2. Parties are...Fun?
"Hey, girl." Daphne slid into the empty chair across from me at the lunch table.
"Hey, Daph," I replied after a bite of my sandwich.
"Guess what?" she asked excitedly.
"Huh?"
"There's a party Friday night at the Galloways' house. Everyone in our grade's going."
"That's nice," I said without enthusiasm. When she said everyone, she meant me included. I wasn't on the same page. Hence...no enthusiasm.
"Oh, come on, don't give me that tone. We have to go. We have to show the world what Daphne and Lexie-that's us-are really made of."
"As much as I would love to socialize with the people that torment me everyday, I think I'll pass."
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pretty, pretty please with a big fat juicy cherry on top?"
"No, no, never with a big slender shiny Camaro on top."
"Ugh, Lexie. Please tell me why you're so stubborn."
"Because I need to convince the people in this school that I'm not a Wiccan."
She laughed. "I can see where that could make you how you are. But come. So many people will be there-including cute guys."
"I'm not as boy crazy as you are."
"Okay then, wrong way of persuasion. What do you like that I can use?" She leaned across the table, waiting eagerly for my answer.
"I will not say a word."
She leaned back in her seat again and thought hard, making her forehead scrunch up from the concentration. "How about...it will be too dark and noisy for anyone to notice it's you."
"That does make it sound more appealing"-and it really did-"but I'm still going to say no."
"But I'll be lonely if you don't come with me."
"Then don't go."
"I'm not missing the biggest socializing event of the year."
"Well I am."
"Please again?"
"No again."
She stopped arguing, but I knew that silence would only last for today. She would stalk me for the rest of the week until I finally caved, but I wouldn't, wouldn't, would not.
For the rest if the week I was bombarded by Daphne and I ignored her as best I could. But I never stopped hearing about the stupid party. Every hall you turned down, there was a group of people whispering about it. They talked about who they were going with, who other people were going with, yada yada. It was easier to ignore them because I knew no one else would ask me if I was going.
By Friday, I had just about heard enough about the ridiculous bash. I just wanted to shout to the world that it wasn't anything special. There had been one just like it last year, and no one said two words about it. The only thing different about this one was that a few more people were going.
And guess what? It wound up including me. Daphne dragged me to the party, as much as I protested.
"Just come," she had said. "You'll have fun. I promise."
Yeah. Of course I would. Not.
Being that this was a high school party, it had that one horrible thing, you know, that you get in plastic cups that cost a few bucks for when you enter. Stupid, underage high schoolers.
I had a horrible time, at least in the beginning. Whenever someone would try to get me to take a sip of the beer, I would put the edge of the cup to my lips, wait until the person couldn't see me over their own cup, and then I would spill a little bit of the bitter liquid into the grass. No one had any idea.
I knew I should have just declined it in the first place, but they wouldn't have even let me in....
Dang it. Didn't I have a brain?
About halfway through the party, I got a pretty lucky break. The hottest guy in school, Cam Lawson, actually began talking to me. He was the student council president, captain of the basketball team and the baseball team, plus he was on the local hockey team. And even though two of his sports overlapped during seasons, he still had time to play both of them.
Every girl loved him, but so far, no one has had him. He never went out on dates. He was always busy. But he was actually talking to me. He had dark brown hair, and the greatest brown eyes I've ever seen, and I had the utmost pleasure in seeing them up close. Through my peripheral vision, I could see girls giving me envious glares, which I happily ignored.
Then, when we went to take a sip of our drinks, as I spilled some of mine on the ground, I saw Cam do the exact same thing.
We glanced at each other in surprise.
"Well," he said, staring at me with relief. "At least I'm not the only one who's been doing this."
"Yeah," I replied with a smile. "It's relieving."
"So, this isn't the best party, huh?"
"I didn't even want to come."
He smiled. "This is my first party. I just wanted to see what it would be like." He looked around at the drunken people staggering around us. "It's definitely not all it's cracked up to be."
"Nice choice of words," I mumbled.
He laughed. "Oops."
All of a sudden-though we really should have expected it-we all heard police sirens. And, well, everyone here was underage drinking-with the exception of Cam and I-and at the risk of being arrested.
"Run!" one kid yelled.
