BEAU • [8:02 p.m.]
"When I said that "We'll pick you up", I meant to say that using your car. Why are we bringing mine again?" Lucas groaned from the driver's seat.
"Because, you have a higher alcohol tolerance than me," I said. "I'm planning on drinking and I can't drive tonight."
I texted Piper that Lucas and I were already waiting for her in front of her house. I could've brought my car, but Diane's party was being held on a Sunday night—the same night that I crashed Pascal's jeep last month, and I was way too traumatized now. Just recalling the accident made me shudder.
A few moments later, I surprisingly heard Lucas wolf-whistled, snapping me from my thoughts.
"What was that about?" I asked, looking weirdly at Lucas. He pointed towards Piper's house as I followed his finger.
It took me around a second or two to register what I was seeing behind the passenger's window. From a distance, an auburn-haired girl wearing a yellow, fitted, sleeveless top in contrast with her dark skinny jeans was walking towards the car, the sound of her black ankle boots clicking against the ground growing louder as she drew nearer.
I did another check because it felt like my eyes were playing tricks on me. What I was seeing was a totally different Piper.
Heck, I was beginning to wonder if we just picked up Piper's hotter twin sister.
"Hello," she greeted shyly, opening the back door and sliding in. Lucas and I turned around, trailing our eyes up and down to Piper. "I uh, look okay for the party, right?" she asked, fidgeting with her clothes.
I was too stunned to speak, so I turned my head back to my seat and let Lucas do all the talking. "You look fine! I didn't know you can dress like that!" he exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up. Lucas turned the engine back on and drove away.
"I rarely dress like this. It's actually making me feel uncomfortable," she spoke. I leaned my elbow against the window, biting my thumb.
No Piper, you were making me feel uncomfortable.
Lucas's mouth stretched wider into a grin. "Oh, you'll fit in, alright." He looked to his rear view mirror and raised a brow. "What's that you're holding?"
"Oh, it's a present for Diane. Wait, where are yours?"
"We don't have one," Lucas replied as he signaled his blinker to the left.
Piper asked in a confused tone. "I thought this was Diane's party."
We couldn't help but chuckle. Piper still remained naïve as ever. She probably had never been to a house party, even though her own brother was the king of house parties before and would host one every single month.
Lucas clarified the confusion. "It is, Piper, but there's no birthday party. It's just a regular high school house party."
I heard Piper smacked her forehead. "Aww, gravy. I misunderstood." I soon felt her body shifting towards me. "By the way Beau, where's Callista?"
Well, Diane and Callista weren't exactly in good terms at the moment. Both of them were from the tennis team, and Diane was pretty pissed off when she learned that she wasn't chosen to represent our school in a tennis match against our ultimate rival school, Kramerton High.
She was been eyeing this girl from Kramerton for months now, yet unfortunately for her, Callista was Hartsmith High's final decision.
What added fuel to the fire was Callista rubbed it in Diane's face.
"She's not coming." I answered back.
"Not that Beau's complainin' though!" Lucas sang loudly, and it earned him a smack in the head from me. "Shut up, bro."
— — —
[8:24 p.m.]
We pulled up in front of Diane's house and found a nice parking spot. I looked behind me and saw Piper peering through the window, looking nervous as if we were in front of the Bates Motel.
Her clothes distracted me.
"Are you ready?" I asked her. She looked at me and gave me a stiff smile. "Um, yeah," she answered unsurely. All three of us went down and started to walk to the house. Lucas burst opened the door and we were welcomed by over fifty people cramped inside, and I was assuming there were another fifty in the backyard.
The scenario was always like this in a typical Diane Evigan party. You know it—the loud, raucous music, beer cans and red cups littered everywhere, the faint smell of sweat, cigar and alcohol lingering in the air.
Good thing there are no drunken people and public make out sessions...yet.
We would have to wait for two more hours for that.
If Pascal was the king of house parties, then I give Diane the position as queen. Her parents own the successful Murklins Nightclub in Flinnway, so being the entitled party girl was basically in her blood.
"Beau! Lucas!" All three of us turned around and saw the party queen herself who was draped in a gold mini dress. Her breath already smelled like Corona as her mouth brushed passed our noses and gave each of us a quick peck on the cheek. "How are you guys?"
"We're good," Lucas replied with a smirk. How awkward was the fact that Lucas and I both made out with this girl?
She furrowed her eyebrows as she tilted her head to the side, looking behind Lucas and I. "Who are you with?" she whispered sharply to us. Diane had probably never interacted with Piper before.
"This is Piper Griffin...she's our schoolmate in Hartsmith?" I asked, waiting for an answer that could somehow ring a bell for her.
