Skylar hated admitting that Kaden was right, but right now, he was two for two.
"Drunk guys and booze filled bozos" couldn't be a more accurate description. In every corner of the house, people were either making out or getting hammered. The front porch and backyard smelled like weed. She couldn't go anywhere in the house for some privacy.
Thomas had left her again, leaving Skylar to circle around the house. Finally, when the kitchen was vacant, she relaxed there, soaking in the much needed alone time. As an introvert, her social battery had already been drained from the banquet. Coming to the party was most definitely pushing her limits.
Of course, God had to choose right then and there for Kaden to walk into the kitchen. Thankfully, Renee wasn't there. She frowned. "Are you following me?"
"You honestly think I'd leave you here by yourself?"
"I'm not by myself. I'm with Thomas, you know that."
"Right. And look how great that's turning out." He gestured around them. "He ditched you the second he walked in, didn't he? That son of a bitch."
"What do you want, Kaden?"
He laughed harshly. "I think it's obvious what I want, Skylar. Let me take you home. I swear to god, I'll even carry you to the car if I have to."
Luckily, somebody entered just then. The door was one of those swinging ones usually found in bars or restaurants, and music from the living room crept in through the cracks. Some fast-paced Spanish song filled the kitchen.
The guy who walked in was the epitome of a surfer dude. His black, greasy hair clung to his shoulders as he unloaded a six-pack of beer. "You want a drink, princess?"
Kaden shuffled to move in front of her. "She doesn't drink."
Skylar elbowed past him. "I'd love one." She ignored the glare he shot in her direction. "Why are you being like this?" he hissed in her ear.
She whirled on him just then. "Why are you being like this? I'll bet your friends drink all the time! Why do you have to be all psychotic tiger mom on me right now?"
Surfer-guy clicked open the tab for her. She took one gulp, trying her hardest to keep her face neutral. It tasted awful. How could people become addicted to this? "Mmmm."
Kaden narrowed his eyes. "You wanna spit it out, don't you?"
"No." She took another unruly sip.
"You're a terrible liar."
Those four simple words ignited a competitiveness in her that never came alive until now. In four gulps, she downed the entire can. Surfer dude whistled. Kaden leaned against the counter, white sleeves pushed up to elbows, scrutinizing her as if counting down the minutes until she caved in. But this is where he was wrong.
She slammed the can down on the surface like how they did in movies, as if she just won a chugging contest. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she didn't take her eye off Kaden as she said, "I could go for another."
As she reached for another can from Surfer Guy, Kaden stepped in between them. "I'll be taking these, thank you very much." And then Skylar stood there, dumbfounded, as he popped open each can with his teeth and poured the liquids down the sink.
"Hey! That cost me like twenty bucks!" Surfer Guy snapped.
"Can't put a price on liver failure," Kaden said. He continued until there wasn't a drop of alcohol left. Skylar scoffed.
"Petty, much?" she muttered.
"Alright, you had your drink and your fun, can I take you home now?" Kaden pressed.
"No. I'm not done. I wanna dance."
He merely stared at her. "Dance."
Just then, "Pursuit of Happiness" blared through the kitchen walls, one of Skylar's guilty pleasure songs. Her eyes lit up. "This is one of my favorite songs." Man, the alcohol was working already, because before she knew it, she was in the middle of the dance crowd, swaying her hips to the music. And dancing was something Skylar never, ever did, let alone in public.
Yet the beat of the song was too infectious to stand still, so she jumped and pumped her fist like everybody else. Bodies were pressed together, and normally, sober Skylar would be panicking from the claustrophobia and the germs and how silly she likely looked when she danced...but drunk Skylar was an entirely different person. Drunk Skylar was simply living in the moment and having fun, something any normal teenage girl would be doing. It was what she wished sober Skylar could be like.
The song changed and Skylar opened her eyes. It was a slow song, a sexier song, and suddenly, a hard body was pressed against her back. She didn't look at who it was. The person had their arm looped around her waist, grinding his back into her chest, and it felt so good that she thought it was Kaden. It had to be Kaden, because only he had the power to make her feel so strongly with a single touch. But then the pair of thick arms swirled her around, bringing her face to face with Thomas. And the first thing Skylar felt was disappointment.
"I've been looking for you," he shouted into her ear. She faked a smile. "Where've you been?"
