Walls // Jalex

Eight: Lucky

The rest of the week goes by smoothly; they go back to mostly ignoring each other, working on their project when they need to and avoiding the other whenever they're not forced to be in the same space. On Friday afternoon around 5, he gets a text from Rian.

Rian: Al, party tonight, Collin's room. You in?

Part of him wants to say no. Part of him wants to stay in his dorm, play guitar, and forget about the shitty things that happened this week. But he knows he could use a night out and he knows that hanging out with his friends and getting shit faced is the best way to do it.

Alex: I'm in, man. What time?

Rian: YES! Can't wait dude, I've been wanting to get drunk all week. We'll meet at my room to walk over at 9.

Alex: Sounds good! Is Zack coming?

Rian: I'm not sure, I'll ask him, but most likely!

Alex: Awesome, it'll be nice to hang out with him again. I haven't really seen much of him recently, but I know he's better friends with Jack than he is with us.

He watches the text bubble appear and then disappear. He shrugs, not thinking anything of it, and keeps himself busy for the afternoon. Sometime around 7, he gets a text saying Zack is going to the party. He shoots Zack a text, wanting the night to go as smoothly as possible.

Alex: Hey man, stoked to see you tonight! It's gonna be so fun.

Zack: Hey, excited to see you! Can't wait to party it up.

He smiles, happy there wasn't any weirdness between them over text. It gives him hope for how the rest of the night is going to go. He knows that Zack going means Jack is also most likely going, but he can't bother to care. Jack doesn't put in the energy to care about him, so why should he put in the energy to care about Jack?

He eats dinner, plays a little guitar, comes up with half of a verse for the composition and then walks over to Rian's at 9:00.

"Hey Ri!" He says excitedly, pulling Rian into a hug. Rian smiles back at him, his pearly whites practically glowing. "Hey Al. You excited?" He nods vigorously. "Fuck yeah dude, I need this."

They make their way over to Collin's dorm, where they find music pumping and drinks flowing. He says hi to a few guys in their class before heading to get a drink.

Jack is fast asleep in their dorm, exhausted after class that day. He wakes up to a pounding on the door and opens it to see Zack.
"Jeeze, you missed me that much?" he says, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Oh of course." Zack rolls his eyes. "No, there's a party in Collin's room and I want you to come. Also, I know you'd be salty if I didn't ask." he admits, knowing his best friend a bit too well.

"You're not wrong. Give me a few to not look like trash then we can go." Jack says, grabbing his shower caddy and a change of clothes before going into the bathroom. He fixes up his hair, brushes his teeth, and changes.
"Alright. let's go!" Jack says with excitement and marches out the door, not even thinking about the fact that Alex might be there. This was his first college party and he was thrilled. Especially after a long first week of classes and living with someone he can't stand.. he needs this.

They both get to the dorm and look around. There's led lights slowly changing color, red solo cups everywhere, and a room packed with people already drunk. Some were passed out, some just talking, and some full on making out. It truly looked like a scene from a movie.

Zack spots Rian and Alex and waves to them, Jack chooses to ignore them.

"Come on, Zacky. I'm ready to drink." he says, despite what happened last time. The confidence alcohol gives this boy is ridiculous and usually that goes well. In high school it meant he could act like an idiot and make all of his friends laugh, maybe hit on some girls he never batted an eye at before, it was fine. He assumes now it'll be the same, maybe it'll help him make friends.. who knows.

They go over to the kitchen. It's definitely one of nicer dorms, the bigger ones that are basically mini-apartments. There's a bedroom that leads to a common room then a kitchen following that and a small bathroom. The counter was lined with just about every option a college kid could want; truly, smirnoff, jager, mikes, jack, seagrams, you name it.

Zack pours them each a shot of vodka and hands one to Jack. They take it and he instantly pours another one.
"Welcome, boys! I see you've already made yourself at home." Collin says, putting his hands on each of their shoulders. "Come on, have another with me!" he says, and of course they do just that.
Jack smiles a bit to himself, already feeling the effects and loving every second.

The boys do a shot of tequila and Rian coughs, spluttering and immediately sticking a lime in his mouth. Alex laughs, throwing his head back, teasing Rian for not being able to handle his alcohol. He takes another shot like an expert, sucking the juice from a lime after, and fills a cup with jack and coke.

They're making their way back to the kitchen, talking about the week, when they spot Zack waving, giving him a wave back. He notices that Jack doesn't react at all to their being there, but because of the alcohol in his system, he doesn't blink an eye.

Rian heads out of sight immediately, spotting a hot blonde he wants to chat up. Alex snorts, shaking his head, watching his best friend disappear, and continues to nurse his drink. He turns his head to the right, towards the kitchen, to see Jack and Zack throwing back a shot of vodka.
Something stirs in his chest, but he ignores it, taking another sip of his drink.
The duo takes another shot, this time with Collin, and his FOMO kicks in, just slightly, but enough to make him act irrationally.

Fuck it he thinks as he makes his way over to the table.
"Heyyyyy Zack! Hey Collin! Mind if I do another shot with you guys?"
Collin, being as drunk as he is already, willingly agrees and pours the boys another round of shots. Alex takes his immediately, tossing it back and making a face, the alcohol coursing through his body making him shiver.
"Vodka is disgusting" he laughs, taking a large swig of his jack and coke.

"It's fugkin goud." Jack says, slurring his words and putting the shotglass down. "I need to stop." He mutters and gets himself a water so he doesn't get sick.

Zack goes back to the common area, motioning for the two of them to follow. They sit on the couch, watching a bunch of other drunken college kids giggling as their friends come out of the closet.

"Okay, whose next?" The group looks at the three boys and Jack shakes his head.

"the fuck not." he mutters but they spin it anyway. The first spin it lands on Alex and Jack starts laughing. "ooh someones getting lucky tonighttt." Jack taunts as the bottle makes its second rotation and lands on him. "fuck no." he looks at Zack. "I'm not- no."

"Well the rules of the game are just that you have to be in there for 7 minutes. It never says you need to do anything." Zack explains, definitely the most mentally present of the whole group. He knows Jack can get pretty talkative when drunk so maybe this is a chance for them to finally become friends.

Jack rolls his eyes. "Whatever I'm not a pussy come on." He gets up and the other kids push him and Alex in.

"See you in 7." A girl giggles ad they get locked in.

Jack laughs as the door closes, the alcohol definitely in his system now. "i'm really drunk right now, babe." He says, laughing even more at himself. he stumbles a bit and leans into Alex, pressing his back up against the wall.

"This game is stupid but I wanna play it right. I dare you to kiss me." He whispers.