Dancing bodies packed the sparsely furnished living room and hallways; the kitchen had been converted into a wet bar where people were taking shots back to back, and tons of shimmering green and blue streamers were hanging from the ceiling.
As Nicole and I pushed our way through the crowd, I could hear people in the backyard chanting—counting down from ten.
Taking my hand, Nicole pulled me in that direction, out into the warm summer air.
“Whoa…” she said, looking impressed. “This is one hell of a party...”
I couldn’t agree more. The backyard was even more impressive than the inside. Those massive tiki torches were burning bright, standing in a huge semi-circle that spanned the entire yard. To the left, a guy dressed as a referee was calling on volunteers to battle inside a retractable pool of red Jell-O.
To the right, there was a makeshift dance floor with a separate D.J., and behind him there was a collection of bright yellow Slip N Slides that a group of bikini clad partiers were using to their full advantage.
We made our way down the deck’s steps and walked past the Jell-O pool, over to a table of flashing neon lights that read, “BAR.”
“What can I make for you ladies tonight?” The bartender asked. “The special tonight is three dollar Jell-O shots, but I’ll give a two dollar discount if you lift up your shirts right now and flash me.”
“You wish.” Nicole laughed. “We’ll take four shots of vodka. Each.”
“Sounds good.” He tapped the table with his fingers “That’ll be thirty two dollars.”
“Wait!” Josh rushed over, moving behind the bar. “Wait. You can’t charge Arizona.”
“Who’s Arizona?”
“That one.” He pointed his finger at me and narrowed his eyes. “She’s my roommate’s number one.”
“So?”
“So, in exchange for him agreeing to let us throw this little party here…” Josh returned the dollar bills to Nicole. “She and her friend don’t have to pay for any of their drinks tonight.”
The guy shrugged and made the drinks while Nicole gave me a high five.
“Tell me, Josh.” I crossed my arms. “Did you do that out of the kindness of your heart or were you forced?”
“I was forced. If it was up to me, I’d charge your ass triple.”
“I’ll be sure to drink all night then.”
“Right…” He smiled and playfully pushed my shoulder. “I’ve got four of my guys running safety rides all night. Let me know if you and your friend get too drunk to drive.”
“Thank you.”
“Anytime.” He stepped back, slowly looking me up and down with his eyebrow raised. He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but he settled with a “See you later” and walked away.
“Thank you very, very much!” Nicole winked at the bartender as he handed her a tray of red cups. “Let’s go sit over there, Ari.”
I followed her to a small wooden bench, and she set the drinks between us.
“Make sure you tell Carter I said thank you,” she said. “Once again, your friendship with him comes in handy at just the right moment…Now, to take full advantage of your discount, we’ll need to drink all of these back to back and then we’ve got to do four more.”
“Eight shots within the same hour? Are you insane?”
“Not at all.” She handed me a shot. “Live a little, Ari. Since you’re not having sex and god knows the next time that’ll happen for you, you might as well experience something in life that feels good. Alcohol would be more than a great start.”
I tossed back two shots and winced, clenching my teeth together as the liquid burned my throat.
She handed me the other two cups, and as if she could read what was on my mind, she put up her hands in a fake surrender. “No, I’m not going to attempt to drive back tonight. We’ll catch a safety ride at the end and I’ll get my car tomorrow.”
“Great.” I finished off my shots and held my hand over my chest until the searing sensation went away.
“Ready for the next set?” Nicole asked, standing up.
“Oh, no. I have an early date with that guy Chris I told you about tomorrow, so I really shouldn’t drink that much. ”
“If I was Carter, I’m sure you’d happily agree to drink more with me right now...”
“If you were Carter, you’d know that I’m a super-lightweight.”
“Well, thank god I’m not him, huh?” She pulled me up and tugged me over to the bar again. This time, instead of sitting down to drink the next set, we drank them in front of the bartender, and he even joined us for two of them.