Not Who You Thought (BxB Drama-Romance)

Happy New Years, I'm An Asshole

Then

This is how the bad night went.

It was New Year's Eve and frigidly cold. The trees were skeletal without their leaves and the empty fields of farmland were frosted and barren. The night was clear and bitter, a fingernail sliver of the moon the only light guiding me aside from my headlights as I drove to Jacob Ramos's family home for a New Year's party.

The news of a party always spread like wildfire at my school, and even if the host wanted it to be small and exclusive it never ended up that way. There was a culture of boredom in my town and the neighboring two that sent their highschoolers to Nonnewaug in order for the school to have full classes. There wasn't much to do during the school week unless you were willing to drive forty minutes out of your way to get somewhere civilized. Partying was how we all stayed sane. Parties connected us with booze, sex, and drugs.

I'd become a loose cannon since quitting wrestling. I was still friends with all the guys from my old team, but now that I was an art kid I didn't fit in as well. The problem with my classmates who hung out in the art room was that they were wary of me, the jock. I was stuck in a limbo, trapped in between two very different worlds that I couldn't fit into perfectly. I didn't need to still weigh every ounce of my food to make sure I stayed the same weight for wrestling, but I did. I didn't need to prove my talent to the other artistic kids, but I tried. Depending on who I was with I became an athlete or an artist, changing shape to remain in the good graces of my peers.

I parked on the end of the dirt road and walked to the house. I didn't want to get blocked in by the cluster of cars in the driveway or risk parking on the grass before everyone was there. Behind the house the lake was ominous, the water frozen and black.

What was my plan? I don't know. I wouldn't drive home wasted, I wasn't that stupid. I decided I would either get smashed and hitch a ride with one of my friends, or stay sober and be the designated driver for my drunken friends. If the party sucked I would probably start to drink and smoke excessively to pass the time until midnight, but I could tell from the strobe lights and the music radiating through the front door that it looked to be a promising event.

Inside the party was in full swing, a sight that brought a smile to my face and caused my nerves to spark with excitement. Kids danced beneath the high ceilings with solo cups in hand, and the crystal chandelier above sparkled in the dim lighting. The floor felt alive beneath my feet, the music pulsing through the hardwood floor.

I'd need to feel out the vibe before committing to drinking or staying sober. I wafted through the rooms, stopping only when I passed by clusters of people who called out my name. "Hey, Lucas!" "Yo, buddy." "Whatup, Lucas?"

On the glass coffee table in a pristine living room that didn't look like it was meant to be used, three kids were cutting thin lines of white powder with a credit card. They held down one nostril and snorted up the line of coke with the other, then threw back their heads with a noisy gust of air through their mouths. The sight was the first thing that made me feel uneasy, setting the tone for the rest of the night.

I never really did drugs. I smoked weed when it was offered, and I'd toyed with the idea of microdosing mushrooms for a mild trip of self-discovery. My mother had warned me of the dangers of drugs, probably exaggerating the symptoms in order to scare me away from ever taking any heavy substances. Since she worked in an emergency room and saw people die from overdosing, I believed everything she told me about substance abuse.

The party got more full as the night went on, and by eleven-thirty, the rooms were flooded with people. I decided to nurse the same beer for the past hour, which did nothing to me. I wasn't a lightweight whatsoever because of my height.