“Two new faces. What’s your name, beautiful?” he asks Cara.

“Cara,” she says. She even giggles when he winks at her. He certainly didn’t have to work too hard for that.

“Who’s your friend?” he nods in my direction. I duck my head and suddenly take interest in the boots I’m wearing. They’re too big and hard to walk in.

“This is my roommate, Sophie.”

“Here you go, Sophie. Just for you.”

Awkwardly, I stare at the cup of beer he’s holding in his hand and debate the easiest way to say no without looking like a loser. “That’s okay. I’m not thirsty.”

“Oh, come on. It’s just beer. Or do you like the harder stuff? I can get you some of that if you want.”

Although I have no desire to drink, I succumb to peer pressure and accept the cup he offers. I’ll dump it down the drain in the bathroom as soon as I find one. Coach would flip if he knew I had alcohol tonight. It’s also louder than I expected in here and so damn hot. I’m starting to get claustrophobic as more and more people continue to pile into the small space.

“So, you’re new here? I’d remember a gorgeous face like yours,” he adds.

“Yeah, I transferred this year from Tennessee,” I reply nervously. He’s not my type at all. I could tell the second he opened his mouth to flirt with Cara.

Cara slings her arm around my shoulder. “Can you believe she’s never been to a party before?”

I don’t miss his shocked expression. “No shit. Then let me officially welcome you to the hottest spot on campus. I also insist on giving you the grand tour.” He offers me his arm like we’re at the prom or something. I look at him cautiously while he waits for me to latch on. “I don’t bite, little lady. Unless you want me to.”

“No, thanks. I’m good.” I shift my cup to my left hand and accept his offered arm. It’s a little sweaty but he still smells good, thankfully. Cara is walking beside me for all of thirty seconds before someone wraps her in a gigantic bear hug. She laughs in hysterics as he spins her around. I slow down to wait for her, but we get separated in the mass of bodies. I tug on my tour guide’s arm, but he doesn’t stop until we come to a tiki bar in the living room that’s lined up with bottles of liquor for the choosing.

He leans down and asks, “what do you want to drink?”

I raise my red solo cup. “You gave me this beer a few minutes ago.”

“Then you need to drink faster. Let’s do a shot.” He hands me a Dixie cup filled with red Jell-O. It smells like cherries, my favorite. “Down the hatch,” he tells me. He’s smirking while he watches me swallow.

Immediately I gag. “That’s strong! Did you put the whole bottle in there?”

“It’s a little Jell-O and a whole lot of vodka”

I chug the only thing I have to chase the alcohol, the beer. It’s equally repulsive. “My mouth tastes like shit. Do you have some water?”

“No water here. Want some jungle juice?”

Juice sounds safe but I’m not stupid. I know this particular kind is laced with something strong. I set my beer down, knowing I won’t be taking another sip. Now that I’ve tried it, I know I’ll never be a beer girl. “Does the juice taste like ass too?” I gesture toward the cup of beer.

He laughs at me and shakes his head. “No. You’ll love it. It’s fruity.” He lifts a trashcan lid, and I assume he’s going to throw my cup away. Instead, he chugs the rest of the beer in my cup, grabs the ladle hanging from the side of the Rubbermaid bin and pours juice into my cup straight out of the trashcan.

“Don’t worry, it’s clean. I washed it with soap and water earlier today and we buy a new one for each party.”

Cautiously, I take a small sip of the juice. All I taste is fruit punch and I sigh in relief. If there’s any alcohol in it, it must be heavily diluted. This is a drink I can easily tolerate.

He fills up his own cup and asks, “better?”

“Much.” It’s strange not seeing any familiar faces as I look around the room. Sipping my drink, I sway back and forth to the music. Pitbull is yelling “Timber” and the crowd on the makeshift dance floor is going wild. We played this song at my old gym to pump ourselves up for competition. I stare off into space, reminiscing about my old teammates who I miss terribly. They’d never be out partying right now.

“You want to dance, Sophie?”

“I’m not ready for that yet.” I appreciate the offer, so I try to make small talk instead to let him know I’m not a total bore. I nudge his arm to get his attention. He leans down to hear me. “You never told me your name.”

“It’s Caleb. Drink that up and I’ll pour you some more. Then we can go get some air.”

Air sounds perfect right about now. I chug the rest of my jungle juice and it goes down without a fight. It’s delicious. Once I’m finished I hand my cup over to Caleb. He dumps a little clear liquid into it instead of juice.

“What’s that?”

“The shot of the night. We call it a bender. Everyone has to try one.”

I don’t want any more shots, but he holds it in front of my face and waits for me to take it out of his hands. The quicker I get this over with the faster I can get some air. I toss it back and although it’s strong, I kind of like it. Warming me from the inside out, I take another.

“Good girl.” Caleb pulls me by the hand through the crowd to our next stop. There’s still no sign of Cara. I would be worried if we weren’t at her brother’s house, but she probably knows a lot of people here. We walk up a flight of steep stairs. At the top, he opens the window and crawls through the small opening. He holds his hand out for me to grab onto. There’s no lady-like way to get through in a skirt so I slide through the narrow space the best I can. Once through, I’m left standing on a small fire escape with a view of the entire main street. The breeze is refreshing, but with nobody else within earshot, I’m nervous about being out here all alone with him.

“So, you’ve really never been to a party before?” Caleb asks.

“No. I’ve never had time.” It’s the truth. Gymnastics keeps my schedule packed.

“You had time tonight?”

“Cara forced me to come. I was going to stay in.”

Unexpectedly, he reaches out and cups my jaw in his hand, running his thumb over my bottom lip. “Your lips are bright red from your drink. I want to bite them.”

I back away from his touch and he releases me. He’s a little too forward for my taste, but I don’t want to be rude. “You said you don’t bite, Caleb.”

He shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe I lied.” He takes a step closer to me, eyeing my body up and down. It’s sending up a bright red flag.

“Can we go find Cara?”

He takes another step closer, closing the distance between the two of us entirely. “You don’t have to be nervous, Sophie.” He reaches for my hand dangling at my side.

“I’m fine, but I came with Cara, so I should hang out with her too.” My arms are starting to tingle and my lips are numb. “I need to sit down.” I find a spot on the window ledge and set my cup down next to me. A bead of sweat runs down the center of my back and I fan my face trying to create an extra breeze. My long hair is sticking to the back of my neck. Lifting it up, I feel cooler instantly.

“You okay, gorgeous?” Caleb asks. He’s leaning against the railing smirking at me.

“My face is tingling.” I’ve never been drunk before but the longer I sit here, the more numb I become. My body becomes weightless and all I want to do is dance around and shake my ass. Caleb dumps some of his punch into my cup. “More?” I question.

He shakes his head yes. “If you drink that you won’t be buzzed anymore.”

“What will I be then?”

“Drunk. Isn’t that why we’re all here?” he says with a laugh.

I rest my head against the side of the house and close my eyes. When everything starts to tilt, I open my eyes back up and decide he’s right. Now’s my shot to live it up. Who knows when I’ll get to another party or if I’ll get to another at all.