Life of the Party (31 page)

I laughed.
“That wasn’t fair. I hadn’t eaten anything for like a week that
night.”

“Wait,” Grey
chuckled from the backseat. “Wasn’t that the night I walked in and
you were in nothing but your underwear?”

Charlie burst
out laughing. I blushed. “Yeah.”

“So … you guys
should probably do it again.” He decided innocently. “You know,
just for curiosity’s sake.”

“Yeah right,” I
turned to face him in the backseat and giggled. “You just want to
see me in my underwear.”

A sexy smirk
lit his perfect face. “Hell yeah I do.”

I blushed an
even deeper red.

There was
already loud music pumping from Grey’s house as we pulled up in
front, cars were parked up and down the street. I was surprised. I
had thought it’d just be the five of us like usual, I didn’t
realize they were having an actual party. I grinned
enthusiastically as I stepped out of the car, fully prepared to
have an awesome time. Grey took my hand and led me up the front
walk while Charlie wasted no time rushing to the house for a
lip-lock with Zack.

I laughed. “Is
she already drunk or something?”

Grey stopped.
He looked guilty. “Uh … yeah, a bit. We came here during your
reception and kind of … got a head start.”

“You did?” I
looked up at him, noticing for the first time the slight blear of
his beautiful blue eyes and the unsteadiness of his stance. I
remembered also the exuberant cheering they had done for me at the
reception. No wonder they’d been so enthused, since they were
already so wasted.

“Are you mad?”
Grey wondered.

I thought about
it a moment and I couldn’t really decide. I was a bit put out that
they hadn’t waited for me—I mean, it would have been only a few
more hours and it was my graduation, after all. But as I looked up
at Grey, into his perfect, impossibly handsome face, I decided that
it didn’t matter. I wanted to be the best girlfriend he ever had, I
wanted him to brag about me to his friends about how awesome I was.
I didn’t want to be one of those whiny girls that got all naggy
with her boyfriend when he did something without her.

I smiled. “Are
you kidding me? Now I’ll kick her ass at shots for sure.”

Grey laughed
with relief. He looked down at me happily as his hand cupped my
cheek, his other turned up my chin so we could kiss. I tasted
whiskey on his breath, but his lips were sweet and enticing.

“Are you sure
you don’t want to bypass this whole party thing and just go
straight to my room?” He wondered, his voice thick.

“… No ….” I
smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Hey guys! It’s
you!” Alex flung the door open and stood leering in the doorway,
dressed in nothing but a pair of long underwear. “Get in here! You
get in here!” He demanded, a wild, crazy grin lighting his face. He
couldn’t even stand straight, he was so drunk.

I groaned and
covered my eyes with a laugh. “Alex! Put some clothes on! I can see
your junk!”

“Not until you
get in here!”

“Okay, okay.” I
smiled up at Grey. He grinned and rolled his eyes at his
friend.

“Alex, get in
the house, man! You’re scaring all the neighbours.”

“Get in here,
Grey. You especially. Get in here!”

“We’re coming,
we’re coming.” He chuckled. Sadly we disentangled ourselves, but
Grey held tight to my hand.

“Later.” He
promised me. A shiver of anticipation tingled down my spine. I
smiled as we walked up the front steps and through the door.

There were tons
of people inside, many I had never met before. Most everyone said
congratulations to me though, like they knew it was a party for my
graduation. Grey introduced me to a bunch of them—all were older
than me, some were even older than Grey. I smiled politely, but
knew I’d never remember all their names.

Some people
full on stared at me. Well, I don’t think they were staring at me
so much as they were me and Grey together. Apparently it was a
sight to behold, Grey with a girlfriend. He held my hand the entire
time as we mingled around, and I loved it—it felt amazing to know
that I was the only girlfriend he’d ever had, even if I did get
looks of doubt and surprise because of it. Like they were all
thinking, why the hell would he choose her, of all people?

I ignored them
and held tightly to Grey’s warm, strong hand instead. I didn’t know
the answer to that myself, really. But he had chosen me. And that
was all that mattered.