"Oh, you know, just...around." Her eyes trailed over Thomas' shoulder, landing right on Kaden, who was leaning against the wall, watching the two of them closely, like some personal bodyguard. When they linked gazes, Skylar's heart did that pitter-patter. Suddenly, the whole night felt wrong, and for the first time, the alcohol was hitting the wrong spot. They said that a drunk voice spoke to a sober mind, and it couldn't be more true. She came to a revelation that night- that no guy's touch could ever compare to Kaden's. She wished it had been Kaden dancing with her. That urge was still lingering as time went on. She knew what that meant, but she didn't want to go too deep into the matter. All she knew now was that she wanted to go home.
Skylar started to back away from Thomas. "Hey, I'm sorry but I've had quite a long day, and so I think I'm just gonna go home now-"
"What?" Thomas looked personally offended. "You can't leave yet. The party just started!" He stepped closer, reducing the gap she just created. He grabbed her hand. "Come with me upstairs, I wanna show you something first." His eyes drifted to her chest and stayed there for an uncomfortable beat.
Even when drunk, the red signals were going off inside Skylar's head, screaming for her to get the hell out of there. "Um, no thank you."
"Come on" he whined, like some impatient toddler. "I took you on this date, the least you could do is repay me." Skylar looked at him with nothing but utter disgust at that moment. What did she ever see in him? Thomas wore a mask that only revealed the best parts of him in public. But here, during the party, when he was drunk as a skunk, she didn't want anything to do with him.
"Let me go," Skylar hissed. She made an attempt to escape his grip, but he just held on tighter.
His begging quickly turned to irritation, and then anger, refusing to take no for an answer. "You wore this slutty dress and then turn me down? What kind of fucking mixed signals are you sending here?"
Skylar didn't even bother correcting his completely sexist statement. She just wanted to get away from him.
Like some psychopath, Thomas' anger melted back to faux kindness. "Come on. I promise, you'll have fun."
She had enough of his manipulation and slapped him. The music was loud, yet the sound of skin contact still managed to echo off the walls. The people dancing nearby then erupted into a chorus of Ooohs! "Don't touch me" she snapped. And then she whirled around, right into another chest. She was tempted to slap this person too, until she craned her neck and saw that it was Kaden.
Skylar must have still been woozy from the booze because he reached his hand out on either side of her arm to steady her. "Are you okay?" He angled his head downwards to make eye contact. "I was getting ready to punch the shit out of him, but then I saw you beat me to it." The corner of his lips twitched upwards. There was a gleam in his eyes, like he was proud of her.
"I'm okay," she nodded. "I'm sorry about how I was acting. You're right, this party sucks. Can we go home?"
He grabbed her hand and threaded his finger through hers. The music had died down a little by then, and an audible voice cut through the room, apparently aimed right at them. "Fuck you, Brooks." Skylar glanced over her shoulder, finding Thomas with a finger pointed towards them. "You steal my spot on the lacrosse team, and now my girl too?"
Kaden leaned down to mutter in her ear, "Ignore him."
"You know what?" Thomas continued hollering at their backs, volume increasing by the minute. Skylar felt the burn of attention as everybody seemed to glance their way. "You can have her. I don't want your slutty leftovers anyw-"
The next minute was a blur. At one second, Kaden was still next to her, holding her hand. Then the next, he was punching Thomas square in the jaw. There was a collective gasp, and then Kaden's hand was clasped in hers again, leading her through the crowd. There were flashes going on around them, no doubt taking advantage of the scene in hopes of going viral on social media.
They made it down the front porch steps when Skylar's gut swirled with an unpleasant, familiar churning. "Wait a second, I think I'm gonna-"
She doubled over, heaving chunks into the flower bed. Her hands were braced on the driveway pavement, but she felt Kaden's hands hold her hair back. When she thought she was done, her body reacted with an intense heat flash, and another pile spewed out. "God-" she said with yellow liquid dripping down her chin, "my mom is going to kill me."
When she stood up, she swayed on her feet.
Kaden looked concerned. "Sky, my car is parked on the far end of the street. Can you walk that far?"
"Oh, yeah." Skylar waved her hand. "Definitely." She two steps, two very wobbly steps, before Kaden rolled his eyes and scooped her up bridesmaid style. He carried her like she weighed nothing.
