The Price of Gold | Fortune's Fool #1

09 | sober yet drunk

• [ s o b e r   y e t   d r u n k] •

♥ louisa ♥

TALISA SURE HAD prepared well for the party. As I sat beside Arlo and Prince on the balcony, I couldn't help but survey the many people below us in the huge courtyard. Since the weather was nice, Talisa had decided to turn the central courtyard of her manor into the main party area with plenty of room for dancing.

Bright lighting was set up in the four corners whilst gentler fairy lights hung daintily from the brick walls of the building. All of her mothers expensive household items had been locked away in the third and fourth-floor storerooms and instead the dining room had been transformed into a bar with numerous alcohols, drinks and glasses nestled in ice across the counters.

"Stop hogging it, you two," I chuckled at the two boys beside me. "Let me spin it this time." I was sitting in a circle with Arlo, Prince and Talisa playing shot roulette. Prince lifted his hand in a surrender motion and stepped back.

"Whatever her highness desires," he responded mockingly as I playfully glared at him.

Arlo gave Prince a suspicious look, "Are you sure this is fair?"

"Yeah, Arlo's right. I swear you've rigged this, Prince," Talisa laughed, wrinkling her nose as she drank what I presumed to be a shot of vodka, not water.

"Nah, you're just not very good at choosing the glasses. Not very lucky. Is that your third shot already?" Prince questioned smugly at her. His curly dark brown hair was pushed away from his forehead, highlighting his oval, sharp face. Each time he had been lucky enough to pick out the water from the vodka.

I vaguely heard her mutter asshole under her breath as I spun the roulette around quickly. The black and red shot glasses merged into a blur until it came to a stop.

"I dibs this one," I called, pointing to the shot glass closest to Arlo whilst the other three picked theirs too. "Okay, on the count of three!" I said, before laughing, clinking glasses with everyone else and chugging the liquid.

The strong taste of vodka flooded my mouth as I felt the liquid flow down my throat. I grimaced whilst Talisa started shouting and jumping into the air in joy.

"Hah, I chose water for once! See I knew you'd rigged it earlier on, Prince!"

Judging by the look of distaste on Prince's face, his three shots of water strike had been broken. "Can't relate," I muttered as I placed the empty shot glass on the table. Prince gave me a half-smile, nudging me.

"Yeah, same."

By now, Talisa has drunk more than most of us together yet still remained marginally sober; her alcohol tolerance had always blown my mind. For most of the night, she had been drinking gin alongside vodka and at the start of the night, she'd opened a bottle of wine too. "Come on, let's go dance!"

I grinned, quickly saying goodbye to Arlo and Prince and letting her pull me through the crowds. We rushed down the stairs as rapidly as we could in stilettos and made our way onto the dance floor. On the way, I picked up a drink from the dining room.

For the first few minutes, I felt numerous pairs of eyes on us; some in awe and others in jealousy. How are their figures so perfect? I'm literally so jealous. The people moved back a little as they noticed who we were and gave us some space. The sound of the music rang through my ears as I let go and allowed myself to sway to the music.

When I briefly opened my eyes, I saw Talisa mouth something to me yet I failed to understand over the loud music. "What?" I mouthed, leaning towards her so that she could speak into my ear.