Chasing Ellie

16. Beer Pong

Ellie Hope

The Hannigan household is stuffed full of our peers. As soon as we step into the door, Peter has Wes under his arm, protecting him from everything just like he used to do in high school. Though now that Sawyer has backed off, Wes' list of tormentors has decreased drastically.

Brett follows Wes like a lost puppy, trailing behind Peter. James goes straight for Darren, leaving Savannah and I to ourselves.

"This is not what I expected." Savannah says.

Scanning the room, I take note of who's where and doing what. Like Cora and Bethany on the opposite side of the room, staring at who I'm guessing is Peter. It's the logical person anyway.

I almost walk over and tell her he's not just home for the weekend but that seems to air on the side of meddling. I'm not a meddler, just curious. Mostly.

There's people on the couch playing video games, red solo cups sprawled out across the coffee table. People lounging in any open space as they talk with the same people they talk to at school. This party is one big click.

"This is exactly what I thought it'd be." I tell Savannah. "Come on."

I grab her by the wrist and cut through the house to the kitchen. There's a mass of people in there but I'm guessing the keg is located there also. And if we are going to experience a high school party we will do so in the most cliche style. Drunk.

The room erupts in shouts, fists flying upward as one set of partners makes a shot on the opposing team. Savannah and I watch the spectacle as we maneuver our way around the keg, both of us a little unsure of the contraption.

Sawyer knocks back a long drink, alcohol slipping from the corners of his mouth and he wipes it with the back of his hand before shouting his epic comeback.

Boys.

"Here let me help." James swipes my cup and the keg hose from my hand, frothy beer filling the cup within seconds.

He hands it back, a massive grin on his face. James is thriving at the moment, feeding off the energy and hype of his jock friends.

"You guys gonna play some beer pong?" James asks, handing Savannah her drink before he pours himself one.

Savannah's head instantly shakes, her desire to stay in the shadows nearly swallowing her. I on the other hand want to experience tonight for all that it is and if playing a game of beer pong will give me the full high school party experience than I most certainly will.

"Yes we are." I announce.

"Sawyer's probably going to make the winning the shot." James says, gesturing with his cup to Sawyer who's bent slightly at the waist, one eye closed, ball pinched between two fingers as he calculates his throw.  "He plays way too much."

It's involuntary, the breath the fills my lungs and then lingers there as I anticipate Sawyer's throw. It's not like I'm cheering him on, that I want him to win this silly game of beer pong but my body does it on its own accord. My eyes tracking the little white ball as it leaves his fingers and soars through the air in a perfect arch. It plunks into a cup, the crowd gathered around uproars in celebration.

"Who's next?!" Sawyer shouts, scanning through crowd.

And before I can weigh the pros and cons, my arm shoots into the air.

"You're my partner." I tell James, he responds with an ever eager "hell yes" and we head for the table.

Sawyer gives me a sloppy amused grin like there's no part of him that thinks I might be able to beat him. Maybe he's right, but beer pong is all basic geometry and physics. Now I'm no genius, that's Brett's department, but I understand the fundamentals of both. And let's be real, beer pong is played inebriated, should be a piece of cake.

"Challenge accepted." Sawyer muses, Caden swapping out for Ben as his partner.

Caitlin laughs loud as her friend mocks me, their hand jutting in the air frantically like I was some desperate fool trying to gain everyone's attention.

"You know the rules?" Sawyer asks, his forehead has a sheen to it as he sweats in the warm kitchen.

"It's beer pong, I'm sure I can manage." I state.

"Want a practice shot?" He offers.

James says yes beside me but I quickly decline the offer. "No, reigning champ goes first."

Sawyer's brown eyes twinkle in the lights of Darren's kitchen, his crooked tooth on display as he smiles. "If that's the way you want to play, start us off Ben."

"We're gonna lose." James laughs and as he does he hands the keys off to Savannah. "Tell Brett he's driving."

But I have more faith in us, call it beginners luck, call it a game easily mastered. I think Sawyer might have just met his match.

Ben sends the ball, tossing it too far and it skims the last row of cups. "Warm up he calls."

I call it a bad shot.

Sawyer once again steadies his focus, looking more sober than he is in the moment as he closes an eye and pitches forward slightly. He tosses the ball directly into a cup and everyone hollers.

"I'll drink it." James offers but Sawyer stops him.

"No, that's Eleanor's all day." He chuckles.

Plucking the ball from the warm beer, I level a gaze at him before I tip the cup back and chug it. Our surrounding peers start to chant along with me, cheering me on until I come up for air, the red cup empty.

The beer tastes awful, too warm and bitter, and I fight the cringe that wants to distort my features. Sawyer and Ben high five each other, laughing when I square up for my shot.

I have not played beer pong but in preparation for this I did do some research, specifically about the rules. There's two different types of shots, the toss which is the most common and what both Ben and Sawyer just did. But then there's also the bounce. The toss gets you whatever cup it lands in but the bounce gets you whatever cup it lands in plus another cup. Only problem is, the bounce is easily blocked by the opposing team if they're paying attention.

Ben and Sawyer are not at the moment and they clearly think I'm not a threat. So with a little bit of luck, I send the ball off. It pings against the table before arching up and plopping into a cup with a plunk.

James roars with laughter beside me as he says "grab a cup boys!"

And once again I'm momentarily satisfied I've stunned everyone.