should've seen that coming.

Cara glances at me with doe eyes that catch me off guard and I almost stammer as I try to order.

"Uh, can you make a Sex on the Beach?" I ask the guy, although speaking to him makes me want to puke.

He looks at me as if I just asked him to garnish my drink with caviar and edible gold. "You're Barington girls, aren't you?"

Instead of entertaining him, I ask again. "Can you make it or not?"

His face falls uninterested. "Yeah, I can."

"Great, I'll take four."

He shakes his head in shame and I resist the urge to ask him if his parents hate him or if he's just naturally an asshole. Ultimately, I stay silent until he slides the drinks across the island.

Cara and I take one in each hand and make our way through the neon crowd to find Norah, whose outfit is objectively the loudest of all of ours. It doesn't take long for us to spot her flailing her body around to the 2000s pop mix in her hot pink latex two-piece. I chuckle at Opal's exhausted but endearing reaction as they dance beside her, holding their hands out in case she hits someone by accident.

Cara and I join them, handing them each a drink. Opal's eyes shoot wide open as they yell a very grateful "thank you" into my ear and Norah slams a big wet kiss onto my cheek when I hand her the other red solo cup. Cara gives one to me and takes a sip of hers, raising her eyebrows in delight for just a moment before allowing her face to sink back into its perpetual state of loathing.

Opal seems to notice Cara's attitude at the same time as I do since they turn to face her and yell out, "Do you wanna get away from the music for a bit?"

Cara's expression softens as she smiles—a sight I rarely get to see for myself. "Yes, please!"

Opal meets eyes with me and I nod approvingly, grabbing onto Norah's wrist and yelling over the music at her. "Hey, let's take a break for a bit!"

She nods and beams at me as we lead her and Cara away from the crowd and into a quieter corner of the mansion. They follow willingly and Norah chuckles when she accidentally bumps into the wall.

"Is this not her first drink?" I ask Opal at a regular volume, now that we're further away from the bumping music.

Opal sighs. "She may have pre-gamed in the Uber a little."

"I always keep a shot of Pink Whit in my bra on a night out!" Norah announces happily, clearly tipsy despite not consuming very much alcohol. "Did you guys meet my friend?"

Cara and I share a confused look.

"The bartender," Opal explains begrudgingly, dropping their voice to a whisper next. "He's a total douchebag but Nor's a little too much of a bimbo to realize he just wants to get inside her pants."

I nod with a tight smile and closed eyes as I whisper back to them, "Seemed pretty douchey to me." But Cara smiles at Norah and assures her he was a nice guy.

Opal snickers and starts to rummage through their very gothic black mini purse, lined with silver crosses. "Do either of you smoke?"

"I used to." I down a few sips of my drink before continuing. "I got too dependent on it though, so I stopped for a while."

Opal nods and looks over at Cara, whose eyes are fixed on me in confusion. "What about you, Cara?"

Cara meets Opal's eyes and shakes her head. "Not really. I haven't tried at least."

Finally, Opal pulls out a little purple tube and smirks. "Do you want to?"

"Right now?" Cara asks, her voice coming out shocked and kind of nervous. Her inexperience is borderline adorable, not that I would ever admit that out loud and under normal, sober circumstances.

"Norah and I are gonna go smoke outside," they explain. "You're welcome to join if you want. If not, you can still chill out there with us. It's cooler outside anyway."

As soon as they mention the temperature, I realize how hot and humid it is inside, and suddenly the cool outside air seems to be exactly what I need right now. "I'm down," I tell them.

They look at Cara and I watch as she visibly gulps down her anxiety. "Sure, let's go."

We follow both of them out as they lead us to the back of the yard where there are a few huddles of friends who all seemed to have the same idea as us. Opal digs in their purse for a lighter as Norah starts to rant to us about her fantasy novel ideas and even though Cara looks calm and collected on the outside, I can tell she's only drinking that Sex on the Beach because she wants to prove something. Whether she wants to prove it to me or herself, it's clearly weighing down on her enough to set her mind racing in the middle of a party.

Before I know it, I find myself staring at Cara with curiosity. After all, the closest I'd been to her before this was beside her on stage when we gave our Valedictorian speeches. Even then, we were a good six feet apart. Never once have I been close enough to smell her Sweet Like Candy perfume that she sprays way too much of every morning.

I glance down at the outfit Norah helped her put together—it's not horrible, really. Considering they only had each other's closets to work with, they ended up with something wearable that doesn't make her look like a lost kid at a costume party, which so far surpasses my expectations. But I can't deny how intriguing it is to see her in such provocative clothes for once. I've always been used to her sweaters and jeans that seeing her so exposed almost feels violating—to both me and her. Not that there's anything wrong with her outfit in particular; a black bikini top and matching miniskirt are hardly out of the ordinary for a party, and definitely easy on the eyes.

"Is there a problem?" Cara asks and I realize she noticed my staring.

I shake my head and try my best to act nonchalant despite my warm cheeks. "You tell me."

She glares at me for only a moment more before Opal hands her the joint. She takes it cautiously and examines it like she's never seen one before, which wouldn't catch me by surprise at this point, before she slips it between her lips and inhales. As soon as she rips it away from her mouth, she inhales it deeper before smoke flows past her lips and I catch myself staring at them for the first time until she starts to cough violently. Instead of staring further, I glance down at the bottom of my empty cup, which explains why my body is starting to feel so weird right now.

Cara passes the joint to me in the midst of a coughing fit, but I shake my head and let the group know I'm going inside to get another drink instead. I pop into line and get some strawberry lemonade mixture that tastes like it's made of one-quarter strawberry lemonade and three-quarters straight vodka, but it's quick and gets me back outside in five minutes.

By the time I start making my way back, the group is still outside chatting, except with a new member in my place. I don't feel jealous watching the girl smile and laugh with my new friends, but there's an unfamiliar twinge of anger that flashes through me for a moment when I realize how close she's starting to move to Cara.

**disclaimer**
just so we're clear, i do NOT condone underage drinking/smoking. these are fictional characters in a fictional setting & their actions/behaviors are not meant to be mimicked or followed.