Nobody needed to be told twice. The house was filled with scrambling kids, in just a matter of seconds, trying to make their way out to safety. Cam and I couldn't even attempt to move anywhere-kids jostled us from left and right-until half of the kids were already gone.
"Let's go," he said, leading me out the back door.
"Wait," I said, pulling away from him. "Where's Daphne?"
"I don't know," he replied. "I'm sure she's fine."
"No. I'll be out in a minute."
"The cops are here now. Besides, she probably already got out."
I grimaced, not completely agreeing with him. Just because I was alcohol free didn't mean my friend was. I had actually seen her sprawled across an armchair, wasted, unfortunately. I voiced my thoughts.
"That's her problem," Cam replied.
"She's my friend," I said firmly. "She might not be perfect, but I can't let her get caught."
Cam groaned. "Wait here." He ran back inside, but then peeked his head out again. "Go," he ordered.
I nodded, and began jogging away. I kept looking behind me worriedly, and stopped running when I saw two figures exit the back door. I met Cam, who was supporting a dazed Daphne, halfway, and helped him with her. I grunted with the effort of putting her arm over my shoulders.
"Thanks," I said to Cam.
"Not yet," he said, glancing back at the house.
When I looked back, I saw two police officers coming out, searching.
"Run," he whispered.
We ran as best that we could, with Daphne supported between us. After a few minutes, with a lot of luck, we were able to outrun the police officers. But we were still far away from both of our houses, and our only means of transportation were our feet. It was gonna be a long night.
Cam took on the complete duty of assisting Daphne as I put my hair up in a messy bun, and cleaned off my makeup with my makeup remover wipe. Just in case my parents were still awake at this ungodly hour, I wanted to make it look like I hadn't just been at a party with alcohol. I couldn't do anything about Daphne, who was wearing someone else's leather jacket.
"So," Cam said in a measly attempt to make conversation. "If you weren't really enjoying yourself, why did you go to the party in the first place?" He looked at me, curiosity shining in his eyes.
"Because she made me." I nodded to Daphne, who seemed to be waking up a little more from the cold air.
"No one can force you to do anything," he pointed out.
"I have my ways," Daphne gargled. Because she was drunk at the moment, it came out more like Ihafmelays, but I had been her friend long enough to be able to decipher her mumble.
Cam grimaced at her. He didn't know what to make of everything.
"She said she has her ways," I explained. "And she's right. But you don't want to know any more."
He nodded. "I wasn't going to push it."
"Why did you go to the party?" I asked, trying not to be pushy. After all, this was the coolest guy in my school, and he had risked enough on my behalf. "Besides wanting to see what it would be like."
He shrugged. "Well, because I wanted to show people that I wasn't a hermit."
I laughed. "Well, you showed them."
He nodded. "We both just want to fit in."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I came to do something I normally never would, because I wanted to show people that I'm, well, normal. And you seem to have come because your friend made you. You could have declined still, but maybe you didn't want her to spread around a rumor that you are a...'chicken?'"
Well then, he had it perfectly correct. He was intelligent, no doubt. But I wondered if he knew how disliked I was by the student body. Coming to the party also showed that I could be like everyone else. I might not have wanted to go in the first place, but that stupid subconscious....
"Did I get it?" he asked.
"Yeah, nice guess."
"It wasn't exactly a guess. I can figure out people pretty easily."
"Is that why you're such a good student council president? You know what makes people tick and give it to them so you can get what you want?"
"Basically. You're pretty perceptive too."
"Not usually though. That was a guess."
"Nice one at that."
I smiled, and Daphne leaned on Cam with practically all of her weight. I was surprised Cam was able to hold her. I guessed the sports helped with that. We continued on in silence, but it was soon broken when Daphne started to sing incoherently, and I also assume off key.
Cam and I shared a glance over her head.
"Sorry," I mouthed.
He shrugged. "Her fault," he mouthed back.
I smiled, and sighed in relief when we got to my house-and all of the lights were off inside.
"We're here," I said, realizing Cam didn't have a clue where I lived, he had just followed my lead.
"Okay." He helped Daphne make it up the front steps and onto the porch. "What are you going to do with her?"
"She'll be sleeping over at my house. I don't want her parents to see her like this."
