Alex
I've watched enough coming of age movies to never go on a party. It would never end right. It was either we would all get murdered by Ghostface from Scream or we would all get herpes from kissing everyone because of spin the bottle. And somehow, getting herpes scared me more than getting stabbed to death by Ghostface.
Charlie told me to invite all of my friends to come. It wasnt his party though. The host was from Hillcrest High school, a fancy private school in our town.
Clay and Justin couldnt come because of a support group. Zach was absent in school, which made me worry. The last time we talked, we didnt exactly ended on the same note. I tried to shake everything off. I came here to have a good time and to forget.
The smell of alcohol and sweat greeted me and Charlie as we enter the humongous house. The sound of Electronic Dance Music was blaring from all the walls. People were everywhere, some of them were dancing, others were making out.
We were already late but the party was not even close to stopping. We were greeted by a guy. He handed the both of us a red solo cup with beer in it.
"Here you go." The guy said. I havent seen him yet so I assumed he doesnt go to our school. He had wavy hair that fell down on one side of his forehead, he was wearing a black coat. Do fancy people wear coats on parties?
"Im Winston by the way." He shouted, making sure we would hear him despite the loud music.
"Charlie," Charlie took and shook Winston's hand. "And this is Alex, my boyf-"
"Im his friend." I interrupted Charlie before he could slip up.
"Yeah. Friends," Charlie fake chuckled. "Totally."
"Are you the party host?" I asked. With his clothes, he does look like he own the place.
"No," Winston smiled. "Im the host's cousin."
Winston kept refilling our cups. I drank four cups of beer. Charlie had six, he was now on the dance floor dancing with his football teammates.
"So Im guessing you're from Liberty High?" Winston asked, his voice was loud, matching the loud music from the background.
"Yeah." I was sitting on the couch next to him. "What's with the coat?" The alcohol was making me frank.
"It's actually our school uniform." Winston smirked.
"Oh." Now I feel dumb.
His phone rang, he answered it and immediately stood up, panicking. "Alex, I have to go."
"Whats wrong?" I asked. I was actually enjoying talking to him.
"My cousin passed out on the pool," Winston cringed. "His parents would kill me if he dies."
"Go ahead then." I gulped on my beer.
"Dont worry," Winston winked at me playfully. "This wont be the last time you'll see me, Alex."
He went off, leaving me on the couch with a heterosexual couple making out beside me. I looked up at Charlie and he was still dancing with his friends.
I explored the place. It was huge. There were some familiar faces from Liberty High. Some were alien to me. I threw my cup on the trash when I saw Jessica and Ani. Jessica was basically carrying Ani on her shoulder. Ani was sobbing.
"Hey," Ani was drunk. Jessica wasnt. "Whats wrong?"
"She's crying about Clay," Jessica whispered loudly at my ear. "She wants to break up with him."
I knew something wasnt right with Clay and Ani.
"Alex," Ani clung on to my shoulders. Tears falling down her cheeks. "I should break up with Clay right? I dont think he loves me as much as I love him."
"Yeah," I whispered to Jessica. "She's drunk. I think you guys should go home."
"I think so too." Jessica took Ani from my shoulder.
"Can you drive?"
"Nope, I'll ask Tony to drive us home."
We waited for Tony to come. He was with Caleb, who carried Ani bridal-style. I waved them goodbye and started exploring the place again.
I saw a stairs, before going upstairs I took one look at Charlie. He was laughing with his teammates not even noticing I was no longer on the couch.
Second floor was not as crowded as the first one. There were alot of rooms on this floor. One room was open so I peaked inside, there were alot of people on the floor playing truth or dare. I instantly went out of the room. I dont want to play truth or dare on a party, I have read enough fanfictions to know how bad it could get.
The next room was locked. I tried twisting the knob. No chance. Right when I was about to move on to the next room, the door opened. There was a girl walking out of the room, with a scowl on her face. It was followed by a familiar voice. Maybe too familiar.
"Hey where are you going?" It was Zach Dempsey.
"Im going downstairs and I will find someone else," The girl screamed at Zach. "I want sex. I didnt come here to listen to you ramble about your feelings for your best friend."
What?
The girl bumped into me, she gave me a death stare. "Watch where you're going asshole."
I controlled myself. I was so close to grabbing her hair.
Zach saw me. He was drunk. Really drunk. Like, Ani drunk. Half of his shirt was unbuttoned, his hair was a mess. He had a whole bottle of alcohol on his hand.
"Alex." Zach said, as if he was expecting me.
"Zach," I entered the room. Taking a close look at Zach, he looked worse. "You're drunk."
"You're cute." Zach burped. Opened the alcohol he was holding and started drinking again.
"Stop that." I grabbed the bottle from his hand.
"Hey give it back to me cutie!" What the fuck is wrong with him? Whats with the term of endearment?
"You're going home," I placed the alcohol bottle on an empty table nearby. "You're a mess Zach."
"I dont want to go home." Zach looked down. Then he burped again. "Alex, I dont feel so good."
Then he started throwing up on the floor. I sighed. Jesus Christ. I grabbed his arm, dragging him to the bathroom. Thank the God the room had a bathroom, the downside was it could barely fit me and Zach.
Zach was throwing up on the toilet bowl. I was behind him, rubbing his back. When he stopped, I grabbed the mouthwash I saw from the sink and gave it to Zach. He gargled and spat it in the toilet bowl.
I dragged him back on the room but before we could reach the bed he grabbed the back of my head and kissed me. It wasnt a smack or a peck. He was sucking on my lips, I could feel his tongue fighting to enter my mouth.
This was my dream. This was what I envisioned happening when I took that risk and kissed him on the rooftop.
So I gave in. I kissed him back. His lips were soft, his breath smelled like a mix of moutwash and alcohol. I could feel his tongue inside my mouth, tasting every part of it.
But then I rememebered Charlie. I snapped out of my fairy tale and pushed Zach away from me. This couldnt be happening. I tried pinching myself. Once. Twice. Thrice. Fuck.
"Did-," Zach looked shock. "Did I do something wrong?"
"What's wrong with you?" I could feel my heart punching my chest. "Why did you kiss me."
"Alex," This was the saddest I heard Zach. "I think... I think I like you."
Does Zach really like me?
"Im with Charlie. You know that," I accused Zach. "You shouldnt have kissed me!"
"You kissed me back." I did. I fucking kissed him back and I wanted it to last longer.
"I love Charlie." Do I?
"I know." Zach sounded defeated. I looked at him. He was staring on the floor. He looked beautiful despite looking like a mess. Im sorry Zach.
"Im gonna go."
I told Charlie that we had an emergency. Charlie wanted to drive me home but I Insisted not to. I gave him a kiss before leaving, a long one. I wanted to remove the taste of Zach in my mouth.
I went home alone that night. I walked, for almost an hour. I didnt mind the darkness. I didnt mind the sound of crickets following me wherever I go. Hoping that by the time I would be home, I would suddenly wake up from this bad dream.
-
Zach what have you done? [grabs popcorn]
I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Especially the Zalex part.
Also Winston is finally in the story. Fun fact, I actually wrote chapter 2 as a Winston Chapter but it didnt feel write so I deleted the whole chapter and decided to add his character later on the story.
Hope you guys like it!
- G