#4 "...SINGIN' DRUNKEN LULLABIES"

::Identities have been concealed with different names::

   It was the beginning of May of my senior year.  I was asked to a "P-A-R-T-Y??? Cause I had to!" ("The Mask" movie line)
    I was nervous to say the least. I had never been to a party that had alcohol for what seemed was for all ages! I didn't eat anything all day because I was excited for the party and meeting a 21 year old on his birthday.  He was 3 years older than me,  that intrigued me.  I had the complete thought that this party was not going to have any rules or prayer sessions and that fascinated me.  I had no idea what to wear to this party.  I ended up wearing a t-shirt and jeans.
    I went to the party.  My friend Megan text messaged me tell me she would pick me up when she needed to go home from a friend's gathering so I had a designated driver to take me home. When I got to the front of the apartment complex I called Trent and he gave me walking directions to get to the apartment.  When I got to the stairs of the apartment, there was a group of people smoking cigarettes at the bottom.  I saw Trent at the top of the stairs. He beckoned me to come up.
   When I walked into the party, I thought I had entered into the party scene in Sixteen Candles. It was packed with so many people. I was immediately scared to talk to anyone there. The girls were glaring at me and sending me messages with their eyes that made me feel like they were screaming at me, "Who are YOU? why are you here?" As I followed Trent to the "bar" in the kitchen, I went right into my observant mode. As I scanned the room there was not one place to park myself.  everybody was asking each other to help them stand up because they thought that standing up was a hilarious thing. I looked all over the room and what caught my eye was that his wall-unit was completely filled with empty liquor and beer bottles.  It looked like he was collecting alcohol for the alcohol god.  It was awesome to me. It showed me that he had a collection hobby. He probably drank before his birthday. I knew I had to look like I never drank before.
   So, I get to the "bar" and Trent asked me if I wanted to join a drinking contest with him, Brandon, and a few other guys. They asked a lot of girls to join, but not one said yes.  I was totally up for it.  Brandon handed me my glass filled with dark beer as he introduced himself to me, "Hey I'm Brandon, you ready?" I said, " Happy Birthday. I'm Adessa, and yes I am. What is this?"  He said, "It's going to be an Irish Car Bomb. All of us chug together."  I took a deep breath. He handed me a little shot glass that looked like milk in it.  I asked, "You guys drink milk with your beer?"  Everybody laughed and Brandon said, "No. Its Bailey's. You drop it in and you chug, but watch out for your teeth."  So, Trent counted down, "3.....2.....1....GO!" I dropped the shot glass and chugged.  I remember the taste was horrible and the whole time I'm thinking, "get it down, get it down, don't puke, don't puke...done!" I cleaned the cup. The last gulp was the worst because I gagged at the very end.  Brandon looked at me and smiled as if he was saying, "What a champ!"  After that I went to go sit down in the only chair that was open.
   The chair was in a perfect place because I could see Brandon and Trent mingle with everyone.  I couldn't keep my eyes off of Brandon.  He was so attractive.
   I started to feel a feeling in my stomach, like I was really excited to be there.  The feeling grew stronger within me.  And as I saw everyone walk passed me I thought it was totally fine to say hello to them.  So I did. They all responded with a hello back.  I didn't know why, but I couldn't stop smiling. Trent saw me relaxing in the chair and he asked me, "why are you smiling so much?" I signed him with my finger to come close to me. I pulled his shirt towards me and said in his ear, "I think I am drunk." He laughed and responded, "Yes, you are. You didn't even whisper that!" Brandon over heard what I had said.  He came over and sat next to me in a broken chair and said, "so, you're drunk off of one Irish Car Bomb?" I nodded and I immediately said, "You are so attractive!" Trent yelled at Brandon and told him to kiss me.  The next thing I saw was Brandon making a fake punch to Trent.
   I felt like this was going to be a fun night! I drank a mixed drink that Trent had made me. I was having my own little party in the chair. I thought it was awesome that everyone was starting conversations with me, I quickly found out that they all just wanted to get another drink. Everything I saw, said, or did was extremely hilarious to me.  I was having full conversations with people across the room and I remember thinking to myself, "They like me!  They really like me!" Once I felt a little bit of soberness happen, I felt like I could not talk to anyone. So, I kept drinking.
   It was getting late, so I called Megan and I tried to tell her to come pick me up, but thinking never felt so hard to me.  I remember her telling me to give the phone to Brandon to give her directions to the apartment.  So, I found him outside at the bottom of the stairs with the smokers. I found the strength in what felt like a half an hour trying to get the phone to him.  I forgot who was on the phone and handed it to him and said, "it wants to talk to you."  I walked back up the stairs and stayed with Trent because I didn't know anyone else there.
   Brandon comes in and hands me my phone.  I said, "Oh yeah!  I gave you my phone!"  He said, "You're leaving so soon? That's a bummer. If I am not able to say goodbye, thank you for coming to my party." I said goodbye and he walked away.
   Megan calls me and says she is at the bottom of the stairs and tells me to come out.  I go straight for the door, not saying goodbye to anyone and when I went outside, I looked at the stairs and looked Megan straight in the eye and said, "You are helping me do this."  She walks up the stairs and helps me down the stairs.  We are walking to her car and I immediately fall down and start laughing hysterically.  It was so funny to me to not be able to stand up because I knew that it was so easy to walk....just not right then.
  I get home. I tried to sleep, but I had to get rid of the whole party, so I ran to the bathroom and I saw every single color of drink I had that night come in reverse. I snuggled with the porcelain throne for a few hours, then woke up and went to bed.
   Woke up hungover the bed!