Take It Slow, 'Cause I Can't Be on My Own

“So, I’ve got an idea.” Jack said to me excitedly.
“Yeah? Let’s hear it then.”
“Tonight, we’re going to throw a party,” he saw the worried look on my face and immediately began explaining. “Dad called a while ago. He says he’s gone on business for five days. We don’t have to worry about anything.”
I sighed. “Okay.. okay, sure, whatever. Now, will I actually be able to socialize at this party or will I be confined to my room all night?”
He smiled at me. “No, of course not! You can do whatever you want, and wear whatever you want. .. As long as you know, you don’t look like a whore. And you can invite all your friends.”
I thought for a minute. “… All of my friends are your friends.”
“Oh,” he said dumbly. “Right. Well… uh. Invite Jessica!”

I smiled and pulled out my phone. I felt a surge of déjà vu rush through me as I dialed her number and invited her to the party. As Jessie and I talked on the phone, I realized how much I did miss her. She had been such a good friend to me during our freshman year. She was the ultimate party girl and every weekend she would bring me along for the ride. That girl taught me everything I know about alcohol. Or, well, Alex was also a contributer. I laughed to myself as I reminisced. I tried to remember some of the times Jessie and I spent sober, just hanging out. Those times were rare. We were always out and doing something one minute and getting bored with it the next. I smiled as she agreed to come to the party and felt a sudden warmth, knowing that I would be with her tonight.

I craved alcohol, I craved music and dancing, late night car rides, laughing, living life on the fast track.

I hung up the phone and noticed Jack dialing away, most likely sending out mass texts to everyone in his contacts. I truly felt as if things were about to change. I don’t ever remember going to a party and having Jack actually know about it, or be okay with it. He was beginning to trust me, oddly enough. It felt like everything was slowly falling into place. I smiled as I realized that Matt would be here tonight. We’d been out in the open for about three weeks. And those three weeks had been the best of my life. We were perfect, but we hadn’t once gone out in public. Which was fine, I enjoyed staying it, but I knew it would feel great to be with him at this party with all of our friends. I didn’t have to worry about who knew. I didn’t give a fuck who knew.

~

At seven o’clock, people began to arrive just as Jack had suspected. At first it was only a few groups of people, but after an hour had passed, the house was crowded. Smoke lingered on the wall paper and alcohol was sloshed from cups onto the beige carpet. I wondered if we’d ever erase the evidence. I stared at the doorway as people continued to pour in. I saw Matt enter with Alex by his side. They were both laughing about something, deep into conversation. Their eyes lit up and their hands gestured as they talked. I walked over to them, nudging Alex a bit, acknowledging he was there, and gave Matt a light hug. Conversation continued to flow; the three of us talked for a good while, but then I noticed that Alex had suddenly become distracted. I followed his eyes to the doorway and saw Jessica. She was wearing a red dress and heels. Maybe just a touch over dressed for a grimey house party, but she looked as stunning as ever.

Alex tried to not notice her, but there was no doubt that Jessica had his full attention. Matt and I both glanced over at her. She was talking with some girl I’d never met. She somehow had a drink in her hand even though she had not made it even ten feet into the house. Her hair was long and straight. It was normally a dark brown but I’d noticed that it had lightened with a few golden highlights. When she smiled her lips flashed with heavy gloss and her face glowed under the lights of my doorway. Her eyes scanned the room and she caught all of staring at her like dumbfounded idiots. She walked over, hugging me energetically.

“Jess, this is Matt. I don’t think you two have been formally introduced.”
Jessie smiled and took his hand to shake. “So you’re the boy everyone’s been making a fuss about. “
“I suppose that’s me,” Matt said shyly.
Jessica laughed. I could tell her was already a bit tipsy. She winked at me, “good pick.”

~

Alex’s POV.

The night quickly progressed and so did my blood alcohol level. I’d smashed at least five beers and it wasn’t even ten o’clock. I wandered around the room, half heartedly making small talk with friends I hadn’t seen since graduation, or before then. I listened to a friend of mine drone on about some hockey team when I noticed a girl standing a few feet away. She was talking with another girl, they were laughing. I stared at her. She was just the right height and thin. I couldn’t see her face but I’d gotten enough of a view to see that she was a knockout. Her dress’ length was just my taste and her legs looked soft and shimmery even in this dull lit room. I excused myself from the conversation and approached the girls. I softly laid a hand on her back and she jolted around to face me. Her eyes grew wide with surprise. Her drink quickly slipped from her hand and landed on the carpet. She looked up, and I noticed that the girl I’d been drooling over the last twenty minutes was Emily’s friend, Jessica.

