Unexpected

Gabby the Drunk

"Are you girls ready to get belligerent?" I announce to the room full of boys (and Sarah) upon entering Alex's home. I lift a 60 ounce bottle of vodka above my head and they erupt in noise. Robert is laughing his ass off, Zach is looking pleasantly surprised, and Austin is looking impressed and slightly aroused.

Getting the bottle past my parents during the move was difficult, but not impossible.

"Ga-baby!" Sarah cheers, throwing her arms around me when I sit down beside her and Alex on the couch.

"Someone started early, huh?" I laugh, warming at the new nickname.

"Actually we all started right after school. What took you so long?" She asks, tugging on my top.

"No one informed me that you're day drinkers." I laugh again. "And I like the excuse to get ready." I did in fact like any excuse to wear something a little nicer than usual. I took my time straightening my hair and picking out the backless top I'm now wearing. Everyone else appears to be wearing their clothes from school, but I don't mind. When I dress nice it's to feel nice, not to match the people around me. I did, however, think to bring a comfier change of clothes and to tell my mother that I'd be staying at Sarah's tonight.

"We missed you." Zach says, giving me a pout.

"You saw me, what? An hour ago? You'll get tired of me by the end of the night, don't you worry." I joke, tilting my head at him playfully.

"Never."

"Alright, Davis. Let's see if you're all talk. Time for a drinking game!" Robert announces from the front room's dining table where red solo cups are arranged in a circle. I go to where Robert's standing at the table then move to the windows directly facing the street to close the curtains. I shake my head at him and return to his side as he says, "Oh, yeah that. Good thinking."

Robert begins to explain the rules of the game as the others join us. Zach stands to my right and Austin nudges between Robert and I to stand on my left. I just about grasp the game's concept when beer starts being poured into the cups. Beer is not my drink of choice, and it doesn't have much effect unless I drink an unfortunate amount of it. I prefer the quick burn of liquor, thus the absolute unit I brought as my date tonight that is now resting somewhere beside my spot on the couch.

As the game begins, someone starts blasting party rap and I put in a request for J. Cole, causing both Austin and Zach to look at me as though they're about to get on one knee.

"You can drink us under the table and you're into J. Cole? You can't be real." Zach states. Austin nods his head in agreement.

"Have you been to a J. Cole concert? I'm pretty sure you'd find I'm among many." Although I know he meant well, I detest when guys will try to set me apart as if it's a compliment to be unlike a normal girl. The things that I think make me interesting, are not the male-associated attributes. It's not my interest in rappers or my ability to hold my liquor, it's the things that often times make the guys who claim to like me uncomfortable. Like my wit, my boldness, and the other things that only those closest to me uncover. I learned better than to base my self-worth off of the ever-changing, ever-fleeting views of others. My sister Nicole has yet to learn the same, though I understand why she'd rather not be labeled the "bitch" or "problem child" should she join me on the dark side.

The dark side. Where you're free, but villainized. People don't like when you don't cater to them, they call you selfish, cold, what have you. Nicole will probably spend a long time building resentment for herself and our parents for the boundaries she allows them to infringe upon whenever they feel like it. I keep my walls sturdy and high, and fly under their radar. That's where my alcohol tolerance comes in, a consequence of all the times I've rushed to match the burning of my throat to the burning of my eyes from tears that wouldn't come. I started to get concerned, reasonably so, about my drinking only to realize the bulk of my intoxication has occurred after being cooped up with my family for too long.