Devil in the Details

TEN: Dance, Dance - Pt. 2

Lana found me about twenty minutes later, just as Valerie and I were wrapping up another game of Pong.

"Hey!" I said, shooting a Ping-Pong ball and missing our last cup spectacularly. "How was downstairs?" I raised my eyes suggestively.

Lana looked pleased with herself. "Really good. We talked for a while, but then I slipped away and mingled with some other people. Didn't want to be creepy." She looked at me pointedly.

Valerie launched a shot, sunk the last cup, and cried out in joy. Our opponents missed their redemption shots, and just like that, my second ever Pong game was over.

"I saw Taylor and Clarissa down there," Lana said. "They look cute together."

I rolled my eyes and took another sip of my drink. Vodka tastes absolutely awful. Yet somehow, as the night went on, my drink had started tasting better and better.

Lana's eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward and took a sniff of my drink. "You put vodka in here?"

"Yes," I said. "Not that much, though. I'm just on edge."

"Just to be clear," Lana said, "I'd like to point out that I am not responsible for your underage drinking tonight."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying that people like to blame me for their bad decisions. But humans have free will; their bad decisions are all on them."

"No worries. I take full responsibility for this." I took another swig and winced. My earlier thought that the drink was getting better had been pre-emptive; I think the vodka had just settled to the bottom of my cup, and now it was stronger than ever. And yet I didn't stop drinking it.

"What's wrong?" Lana asked. "You seem off."

"Sorry," I said. "I'm just... not fan of Clarissa. She seems kind of like a bitch."

"Ahhh. So that's the issue." Lana shrugged, "Or maybe—like I said earlier—you're just feeling lonely and are taking it out on Taylor's new friend?"

I grumbled under my breath and took another sip.

Lana's eyes flitted down to the kitchen table. Alex and some of the lacrosse guys were re-arranging the cups, setting up two long lines on either side of the table. "Looks like they're setting up for Flip Cup. Wanna join in the fun?" She leaned in to me, her lips nearly touching my ear, and said, "I bet there will be a lot of lacrosse guys playing."

A laugh bubbled out of my lips against my will. "Are you trying to set me up now?"

She shrugged. "It's the least I can do."

I shook my head. "You're wasting your time. I'm a hopeless case, remember?"

Lana shook her head. "Come on and play. Flip Cup is fun."

"How do you even know about all of these drinking games?"

"I've come down to Earth as a frat boy once or twice. They make the silliest deals." She winked at me. "Now come on."

I sighed, but joined her over by the table.

Not surprisingly, Lana was right: playing a game was a great way to distract myself from the Taylor drama. Over the next hour, my thoughts and worries mellowed out. They didn't disappear completely, but it was like someone had wrapped them up in a big fluffy blanket. Some of it was likely due to the addition in my Pepsi, although the games themselves definitely helped brighten my mood. Pong is fun, but only four people can play at once and the games can drag on. Flip Cup, on the other hand, is quick and fun and can accommodate a larger crowd. There were about twenty of us clustered around the table, urging on our classmates, downing drinks, and trying to flip cups in a race down the table.