Keeping Tabs

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“Quick FYI, we're having a bit of a hurricane party today, guests and what not. And they will be staying through the duration of the storm, so don’t try to make me get rid of them,” Micah said, poking his head into my room just long enough to make sure that I'd heard him.

My job had closed in preparation of the storm, so I had no intention of doing anything except staying in my bed, hurricane party or not. When I heard the door slam two hours later, I was preparing to roll over and go back to sleep when I heard Bryan say the one thing that could get me up and rolling out of bed.

“Hey, Colin. Hi, Chris. How was your trip?”

I flew out of bed, slamming my door open. I emerged into the hallway just as Colin looked up at me and waved from the living room. I called for Micah to come talk to me for a second, trying to keep my voice as sweet as possible. I cracked every knuckle in my hands as I waited for that door to be opened. As soon as he walked into the room, I jumped on him, flailing and slapping wildly. Micah laughed at first, and then began screaming for help as soon as it started to hurt.

Colin ran in and grabbed my arms, pulling me off of Micah, but I managed to get one good kick in. I began thrashing against Colin when Chris ran in and grabbed my legs, making it easier for Colin to restrain the rest of me. Micah fell across my bed laughing. Colin waited for me to calm down before he let me go, but both he and Chris kept a very wary eye on me for the rest of the afternoon. I called Jared five different times, hoping he’d answer and give me the strength I needed to get through this. But, of course, each time I tried, I got his voicemail in three rings or less each time.

Later in the evening, Colin grabbed a bottle from the case of alcohol that he'd had brought, cracking the top and filling the room with the smell of whiskey. I looked at him, then at the case and asked, “This is sober?”

“This is moderation,” Colin replied, ignoring the rueful look I gave to the remainder of the case.

“Look, this is such a nice title to have plastered over my face! 'Three ways and drunk days'. That is so awesome.” Chris beamed when he managed to find the magazines littering the corner of my room. He read through them, laughing and pointing out articles about us to Colin.

Colin rolled his eyes at me as he handed me a bottle of my own. We all spent rest of the afternoon drinking, playing board games, and talking about the old times. When the storm hit a few hours later, we heard the wind kick up outside, but we kept up with our activities, too drunk to care what happened around us.

We had dinner by candlelight because the power had gone out, and around ten Bryan dragged Micah to bed. Micah winked at me before he left the room, saying, “Don't do anything I wouldn't do. And if you do, make sure you'd be better at it than I would be.”

Chris began setting up Monopoly, and I went to go change clothes. I tried Jared again, with the same result. I heard Colin shuffling around in the bathroom while I was pulling on a white tank top and a pair of pink cotton shorts.

When I walked back into the living room, two pairs of eyes were staring at me in a way they hadn't been before I'd left the room. I uncomfortably shuffled in between them on the couch, the only place they had left me to sit.

“This should count as cheating.” Chris said, a drunken smirk playing across his features.

“What?” I asked, even as I watched his eyes practically fall into my shirt.

“When did all this happen?” Colin asked Chris, gesturing over my head, his gaze locked on the end cuff of my shorts, just above where my thigh became my behind.