Patrick
I check the time on my phone again and see that it’s now just after midnight. Pete is a fucking dead man, and he owes me for this. I walk across the lawn and up to the front door of the big house where my brother and his friends are currently hosting a party. I gotta say, it must be one lame ass party. The front lawn is immaculate and there’s not a red cup in sight. I don’t hear any music coming from inside either. Maybe they’re all passed out already. I enter the house and can hear laughter coming from what I assume to be the kitchen. When I push the door open, I see my brother and four of his friends sitting on the kitchen floor. One of the boys is trying to light a cigarette, but he can’t get the lighter ignited, so the others are all laughing at him. God, these guys are cool.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been drinking and smoking tonight, Pete.” I say, leaning against the open door frame and crossing my arms.
“Paddy!” My brother stumbles to his feet, and I make a mental note to hit him later for calling me Paddy. “What are you doing here, bro?”
Paddy? Bro? Christ, he really is wrecked right now. He can barely stand on his own, so I roll my eyes then cross the room to help him over to the kitchen sink, where he proceeds to vomit right into the basin. Lovely.
“Why are you here, Patrick?” Pete’s friend Gavin addresses me. He’s the one that’s trying to light a cigarette.
“Steph called me, Pete was supposed to go home at 11pm” I explain. “She was worried, and you shouldn’t smoke. That shit will kill you.”
“I know.” Gavin says, tossing the cigarette and the lighter across the laminate floor. “Shane’s mom would freak out if the kitchen smelled of smoke anyway.”
“So let’s go out back.” One of the other boys suggests.
“You guys should go home, school starts tomorrow and your parents are probably wondering where the hell you are.” I say to the group, as Pete continues to throw up into the sink.
“I thought you were supposed to be cool?” I recognise this boy as Mark, Pete’s best friend. He’s smirking at me. I get along pretty well with Mark.
“I don’t know, I wasn’t invited to this super cool party, so I must not be.” I say with just a hint of sarcasm. My brother and his friends are dorks.
“It’s not exactly a party.” One of the other boys says. “Just a small gathering of friends.”
“Yeah, my mom left me home alone for the first time tonight, she’s trusting me.” This must be Shane.
“Well, clearly your mom made a bad choice trusting you.” I say, laughing at him.
“Pete, you should have invited your brother earlier!” Shane calls over towards the sink.
Pete’s head emerges from the sink, just long enough for him to say, “Nah, he cramps my style.”
I burst out laughing and so do his friends. He could not look any less cool right now if he tried.
“Seriously, what kinda party is this? Where’s the music? Where’s the girls?” I ask them, gesturing around at the silent room.
“We’re not exactly popular with the ladies, Patrick.” Mark says, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.
It’s hard not to laugh at this, but I manage. Poor guys. They’re all 16 now, going on 17, and I bet they’re all still virgins. I don’t know why, they don’t exactly look like they would completely repel girls. My guess is that they’re just lacking in confidence.
“Well, you could be.” I tell Mark, before handing Pete some paper towels. He has finally emerged from the sink, hopefully for good this time. “All you need to do is pick a lucky girl, ask her for her number, and if she says yes, you know you’re in. If she says no, ask someone else. And repeat.”
“And that works for you?” Shane asks curiously.
“Sure.” I shrug my shoulders at him. They don’t need to know that girls usually hit on me first. “You ready?” I say to Pete.
“Maybe Pete should try asking for a girl’s number first, he kinda looks like his brother, he’d probably have the best chance of success.” Gavin states proudly.
The boys nod and agree with Gavin. I look at Pete with disgust.
“If that’s what I look like when I’m shit faced, then I’m never drinking again!” I say, and the boys laugh.
I drag Pete from the kitchen to the front door, say my goodbyes to the other boys and encourage them all to get home. When he realises I don’t have a car, Mark decides to walk with me and Pete as far as he needs to go. Pete isn’t happy that I’m not driving, so I kick him in the shins and tell him to shut up. Mark and I both drape Pete’s arms across our shoulders and carry his weight between the two of us, making the walk slightly easier.
“Why didn’t you drive here?” Mark asks.
“I’ve been drinking tonight too.” I explain. “Just not as much as him, apparently.”
We both laugh at my little brother’s expense.
“Fuck off.” Pete slurs. “You’re taking me to your place though, yeah?”
I nod. I’ll text my mom and tell her I picked Pete up. I won’t tell her he was this drunk though, I don’t want her to worry. He’s fine, he just took it a little too far tonight. It’s no big deal.
“Yeah, I’ll text mom.” I tell him. “You need to be more careful, though. Getting into a state like this isn’t cool. Mom would kill you if she saw you this way.”
