"HARLEM" ✔️

Chapter Thirty Nine

"Yup."

I walked past him and out the house.

***

"What are you gonna wear?" Megan asked me that night. It was ten PM and the party was to begin at midnight.

"I don't know. The usual. A jean short, a nice top and some sneakers."

Megan rolled her eyes.

"Have you ever tried putting on a sexy gown?"

"Nope. Why should I ?"

"Oh, Harl. Divert a little. You're always in tiny shorts. It's sexy at the start but when you always wear it, it bores off."

I laughed at her statement.

"It ain't funny, Harlem. Be a girl for once. Impress your boyfriend. Do you have sexy dresses or gowns?"

"Um, about four only. They're In the drawer."

"Good. Lemme chose the sexiest which you must wear tonight."

She went over to my drawers and began her search. Just as expected, she chose my black, one-zip gown. It was a short and strapless gown which stuck to one's skin.

"This is what you're wearing young lady. Now get your ass here so I make you up a little.

*

Megan and I walked into the booming house at eleven, an hour late. We liked coming late.

As expected, places were wild. Sexy dancing, alcohol, smooching and all you could imagine. Yasmin would've loved this. She loved parties like this one.
Megan and the other beta girls went separate ways while I stood there, looking for Rick. He soon appeared though.

"Oh my! Baby, you look amazing in this dress!" he exclaimed over the loud music as he wrapped his arms around me and we shared a kiss.

"Let's go dance!" he proposed.

"Sure!"

I followed Rick to the dance floor and in no time, I was carried away.
The DJ played hot songs and the crowd danced wildly to them, including Rick and I.

I would dance sexily against him, grinding and you know the rest. Places were hot. Some people were dead drunk and some were already half naked on the dance floor. Seriously?

I stopped dancing when a shirtless, drunk and sweaty guy fell on me. It got me slightly annoyed and I stopped dancing.

"What's wrong, baby??" Rick asked.

"I need a drink!" I replied over the music.

"Lemme go get you one!"

"No, don't worry! I'll do that myself. I need a short break. You stay here."

"Okay sweetheart, if you need me, I'll be here dancing!"

Rick was clearly a little drunk.

"Okay!" I kissed his chin and turned into the crowd.

I made my way through the heavily drunk and sweaty students to the mini bar at the back of the house. The backyard was a little more calm. There were more of couples chatting or making out. I went to the mini bar and asked a for a cup of coca cola mixed with a bit of whisky.

I was given my drink and I began to sip it.

Then I heard the DJ from inside the house announce a little karaoke game. A few minutes later, a guy could be heard wrapping to one of Eminem's songs while everyone danced.

My cup in my hand, I entered the house to watch the show.

To my surprise, the guy rapping was Ian. He was clearly drunk too and that amused me.

I watched him until something else caught my attention. I could hear:

"DRINK, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!" from behind me. I turned to see a group of seniors who'd surrounded three freshmen. And one of them was Lucas.

Each guy had a bottle of tequila in hand. And all of a sudden, they started drinking.

My eyes widened. It was a competition. It was too dangerous for a guy like Lucas who wasn't used to it! I ran to him and seized the bottle before he could drink too much.

"...*cough cough* Ha- Harlem??
...*cough*" he called, coughing because of the strong alcohol.

"Hey, what are you doing??" a senior asked me. I turned to him angrily and gave him the bottle.

"Saving a friend of mine before he hurts himself because of stupid games!" I grabbed Lucas's hand and dragged him to the back of the house.

Once out, I turned to him angrily.

"Are you serious?! What were you doing??" I asked angrily. He stared at me.

"Oh common, Harlem. It was just a stupid game. I- I didn't drink much or rather, I didn't drink enough to get me dead drunk."

"Yeah. Thanks to me! But you drank enough to get tipsy!"

Lucas was tipsy but not enough to make him drunk, luckily. The bit of alcohol he'd taken made him to act a little more boldly but it was not enough to make him forget everything the next day. In other words, he was perfectly conscious but tipsy.

"Chill, Harl. I was just trying out new things." he stated with a drunk laugh.

"Yeah, right. Do what you want, I don't give a damn. I'm going for a drink. You can return to your dumb games." I walked out of him and up to the mini bar where I ordered the same drink as earlier.

I sat sipping, when all of a sudden Lucas appeared close to me.

"Alright I'm sorry, Harl. I wouldn't do that again. Don't get angry with me now. Please."

I looked at him.

"Fine."

He smiled, cutely.

"Thanks. Can I join you?"

"Why not? But you ain't drinking."

"Your wish is my command."