You're a Lush and I Hate It

Annie:
The pizza which I had practically forgotten about arrived soon after I agreed to go to Luke's party with Adam. I didn't eat very much as I felt nervous about the party. I knew how Adam got when he'd had one too many drinks and that getting drunk was his favorite past time, but I still didn't like it. I sat at the table with the feel of three kilo weights pushing my stomach down as I forced Adam to eat something so he wouldn't pass out or get dangerously ill from drinking alcohol after not eating anything.

Adam had nearly finished his pizza when he told me Matt would be coming around any minute to take us there. I nodded and packed the pizza boxes away while Adam put his plate in the kitchen and went to get his stuff and get ready.

"Hey, why is Matt coming if you've got your truck with you?"

"You seriously think I'm going to rock up to Luke's party in the truck?" Adam laughed and I smiled. He had a point. Most of the people going to the party would laugh at the old rusted truck due to the fact that none went to our school and attended hundreds of years old selective schools.

"So, I'm guessing Matt's bringing his dad's car, then?" I asked and Adam nodded. Matt's dad's car was beautiful. A silver little Mercedes-Benz that looked like it cost more than I'd ever hope to earn in a lifetime. Matt's dad loved it, the way he looked after it you'd think it was a newborn baby or prodigal son, and it always smelled like a brand new car though it was well over five years old now.

When the pizza boxes were all put away in the trash, I went up to my room and quickly brushed my hair and tied it up in a way that my friends had taught me. It made for a very flirtatious ponytail sort of thing, but I liked it for parties. I looked through my wardrobe and picked out whatever looked clean and smelled okay, and that wasn't too casual or overdone. I slipped some boots on as well before putting a bit of makeup on, knowing that I'd need some to last through the night without being talked about for being 'weird' though I preferred not having any on at all.

I grabbed my bag for parties and threw my wallet, phone and some gum in before heading down to Adam. He'd straightened his hair and was wearing a loose black sweater that suited him perfectly. We smiled at each other in acceptance of one anothers attire before a beep distracted us from pointing out any minuscule flaws.

"Matt's here," I said and grabbed my keys from their hook next to the door before picking up a cardigan that was thrown over the lounge and throwing it on quickly as Adam went out to Matt. I locked up and got in Matt's car, saying a quick greeting to him before the car reversed and headed in the direction of the party.
-
Adam:
I was excited. It was Luke's party and while I didn't necessarily know Luke that well, I knew what to expect. Man, was I happy to get there, too.
When Matt's car pulled up, you could tell it was going to be one of those parties. The kind where you end up flat on your face and remember nothing of the night before, the next day. Annie sat in the backseat ringing her fingers but I practically jumped out of the car when we arrived, ready for whatever lay ahead.

"Come on, guys! We're late!" I shouted over my shoulder to them as I walked quickly up to the door and straight through to the backyard, where the music was pouring out of the speakers and where a kid's pool filled with ice and glass bottles lay. I walked to it and grabbed three random bottles out, walking back into the house to find Annie and Matt. They were coming through to where I was and I smiled, holding up the bottles. Annie's cautious smile accepted the drink, but it made sure to tell me it was unsure about it. Matt took the one I handed him and cracked it open, taking a small sip before looking at the label.

"Adam, what the hell is this?" Matt asked. I gave a shrug of my shoulders, opening my own bottle and taking a sip from it. It tasted like a sweetened vodka and I made sure to take note of the label. I'd probably want some more soon, anyways. I was about to start talking to Rubano and Annie but I heard my name being called, so went to find out who it was instead.

"Yo, Lazzara! Didn't think you'd show up." Luke greeted me as I took fast strides over to him.

"Miss out on a party like this? You're kidding me, right? Wouldn't miss it for the world, Lukey boy." I smiled and walked over to the speakers, drinking half the bottle as I did so. I turned it up a bit more and checked out the play list Luke had opened up on his computer screen. It was good for a party, but not what I'd usually listen to.

I finished the bottle as I made my way over to the kid's pool again and grabbed a bottle that had the same design as the previous one. Tonight was going to be a good night. I quickly got bored of the people standing around in the yard and went inside to find Matt and Annie. It took me a good half hour to do so and I'd finished two bottles of the sweetened vodka since then. When I found them, they were standing around one of the tables in the kitchen, talking to Fred, Mark and Eddie. I laughed as I walked up to them, messing Annie's hair up and giving her a lopsided hug.

