A New Beginning

The music pulsed under my feet as I stepped into the dark house, dodging a couple of people who were shoving their way out of the building. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I yelled so my cousin Santana could hear me over all the other noise.

She rolled her dark brown eyes dramatically at me. All my life, I wished that I could have been as pretty as Santana. She had the perfect Latina features and was really thin. “Sydney, will you stop being so uptight for five seconds? Come on.”

Scrunching up my nose, I followed her into the kitchen, where there was a keg resting on the table. She immediately got some beer, handed it to me, then got a cup for herself.

I looked down at the brown liquid with disgust, trying to ignore the smell. “I don’t drink,” I informed her.

“Then start,” she snapped.

Gritting my teeth, I followed her back into the living room, the noise growing again. It pissed me off that my aunt forced me to go with Santana, just because she wanted me to ‘get more acquainted with the kids from my school before my first day on Monday.’

Why the hell did I have to get acquainted with the kids from McKinley High? I would meet them on Monday. Or not at all. Frankly, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be hanging with the kinds of people who were at the party anyway.

“Sydney, drink your beer before someone spikes it,” Santana demanded, breaking through my thoughts. “Do you really want to get knocked out and raped?”

Great. So there was a chance of being raped. That was fun.

Holding my breath, I swallowed a gulp of the beer and cringed. The carbonation filled my nose in an unpleasant way, and the taste wasn’t very good. When Santana wasn’t looking, I put the cup down on a table and abandoned it, letting someone else drink it if they wanted.

“BRITTANY!” Santana yelled, shoving her way through the crowds of people as she made her way across the room to her tall, perfect blonde friend. Well, not totally perfect. I’d met Brittany before, and she was kind of an idiot, though her stupidity was funny.

“And…I’m alone,” I sighed, crossing my arms, irritated. I knew that going to a party with Santana was a dumb idea. I was stuck in an unfamiliar house filled with people that I didn’t know. What a fun time.

“And who are you, babe?” someone slurred from behind me, throwing an arm around my shoulder. “I haven’t seen you before.”

I shoved the guy away from me, but he just got angry. “Hey, you don’t have to be like that! I just want to talk to you.”

Shooting a look across the room, I expected Santana to say something, but she was too busy making out with Brittany, both of them buzzed on alcohol, while a crowd around them cheered and cat-called. Ugh. Why the hell did I have to be related to her?

“Please, just leave me alone,” I rolled my eyes. “Go find someone else to sleep with.”

He snorted, but he ended up leaving. Thank God.

For a while, I stood around, but about a hundred people bumped into me, and it was starting to drive me crazy. Sending a fast text to Santana, I made my way out of the party and sat on the front steps, waiting for her to come out so that we could get back to her house.

It was hard, thinking of it as my home, too. Technically, it wasn’t. If my parents hadn’t been busted for drug possession, then I would still be living in Texas. My Southern drawl was so out of place in Ohio.

“Hey,” a voice started from behind me. “You know you’re blocking the walkway?”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, standing up and moving to the side.

But the guy didn’t walk down the steps and leave, as I thought he would have. Instead, he squinted and blinked a couple of times. “Are you the cousin that Santana’s been bad-mouthing in there?” he asked.

Letting out a snort of laughter, I nodded. “Yeah, I am. She’s a sweetheart, isn’t she?” In a second thought, I wondered just how he knew I was her cousin. After all, we didn’t look alike, apart from our skin being around the same color. My hair was a lot lighter, somewhere in the mid-tones of brown, and my eyes were green-blue.

“I don’t know what there is that’s wrong with you though. You’re hot.”

“And you’re drunk,” I told him. “Very, very drunk.”

“I only had…” He stopped and looked around, as if he was trying to remember. “I don’t know how many beers I had!” Bursting into hysterical laughter, he swayed drastically, and I reached out to grab him before he bit the dust.

“You must be a friend of Santana’s,” I rolled my eyes, lowering him to the ground so he was sitting up.

Looking at him in the light, I realized that he was actually really hot. His skin was darker-toned, and he had really interesting light brown eyes. The Mohawk was a little…weird, but it could be overlooked. Plus, his muscles were huge, accentuated by his light-colored t-shirt.

“Fuck buddy, actually,” he corrected. “God, is the ground spinning?”

“Nope. I have a feeling that you really shouldn’t going to parties and getting drunk. You don’t take it well.”

“Sure, I do. I just drank a shitload of beer.” Laughing loudly again, he pointed at the air. “Look! It’s a speck!”

“I really hope this isn’t how you really act,” I mumbled. “If it is, I don’t think that even Santana would sleep with you.”

“No, I’m just really wasted,” he smiled. “Your eyes…are so great, did you know that? They’re like little oceans.”

He started looking a little green, so I stood up. “I’m thinking that you shouldn't be imagining the ocean.”

“The ocean…” he continued, ignoring me. “It has fish in it, and sharks. And people on boats, which make the waves go up and down…up and down…up and down…”

“Stop!” I begged, taking a step back.

But it was too late. He turned a sickly color and threw up all over my shoes. Letting out a slow breath to relax myself, I took a step back and flicked off my Converse, figuring it way better just to leave them there. There was no way that I was even going to attempt to get them clean.

“C’mon,” I sighed, hoisting him up against me so he was standing. God, he was heavy. “You need to get home.”