“I know, I know.” Pete slurs.
“We were drinking whiskey, we’ve never tried it before.” Mark explains. “Pete had a little more than the rest of us.”
“Clearly.” I say, laughing at my little brother again.
“You want me to help carry him all the way to your place?” Mark asks. We’re almost at his parents’ house.
“Nah, he’ll be fine.” I say, hoisting Pete up a little, encouraging him to stand up properly on his own. “Surely you’ve sobered up a little after all that throwing up you just did?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Pete says, shrugging my arm off of his shoulder and clutching onto a nearby tree for support. Mark and I laugh at him again, then Mark heads down the street on his own towards his house.
I give Pete a minute to compose himself as I check my phone. No new messages, but why would there be any new messages? It’s after midnight, the night before school starts back. I wasn’t expecting to hear from anyone, besides maybe Amanda, but I think she may finally have gotten the hint. I haven’t replied to her last 5 texts, which is a dick move, I know, but she needs to give up on me. I’m not interested, and I do feel bad for leading her on before, but… I thought it was worth a try. Until everything that’s happened with Jamie, of course. I wonder how her talk with Noah went. I wonder if they ended up holding hands again. I wonder if she’s still at his dorm right now. What a head fuck.
“Okay, let’s go.” Pete finally says, pushing himself off of the tree and finding his footing on his own at last.
“Seriously, Pete. You need to be careful with this shit. You can’t stay at my place every time you go out drinking with your friends. Get it under control, yeah?” I tell him. He obviously cannot handle his alcohol, so he’s gonna have to watch what he’s doing.
“Shut up, you weren’t exactly careful when you were my age. I used to catch girls sneaking out of your room all the time when you lived at home.” Pete reminds me. Awesome.
“Yeah, but did mom ever catch girls sneaking out of my room? No. And that’s what matters.” I remind him. Take that.
We walk along in silence for a minute. Thanks for the reminder, Pete. Things definitely weren’t as easy for me when I lived at home. Telling girls to be quiet and telling them it was time to leave before my mom woke up in the morning was always a little awkward. Things have certainly been much easier since I moved in with Joel. I know he’s not exactly a fan of my antics, but I know he doesn’t judge me either. Besides, I’ve had to listen to Sarah screaming his name on a semi-regular basis for a couple of months now, so he can’t complain about me anymore. Not that there’s gonna be anything for him to complain about this year. My New Year’s Resolution is absolutely no more one night stands. And okay, we’re only 5 days into the year and I’ve already technically had a one night stand, three times, with a certain brunette guitarist. But that’s different, obviously.
“I haven’t done that. Yet.” Pete says awkwardly, and for a moment I wonder what the hell he’s talking about. Then it clicks. Oh Jesus, he does not actually wanna talk about this, does he?
“What I’m trying to say is, I’m still a virgin. I’m a complete fucking loser, Patrick.” He looks up at me, and he looks like he’s about to start crying. Fuck my life. I know he’s only being dramatic about this because he’s drunk. But, I guess he could use some assurance.
“Dude, you’re only 16 years old. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a virgin. Now, let’s stop talking about this.” I say quickly, picking up the pace a little and not looking him in the eye.
“I suppose so.” Pete says, still sounding pretty disheartened about it. “How old were you the first time you did it?”
We’re actually doing this? I consider lying and telling him I was 17 or 18, but what’s the point? “I was 15. But Jay, Joel and Jamie were all 14 when they lost theirs. And they’d tell you that is far too young and they wish they’d waited a while longer.” Hopefully this will satisfy his interest for now.
“Do you wish you’d waited a while longer?” Yeah, I wish I’d waited until the 2nd of January this year…
“I guess so,” I tell him. “I mean, I haven’t exactly met the love of my life along the way, have I?” Why did I say that? What does that have to do with anything?
“I’m not talking about that, you freak. I’m just talking about sex.” Pete scoffs at me. “I don’t wanna fall in love, I wanna get laid!”
And we are done talking about this. I shove him and he stumbles over, then we walk back to the apartment in silence the rest of the way.
When I open the front door, Pete trips over his own feet and almost falls into the hallway. I tell him to shut the fuck up, because Joel’s asleep. Pete stumbles over to the living room door and opens it, and I’m surprised to see that the light is on. I must have left it on. I turn to lock the front door again, and I hear Pete saying “Well hello there. So, are you two having sex now?” Who the hell is he talking to? I walk into the living room and see Joel and Jamie sitting on the couch, underneath a blanket.
And even though this kinda thing happens all the time, and I know it’s totally innocent, I have a sudden urge to punch Joel in the face.