Just Before You Go

Jimmy had invited me to a party at Brian’s the following weekend. He assured me it would be a good time but I was hesitant anyway. I’d never really attended a party…mostly because I’d never gotten invited.
I went to a party once when I was in the tenth grade and it was broken up by the cops following a rather violent fight had broken up. That was my one and only experience.
Beyond that, I was a drinker I guess, but I wasn’t as heavily into it as I knew Jimmy’s friends were. They were known to be quite ruckus at times at my bar so it wasn’t a far stretch to assume they were worse when in their own homes.
But Jenny had agreed to tag along with me, not that it took much convincing. We’d called in a few favors with our coworkers and were thrilled to, finally, have the same night off. It was a serious anomaly.
“I don’t think we’ve ever gotten to hang out outside of work,” Jenny said to me as we readied ourselves in front of my bathroom mirror.
There was makeup everywhere.
“I know,” I groaned.
She looked at me in the mirror as she lined one of her eyes in black, “So. Dish.”
I laughed, “What?”
“About Jimmy!” she squealed. “I haven’t heard about anything since the super romantic Beatles thing.”
“Only one Beatle,” I said with a grin.
“Have you guys been hanging out since then?” she asked curiously. “My life is seriously boring. Let me live vicariously through you.”
“Yeah,” I shrugged. “But work mostly runs my life, you know that.”
“Work when you’re dead,” she smirked.
I furrowed my brows at her, “That makes a lot of sense.”
“What I mean,” she said, dropping her makeup to the counter and turning to actually look at me, “is that you’re young and Jimmy’s cute. Maybe you should focus less on work and more on that adorable rock star.”
“My bank account will be happy to hear your advice,” I teased.
She shrugged, “I’m just saying.”
“What happened to don’t date him?” I asked pointedly, giving her an unimpressed kind of look.
“It’s a little late for that now isn’t it?” she laughed, giving me a little jab with her elbow.
After deciding that we looked pretty good, and I was dressed scantily enough to appease Jen’s vision, we set out into the night. It seemed the best choice to take a cab to Brian’s, not that it was particularly far. But then we could drink as much as we pleased and she wouldn’t have to worry about collecting her car later.
I still didn’t have one.
Brian’s house was full. We could hear the music from the street and there were people scattered all over his front lawn. Jen and I linked arms and made our way inside. The first plan of action was to find Jimmy.
“We should get a drink,” Jen yelled into my ear so I could hear her.
The music was deafeningly loud.
I didn’t know where drinks were—but nothing did Jen and that didn’t seem to stop her. She dragged me through crowds of people and passed a game of beer pong until we found what appeared to be the kitchen. It was mostly desolate, much to my relief. I wasn’t big on loud environments.
There were drinks scattered around in bowls of ice all over the counters. We shrugged at each other and pulled a beer each from one of the bowls.
“This is loud,” I said awkwardly, taking a big chug on my drink.
She nodded, “But look at that talent.”
She gestured to the beer pong game, where Matt was cheering, arms above his head and that dimpled smile was beaming in all its glory. I shook my head at my sexually frustrated friend.
“You cannot hook up with him,” I warned her.
She grinned, “Why not?”
“Because you already hooked up with Brian,” I replied simply. “And Matt has a girlfriend, I’m pretty sure.”
“Oh, Aria,” she cooed. “Just because there’s a goalie, does not mean I can’t score.”
She winked at me before literally ditching me awkward ass in favor of flirtation with the hunky lead singer. I was surprised to find he didn’t stop her.
“Jealous?” a familiar voice startled me.
I looked away from Jen and Matt to find Brian looming over the counter.
I scoffed, “Hardly.”
“Didn’t think you’d show,” he said to me—it was obvious he was half in the bag already.
I shrugged, “Well I did.”
“Jimmy’s around here…somewhere,” he said slowly, glancing around the crowd of people. “Maybe out back in the pool.”
“Okay,” I said awkwardly. “How do I get out back?”
Brian smiled, and for a second I almost forgot what a prick he was, “Come on, you weird little thing.”
He led me around a corner and down a hall where we came to a set of sliding doors. He put his face to the glass quickly and then nodded at me.
“He’s in the pool,” he told me. “Tell him not to piss in it. I had a hell of a time cleaning it out last time.”
I grimaced, which only made Brian laugh.
“Enjoy my house!” he called to me as he left me alone.
I took a second to collect myself before pushing the doors open and stepping into the night air. The yard was far quieter than the party going on indoors. Jimmy was splashing around with a shorter man that I knew to be Johnny.