She smiled, “Jesus. You scared me Alex.”
I gave her a smirk, “sorry about that, Jessica.”
I noticed that the girl who she’d been talking to was glaring at Jessica. She crossed her arms and walked away. “Oh. It’s uh.. you can call me Jessie. “
“Alright, Jessie it is then.”
She stared at me awkwardly, not saying anything. I spoke up. “So… Jessie, it looks like you spilled your drink. You must be thirsty.”
She laughed nervously, but I gave her a warm smile. “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll make you another.”

~

An hour passed and Jessie and I hadn’t left each other’s site once. She stood up against the wall and I stood only a foot away. As she spoke and laughed, I watched and listened, completely engaged simply by her smile. A hundred other girls must have walked past but I didn’t even glance their way. Jessie and I were long past small talk; we’d reached complete comfort with other another. We’d sipped down at least three drinks - that might have contributed to the comfort.

“So, you’re in a band?” She asked.
“Yeah.. how’d you know?”
She smiled. “Don’t forget that Emily and I are friends, too.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you two were close still,” I said, changing the subject.
“Eh. We’re getting there again. I miss that girl,” she laughed. “She like, completely disappeared for months. I hadn’t heard form her in forever and then she called me a few months ago.”

I turned my head and searched quickly for Emily, realizing I hadn’t seen her, Matt, or Jack hardly at all tonight. “Yeah,” I laughed. “You two were quite the party girls, weren’t you? I think she just needed a break to figure things out.”
She smiled, reminiscing. “Yeah, we had some pretty good times.”
“You were a terrible influence on her,” I said jokingly.
Jessie flashed me a playful smile. “I’m not that bad.”

She looked away, her eyes scanning the room. We were silent and for the first time all night, I noticed the loud buzzing of people surrounding us. She turned her head and noticed me staring at her, not saying a word. “What...?” She smiled nervously.

I lifted my hand to her hair, softly sweeping it from her face. Her smile faded and she looked me in the eye. I leaned in closer to her face. I felt everything around me stop. My hand fell down to her neck. My fingers grazed over her collarbones, her skin was so soft and so pale, even during this scorching hot summer. I saw her eyes close just before I kissed her. Our lips moved soft and slow, perfectly in sync. I could feel her smiling sweetly and my heart began to beat fast. I tried to remember the last time I’d kissed like this. My mind filled with images of girls, tons and tons of girls rushed through my thoughts, but I could only remember one in particular.

My bare back crashed against the cold sheets of the bed. The bed of the expensive suite that definitely was not in my name. I propped my head up with my arms resting behind my head. I stared at Emily as she stood across the room from me, facing the other way. Her hair fell onto her bare back, perfectly curled and ruffled. I watched silently as she searched around the floor. She held up a dress but then dropped it to the floor, deciding not to put it on. She picked up a t-shirt and slipped it on.

She turned around and smiled when she saw me watching her. She sat on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through her hair. “Hey,” I whispered. “Come here.” She crawled forward, her bangs falling into her face as she stared up at me. She pulled the blanket back and she crawled forward even more. Her bare legs fell over the rough denim covering my thighs. She gave me a playful smile, resting her arms softly on my hips. My hand ran over the smooth skin of her thighs. I grabbed her hands and wrapped my fingers in between hers. I pulled her closer to me, her body now resting on my waist.

“Am I heavy?” She whispered, still smiling.
“Nope. Actually, I think you’re just my size.”

My hand trailed upward, playing underneath the hem of her t-shirt. I looked at her, giving her a soft smile. I grabbed her hips, quickly lifting her off of me and flipping her over to the space beside me. She let out a loud giggle as I crawled on top of her. “Alex,” she protested. Before she could say another word, I pressed my lips to hers eagerly. I gave her several soft, quick kisses. I pulled away and saw her smiling. My hand brushed up against her face. I leaned down to kiss her again. “Mmm”, she softly hummed when our lips parted again. I fell next to her. We both laid on our backs, staring at the ceiling. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head on my chest. She loud out a quiet yawn. I looked out the window; the sun barely peaked up behind skyscrapers and billboards.

