Secrets (Brandon Butler/Scott Reed)

Chapter 11

Brandon/Scott's POV
There was a bit over an hour before the party started. I decided to get ready early since I still had to go pick up some beer bottles.

I haven't been to a high school party with alcohol before. Everyone at Lincoln Way was pretty innocent.

I've decided to put on a black t-shirt, with black jeans and a black leather jacket with a hood. I'm going for an all black look tonight. I'm just going to keep my hair down.

I stopped by a convenience store and picked up about 5 packs of beer, each containing 6 bottles. Hopefully it'll be enough. I don't want to get too much or they might get suspicious.

I arrived five minutes early, so far only the football guys were there. The house looked pretty big from the outside. I wonder who's house it belongs to.

I was heading towards inside and I can already hear a bit of noise.

"Scott! You made it." Diego said.

"Dang Scotty, you brought a lot of beer." Monty said sounding excited.

"Oh it's only 5 packs, not too much." I told them.

"Well I'm still impressed you were able to get that much, usually we can only get away with a pack or two." Bryce said as he was walking into the living room.

"I've got my ways. Beer is not a big problem for me."

Shit I should've known five was way too much.

After fifteen minutes later, more kids started to show up. Soon the whole place was packed. Most people were playing cup pong or truth or dare. Half of them were already drunk by now. I still haven't touched a single cup. I was mainly trying to stay away from the jocks.

"Scott, you should join us. We're about to play cup pong." Bryce said.

Well fuck, Bryce saw me.

"Sure."

It would seem suspicious if I said no. After all, I'm at an alcohol party.

"So how much did you drink tonight?" Bryce asked me.

"About seven shots." I lied.

"Not bad, but you need a bit more than that."

Bryce seemed to be a bit drunk. I guess I can't get too drunk by playing cup pong especially if I haven't drank anything yet.

"So, have you played cup pong before?" Bryce asked me.

"A few times."

"Great, you can be on Charlie's team. I'll be with Monty."

"Hey Scott." Charlie said.

"Hey."

Bryce and Monty were pretty good so Charlie and I ended up losing. We only played two rounds since everyone was pretty drunk. I ended up drinking six cups and so did Charlie. Bryce drank three and Monty drank four. Bryce and Monty were pretty drunk a few minutes later since they decided to drink more. Charlie and I were basically the only ones who weren't too drunk yet.

"So how are you liking your first Liberty party?" Charlie asked me.

"It's pretty fun. I've never been to parties like this before."

"You mean parties with a crazy ton of alcohol and sex?"

"Yup. So how drunk are you?" I asked him.

"Not too bad. I've actually only had six cups. I'm not too much of a drinking person."

"Oh same. But who's house is this? It's so big."

"It belongs to Luke. We usually have parties here since he's pretty rich with a big house as you can see."

"Hey Charlie, can I ask you something?"

"What's up?"

"I've heard a lot of bad things about the football guys, especially Bryce and Monty. I've heard some good things from you, but you hang with them a lot. So why is that?" I asked him.

"Bryce and Monty aren't actually that bad as everyone says they are. Like yeah Bryce is a rapist. But they are pretty nice to every other jocks. I guess I hang with them because they see me like a family. It would feel kind of wrong if I started hanging with another group now." Charlie explained.

"But Zach and Justin hangs with other groups."

"Yeah. Because they left our jock group, they often get into fights with the other guys and it doesn't always end well. But they both have their own reasons for finding different friends. I would tell you but it's not my business."

"I understand."

"All I can tell you is that Zach is mainly hanging with Alex now and Justin is dating Jessica. But it's getting late now so we should probably leave." Charlie said.

It was late. It's almost 1. Most people were gone by now. The few that were still there were either too drunk to leave or are having sex. I haven't seen Bryce for a while so let's hope he's not raping another girl right now. But I decided to leave. I should try to talk to Charlie about Skye and my brother. Maybe he knows something.