Rematch

CHAPTER 8

"You okay?" came Zach's voice as he stepped into my line of sight, effectively blocking my view. "You've been there for a long time. Dropped some bombs?" he grinned.

I made a face and he laughed so loud I knew it was the liquor getting into him. "You're drunk, Zach."

"'Course I'm not," he countered. Despite my disapproval, he did sound like he still knew what he was saying. "You, on the other hand, should try my concoction." He threw his arm around my shoulders and led me to a table where they were serving refreshments.

My nose involuntary wrinkled when he let out a disgusting burp. "I don't drink," I said.

"Of course you do, Jazz. You drink water, right?" he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "No, I meant...I'm a lightweight when it comes to hard drinks," I reminded him. Zach should know that because we once had a night out back in junior high and they made me drink Bailey's. One shot glass and it was lights out for me.

Although I didn't want to indulge him, I watched Zach as he mixed what looked like a chocolate drink and a clear liquid, which I suspected was the liquor, into a canister. I was afraid that in his semi-drunk state, he'd create an abominable drink that might end the life of me. He even danced as he shook the thing vigorously that I had to hold his arms to steady him from what seemed like a seizure of some sort.

"What is this?" I asked, bringing the clear glass to my nose.

"Bailey's ala Zach," he grinned, looking pleased at his creation.

"Really, after you branded me as 'The Casualty' for getting knocked out by a legit Bailey's," I reminded him without humor.

He laughed, recalling the same memory and I wished he would have a bad hangover tomorrow. "That one is smooooother. You're gonna loooooove it," he assured me with a wink.

I gave the glass the hairy eye and contemplated whether or not to pour it on a plant box while Zach wasn't looking. I didn't get used to drinking no matter how they peer-pressured me. One experience was enough for me to stay away from anything with alcohol content. That was why I never really understood what good came out of filling one's system with something that only gave a terrible hangover and probably, an equally terrible memory of the night that happened.

As if to distract me, I saw Athena pull Jarlin towards her and whispered into his ear before she giggled and he smiled appreciatively, like they shared something private.

This time I pulled the lid when jealousy reared its ugly head again. I should feel good about the pair. Jarlin had it all-looks, height, brains, skills. And so did Athena. She could even sing! While I...let's just say I couldn't distinguish the alto from the soprano.

Funny how life caught up with me. What I didn't want to see in Cali-Wonder Boy with his Wonder Girl-was happening in front of me in the Philippines.

That thought was enough for me to down Zach's homemade Bailey's in one gulp. I hissed, feeling the alcohol burn it's way to my throat down to my stomach. If this went on, either I'd develop high alcohol tolerance or make a fool of myself, barfing at the initiation later.

Zach ruffled my head when I had drained my cup. "Yeah baby! I told you, you're gonna love it! Let me fix you another one."

I forced myself to look away from Jarlin and Athena and busied myself reading the labels of some bottles I didn't recognize while Zach was yet again, shaking his whole body along with the canister of my refill.

"Athena looks like she's smitten by Trance," I began, careful with my words.

"Are you kidding? She'd been all over him the moment she saw Jarlin last y-yeah..." He coughed. "Well, she walked up to him and introduced herself," he said, his voice vibrating because of his seizure-like movements.

I had to bite my tongue so I wouldn't ask any more questions. I didn't want him to get any weird ideas. I was already weirded out by the sudden onslaught of jealousy on how compatible those two were. Keeping the ugly feelings to myself was enough.

Athena caught me looking and she curved her arm around Jarlin's like she was staking a claim. I looked away again in time to see Zach refilling my glass, wondering what time we were leaving back to the campus for the actual event. It was already past 7PM.

Waiting for the seniors to pick us up was painstaking. Witnessing how Athena flirted with Jarlin was painful. The numbness brought by my second glass of Bailey's ala Zach was a welcomed effect so was the buzzing in my head and the dizziness that came with it. Just what I needed to stop myself from thinking now that I learned firsthand why many people drink themselves into stupor.

Two more glasses of Bailey's ala Zach later, I was already going with the flow and found myself wedged between Zach and another Berkeley boy as we all sat in a circle.

The card slipped from my lips centimeters before I could pass it on to Zach. Smooch. We all laughed, I playfully shoved him. But Zach just stared at me. And then the game was over.

I had no memory of why Jarlin was suddenly sitting there with us. I did know, however, that the place had been cleared of the finger foods and drinks because Zach wasn't refilling my glass anymore. Apparently, somebody was going to pick us up in a few minutes.

"Legal Management," I heard Jarlin respond to a question and there were oohs and ahhs that followed.

"And he can still manage being a varsity player. Awesome, right?" Athena added, all sweet and bubbly. "I'm pretty sure you already have a fanbase of your own being oh-so-capable."

Zach was the one to add to that. "Half the female population back in high school had a crush on him. So the rest of us had to share the other half," he snorted good-naturedly. "But it was no biggie. I mean, this guy dunks."

There were some jeering and laughing after that while I prefered to space out.

First, I never knew about Jarlin being a hotshot in San Jose. All I ever remembered was that we were always neck and neck on test scores. Then again, I left to soon. Maybe it all happened shortly when I was gone. Besides, he deserved the attention. He was the whole package. Second, I didn't know he could dunk.

Well, well, well...didn't his star just shine brighter. Why was I keeping tabs even when I knew it was futile? Even I couldn't answer.

"Yeah, I don't like talking about me. Zach would love to talk about himself though, don't you?" Jarlin chuckled and was rewarded by a...bottle cap thrown at him.

And so Zach took the floor and talked, killing time as we all waited to be summoned back to campus.

"So the four of you were classmates in senior? You, Jazz and the Anderson twins," someone asked and I wondered how we even started talking about our history.

"Yeah," was Jarlin's stiff answer. Despite my doubling vision, I knew he was sitting right across me.

I tried to stay alert even when my eyelids had become so heavy and I felt like there was a lot of acid in my stomach. But I kept slipping in and out of space and wasn't able to keep track of the conversation.

"Can you tell us something interesting about Jazz?"

I jerked when I heard my name and searched for the person who asked. I found Athena smirking at me. Vaguely, I wondered if her charming self was only a mask to hide a snarky personality. As I shifted my glance at Jarlin, he looked like he was weighing things in his head. My hands became clammy, I could feel the cold beads of sweat on my forehead as well as the palpitation on my chest.

"Justine is..." He looked at me darkly.

I held my breath waiting for his next words. If he was going to reveal our could-have-been relationship, I would...I would...

"...very good at running away. Rather than basketball, I think she'd do well in Track and Field..."

They laughed, probably passing it off as a joke, so I tried to chuckle too.

Only, I felt bile rising up to my throat and I gagged. Someone shrieked and there was a flurry of activity. I pulled myself up, felt the world spin but I still managed to half-run, half-drag myself to the nearest plant box where I threw up hard.

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Posted on 3 April, 2015 Friday