Drowning

Chapter 6:

I huffed while Aiden finished pouring the rest of the glasses. My arms were across my chest as I pouted. Ezra was chuckling beside me. I must have amused him with my temper tantrum.

"Round two." Aiden said, grabbing his glass. We all reached out and grabbed the drinks and swallowed them quickly. Ezra looked at me out of the corner of his eye and I felt the challenge in his gaze. He didn't think I could keep up with the group.

I pushed my glass back to Aiden for another shot. Aiden opened the bottle of vodka and poured me another one. Aiden knew I liked vodka better than tequila. We had discussed it a few times before while drinking. I didn't hesitate to swallow it while staring directly at Ezra. Your move Mr. Miller, I dared him back with my green eyes.

"Ry's playing with the big boys tonight." Mark sounded proud of me.

Ezra signaled for another one and Aiden poured the clear liquid into his glass. He lifted the glass to his lips and swallowed. He placed the glass on the table and signaled he was ready for another round. I pushed my glass over for Aiden to pour me another one as well.

"Folks, I think we have ourselves an old-fashioned battle royale." Mark laughed as he watched the back and forth between Ezra and me. "In the red corner, standing tall, dark, and brooding with a hint of sexy... Mr. Ezra Miller. In the blue corner, standing just tall enough to smell everyone's belly buttons, everyone's favorite snack cake, Little Riley."

JD, Anna, and Aiden were laughing hysterically at Mark. I was not amused at all at his little joke.

"Not funny." I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well, it's true, you are little." Ezra said, shrugging at me with an arrogant smile plastered across his face.

"And Ezra is extremely sexy." Mark said, lifting his eyebrows and whistling.

"Also true." Ezra looked over at me, daring me to tell him any differently.

"Just pour the damn drink." My cheeks were burning from the humiliation consuming my body.

Aiden shook his head before pouring the next shot. He looked like he wanted to cut me off, knowing I would not stop until I won. I'm stubborn and Aiden knew it. I grabbed the shot and poured it down my throat.  The liquid burned in my empty stomach.

I felt the familiar tingling buzz that came with drinking after the last round. After round six, the room was spinning. My fingers and lips were numb and I was swaying on my feet. My fingers went to my face and I pulled at my lips, trying to see if they were still attached to my body.

"You doing alright over there, Lil Bit?" JD asked, watching me pull and pinch at my skin.

"I'm so awesome." I said, running my hands through my tangled mop of hair as I danced a little next to the table. I raised my hands in the air and almost fell over onto the table. All eyes were staring at me, including Ezra's stupid blue ones.

"Aiden, cut her off." JD said, pulling out the big brother card.

"Don't cut me off. I am already too short." I slapped my hands on my knees on my legs and grabbed my sides, laughing.

"How about you go take a break and change Riley? Get more comfortable." Aiden suggested. That sounded like a much more reasonable thing to do than JD wanting to make me shorter. I was going to do exactly what Aiden said. I was going to get changed so I could drink that infuriating boy with the piercings under the table.

"You know what, Aiden? You're one hundred percent right." I said sloppily as I pulled at the clingy fabric. "This stupid dress needs to come off."

I tried to pull my dress up over my head and I felt Ezra reach over and push the fabric back down. I moved away from the table and stumbled a bit. I began to laugh hysterically again. Ezra tried to grab my arm, but he quickly moved his arms back down into his pockets. Good, I didn't want those long fingers touching me anyway. I stuck my tongue out at him like a small child. He looked confused and amused at the same time.

"Riley, do you want me to go help you?" Anna asked me. The caretaker in her was breaking through her drunken stupor. Her speech was slightly slurred but not nearly as bad as mine.

"Nope, I'm good. I know where my holes are." The table busted out in laughter. I didn't get why they were all laughing. Even Ezra was smiling at my answer. He was enjoying making fun of me. I was glad I came over to entertain him. Maybe I could reach over and punch him in the face. He would have deserved it with his smug attitude and too perfect mouth.

I turned and stumbled out of the kitchen and placed my hands on the wall to hold me up. I used the wall to navigate towards the stairs and began to try to climb them. Three steps in and I fell forward, hitting my knee.

"Snickerdoodles." I yelled out and started laughing again. I started to crawl on my hands and knees up the stairs. About halfway up, I heard a deep laugh from behind me. I was not in the mood for the person who was laughing at me.

"Need some help?" The deep voice asked me.

"I know how to do this." I said, looking down at the stairs trying to remember how they worked.

"Hey, you know most people walk up the stairs." Ezra chuckled.

"I don't need your input. Mister." I slurred the last word badly. "I have climbed many things and you don't get to have an opinion on how I do it or what dress I wear."

"Well, you're a rude little thing." I turned back around to face him. He was leaning against the wall at the bottom of the steps. He had his arms crossed and his light blue eyes were bright with amusement. He reached up to his eyebrow ring and twisted it between his fingertips.

"Quit calling me little and you're the rude one. You can take your stupid blue eyes and go stick them somewhere else." What was I even saying? It did not make any sense. I turned back around and tried to climb up the steps again. I could hear him laughing and then the thud of his boots echoed behind me.

"I don't want your help." I yelled without turning around. I began to try to climb the stairs again while still on my hands and knees. He was annoying me.

"Didn't come up to help you." He was standing over top of me and looking down. "I need to take a piss. The bathroom is up here, remember?"

My cheeks flushed in embarrassment. It's official. I had decided I didn't like him and his attitude. Ezra Miller could jump off a bridge and I wouldn't even care. I might give him a little push to help him if he asked.

He paused for a few seconds and looked down at me. I stared back into his eyes before he shook his head and stepped over me with his long legs. He went into the bathroom and slammed the door. I finished climbing the stairs one step at a time and stood holding myself up with the wall again. The bathroom door was still shut, but I wanted to go bang on it to annoy him some more. Instead, I decided to be an adult and leave him alone.