"You're a lightweight," he said.
"Thanks?" Skylar wrinkled her nose. "I mean, my mom's always been thin most her life, so I guess I inherited her genes-"
"No" Kaden interrupted, a low rumble of laughter vibrating from his chest. "I mean, you can't handle much alcohol. You could probably get drunk after only one shot of tequila."
"Hmm. Is that a good or bad thing?"
"There's still vomit on your face. What do you think?"
Skylar thought some of the drunkenness would fade away since most of the alcohol left her system, but she felt like she was on some looped up drug. Like a child, she had no filter. And it was hella nice. "I probably smell disgusting, don't I?" she asked, her arms around his neck.
A smile tugged on his lips. "Just a little."
Her finger traced circles on his cheek. "Do you have a spare change of clothes in your car? I don't want to smell gross during the ride back home."
"I have some gym clothes in my trunk. That okay?"
"Yes." They were halfway to his car by then, the golden street lamp illuminating a magical glow over them both. "Kaden?"
"Skylar."
"You're like-" a huge yawn took over her. "-the best friend I've ever had. Actually, you're like my only friend. But even if I had a million friends, you'd be in first place."
"Am I really your only friend?" There was genuine curiosity in his tone.
"Yes."
It sounded pathetic, and she expected a look of pity to radiate off him, but was surprised to find an expression that resembled content. "Good," he said. "I don't like to share." There was something lingering on his lips, she could feel it, but he didn't continue, and she didn't ask. He began walking faster, in a rush to get to his car, and her body had gone limp by then. Her one arm was dangling down, and he had to hoist her back up several times. They reached his car, and she noticed it wasn't his usual black pickup. It was just a regular gray van. He set her down carefully on the road. "Hold on to the car, Sky" he instructed, while he went around to the back and popped the trunk. Fishing around his gym bag, she watched him pull out a pair of hoodie and sweats. He then opened the passenger door and helped her inside, cupping her head so she didn't bump it on the overhead roof. A towel then magically appeared in his hand and he used it to wipe the corner of her mouth, absorbing her leftover barf. She groaned. "This is so embarrassing. I'm so sorry you're spending your Friday night cleaning up after my vomit. I'll clean up your car if you want me to-"
He was already shaking his head. "It's not a big deal." He shut the door before she could get another word out and stood with his back to the window, blocking anybody from the view. She changed as quickly as she could and left her vomit-strewn dress on the car floor. She knocked on the window from the inside to signal that she had finished changing, and then he hopped in the front seat and started the engine.
The car ride home was quiet. Both of them seemed to be processing the events of what just happened. Skylar was too high on the booze to fully recollect her thoughts, but she knew that once morning came, she'd be regretting everything.
Before she knew it, they were parked at her family's store and he was helping her out of the car. With Kaden's arm hooked around her waist, he had to guide her to the front door. "Oh shoot," Skylar mumbled. "I forgot my family isn't home. They're visiting some relatives in Mississauga."
Kaden frowned. "I don't want you to be home by yourself."
She waved him off. "It's okay, I'll be fine." Not even a second later, she was doubled over, arms over her stomach, the leftover alcohol now scrambled all over the pavement. Yup, her mother would definitely be suspicious of that.
When she managed to get her senses back and was upright again, she saw that Kaden's jaw was locked. "Fine, my ass," he scoffed. "Where are your keys?"
Skylar was so exhausted by that point. All she wanted to do was lie down in her bed and go to sleep for a hundred years. The next five minutes were yet another blur. All she remembered was that she attempted walking on her own feet, but when she stumbled in a diagonal line, he threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. From her upside down view, she saw the stairs, and then the hallway, and then he was placing her gently on the bed. A blanket was tucked loosely over her, and she heard a clink of glass next to her bedside table. There was a faint "Good night, Lin", but then she reached her hand out at the last minute to catch his wrist.
"Stay. Please" she croaked, still half delirious from the night's events.
There was a strong hesitation, before his voice turned questioning. "You're drunk. And you need sleep."
"I just... I just like your company."
He sighed. "I'll stay until you fall asleep. How's that?"
She nodded vigorously, and he slid down to the floor next to the bed, with his back against the wall. Skylar rolled over to her side so she could look at Kaden. "Good night, Kaden" she said, smiled.
He reached over, tugging her hair. "Good night, Lin."