"Annie use your telescope," I sung, my words running together but I could have cared less.

"Hello Adam," Annie sighed, a seemingly happy smile on her face.

"How much have you had tonight, then?" She asked and I gave a shrug of my shoulders. I looked down at my hand, lifted it up and held up three fingers.

"This one is my fourth one, I think, though," the words dribbled together and Annie took the bottle from my other hand.

"Hey, that's mine!" I exclaimed, trying to grab the bottle back.

"Adam," Annie started, "do you know how many standard drinks is in one of these?" She looked up at me with curious eyes.

"I didn't really pay attention, actually."

"It says on the label, right here," she held it out in front of my face, pointing to the little box that said standard drink total, "that this one bottle is worth how many drinks Adam?"

"It says," I stumbled a bit before adjusting back to the standing position, "that the standard drink total this one tiny little bottle has is two point four drinks. That's not much, is it Annie?" I questioned.

She glared up at me and said no, but continued on anyways.

"However, you, dear Adam, are on your fourth drink. That means you've had 9.6 drinks. Please be a bit more careful tonight, Adam? I don't want to have to miss out on school tomorrow because I'm at your house helping you get over a demonic hangover or worse, because you're in hospital with alcohol poisoning." She finished and I sighed dramatically, slamming my hands on the table.

"But Annie," I whined, "it's a party! I'm meant to have fun and if I get thirsty while having fun, then I'm gonna drink, okay?" I told her, wiggling my index finger at her. She put her hands on her hips and glared at me.

"Oh, Annie's angry! You're so scary when you're angry, Annie. Angry Annie, angry Annie, angry little scary Annie," I sung, jumping on the spot as I did so before stopping, feeling a bit dizzy. I noted the empty bottle I'd had now sitting on the table and went out to the backyard again, ignoring the call from Annie to come back and talk or something like that. I picked the same type of bottle out from the pool and started drinking from it. Tonight was going to be a good night, whether Annie liked it or not.
-
3rd person:
Matt Rubano and Annie were standing in the kitchen still, however the others had all departed ways to find others to talk to, dance, or simply left the party. Annie, who was still on the first bottle of drink that Adam had given her, swayed lightly to the music while Matt, who was on his second, cautiously watched her and any guys that may have been around. Matt was very protective of Annie, but tried to do so without being too obvious. This was occasionally the downfall for Matt, as it meant he more often than not spent the night worrying for her safety rather than having fun with her and their friends. Tonight he didn't care very much, though, because he knew Annie would stay with him. They didn't know very many people at the party and Annie was very shy, even when she'd had something to drink she'd stay as quiet as a mouse around strangers.

Matt was watching her still when she looked up at him and smiled before looking down at her phone which she'd taken from her bag.

"Matty, it's starting to get late. Do you think we should try to find Adam now?" She asked slowly, almost careful as to what words she used. He nodded, knowing Adam wouldn't be too hard to find. He'd either be out where the drinks were or near the speakers dancing with a girl he hardly knew. He couldn't help but smile, though, when Annie used his nickname as sweetly as she had.

He led her outside by the hand, squishing through partners and strangers who had barricaded each other against the wall and into the middles of hallways. It was like walking through a maze in trying to get out and find Adam, but they eventually did get out. Matt didn't let their hands drop, though. Annie didn't seem to notice though, as her attention was focused on finding Adam.

"Hey Fred, have you seen Adam?" Annie asked as she walked past him and Eddie.

"No idea, sorry Annie." He smiled genuinely and she returned it, waving a quick goodbye to Eddie as Matt led her further out into the yard. The music was definitely louder than before and Adam stood in a crowd of people, cheering about something that was going on.

Annie took the lead now, nearly running in her rush to get to Adam.

"Adam, we're going now." Annie stated, using her other free hand to try and pull Adam out of the group.

"But Annie, the party's practically just started! I haven't even had that much to drink yet, honest!" Adam giggled at his slurred words and stumbled as Annie pulled him out of the group.

"Adam, we're going whether you like it or not. Matt, can you go and get the car ready?" She asked, looking warily at him before he gave her a quick nod and jogged out to the front. She pulled Adam out of the group and walked behind him, pushing against his back to keep him walking.