"She looks...different."
"It's cool that I invited her, right?"
"I guess so...but why?"
Lucas pulled Piper in front of us and almost tripped. Diane automatically moved a step backward. "She's Beau's date at the moment since Callista can't come."
"That's not true!" Piper blurted, turning red. Lucas snickered as I smacked him in the head for the second time.
"Well, it's not like I care," Diane replied as she flipped her long brown locks. Piper looked up and handed her a small, red paper bag. "What's that?" Diane asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"It's an I-thought-it-was-your-birthday birthday gift," Piper replied sheepishly. Diane looked at me skeptically but I just shrugged. She gingerly took it as she bore her green eyes at her.
"Thanks..." she trailed off.
"You're welcome." Piper answered. There was a moment of awkward silence but it was cut off by the blaring music.
"Well, I better put this away in my room. I hope you guys enjoy the party—but then again, who doesn't enjoy it?" Diane chimed, and dashed to the stairs. "Nice outfit, by the way! That's a first," she hollered to Piper, and went back up.
Lucas nudged me in the arm and told me that he will be heading to the backyard, leaving me with Piper.
We started to walk around inside the house, Piper tailing behind me. I greeted and talked to a number of people at the same time tried to introduce Piper to them. They all gave me the same surprised reaction, and I didn't know if I should address it as a positive or a negative thing.
Piper, on the other hand, was feeling a little bit tense. Maybe it was the music that was hammering our eardrums, the hazy conversations of the people around us, or her outfit for the night.
"It's getting loud in here. Do you want something to eat?" I asked, trying to spark some conversation. Piper nodded as I led her to the kitchen.
The marble kitchen island was laid with large bowls of chips and rows of spirits and cocktails. I recognized Michael, one of my swimming teammates, pumping beer from a stainless keg.
"Yo, Michael!" I called, and he whipped his head up and raised his cup. "Dude!" he shouted and walked towards me. He stopped as soon as Piper emerged.
"Woah...Paprika Griffin?" Michael asked, pointing at her.
"It's Piper," she corrected firmly, though quite embarrassed. She walked passed him and went towards the snack bowl.
Michael narrowed his eyes at me, quite confused. "She goes to our school, right? Why are you with Paprika?"
"Her name's Piper, bro—and where the hell did you get that name?"
"My bad. I've always thought her name was Paprika."
I rolled my eyes. "Well it's not. I invited her here, there's nothing wrong with that."
"She's pretty sexy tonight," Michael drawled as he licked his lips. He was getting drunk and dangerous by the minute.
I darted my eyes toward Piper and noticed her getting some chips from the bowl. No one was talking to her so I brought my eyes back to Michael. "Please don't say that."
"Is uh, Pepper single?" he asked as he finished the contents of his red cup with just one gulp. "Woo, I'm in a rush!" he roared, crushing his cup.
I huffed. "She's single, but assuming that you can't get her name right, you're already a bad shot to her."
Michael's face became florid as he let out a series of hiccups in-between his response. "Okay, hic! whatever you say, officer. But if your hic! friend Palmer changes her mind, just call me hic! out at the backyard, alright?"
Obviously I wouldn't do that, judging that he was already three sheets to the wind.
"Not a chance bro. I'll see you around." I patted him in the shoulder and went towards the kitchen island. I looked back and saw Michael wobbling away like he was on stilts. His consciousness was already sliding in and out of his brain, and as much as I wanted to do a drinking binge with him, I wouldn't do it if Piper was planning to tag along with us the whole night.
"Is he alright?" Piper asked with concern. I lazily waved a hand at her. "He'll be fine."
"Can we go somewhere with you know...less people?" Piper suggested, holding a bowl of chips on her hand and a Heineken can on the other.
I nodded my head and told her to follow me. I grabbed a key in a cabinet near the front door and walked towards the end of the hall to our left.
"What room is this?"
"It's the Evigan's guestroom," I answered, opening the door and letting Piper get inside.
Diane locked every bedroom in her house, but knowing me, I've been to her house a couple of times, and she was kind enough to show me where she hid the keys.
I closed the door as Piper plopped on the far end of the bed. She placed the bowl and can beside her as she took off her boots. "These shoes are killing me," she complained. She placed it near the bedpost as she crossed her legs and sat on the mattress.
"The can is for you. I don't really drink," she said, tossing the can at me as I caught it nonchalantly.
I popped it open and took a sip as I rested on the bed, laying my back against the headboard. So she was a non-drinker. "Alright, I'll take a note on that."
"I know we're in a bed, but please don't suggest anything," Piper mentioned nervously.