Lucas and Jimmy
were there from the city and they had brought Natasha and Tracy
with them. I tried to strike up a conversation with the two girls
in an effort to ease the constant pout of sheer boredom on their
faces. But after some tedious, one word replies, I gave up. There
just wasn’t any interest there at all.

“Mackenzie!” A
voice called to me then, coming from the kitchen. “Get your ass in
here!”

“Uh oh,” I
laughed to Grey, “that’s Charlie. I think it’s time for some
shots.” I smiled excitedly. I had some catching up to do, everyone
else seemed pretty loaded already and I wanted to get as wasted as
I possibly could.

“You go. I’ll
be right in.” Grey promised, dropping my hand for the first time
since we had arrived. I nodded and headed eagerly for the kitchen,
my heels clipping on the linoleum floor. I was still clad in all my
grad attire, but I had a good reason to be dressed up, so I didn’t
mind. I would never have come to a party in a dress if it weren’t
for my graduation.

“What’s up?” I
smiled on my way into the kitchen. Charlie flipped back her blonde
hair and pointed to the center island, where two shot glasses and a
bottle of Crown Royal were sitting. We were the only ones in the
room—some kid came in to grab some ice once, but that was it. I
looked longingly at the beer-can castle and wanted badly to knock
it down.

“This is up,
bitch.” Charlie laughed and poured us each a shot. “Get up
here.”

“You’re so on.
And this time, Charlie, you’re going down.” I threatened, setting
down my purse and climbing up onto the stool. Charlie sat down as
well, facing me from the other side of the counter, smiling at my
challenge.

“Then go.” She
dared me. I picked up my shot and swallowed it in one gulp.

“One.” I
declared. The whiskey burned all the way down my throat, hitting my
empty stomach and spreading in lazy, pleasant warmth throughout my
body.

“One.” Charlie
duplicated, after slamming back her shot.

“Two.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

“Three.”

“Four.”

“Four.” Charlie
set down her shot and cheered. A crowd was gathering around us.
Alex had come and was now sloppily taking bets on who would win. I
couldn’t stop laughing at the disparaging remarks that were being
thrown around the room at our expense. First I was the lightweight,
then Charlie, and then we were both lightweights, and then the bet
changed from one of us winning to either of us even making it past
five. I was ramped up with excitement and in the mood to prove them
wrong—the mood I was in, I would last all night. I poured us
another shot and flipped it back.

“Five.” The
crowd cheered.

“Five.” They
cheered again for Charlie. There didn’t seem to be a favourite, as
long as one of us was shooting back alcohol. I giggled and filled
up the shots again, the bottle shaking in my unsteady hand.

“Six.”

“Six.”

Grey joined us
then, in the now crowded kitchen. He came and stood behind me,
resting his arm lazily around my shoulders. His touch was
lingering, sending delicious shivers through me. The booze was
starting to hit me and I stared up at him, drunk and smiling. He
looked at me a moment and his beautiful blue eyes seemed pleased.
He bent down and kissed me. The crowd cheered as he did so, and I
was smiling gloriously as I took my next shot.

“Seven.”

“Seven.”
Charlie wasn’t backing down. She was talking and laughing and
joking but could barely keep her eyes open, she was so drunk. She
poured us the next shot, spilling whiskey all over the table as she
did so.

“Eight.”

“Eight.” She
hiccupped. I lit a cigarette, and my lips were numb as I blew the
smoke out.

“Nine.”

“Nine.”

I knew I
couldn’t keep this up much longer, but I had to outlast Charlie. I
stamped my smoke out in the ashtray and poured our next shot, since
she didn’t seem capable of doing it anymore. I swear she was asleep
sitting up. Nearly everyone was in the kitchen, pressing in, loud
and rowdy around us. Bets were changing rapidly as our motor skills
deteriorated. I sat back a moment, a crazy perma-smile on my face.
I just couldn’t stop grinning.

“Go for ten.”
Grey whispered in my ear. “Come on, you got this.”

Still smiling,
I flipped back the shot and swallowed, gulping the strong, burning
whiskey. I set the glass down and knew that I was done.

“Ten.” My arms
were heavy and my vision blurred. I stared across at Charlie as
best I could and wondered what she would do.