"Adam, we have to go now. Do you remember how much you've had to drink?" She questioned, heaving Adam's tall frame through the back door and into one of the hallways. Thankfully, it was one of the emptier ones which made it easier for Annie to push Adam through.

"Um, I put them all on a table. There was heaps, Annie! But not enough to make me sick, I promise, Annie!" Adam sounded like he was nearly in tears but Annie took no notice as it happened every time he'd had too much to drink. She gave him a heavy shove before pushing again.

"Where's the table, Adam?" She asked him, annoyed that he was just a dead weight against her palms as she pushed with more force.

"It's near the door, Annie. Annie, are we going now?"

"Yes Adam, for the millionth time. Now walk to the door, Adam, I can't keep pushing you like this." Annie told him, and she did notice a slight weight change as Adam tried to drag his feet over to the door.

"That's it, Adam, we're nearly there. Is that the table with your bottles over there?" She huffed, feeling droplets of sweat starting to form. Pushing Adam towards the front was no easy feat.

"Yeah, the one with all those bottles, that one is mine. The yellow bottles, their mine. They were really nice Annie, really, really nice." Adam mumbled and Annie looked over to the table. From where she was, she could easily count two dozen bottles.

"Adam, I told you not to drink a lot! That's nearly twenty four bottles I can see!" Annie exclaimed, telling Adam off for his stupid behavior.

"Twenty four's not a lot, honest Annie! I'll be fine, why you worrying so much for?" Adam stumbled again, nearly hitting his head against the front door's frame but stopping himself in just enough time.

"Because Adam, that is a lot. You can get very sick from that much, you should know that by now!" She practically screamed at him. Adam laughed and saw Matt coming up the foot path.

"Annie, Matty's here! Hey Matty! Rubano! Guess what, Matt? We're going home, Matt! Right now, we're going home, so go and get the car Matt." Adam ranted and Matt ran up, putting one of Adam's arms around his shoulders while Annie took the other and did the same.

"I know, Adam. Come on, the car's over there. That ta boy, Adam, nearly there." Matt spoke to Adam to keep him quiet before placing him into the back seat of the car and putting his seat belt on for him.

"Woo! Home time, home time, no more drinks. Home time, home time, just for kicks." Adam sang as Matt and Annie got into the front seat.

"Yeah, Adam, home time." Annie growled, angry at him now that she'd realized he'd had roughly 57 drinks at the party.

"My house, your house or his?" Matt asked Annie, who merely shrugged in response.

"His house, he'll need to be somewhere he'll recognize as soon as he wakes up tomorrow morning." Annie stated and Matt nodded, driving in the direction of Adam's house.

Adam was asleep in the back within five minutes and Annie sighed as she looked back at his sleeping form.

"One of these days, he's going to want to go to a party and I won't be there to watch over him and make sure he gets home safely. What's gonna happen to him when that happens, Matty?" Annie asked, sad that it would happen eventually.

"I'll be there or one of the guys will be there. He'll be fine, and you can make up for it when it happens by looking after the idiot when he's hungover the next morning or telling him off in his hospital bed." Matt smiled down at Annie, rubbing the back of her hand comfortingly with his thumb before focusing back on the road.

"Thanks, Matty." She smiled, kissing him on the cheek. Adam woke up before announcing he felt ill shortly after and Matt quickly stopped the car while Annie unbuckled Adam and helped him out on to the side of the road as he let his stomach's contents reveal themselves. Annie cleaned him up with some wipes Matt had left in the back of the car for the sole reason of cleaning up Adam and helped Adam get back in, sitting next to him in the back now to make sure he was okay the rest of the ride home. Matt drove quickly to Adam's house and helped him up to his room before locking his car up. Annie watched over Adam as he slept and Matt stayed with her too, telling her he wanted to help look after Adam when he'd finally sobered up but knowing guiltily that he just wanted to stay up all night talking to her.

Adam was sick twice that night, but a bucket that was permanently left beside his bed ensured nothing needed to be cleaned up. By the time it was morning, Annie and Matt were exhausted whilst Adam woke up with a splitting headache and Annie offering him painkillers and water. Matt got an extra blanket for Adam and called their schools up, explaining that they wouldn't be in today due to illness. Annie sighed, thinking to herself how repetitive the routine of their lives had become. School, work, looking after Adam. Who needed a social life with Adam around, after all?