“I’m tired,” she said sleepily.
“So am I. We’ve got to go home tomorrow, so we have to be awake by noon.”
“Okay...”
“Promise you’ll wake up.”
I could barely hear her say ‘I promise’ before she closed her eyes.
“Okay. Goodnight, Emily.”

I looked over at her and placed one more soft kiss on her lips before falling asleep as the sun rose of the perfect New York skyline.

I pulled way from Jessie, smiling and breathing heavily. I felt something hard push into me, almost knocking me over. “What the…” I began, but saw what it was that bumped into me. Emily had fallen into me because there was hardly any space to walk in this overly crowded room. She turned around, surprised to see me. I took a good look at her for the first time tonight. Her hair laid flat, long and straight against her perfectly tanned skin. She wore a short pink sundress and her lips had been coated in a light pink gloss to match. She would have looked gorgeous had her face not been so panicked. “What happened?” I asked.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. It’s Jack. Come on, he’s out here.” She grabbed a hold of my arm, pulling me forward. When I was outside, a large ground had formed around him. I quickly pushed through them, anxious to see what had happened. Jack laid on the cement ground, clutching his head in pain.

“What the fuck happened here?”
Jack laughed. “It was so awesome, man. You should’a seen it.”
“Seen what?!” I asked impatiently again.
Zack stepped out from behind me. “He jumped off the roof and onto the trampoline. I have no idea what he was trying to do.”
“How much did he have to drink?”
Zack gave me a serious look. “A lot.”
“He probably has a pretty serious concussion,” I groaned, wishing this hadn’t ruined my perfect night. “Alright, we’ve got to get him to the hospital. Zack and Ri, can you stay here and get these people the fuck out? I gotta stay with Jack.” They nodded. I searched the area. “Fuck… I am way too drunk.” I looked over at Emily. “You good to drive?”

She thought for a moment. “Well.. Uh, yeah. I guess I am.” Matt bent down to pick Jack up and I helped him. Jack laughed all the way out to the car as we carried him. I laid him in the backseat and Matt went around to the other side and got in. I looked around as people moved in every direction. I desperately wished I knew where Jessie was, or that I had her number, but she had disappeared. Emily opened up the driver’s door and sat down, anxiously putting the keys in the ignition. She looked around the crowded street.

“How much did you have to drink?” I asked her. “Because I can drive if you need me to.”
“I’m fine, Alex. I just really don’t think a cop would appreciate if he were to pull me over right now to discover that we have all been drinking, we threw a party, and that I’m not even 16 yet. That would probably land me a real nice spot in court. So, I will be just fine if you would shut up… and if all these fucking people would stop blocking the fucking road!” She screamed, hitting the horn of the car repeatedly.

“God Emily, wait a few minutes before going full bitch mode, would you. You’re such an angry drunk.”
“Jack,” Emily hissed, “shut the hell up. You are bleeding from your head. Be. Quiet.”

~

After we successfully made it to the hospital, we found out that Jack did indeed have a concussion. He’d broken his right arm and severely bruised his leg.

“His concussion is pretty bad. There’s no much we can do for it, but he needs to stay awake at least another five hours,” the doctor said, annoyed. Jack had been harassing all the nurses and having a pretty good time in the ER, while the rest of us secretly prayed for the doctor to sedate him. I stared at the clock. It was just turning 3 AM. Emily stepped out of the room, holding a phone up to her ear. I watched as she spoke to her dad. When she was finally off the phone, I went out to the hall and sat next to her.

“Hey, was that your dad?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “The insurance covered all of it, and he has no idea about the party. I mean, Jack would do that sober, so he didn’t suspect anything.”
“Good. That’s so good.”
She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m tired. I don’t want to go home to that dirty house.”
I grabbed onto her hand, holding it tightly. “You can come back to my house, we’ll all go there. My mom and I can take care of Jack and you and Matt can get some sleep.”
“No, no. I can’t let you do that. I just need to go home and get that house cleaned up.”
“Emily. It’ll be there tomorrow, home can wait. Look, Jack’s done getting stitches. We can go home, you and Matt can go to my room, and go to sleep.”
She smiled. “Alright. Thanks, Alex.”
“But just sleeping. Nothing else, you hear me? I don’t want any Flyzik babies being conceived in my bed. Just sleeping.”
“Just sleeping,” she repeated. “Are… you… sober yet?” She said through yawns.
“Yeah, I’m perfect. I’ll drive, don’t worry.”
She yawned again, closing her eyes. “Okay, thank you Alex. I love you.”