Finding My Way Back

Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

The partygoers were getting progressively drunker. I was sitting on a barstool, taking over Megan's role of "watching the drinks." As the only sober one, Megan typically supervised people's cups while they were off dancing or talking. As she had said: "it's important to make sure no scumbags slip anything into an already drunk girl's beer."

A few people had come up to introduce themselves, but it was hard to learn much about them when the alcohol was controlling their thinking. They could never seem to offer anything more than their name—slurred—and a few drunken giggles. At least it was entertaining to watch everyone.

Megan was off in the bathroom taking care of Brooke. She had thrown up everywhere, and then burst into tears. I felt bad when she realized what she had done and sobbed "I never get sick at my own parties, never!"

Cameron approached me and took a seat on the stool next to me. I hadn't yet spoken to him. "Hi, I'm Ella," I said. "You're Cameron, right? Megan said you were Brooke's boyfriend."

He nodded. "Yeah, I am." A concerned look was in his eyes as he stared down at his hands. "I just went to check on her, she's not doing too well. I knew I should have stopped her from having more than a few drinks!" He looked up at me now, worried.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up. She'll be okay, maybe a little hungover tomorrow, but she'll be okay," I said lightheartedly.

He perked up a bit. "Yeah, you're right," he affirmed as he gave a small smile. "I just hate to see her upset I guess. But Megan's doing a great job taking care of her, and it's nice that you're out here 'supervising' too."

I smiled in response. Along with Megan, Cameron didn't seem drunk at all. "So you didn't have anything to drink?" I asked.

"As a host Brooke tends to refrain from drinking, but this time around I wanted her to just relax a little and have fun," he rubbed his neck and glanced up at me through his eyelashes. "Funny how that worked out, right? I offer to take over and let her loosen up a bit, but my plan backfired because now she's in the bathroom throwing up." A small laugh escaped through his lips.

Cameron had obviously relaxed a bit more, and he admittedly thought the situation was ironic.

"Hey, listen, I can keep watch over the drinks if you'd like. Go walk around a little, you don't need to sit here the whole time. Shame on you!" He said sarcastically.

"Alright I alright," I raised my arms, surrendering. "Forcing Ella to go interact with people, I see how it is." I stood up, kicking the barstool back underneath the countertop. "Talk to you later Cameron," I grinned.

I was considering chatting with Jonathan, the other guy that Megan had pointed out, but he was nowhere to be found. I also wasn't particularly interested in helping Megan hold back Brooke's hair, so I steered clear of the bathroom.

Everybody else was doing their own thing. There was a couple shoving their tongues into each other's mouths on the couch, another against the wall, quite a few groups of girls dancing in the living room with drinks splashing in their hands, and the football guys playing foosball. But I wasn't interested in having beer spilled on me or interrupting the foosball game, let alone the couples.

It was okay to be a lone wolf, I didn't have to interact with others.

I noticed a trash can in the hallway spilling over with empty cups and chip bags, so I went ahead and grabbed the can, pulling the full trash bag out of it. I tied it up, careful to not let any of the contents spill out, and started towards the front door.