Everyone was
champing her name. Charlie was totally dishevelled, red-eyed and
bleary, but still managed to look beautiful. She rested her head
weakly on her hand, smiled a moment, and then slumped over. Zack
caught her before she fell, but Charlie was definitely out. I had
won.

“Winner!” I
exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. “Wooooooohhh! Winner!”
Everyone was cheering for me. People were high-fiving me like
crazy. I laughed and smiled and cheered along with them.

And then I fell
off my chair.

One second I
was upright and the next I had fallen. What happened in between
there, I can’t recall. Everything went black for a moment and then
I was on the floor, face down in a pile of laughter, and there was
a second of stunned silence while everyone waited to see if I was
okay.

“Hey, you all
right?” Grey bent over me carefully.

“Winner!” I
exclaimed again, this time from my position on the floor.
“Winner!”

Cheering and
laughter erupted from around the room. I joined in, giggling like
crazy. Grey was smiling, his blue eyes twinkling as he picked me up
off the linoleum.

“Come on,
winner.” He cradled me in his arms. “I think you’ve had
enough.”

People were
still giving me high-fives as Grey carried me out of the kitchen
and down the hallway where it was quiet, away from the party.

“Did you hit
your head?” He wondered, opening a door and flicking the light
on.

“I don’t think
sooo.” I sang. He chuckled and set me down. I nearly fell over,
grasping the wall for support.

“Let’s get
these shoes off.” Gently he lifted up my knees and pulled off my
pumps, one at a time. “That should help your balance a bit, if
anything will.”

The difference
in my height was staggering without my shoes on, and my feet felt
strange flat on the floor after being arched all day long.

“Wait, Grey, is
this your bedroom?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.” I looked
around in awe. His walls were covered in posters; all of them were
rock bands, most of them I had never heard of. Bands like Dream
Theatre and Smile Empty Soul, Sepultura and Rage against the
Machine. There were many Tool posters, which I recognized, and
Metallica and System of a Down and Sevendust and countless others I
didn’t know.

His room was
fairly neat, cleaner than mine at home—his closet doors actually
shut. A queen-size, unmade bed sat beneath a large, coverless
window looking out into the backyard. I could see the stars through
it, twinkling in the night sky. Music equipment, amps and cords and
who knows what else were stacked up neatly along the wall. A large
desk sat along the back, piled with paper and notebooks and
loose-leaf pages, all covered in writing by Grey’s inky scrawl. An
acoustic guitar sat in its stand by the bed.

“Wow. You can
tell a lot about a person from their room, you know.” I walked
slowly, swaying across the soft blue carpet to sit on the edge of
Grey’s bed.

“And what does
my room tell you?” He wondered.

“Um … I’d say
that … you love music. That’s pretty obvious.”

“True.”

“And … from the
posters, I’d say that you’re a fan of the metal.”

“Also true. But
classic rock is still sweet.”

“Yeah.” I
agreed. My hazy gaze came to rest on the acoustic guitar. “Will you
play me something?” I wondered suddenly.

“If you want.”
Grey shrugged complacently. He picked up the instrument and placed
the strap over his shoulders, then sat back down on the bed with
it. “What do you want me to play?” He asked, strumming idly,
waiting for me to answer.

I drew a
complete blank. I loved music of every kind, so long as it was
passionate, but for some reason at that moment I couldn’t think of
a single song. I laughed and shook my head.

“Okay, then,
how about this one.” Grey bent over the guitar and began to play.
He was impressive. I watched him intently—the way his hands seemed
to dance over the strings; I was amazed at how quickly they moved.
He didn’t even need to look down.

I recognized
the song almost immediately. It was
Good Riddance,
by Green
Day. My grad song. I watched as Grey strummed the rhythm, his
fingers deftly changing chords and picking the notes, playing the
sweet, slow melody perfectly. I sat back on the bed, pulled my
knees up to my chest and listened.

The song was
sweetly sad, like graduating was supposed to be … but the haunting,
reminiscent notes that came from the guitar made me feel hollow
inside, totally lonely. It made me see how much I missed Riley,
made me realize how much I was going to miss him. How a huge part
of my life just wasn’t there anymore.

At the very
thought of his name, memories of Riley flooded my mind, like my
life was flashing before my eyes, like in a car crash or
something.