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I STOOD IN THE LOCAL SHOP, just around the corner from my house, waiting to be served. This shop was normally quite empty, and today was no different, with the only other person in her being the old woman in front of me at the till, buying herself milk and bread. She took her time grabbing her change, but I didn't mind, I wasn't really in a rush at all. I stood with a basket filled with drinks and snacks, and I was just hoping that they wouldn't ask for ID. Since the man here knew me well and knew me as a responsible girl, I figured he might just let me off. And my back up plan was that I'd slide him some cash to look the other way, but I doubted it would get to that. Instead, as I walked up to the counter, he smiled at me sweetly and said nothing about the drinks. Instead, he asked me how I was and how the rest of the San Esteban lot are doing. We all used to come to this shop after school since it was closer to both mine and Samuel's houses.
Minutes later I left the store, several plastic bags hanging from my arm as I walked from the shop to Samuel's, trying not to think about the plastic handles digging into my arm since the drinks were super heavy. As I was walking down the road, my phone rang, and I struggled to get it out of my coat pocket considering how many bags I had on my arms. "Hello?" I answered, somehow balancing my phone between my ear and my neck without dropping anything. "Hey. Hola, soy yo, Ander. Vas a ir a la fiesta, ¿verdad? Por supuesto que sí. ¿Guzmán va a estar allí?" Ander rushed out as I was arriving at Samuel's, and I stopped outside, so I could process what Ander was saving. "What? No creo que Guzmán vaya a estar en la fiesta. " I said, unsure why he cared where Guzmán was. "Escucha, tengo que irme. ¿Nos vemos luego?" I heard a hum from the other side of the phone and I swiftly hung up as I began walking up the stairs
I opened the door of Samuel's house, carrying plastic bags filled with alcohol. "Hola!" I called out over the music as I closed the door behind me, walking into the kitchen where Omar stood just as Samu rushed out to get changed. Omar gave me a hug and fed me a crisp while I placed the bags down on the side, keeping the sprite out for the punch. Nano was too focused on his music to notice I'd even walked in, and Christian was focused on making the punch perfect. I walked over to where he was taking the sprite with me and pouring it into the punch bowls. Christian nodded eagerly as he pulled a small packet from his pocket, and began grinding some pills to put into the punch.
Christian eagerly banged on the window of the kitchen where Omar sat eating snacks, and he opened the window up slowly. "Dame un par de pastillitas más, o qué?" He whispered as he put his cigarette in his mouth, and handed him twenty euros, to which he handed him so more pills. Nano stood up from where he previously leaned over the table at the laptop and walked over to where we were standing. "Little Italia, when did you get here?" I giggled, turning towards him smiling as I gave him a hug. I then turned back, continuing what I was doing as he stood behind me, looking over my shoulder as we poured more sprite into the bowls. He then looked over to Christian as he placed his left hand on my waist, out of view of the others.
"Qué pasa? Has ampliado el negocio?" Nano asked, and both of them smiled, "Ya te digo, normal que le salgan tantos colegas. Ahora, solo con los tuyos no llenábamos, eh? Yo he tirado de agenda. " Christian said as Nano shook his head, and we both spoke at the same time. "Que no te vea Samu." The boys stared at the pair of us now, and Omar noticed the hand on my waist but said nothing, which I was thankful for. Nano moved away towards Christian, who was in hysterics, laughing at the fact we said the same thing. For some reason, he really found it funny, but after calming down he shook his head at Nano. "Listen, Es mía." He said, nodding towards me as he pointed his finger accusingly at Nano, who just smirked. "I don't think so man, we'll see." Christian looked confused, and turned to Omar, "Qué dijo? Sabe que no hablo inglés." We all laughed together, and then Samuel came out of his room.
"Esto es Sangría?" Samu asked as he slowly walked from his room to where we all stood, watching him cautiously, trying to act normal. "Qué va! Es ponche, no lleva alcohol. Pero este se ha pasado con el azúcar. Así que tú mejor, mira, a cervecita." Nano explained, handing Samuel a beer as he walked out of the room towards a plug, which was attached to lights that I had only just noticed. "Vamos a ello." He said bending down, before beginning to count down. "Tres, dos, uno!" He flicked the switch, and the place was lit up in different color fairy lights, which I couldn't wait to see tonight.
"Hostia, ni tan mal, no?" Christian said as he laughed. A small smile began to show on Samuel's face as he looked around, clearly excited for tonight. Omar sat messaging his contacts, inviting friends and checking the event page to see who was coming. Nano continued to work on the playlist for the night, which so far, was sounding very good. Christian spent most of his time smoking and drinking, way before the party had even started, and I started putting out snacks in the kitchen. Samuel said he was going to help me, but he was way too preoccupied with his phone and was busy texting someone - probably Marina.
Almost an hour later, we had mostly finished preparing for the evening, and we all sat around in the kitchen, laughing and smiling, drinking our beers. Nano smiled, holding out his bottle indicating for the rest of us to all clink our bottles together. "To tonight. Esta fiesta va a ser impresionante." He spoke, and we clinked our bottles together, excited for the night ahead.
