A Life Less Average

seventeen

lewis

The bonfire, for the most part, was a massive success. Everybody was having fun. I even saw Rebecca grinding against some guy at some point during the night. 

There was more than enough booze to go around, and by eleven o'clock everybody was drunk. Poppy and I had started a drinking game that the two of us were playing in private. I'm not sure either of us really understood the rules of said game, but every time the other shouted "DRINK!", we drank. 

There was singing and dancing, and somebody had even brought a tarp that we could sit on to save our butts from the damp ground. People were lounging on the tarp and some had started a game of spin the bottle, as though we were thirteen. I had opted out of the game, and so had Poppy. Nothing good could come from a bunch of couples playing a game that involved kissing different people. 

"Let's go explore the woods," Poppy whispered, as we passed the coolers for another round of beers. 

"Aren't you scared?" I crushed my empty can and dropped it in the black bin bag. I dug deep to the bottom of the cooler where I had spied a bottle of peach schnapps. 

"Heck no," she sang, smiling. She was swaying slightly, though her heavy boots managed to keep her feet firmly on the ground. "Are you?" 

"A little," I admitted. It was almost midnight and the woods were pitch black. I looked towards the abyss and shuddered. 

"I'll protect you," she said, laughing. 

I took a swig from the bottle of peach schnapps and felt myself perk up a little. It was a nice change from the bitter beer. I passed the drink to Poppy and she looked at me, her brows knitted together. 

"Really? Are you a thirteen year old girl?" she said, eyeing the bottle. 

"If you don't want it, I can take it back." I reached for the bottle but she snatched it back. 

"No, no. I want it. I was just wondering." She twisted the cap off and drank. A lot. It was practically juice, after all. 

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and grabbed my wrist. 

"Let's go!" 

As we headed away from the fire, I started to noticed the drop in temperature. I pulled my coat around myself and zipped it all the way up. Poppy was charging forward, not seeming to notice the chill in the air. 

The second we stepped across the line into the woods, it seemed as though the music stopped. But behind us everybody was still dancing, so I knew it was just my imagination playing tricks on me. It felt as though we were in a completely different world. 

Moonlight filtered through the bare branches twisted above us. Our feet cracked dry twigs beneath us and I could hear myself breathing.

"I love being in the woods," Poppy whispered, as though speaking at normal volume would disturb the night-life.

"It's scary in the dark," I said. "Didn't you read all the fairytales? Witches and wolves hide in the woods." 

"I could kick a witches ass, we're safe." 

We stopped in a clearing. It wasn't a natural clearing. Somebody had carved a fallen tree into a bench in the centre, and there was a neat circle of pebbles and stones around it. It seemed like an odd spot to build a bench; all there was to look at around here was trees, trees and more trees. But nevertheless, I was thankful for the seat. The alcohol had worn me down and my feet felt like bricks.