I snorted. Swiping her v-card was not on my to-do list. "Chill, Piper. I invited you here to have a good time—but not like what you're thinking."
"Okay, cool." She answered, pursing her glossy lip. "I'm sorry for making you babysit me right now. You're supposed to have fun out there."
"I've been to Diane's parties lots of times. This night wouldn't make any difference."
She let out a soft smile and grabbed the bowl of chips beside her and offered me some. "Chips?"
I declined, as Piper stretched her arm and settled the bowl on the bedside table.
"Can I give you something as well?"
"What?" she asked, and started to slowly crawl towards me but I immediately removed my hoodie and threw it at her.
"W-wear that, and zip it up. I'm sorry but, man, your top is putting me off." It showed a rather generous display of her skin, and when she was going nearer to me I think I might have caught a glimpse of her cleavage. I've been observing some guys awhile ago ogling at her, and I was actually kind of thankful she asked to be somewhere where we could be alone.
"But Diane said it's nice," Piper defended, wearing my hoodie which was a little too large for her—and it suited her perfectly.
"And Michael said it's sexy."
Her jaw dropped, caught in surprise. "He said that?"
"He's not the guy for you." I swear if Michael and Piper would end up together, I'll take pity on Piper. Michael was a good friend of mine, but it'll be weird if he would date her. They don't complement each other. Not in a million years.
"Now you chill, I'm just asking!" she smiled, poking my ribcage. "Oh, sorry." She quickly apologized, crossing back her legs.
I bit my lip, stifling a laugh. "After all these years, you still know where my tickle spot is?"
"How could I ever forget?" Piper started, "I would always win in our tickle wars."
And it was true, she would always do. She was actually the only one who knew where my weak spot was. "I remember that time when we were fighting over the last piece of lemon square that Mei made for us."
Her giggle filled the whole room, the same, familiar giggle that I would always hear back then. "And I tickled you to the bone and eventually had the last piece. Yeah, good times."
"And then I called Mom and I was like "Mom, Piper's being greedy!" and she yelled at me for being so over-dramatic."
Piper raised her forefinger, as if I was forgetting something. "And because of that you eventually chased me around your house with a water hose."
I closed my eyes, picturing that hot, summer day. I couldn't believe that was almost a decade ago, but the memory was so fresh and vivid, as if it was etched in my mind.
"Holy shit. I remember." I lowered my head, not wanting to look at her. Seeing the two of us together and knowing that we've drifted apart, I released a disappointed sigh, muttering a reply. "What happened to us?"
"I don't know how to answer that Beau, and I was hoping you could tell me."
If only I had an answer as well.
"Wait, you don't have to tell me," Piper interrupted, fidgeting the hem of my hoodie. "I guess I just...marched to the beat of a different drum, you know?"
"Yeah."
"But then again, it's nice that we're having this nostalgic conversation," Piper said, a fraction of a hopeful smile appearing.
"There you are!" We shot our heads up in unison, startled as Diane burst the door open. "Lucas and I have been looking all over for you—what are you guys doing?"
"Eating chips and drinking Heineken," I answered, annoyed. Now's not the right time, Diane.
She shook her head distractingly. "Okay whatever but get this—it's a Hartsmith versus Kramerton battle, and it's going to be Kit and Travis on a game of Chug of War. You have to see it." Knowing Diane, she'll persuade me to death until I said yes.
I turned to look at Piper, asking her if she wanted to check it out.
"You go ahead, I'll be fine here."
"Are you sure?"
"Go," she mouthed, as Diane gripped my hand and dragged me outside the door.
We started to trudge down the crowded hallway when Diane mentioned something. "You two seem awfully close tonight."
Because we kind of are. "Because we kind of are," I said, verbalizing my thoughts.
"Oh, really? I never see you two hanging out in school."
"It's a long story."
— — —
PIPER • [10:52 p.m.]
I was thinking whether or not I should follow Beau out back, but I've managed to make myself comfortable in the seclusion of the guestroom in the midst of the ear-popping, heart-thumping noise that was breaking through the walls.
I didn't even hold a party on my own birthday. Unlike my brother Pascal, just like Diane, he was fond of throwing random parties in our house every month. I'd never attended one, and so I would always end up having a sleepover at my neighbor Abby's house.
I don't think I'll ever get used to these kinds of parties. I've always thought that parties were meant to be celebrated when there was a special occasion, but there wasn't even an occasion tonight. What was there to celebrate about? The thought of it made me want to write a paper about it. Maybe I'll even send it to Hartsmith's school paper?
Great, I thought. At a time like this, I was still thinking of school.