His eyes lit up when he saw me. He raced to the side of the pool and climbed out, dripping dramatically as his long legs carried him to my side with impressive speed.
“You made it!” he exclaimed happily. “I was beginning to think you got lost.”
I smiled awkwardly, “I did not get lost.”
“Where’s Jenny?” he asked curiously, looking behind me.
“Flirting with Matt,” I chuckled.
“Cool,” Jimmy shrugged. “Come on, come in the pool.”
I shook my head, holding my hands up defensively, “Absolutely not.”
“What?” he frowned. “Come on! Live a little!”
“I live plenty,” I laughed. “But this,” I motioned to my body, “took hours to get ready. Please don’t make me ruin it while I’m still sober.”
He smiled widely, “Okay, fair enough. What you’re saying then is that you need more booze!” he turned to Johnny, who was still in the pool, “We’re going in for liquor!”
He grabbed my arm and dragged me back into the house. The very second we were in the kitchen, he grabbed small glasses from the cupboard and used his great height to pull liquor bottles from the highest cupboard. He poured us a couple shots and grinned deviously at me.
“Really?” I cringed.
He nodded, “Bottoms up!”
I was a little taken aback by the ability this man had to take shots without even wincing from the sting. He downed the four shots he’d poured when he realized I wasn’t doing my part. I’d just stared at him.
“Jesus Christ, Aria,” he growled, refilling the glasses. “Live a little.”
I took one of the shots, gasping dramatically after I’d swallowed it. He laughed maniacally. Just as I was catching my breath, he was sliding another to me.
“Jimmy,” I laughed nervously, “I can’t keep up with you.”
“No one can keep up with this guy,” the green-eyed one, Zacky I’d been instructed to call him spoke.
“You’re all rookies,” Jimmy grinned, tossing back another glass of brown liquid.
“You’re going to be so sick later,” I teased.
Zacky chuckled, “Can you even get sick from alcohol, Rev?”
“My tolerance is too high!” Jimmy announced loudly.
If this was what partying at Brian’s was like, I couldn’t really say I was interested. I was already bored watching Jimmy drink. Not that it wasn’t something to watch…It was endlessly concerning.
“Your boy is the drinking champ,” Zacky said to me.
I widened my eyes briefly, “Lucky me.”
“Hey, Jim,” a complete stranger to me interrupted our little gang, “can I talk to you real quick?”
Jimmy downed another shot, told me he’d be right back, and then disappeared into the crowd. I sighed louder than I meant to.
“Having a good time?” Zacky asked me.
I shrugged, “Sure…”
He smiled, “He gets a little excited. You’ll get used to it.”
And then he vanished too.
I decided the safest place to be was with Jen. She was right where I’d left her, but it seemed her attempts to woo Matt had been mostly foiled—they were on opposite ends of the beer pong table. Brian was leaned against the wall watching the game.
I leaned myself beside him.
“Lose him already?” Brian asked with a laugh. “For someone so tall, he’s really fucking elusive.”
“Oh no,” I groaned, “I found him. He’s with some guy.”
“Who?” Brian asked.
I just shrugged.
“We should play teams!” Jenny shouted loudly. “Aria, do you want to play?”
I shrugged again.
“Great! Matt and I against Aria and Brian.”
Maybe Jen had forgotten that I wasn’t exactly Brian’s biggest fan, or maybe she just didn’t care. However, I was already having a pretty lousy time and figured there was no way it could decline; so I agreed to play.
As it turns out, Brian and I made a pretty good team. Each shot was sunk, which eventually led to pompous high-fiving and obnoxious cheering from our party. Jen was horrified at her failure. She was extremely competitive.
“And that’s the game!” Brian called out, wrapping me into his arms triumphantly.
I giggled, feeling a little drunker than I had been—which was completely welcomed. The drunker I got, the less awkward I felt.
“You guys suck,” Jen pouted.
Matt winked at her, “We’ll have to go find something we’re good at.”
So maybe her attempts hadn’t failed. I was obviously a poor judge of scenario. They ducked away from us, grinning like idiots.
“Is it just me,” Brian laughed awkwardly, “or are we alone…all the fucking time.”
I smiled, “It’s definitely a reoccurring theme.”
“I’m glad you came,” he said to me. “Jimmy hasn’t stopped talking about you all week.”
“Just this week?” I teased.
He rolled his eyes, “It’s constant. But the last week has been about you coming to this fucking party.”
“Glad I could make him happy,” I shrugged.