"What about your parents?"
"Daphne's already crazy; a little hangover won't make much of a difference."
He smiled, and I noticed how white his teeth were. "I guess I'll leave her in your hands now."
"That would probably be best." Together we got Daphne to stand up straight on her own, though we had a little help from the wall. Maybe that wasn't standing, but that wasn't the point at the moment.
"I'll see you at school Monday?" he asked me.
I nodded. "Sure thing."
He gazed around him, then back at my eyes. "Could I give you a good night kiss?"
My eyebrows rose, and my heart fluttered. Cam Lawson, most popular guy in the entire school, wanted to know if he could give me, the outcast and freak, a goodnight kiss. How could I refuse? It was an honor. And it wasn't like I hadn't been wanting that the entire night.
"Of course," I said sheepishly. "You don't even have to ask."
He smiled, and bent down-being about six inches taller than I am-and brought his lips to mine. It was a sweet and gentle kiss, and there was absolutely no trace of alcohol in his breath, thank goodness.
When he pulled away, his smile didn't leave-until Daphne giggled.
"My turn," she said, and tried to give Cam a kiss as well, but was uncoordinated and got his chin instead.
Cam looked at her with disgust, and I pulled her behind me and out of reach of him.
"Do I have to leave with that?" he asked.
I smiled and blushed. "Not if you don't want to."
"I don't."
I was the one this time that went in for the kiss. I reached up on my toes and gave him another kiss. He placed one of his hands on my cheek and the other on my waist. When we separated, I was breathless. That kiss was even better than the first, and both of us knew it. I really wanted more, but that would seem weird, given that we weren't even dating...and most likely not about to.
"See you," he said, backing up to walk away. By accident he lost his balance and tripped on the first step. I leaned forward and grabbed his arm, helping him regain his balance.
"Thanks," he said, embarrassed.
"You're welcome," I replied, thinking how cute embarrassment looked on him. I watched him leave and turned back to Daphne when he disappeared.
"He's got some game," she mumbled as I helped her through the door.
"How could you possibly know that?" I asked.
"You don't want to know." She wiggled her eyebrows.
"Oh, shut up," I said, all but pushing her up the stairs.
I couldn't fall asleep until about three in the morning. I couldn't stop thinking about Cam. I wasn't able to tell if he liked me or not, or if he just wanted a kiss. I basically wore myself out thinking about it, yet almost got zero sleep because of it. And when I finally did manage to fall asleep, Daphne woke me up, in all her shining hangover glory.
"Lexie, yo, Lex," Daphne said, shaking me.
"What?" I asked groggily as I woke up.
"Wake up," she said. "I have a massive headache."
"It's called a hangover," I snipped. "Maybe you wouldn't have one if you hadn't have drank so much at the party."
"Dude, chill," she said, holding her head. "Don't talk so loud."
"I'm not talking loud," I whispered. "You're just an idiot. And I'm an idiot for going with you."
"At least you got a kiss out of it," she pointed out.
I blushed. I got my first kiss out of it-and my second for that matter. With Cam Lawson. Now that was a nice thought.
"He was really cute too," she commented. "Who was he, anyway?"
I laughed. "Cam Lawson."
Her jaw dropped and she gaped at me. "Cam Lawson? He was the one who helped me here?" She stared at her arm. "I'm never going to wash this arm again."
I rolled my eyes.
"You are one lucky bitch," she said.
"Don't swear," I ordered.
"Please, humor me."
"Well, you'll never be able to come over again if my parents hear that type of language come out of your mouth."
"Your parents love me."
"They won't if they find out that you drank underage and swear. Same goes for your own parents."
"You're such a goody-goody."
"And I take pride in it. And I got a kiss because of it." I'm not usually one to brag, but it was the only thing I could think of to use to possibly persuade her to be normal again.
She rolled her eyes at me, then flinched. "Aspirin?"
I stood up. "Wait here. And be quiet."
"Yeah, I'd be one to make a lot of noise right now."
I shrugged and left the room. It took me a minute to get the pills, but as soon as I got back in my room, I saw Daphne sleeping on my bed.
"Wow," I breathed. I put the aspirin on the bedside table and went down to eat some breakfast.