I snuggled inside Beau's hoodie that he let me wore. It smelled fresh and invigorating, like he just got it out from a pile of clean laundry. I love the smell of clean laundry.
I had to agree with him back there, because the top was putting both of us off. I vowed never to wear this revealing yellow top again, but when he and Lucas invited me to this party, I just had to search for clothes that would let me blend in our high school crowd, because I know for sure they wouldn't approve of my taste in fashion.
Glancing at the room's wall clock, I found out that it was almost eleven o'clock. I've been staring aimlessly and nibbling some chips for almost an hour now.
"I have to get out of here." I slipped my feet back inside my boots and unlocked the door, peeping outside. I was expecting everyone was in the backyard watching the drinking battle, since no one was in sight.
After exploring the interior of Diane's unapologetically modern minimalist house, I ended up at their kitchen. I wasn't alone though, because I spotted Gigi Houser, Callista's best friend, washing her hands in the sink.
We weren't exactly friends, but we used to be in Art class together, and from what I've observed, she was really good in painting and calligraphy. If she'd ever put up an exhibit in the future, I'd definitely attend.
"Piper!" said Gigi, a little bit surprised.
"Gigi, hi," I greeted awkwardly. She looked down at my shoes and pointed at it.
"Uh, nice boots," she mentioned, tearing a ply of paper towel beside her, wiping her hands.
I thanked her with a smile. I've been receiving compliments from my outfit tonight and I wasn't not used to it.
"Okay, um, I better go," I said, pointing my thumb at the kitchen door. I was about to turn my heel when Gigi stopped me.
"Wait! You're just in time."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, quite curious.
"I was just washing my hands in the sink when I noticed a shot glass with a note right there on the counter for you."
My eyes landed on the kitchen island, and there indeed, was a shot glass with a sticky note attached to it.
"But I don't drink." I stated.
Gigi shrugged. "Beats me, Griffin. It has your name on it, and you're the only Piper in school."
I went to the island and took the sticky note, reading it. It was a bit smudged—like the ink leaked from the pen, but it was still readable.
Piper, just take a shot and have fun. Meet me in the back when you're done! – Beau
"Beau?" I whispered. No way, did Beau leave this? I looked up and asked Gigi if he just saw Beau around.
She raised a brow. "Uh, no. I just came here."
"Err, I don't know about this," I mumbled. I just told him awhile ago that I didn't drink and now he was offering me one?
I saw Gigi rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I mean it's just a shot...it wouldn't hurt if you try. Just pinch your nose and take a swift swig. Anyway, I have to go." She gave me a quick smile and brushed passed me, exiting the kitchen.
It was just one shot, right? Beau did invite me here to have a good time. This will probably my first and last high school party, so I better make the most out of it.
Unwillingly, I drank as how Gigi suggested it.
I winced at the very moment the alcohol made contact with my taste buds and because of that, I just knew I was down for something bad, very bad. The liquid sliding down my esophagus felt like I was swallowing fire instead. The taste was downright terrible, but it went down. It went straight down to my body.
"I did it," I said, my voice breathless and raspy.
Someone swung the kitchen door open and I saw Michael appearing with another red cup, less drunk than before. "Hey, Palmer! Woah, you okay?"
"I did—" I choked on my words as I felt my throat closing up yet the alcohol was fighting to rise up from my system. I ran to the sink to try to vomit it out.
"Did you just have a shot?" I heard Michael asked me, snickering. I didn't get to throw up but my mind was beginning to spin and my pupils were dilating.
Michael grabbed the shot glass in my hand and sniffed it, jerking back in disgust. "Dude, is this the strong Bacardi one five one—h-hey!" the next thing I knew, my brain somehow deflated and I fell straight to the marbled floor.
I was still half-conscious, but I couldn't move myself. All I can hear was Michael shouting. "You guys! Palmer Griffin's knocked out cold!"
Cold. The floor was cold against my body, but it felt like I was burning.
"What the heck are you saying Michael—oh my god," I heard a voice gasped, which I think belonged to Gigi. "Is she okay?"
No, I am not okay. Someone, anyone, please help me.
I can hear people's feet shuffling near the kitchen door, murmuring and whispering words that were incoherent in my ears.
"Griffin..."
"Drunk..."
"Weird..."
"Party..."
"Piper? Piper!" Someone bent down beside me and slid his arms in the small of my back, propping me up. The familiar fresh laundry scent filled my nose, though this time there was a mixed smell of alcohol.
Alcohol.
"It's Beau, please wake up," he said, shaking me. His voice sounded nervous and out of breath.
Those were the last words that I heard before I totally lost it.
I didn't wake up.