Today is Saturday and the day of the beach party.
I am nervous but also excited. Stephanie is coming over to help me pick out my outfit.
It's 7pm and the party starts at 8.
I hear a knock on the door and see Stephanie standing outside.
"Hey Steph!" I say happily.
"Hey girl!" She replies.
I show her my room and she is impressed with the space. Once I open my closet her jaw drops.
"Dang girl, how many outfits do you have?" She says.
"Well, Pittsburgh definitely has a lot of malls." I laugh.
"Which swimsuit should I wear?" I question.
Steph goes through the choices and lands on a red high waisted bikini. I like her choice, it accentuates my curves. I put on a white dress cover up to wear to the party.
We walk to the party as it is only a few blocks away. I can see tables set up for beer pong and a bonfire going.
I decide I am going to let loose and have a good time because why not.
I see my phone light up in my pocket. It's a text from Luke.
L: Hey Babe, what are you up to?
Me: Headed to a party with my friend Steph.
L: A party? Do you think that's a good idea?
Me: Yeah, why not?
L: idk Becca.
I get that Luke misses me, but he is being annoying. I am never one to want to be controlled so if he has a problem with me having a good time, that's on him.
I put my phone back in my pocket and turn off the notifications. I don't want to be disturbed by guilting texts.
Steph and I first hit up the drinks table. People are doing shots. Steph introduces me to a few girls and guys. They all seem nice, a bit inebriated, but nice. We do 3 rounds of shots with them, I am starting to feel the booze, may be a bit buzzed.
Steph then takes me over to the beer pong table. She says that her and I get next game. We wait patiently for the game to finish. Two guys fist bump as they win the game. They say they are too drunk to play again though.
Steph tells me she is going to find us some opponents and leaves me alone for a few minutes. I sit in the sand as it still feels warm from the sun beating down on it all day.
I see Steph approaching with two guys behind her. I recognize one of them.
She approaches.
"Becca, this is Louis and I believe you know Harry." She says.
My mind is a bit buzzed when the word slips out. "Fuck."
"I mean Hi." I try to save myself quickly.
I see Harry looking at me awkwardly.
I hear Steph whisper to Harry, "I thought you said you guys were good now?"
Harry is frozen. I don't want to deal with the awkwardness so I try to diffuse the situation.
"Let's play! Come on Steph!" I shout.
I think it worked as everyone takes their places at the table.
We weren't bad at the game as we both got down to 1 cup. It was my turn to shoot and if I made it we would win. It is a bit difficult, by this time I am drunk and it's hard to aim straight but I try my best.
I even trash talked Harry. He laughed at my terrible excuse for trash talk. I finally shoot the ball and somehow it lands straight in the cup. I jump with joy and Steph and I hug. She is just as excited as me.
The boys both groan with defeat. Steph aims her insults at Louis.
"Poor Lou, lost to a bunch of girls. What are you gonna do now?" She says laughing.
"I think I am going to drown my sorrows in the ocean with a swim. Everyone else want to join me?" Lou says.
I am sweating from the alcohol and intense game. A swim sounds great.
"I'm in!" I shout.
Harry looks at me questionably, "are you sure?"
I scoff, "yes I'm sure."
"It's just I know you aren't a strong swimmer." He says concerned.
I can't believe he remembers that. He isn't wrong, but I'm not gonna let him embarrass me.
"I'll be fine." I say.
"Okay then. Well I'll go too." He says.
"Fine with me." I retort.
All four of us walk to the edge of the water and start to remove our clothes layers to reveal our suites. I watch as Harry removes his shirt and I get a bit distracted. He definitely isn't the 8th grad boy I once knew. He now has a defined six pack and a few tattoos adorning his body. I turn away as I see his face coming into view. I don't think he saw me staring. Hopefully not.
