Love Me, Hate Me

4

Give a man a mask and he'll show you his real face

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"And call me if you feel uncomfortable or if you just want to go home okay? I'll pick you up in no time" I put a strand of her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead

"Yes Tom" Avery frowned and rolled her eyes

"Don't roll your eyes at me little one" I pinched her cheek 

She giggled before saying goodbye and leaving me standing in front of her friend's house 

I took a deep breath before walking toward my car

I hope she'll be safe. It's her first sleepover with friends since we moved here

The ringing of my phone stopped me from my worries. I pull it out of my pocket to see Archer's name on it

"Yo, Tom! We're having a party come on come over for an hour or four" was what he said as soon as I picked up. The music plays loud in there

Before my mom died, I used to go to parties every chance I got, but now when there is no responsible adult in our house, I stopped for Avery.

I maybe should go, I haven't had fun out in a while and Avery is at a sleepover.

But what if she'll need me and I'll be drunk and not able to pick her up?

Fine, I won't drink then... Maybe just a little bit

"Tom you there?!" Archer shouted from the other side of the call

"Yeah I'll be there, text me your address," I said before hanging up. In a few seconds, I got my directions

***

"Tom! Meet my friends from the neighborhood. This is Mark and that's Tony they are twins! Ain't that cool?" Archer yelled the second he's seen me. I can say he's more than tipsy already

I waved at the two strangers before sitting on the couch next to Arch.

For an hour or two it was just me sipping beer and talking to more and more drunk people around me

"Tom come on! Let's have a shot!" Nick shouted over the dancing floor.

I have no interest in taking anything that Nicolas gave me, not even if he's drunk as shit

I waved my hand not accepting his offer. It didn't take him long to down both shots he made before walking back to our group

"Let's play some shit," said Tony, Archer's friend. He seems like he's gonna puke any second. He should eat and drink something or he will have a hell of a hungover tomorrow

"Yeah, what about we play that bottle shit? The one when you have to kiss the one the bottle says?" Nick, of course, said

"You mean the kid's game? Not interested in kissing any of you guys no offense" Archer raised his hands in surrender beer in his hand almost spilled out on Ray who was sitting on the other side of him

"Truth or dare?" Mark, the friend from the neighborhood, said

It seems like it's the best offer we got because everyone agreed

"Fine but let's get some girls to make it more interesting" Nick sipped his beer "Everyone has a minute to make some girl play with us, let's go!"

It seems like a good challenge but I'm staying out of it.

Meanwhile, everyone tried to convince girls to play with us, I sipped my beer and watched Nick being rejected. One hundred percent he said something offensive to her