Some Things Never Change [SHAWN MENDES]

December 29, 2015

I slowed my Jeep in front of the gigantic house and could hear the bass thumping. Strobe lights pulsed hypnotically through the huge front window. Brad Dunlop had gone to elementary school with us before his parents enrolled him in one of the local private schools. He was your typical spoiled rich kid who threw large parties whenever his mom and dad were out of town.

"The police are totally shutting this down," I said to the guys as I looked for a place to park.

"Probably, but all they usually do is break it up and make sure that no one is driving drunk," Matt explained.

"Watch this be the one time they arrest everyone," I mumbled.

I'd offered to drive because I was a little wary of getting drunk around people I didn't know. It was one thing to slam beers with my best friends; it was another to do it in a situation where cell phones could capture the whole thing and post it on social media. No scandals. That was the mantra Andrew kept repeating.

We let ourselves into the house, and thankfully no one really seemed to notice. I wanted to fly under the radar tonight, so I was dressed as plainly as possible in jeans and a navy blue hoodie. It wasn't that I was antisocial. I just needed to be a regular kid for a few hours.

"Mendes!" someone across the room shouted over the music and suddenly all eyes were on me. I hated feeling like I was in a fishbowl.

"Dude! Come grab a beer!" someone else said as I was pulled over to the keg.

I took the red cup that was offered and took a sip, but that was just for show.

My friends scattered, leaving me to feel very alone in the crowd of a hundred. They'd probably gone outside to smoke weed, which was another thing I needed to avoid in public.

I couldn't just stand awkwardly in the living room while people stared at me, so I made my way into the kitchen. The counter was lined with huge plastic bottles of cheap alcohol. I'd done shots of this crap before and it burned as it went down your throat. It also burned when it came back up later, which had happened to me on a camping trip with the guys once.

A couple people came up to me and said hi, but then they walked away. It bummed me out to think that they didn't consider me approachable enough to strike up a real conversation.

I was looking around, hoping to find a friendly face, when I spotted Ceci dancing in the sunroom with a couple other girls who she'd been friends with for years. She was wearing a tight black minidress and insanely high heels. Her arms were in the air and she was swaying back and forth in a way that told me she'd maybe done a couple shots. I walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Shawn Mendes, is that you?!" she asked before breaking into hysterical laughter.

"Are you drunk?"

"Just a little," she answered as she pinched her thumb and forefinger together.

"What have you been drinking?"

She cocked her head in thought. "A beer. Oh! And some kind of liquor that tasted like oranges. Maybe a couple more beers."

One of her friends, Penny, high-fived her and I could tell she was just as lit.

"No more booze for you," I told her.

"Okay, daddy," she said with a wink.

Jesus. I'd seen Ceci tipsy before but she was a completely different person when she was fully wasted. I took her by the elbow and guided her out of the crowded sunroom and looked around. To our left was a door to a large deck, but it was being used by the potheads. I could hear shouts coming from the basement, so the party was going full force down there, too. If I was seen taking her upstairs to a bedroom when she was this drunk, it would look really bad. My only option was to take her to my car with hopes I could get her to sober up a little.