"What if we walk around the island and squeeze pass Bianca?" Luke asked, his eyes scanning the crowded kitchen. Apparently everyone ran out of drink at the same time.
Luke and I were leaning against the cupboard in the corner, strategically trying to figure out an exit plan. We had been trapped here for about twenty minutes. I looked at the narrow route Luke had suggested, before nodding slowly. It was our best bet. I began to walk over to Bianca.
"I suppose we could—okay, maybe not." I stopped mid-sentence and started a new statement, one that shut down Luke's idea.
"What? Why did we stop walking?" Luke whined as he bumped into my back.
"We've come across an obstacle." I explained, nodding my head towards Matt Kingston.
"What is Matt doing? Oh for fucks sake." Luke groaned when he realised Matt and Bianca were now full-blown making out in the middle of the kitchen, and in the middle of our escape route.
"Whose hand is that anyway?" I cocked my head. Luke remained silent, his gaze mimicking mine.
"That's irrelevant." He said after awhile, clearly giving up on trying to figure out where Bianca started and where Matt ended.
"Do we retreat back to our safe zone?" I asked, gesturing towards the corner cupboard.
"We're halfway there. Let's soldier on." Luke grimaced.
"How?"
"I've got this. Swap with me." Luke grabbed my hips and twisted us around so he was in front. He reached behind and easily intertwined his hand with mine.
A shock ran up my spine, but I'm sure Luke was just making sure he didn't loose me in the crowd. Or at least that's how I reasoned it, anyway.
I followed Luke's lead as he pushed ruthlessly passed a bunch of drunks. When we came to our main blockade, Matt and Bianca, I held my breath. Luke shoved his hand between their heads and pushed them apart.
"Man! What the hell?" Matt cursed as Luke let out a rough chuckle before continuing towards the door.
"Eat her face, or something else, upstairs." Luke advised, my eyes widening at his innuendo. Luke glanced back at me, his lips picking up into a smirk when he realised I was blushing at his words. Thankfully he didn't comment.
Once we were in the living room I sighed happily. "This is what freedom looks like."
Luke looked amused with my dramatics. "What should we do now?"
"I don't know." I blinked, a little taken aback at how willingly he used 'we'. I had half expected him to ditch me as soon as we got here. "You're the party-pro, not me."
"I'm not so sure that you should go by my example." Luke chuckled under his breath, but he seemed serious.
"Why not?"
"Because I have regrets," he said. "Also, I'm a guy. And guys generally do different stuff."
"Like have burping contests?" I joked.
"No," he replied. "Like have food fights. And break stuff. And set off firecrackers on people's front porches. And..."
"Girls can't set off firecrackers on people's front porches?"
"They can," he smirked. "But they're smart enough not to. That's the difference."
"I don't know," I murmured. "I think food fights and breaking stuff are equal-opportunity activities."
"Fine, but if you're going to do the firecracker thing, you're on your own. That's all I'm saying." Luke held his hands up in mock defeat.
"What," I said, "you afraid or something?"
"Nope." He crossed his arms. "Just been there, done that. Done the getting hauled down the police station thing because of it, too."
I rolled my eyes. "That's pretty bad ass."
"I feel like you're mocking me." Luke narrowed his eyes before stepping closer to me.
"Of course not." I smirked, my tone slightly sarcastic – just how he encouraged.
"Whatever, I'm all for your quest but count me out of the firecrackers." Luke chuckled roughly.
"Wait," I said, holding up my hand. "My quest?"
He turned to look at me. "Yeah," he shrugged. "You know, like in Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars."
"You're the one on the quest. I'm just along for the ride." I argued.
"We're both on quests, alright? I'm on a quest to gain some innocence and you're on a quest to lose your innocence." His lips quirked up into a playful smile.
"Sex joke." I said drily. "You're hilarious."
"You're no fun." He pouted. "I thought that would've at least gotten a cute little blush out of you." He was referring to 'losing' my innocence.
"Shut up." I tried not to blush out of embarrassment now.
"You never answered my question." Luke pointed out and he opened his mouth, probably to repeat the question when Katherine came flying out of no where and jumped on my side.
"Arizona!" She cried out, her voice ridiculously loud as Luke looked on in amusement.
"Hey Katherine," I said a little weary. I put my hands on her shoulders and tried to stabilize her as she began to sway.
"I'm a little drunk," she used her thumb and pointer finger to emphasis the word 'little'.
"Oh yeah? Kathy, I think you're more than a little." Luke grinned deviously, and I noticed he had slipped in a nickname.
"Oh, c'mon Luke." Katherine laughed – yes, you heard that right, she laughed when he called her "Kathy". "We both know I can hold my liquor."
What was that supposed to mean? I glanced at Luke, raising my eyebrow slowly. He just shrugged and mouthed 'she's drunk' as if that'd explain her weird statement.
"Maybe I should take you home." I mumbled under my breath. We had only been here for 30 minutes but it appears she had hit the alcohol hard.
"I'll take you both home." Luke nodded, shoving his hands in his pocket. "Next time don't invite her, yeah?"
Katherine actually looked hurt by what Luke said, which confused me even more. She didn't even like Luke but yet she was getting wounded when he opted for leaving her behind next time?
"That's rude." I frowned. Katherine was my best friend, and despite her reservations about Luke she had never been outright cruel to him.
Luke rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean it to sound rude. I just meant that, maybe, next time we can just hang out... alone." He gave me a look that gave me goose bumps.
"Oh." I paused, unsure what I should say to that.
Luke reached out and wrapped his arm around Katherine. My eyebrows rose in surprise as Luke carefully helped her out the door and into the car. He was so gentle and kind to her – it was giving me serious whiplash.
He put her in the backseat and buckled her up before shutting the door. He leant against his car and stared at me for a moment.
"What?" I frowned. Did I have something on my face?
"It's only nine o'clock." Luke glanced at his phone to confirm the time. "Do you want to drop Katherine off at her house and go wreak some havoc?"
I hesitated. What sort of havoc did Luke like the wreak? I gnawed on my lower lip before shrugging half-heartedly.
"I have an eleven o'clock curfew." I said absently, letting him know we go hang out.
"Lesson six; breaking curfew won't kill you."
"Yeah, but my mother might." I smirked, before he opened the door to he passenger seat.
I slide across the leather interior and glanced over my shoulder at Katherine. She was leaning against the window, and the soft snore emitting from her lips let me know she wasn't dead.
Luke started the engine up and pulled out onto the road. My first party and I had only ended up staying for thirty minutes. That was my plan in the beginning so it's not like I was annoyed at Katherine. Speaking of Katherine...
"You and Katherine seem to know each other." My eyebrows pulled together as I tried to figure out a way to word what I meant, but I fell silent when Luke shot me a sharp look.
"I do know Katherine. I've been going to school with her for as long as I have with you." He reminded me.
"I just meant..." I trailed off, realizing it was hopeless. Maybe Katherine was too drunk before to take into account Luke mocking her hate for nicknames.
"Look, Arizona, don't worry about me and your friends not getting along." Luke said easily. "It's you I need."
With those words Luke turned the radio up a little louder, signaling the end of our conversation. He drove Katherine to her house and stayed in the car like I demanded when I helped my best friend into her home. Her older sister was home, so I knew she'd look after Katherine.
I walked back to Luke's car and climbed inside, my lips pulling up at the prospect of our night just starting.
"So, where to now?"