He smiled weirdly, “He’s a really good guy. Don’t dick him around, okay?”
Before I could give any sort of response, there was a long and tattooed arm suffocating me. It was a very drunk Jimmy, bouncing in place.
“Drunk enough to swim yet?” he asked me excitedly.
I giggled, “No. Get off me, you monkey.”
He spun me around to face him and gave me an approving sort of look. If I’d been annoyed with him earlier, I couldn’t remember why. Those crystal blue eyes were like heroin to me. They erased my mind and took my troubles far, far away.
“You’re coming home with me, right?” he asked me seductively, shimmying at me as he held a grip on my hips.
I smirked, “We’ll see.”
“Fuck that!” he cackled, pulling me in and over his shoulder.
He jogged outside, effectively taking me with him despite my loud objections and constant pounding on his back. To my relief, he sped passed the pool and eventually set me down on the ground in the back corner of the yard. We were completely tucked away from everyone else.
“Don’t kidnap me,” I giggled, pushing him away.
“It’s too late, Aria!” he cried dramatically. “You’re all mine now.”
“James,” I smiled but was about to ask a heavy handed question.
His eyes widened, “Uh-oh. James. I’m in trouble.”
“You’re not,” I chuckled. “I do have a question for you, though.”
“Aria, it’s too soon to be asking me to marry you,” he smirked. “But yes! Yes I will!”
“You’re so weird,” I blushed.
He fell back onto his elbows, twirling his feet in circles.
“What’s your question?” he asked finally.
I made my face as blank as possible, “Are you an alcoholic?”
His brows pushed themselves together, “Why do you want to talk about that?”
I decided that was a yes.
“I’m just curious,” I answered coolly. “I’ve heard rumblings…and then in the kitchen…”
“What, little rich girls don’t drink?” he scowled.
My jaw dropped, I was immediately embarrassed, “Okay, Brian…”
“Sorry,” he said truthfully, his eyes looking sad. “I really don’t want to talk about it right now. It’s a party, Aria. You’re supposed to party at a party.”
I nodded, trying to look cheerful, despite the weird and aggressive version of Jimmy I’d just caught a sneak peak of, “You’re right. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“You know what we need to do?” he asked, climbing to his feet and pulling me up by my arms. “We need to get you more drunk. And then we need to play beer pong with Jenny—”
“She ran off with Matt,” I told him quickly.
He gasped, “Well I’ll be damned! Our boy’s still got it!”
“You’re—”
“Weird,” he laughed, “I know.”
“Okay,” I decided aloud, “let’s get me more drunk. I swear I’m fun when I’m drunk.”
He pointed a finger at my nose, “I hope that’s true!”
And we darted back into the party, hell-bent on getting me smashed. Boy, did we ever succeed.
It was just after one and I remember trying to find the bathroom—but the hallway seemed to stretch forever and my feet were heavy as shit. I was using the wall to keep me upright, taking baby steps.
I finally found it, after many wrong doors and seeing many naked asses—I think Matt’s may have been one of them. But on my journey back downstairs, I was too drunk. I sat myself at the top of the stairs and decided that’s where I’d die.
Jimmy found me eventually, cackling up a storm to catch me in such a state.
“See!” I slurred at him, pointing my finger at him this time. “Rich girls can drink!”
“Okay,” he smirked, pulling me onto his shoulder again.
His bone in my gut made me sure I’d eventually vomit down his back but I resisted. I don’t know how we got there, but at some point I can distinctly recall falling into his bed—his scent wrapping around me as his pillow smothered my drunk face.
I must have fallen asleep because suddenly, I awoke. The room was dark, lit only by the crack in the almost-closed bedroom door. No sign of Jimmy.
Although the room was spinning, I thought I should try and find my non-boyfriend—I’d told him he’d be sick later. Maybe he needed water. Fuck, maybe I needed water.
As I walked slowly down the hallway, I could see the bathroom light was already on.
I knocked lightly on the door, “Jimmy?”
Immediate rustling followed by his face in the door, “Hey!”
“Are you okay?” I asked sleepily, still very, very drunk.
He nodded vigorously, “Yeah, I’m fine. Go back to bed, I’ll be there in a minute.”
I was too drunk to ask all of the many questions I was sure I’d have if I was sober. I shrugged, giving him a quick peck and then turned around to return to bed. But I swear I could hear him sniffling—maybe he was getting sick.
“That’s just what I need,” I grumbled to myself.
I passed out again the second my head hit the pillow.

Notes

Yeah, a cold. Must be.

xx