It was my turn. I grabbed the bottom hem of my white dress and started to pull it off my body. As I pulled it up over my head I looked at Harry. He looked to be practically drooling as his eyes looked up and down my body. It gave me a sense of confidence. I turned around though as I felt a bit embarrassed still.
"Let's go guys!" Louis yelled as he ran into the water. I felt a rush of adrenaline and ran in after him laughing. We all splashed around in the water. Harry splashed me a few times so I jumped onto his back and dunked him. He seemed to stay close to me the whole time, like he was worried about me. It almost made me forget about our past. The alcohol was good at making me forget.
We all convened in a circle a bit further out in the water. I could still stand but a little further and I would have to wade in the water which I was not great at, especially while drunk.
We continued to talk about ourselves and get to know each other.
Steph and Louis got into a deep conversation about Zelda which is apparently a video game that I know nothing about.
As they talked they seemed to be enveloped in each other and stopped noticing Harry and I were there.
I slowly started to feel myself being pulled out further. I didn't say anything since I felt in control. But the longer the seconds went by the more I felt myself being on my tippy toes. I started to panic a bit. My mouth wasn't saying anything though. It's as if I brain and mouth couldn't communicate.
Then I stared over at the curl haired boy. With the frantic look on my face I mouthed, "Harry."
He registered immediately what was happening and swam over. He grabbed my waist and pulled me back closer to shore. Louis and Steph were having their own conversation about 20 feet away.
My arms were wrapped around Harry. I felt safe in his arms.
"Thank you Harry." I say.
"This is why I was nervous for you to come out here." He says.
"I thought I could handle it." I say.
He sighs. "I know."
"You don't need to worry about me." I say.
"I can't help it." He replies. His head leans down and he is now inches from my face.
The alcohol is urging me to kiss him but I know I shouldn't. Why do I feel warm inside and butterflies. I shouldn't feel this with him. I am confused.
I make a rational decision and fight through the alcohol.
"I better go home." I say.
"Okay, but I am walking you home." He responds.
I want to object but with how inebriated I am, it's probably a good idea.
We get out of the water and Harry puts back on his white t-shirt. It gets wet from his body and I can still practically see his six pack. I stumble over to my dress and struggle to get it on, Harry ends up helping me get my head from the hole.
I then stumble to get up. Harry puts his arm around me to help me walk. I am a bit embarrassed that I can't even walk by myself but no time to shame myself. I focus on the walk home. I still hear the music from the party playing. Harry starts to sing to one of the songs.
"Talking to the moon, trying to get to you." He sings.
Pretty sure it's a Bruno Mars song. He sounds good singing.
"I didn't know you could sing." I state.
"There's a lot you don't know about me." He says cheekily.
I giggle a bit.
"I really wish you would allow us to be friends as I would love for you to get to know who I am now and I would love to get to know who you are." He says.
We approach my house.
"Hmmm, I'll think about it." I say and smirk at him.
I have my keys in my hand but struggle to get it in the door. Harry takes the keys from me and puts them in the door.
I laugh as we stumble into my basement apartment.
"Shhh, your parents will hear." He says.
"Ooo, you don't want them to find you here? A boy in my room, oh no!" I joke.
"Geez girl, you really are drunk." He says.
"Don't judge." I retort.
Harry then leads me over to my bed.
"I can't get in bed with wet clothes." I state.
"Well can you dress yourself?" He asks.
"No, but you can help me." I smirk and wink.
His face gets red. It then registers in my head as to what I just said. I can't believe I just said that. I mean I can't take it back now, stupid alcohol talking.
Harry laughs a bit and then takes a towel from the bathroom and spreads it out on the bed.
"Here, now you won't get the bed wet." He responds.
"Smooth one Styles." I say.
He then carefully lays me down on the bed and covers me up with a blanket. My eyes immediately shut as my body is ready for sleep.
I faintly hear, "Goodnight Becks." & I believe I feel a kiss on my forehead.
After that everything went dark as I fell into a deep slumber.