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(show him how to let loose)
* * *
The Virginia Institute, despite its reputation as one of the best schools in the state, was a party school.
If I'm being honest, that was part of the reason I applied here. That, and the convenience the school offered. Being located only two hours away from my house, it meant driving home for breaks wouldn't make a huge dent in my bank account (gas could be expensive). On top of that, as a Virginia resident, we got a reduced tuition price, making the school cost-effective as well. It was the obvious choice.
The decent economics program was a perk too, I guess.
Due to our status as a party school, there were a ridiculous amount of traditions the student body liked to follow—the most important one (to me, anyway) being Thirsty Thursday.
It wasn't a tradition exclusive to our school; in fact, it was fairly common among most colleges. However, there was no other school in Virginia that took it as seriously as we did. In fact, Winston—the small town our school occupied—was consistently reported as having the highest amount of alcohol consumption in the state. That was a title we wore with pride.
The main reason I loved Thirsty Thursday, aside from it being an excuse to get drunk, was that it worked perfectly with my schedule.
In an ideal world, my Fridays would have been completely free, with absolutely no classes whatsoever. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, but I did only have one class that day, and it was in the afternoon. It was nice to know that if I got a little too drunk, I would have the morning to rest and fend off the worst of my hangover.
It also helped that Frank's, one of the local bars, had a fifty-percent off special on Thursdays, further encouraging my habitual drinking. It was no wonder everyone flocked to Frank's.
Unfortunately, James wasn't as lucky as I was. His schedule was slightly more hectic than mine, since he had a lab at eight in the morning every Friday. So, Thursday nights as I was pre-gaming, he got ready for bed, doing his best to ensure that he'd get enough sleep to be at least somewhat alive for his lab.
Normally, I was content with this arrangement. Sure, it sucked that I couldn't enjoy cheap alcohol with my best friend, but we had the weekend to make up for it.
This week, however, I was determined to get James to come with me. He needed to see what it felt like to let loose, even just for one night. He'd been so high-strung lately, unable to function properly with all the pressure he was under, from both school and Chuck. A night out would be good for him.
Getting him to say yes, however, would be tricky.
James wasn't a model student by any means (he had mastered the art of finding homework questions online and copying them without being too obvious), but his studies were important to him. He didn't want to take his education for granted, since he knew that it wasn't an opportunity everyone got.
