never have i ever ➣ joey trotta

2

Chapter 2: Hooks Ups

billy and emma eventually got back from their weekly date night to comet's pizza across the street from this prison of a school. emma is my other childhood best friend, whose parents were best friends with my own; whereas joey's friendship was natural selection at school. i've been through thick and thin with that girl. in our earlier days, obsessing over the current actors like corey haim and river phoenix to crying on each other's shoulders when we were old enough to understand the excessive amount of fighting our parents did wasn't normal for a marriage. so, i think it's safe to say we rely on each other for mostly everything.

they brought joey and i back slices like they always do and i can't help but feel safe in the arms of routine. change has always scared me, but knowing that traditions like this will never shift keeps me at ease— for the time being, at least. "you guys won't believe what i whipped up for tonight!" billy enthuses, throwing his hands in the air to convey excitement. i role my eyes playfully. it seems billy always has some new plan to sneak alcohol into the dorms and it seems we always get caught by either the dean or headmaster. "don't give me that look! i have a feeling about this one!"

"...okay," i sigh, a grin playing on my face as i sigh. "when are we going, anyway?" i question, referring to the secret meet up we have planned for tonight. the plan is to sneak to the basement and get drunk but we have to acquire snuffy, hank and ricardo first.

"just waiting on their signal," joey notions to the vent, where we can usually hear them make some sort of banging noise as a signal. he throws his arm around my chair, making my cheeks heat up. "how was date night?" joey teases, using an extremely exaggerated high pitched voice. a part of me wishes joey would take me on dates and the other half of me tells that part to shut the fuck up.

"shut up before i kick your dick in so hard it comes out of your mouth," emma threatens casually, shoving another bite of her plain cheese pizza. i cackle along with billy.

"yeah, that's reasonable, i guess," joseph shrugs.

we hear a crashing noise from the ventilation which signals that the others are ready.

__________

we've been in the basement for approximately a couple hours and i can safely say that everyone is absolutely smashed. "you guys, let's sneak out!" snuffy exclaims. he's always super ambitious when he's drunk and doesn't exactly have the skillset to back it up. another person who has a very distinct personality when they're drunk is joey. he gets extremely flirty; not that i mind at all. however, i'm not talking a 'you're cute' kind of flirty, it's more of a 'let's bang' kind of flirty, and sometimes it's a little much for being in front of our friends.

"i love you," emma gushes, pressing her forehead against billy's, both of their cheeks becoming a bright red. they always say it while they're drunk, but i don't believe the 'L' word has been expelled while they've been absolutely sober and they usually don't remember saying it. on the other hand, i recall everything that happens while i'm drunk very vividly. it's kind of a curse disguised as a blessing; some of the things that go down i would rather not remember.

in the corner, hank is passed out on one of the only chairs available. joey's been subconsciously trying to get with me all night. billy and emma are being disgustingly affectionate with each other. ricardo's kind of keeping to himself and snuffy's trying to break out of the window which has metal bars encasing us in this basement.

joey's playing with my fingers casually; i ended up having to give him my hand because he keeps trying to go further, but i know that it's just his clouded inhibitions. "let's get out of here," he whispers in my ear, hairs rising on the back of my neck as a result of his seductive tone. i turn to face him, giggling at the boy who is inexplicably hammered. he smiles as well, but it's clear he doesn't understand why i'm laughing. "you look really pretty right now," he scrunches his eyebrows together, studying me intensely.

my cheeks heat up instantly. he's never called me pretty in more than a friend way, and i can't tell if it's just another one of his tactics to get me to sleep with him or not. "joseph, i tell you this every time. i'm not going to hook up with you." i giggle, squeezing his hand for reassurance.

"fine, jeez," he sighs, resting his head on my shoulder, though it can't be too comfortable considering i'm at least a head and a half shorter than him. the feeling of his hair rubbing against my shoulder is enough to make tingles arise on my scalp and butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

"autumn can you hook us up with some of your hot friends? it's not fair that we only have two girls in our group and they're both off limits." hank huffs. i didn't even realize he woke up from his slumber until he started speaking to me. i furrow my eyebrows because only one of us is taken. i would never date any of them anyways— they're more like brothers; well, with one exception. i open my mouth to speak but am cut off by him. "and don't you dare try to contradict that statement when joey's laying on you like that." he warns.

i shut my mouth, everyone's attention diverting to joseph who lazily rests on me for support. my cheeks go red from all of the stares on us. "anyways, i've had enough fun for tonight. i'm going to take him to bed," i motion to the baby on my shoulder. everyone bids their goodnights and i do the same while supporting the extremely intoxicated boy as best as i can.

we somehow make our way back to his dorm without getting caught by any authority figures. he takes his shirt off, crawling into the top bunk of his and billy's shared multi-layered bed. i follow after him, laying beside him on his rock-hard mattress. my plan is to lay with him until he falls asleep, that way i know he's safe and doesn't go wandering around after i leave. he pulls me onto his chest, my arms naturally paling around torso. "t-thanks for taking care of me. i love you." he spits out drunkenly.

"you'd do the same for me. i love you, too," i look up to catch a glimpse of him, only to realize that he's already looking down at me. we seem to be making the same trail of eye movements; our lips, to our eyes and back down to our lips again. the half-sober part of me tells me to put a stop to this immediately but the drunk part of me tells me to go for it. and so, i go with the intoxicated part of my brain.

i connect our lips with a certain force that makes me realize that his kiss is a million times more intoxicating than the alcohol.