Think of me

thirteen: tequila shots

Billie

It was the boy from the concert. He was standing there. This boy that I had been searching for was right in front of me. How did this happen?

We made eye contact. I could see his green eyes even though it was dark, and he was in all black, just like he was at the concert. Our eyes locked and I knew it was him immediately. But then he looked away.

I realised that I had stopped dancing when Maddie said 'Are you okay?' She was still dancing but looking at me in confusion. It was like my drunkenness had gone away and I returned to my usual anxious self.

'No.' I said. 'Come with me.' I grabbed her arm and dragged her across the garden, past the boy and into the house. I kept my head down the whole way. I was in shock. I ignored all of Madison's questions until we were safely inside and out of sight from anyone.

'What's going on?' She asked, pulling her arm out of my grip. I started pacing.

'Maddie, its the boy.' I said. I had to stop pacing back and forth because I was getting dizzy and almost fell over.

'A boy!' She squealed, clapping her hands together. 'Where?' She began heading back for the garden but I pulled her back inside before she could get out there.

'From the concert, remember?' I said in a hushed voice. 'He's standing with Ben.' She gasped, she was very drunk so her reactions were very exaggerated.

'Oh my god. What if he beats someone up again?' She whispered. I shook my head, almost laughing.

'What to we do?' I asked. But before she could answer, Ben walked into the kitchen.

'Hey!' He said, he walked up to us and placed his hand on Maddie's back. 'You girls alright?' He asked. Maddie beamed up at him.

'Yeah, we're fine.' She said to him. 'Actually, I was wondering if you could introduce us to those people you were standing with.' Shit.

'Yeah, of course.' He said. 'They're all in my friendship group. Come with me.' He led us outside. I slapped Maddie's arm and she looked at me confused.

What? She mouthed at me. I glared at her. I couldn't believe she did that to me. But there was nothing I could do about it now.

Once we got outside, we followed Ben to the group that he had been standing with. There were about ten boys and two girls. I knew exactly where the boy with green eyes was standing so I avoided looking that way. And I think he was doing the same.

'Hey guys, this is Maddie and Billie.' Ben said, all of his mates looked up. Almost all of them.

'Hey.' Maddie and I said. She sounded a little more confident than me. My voice probably sounded like a squeak compared to hers.

'This is Theo, Frankie, Cam...' He began listing all of their names, while pointing at each of them. But I couldn't focus on their names. 'And that's Grayson, but I think you've met before.'

Grayson.

Ben had a grin on his face, but my head shot up to look at him in shock. Grayson did the same. My eyes turned to Grayson. He was leaning against the wall of the house, with his hands in his pockets. I could see his face properly now. I had forgotten how good looking he was. His dark hair was messy on the top of his head, his face was so defined and his lips were plump. And then his beautiful, green eyes were staring into my boring, brown ones. This time, neither of us looked away. I wished that I could see what I looked like. I probably had make up smothered all over my face and god knows what my hair looked like.

'Yeah, we have.' He finally spoke. His voice was deep and husky. It sent shivers down my spine. I didn't say anything, I don't think I could have if I tried. I eventually broke the eye contact.

By this point, everyone had returned to their own conversations. Maddie was leaning on Ben and they were laughing and chatting. The boys from the group were joining that conversation and one of the girls was kissing one of the boys so much I thought they were going to swallow each other. The only people not talking were Grayson and me.

'I'm going to get a drink.' Grayson said, and left the garden.

I don't know if it was the vodka or Maddie giving me a shove, but I followed him.

Before I knew it I was standing in the kitchen, watching Grayson pour himself a shot on the other side of the room. He looked up and saw me, but didn't say anything. I didn't know what to do now. I shyly took a step forward.

'Do you want a drink?' He said. I prayed that sober Billie wouldn't come back too soon, I knew that I would not be standing here if she did. So I decided I needed something to drink.

'Um, yeah.' I said.

'What do you want?' He turned to the fridge and had a look through. 'Cider? Beer?'

'I'll have what you're having.' I said. My voice was coming out in squeaks. I tried to silently clear my throat and speak a bit louder. I slowly wondered over to where he was standing behind the table.

'Tequila?' He laughed. I folded my arms. 'I don't think you can handle it. You've already had quite a lot to drink.' He shook his head, grabbed a can of cider and placed it on the table in front of me.

'How do you know I've had anything to drink?' I asked. I thought I'd been acting pretty sober so far, even though I wasn't.

'I've been watching you.' He looked straight into my eyes. I should have found that creepy and weird, but I didn't. It actually made me feel the complete opposite. He'd been watching me? So that meant he was interested? Maybe I was overthinking.

I looked from the can, then up to him. I laughed and pushed the cider away. I shocked myself by leaning over and picking up his shot.

'I can handle it.' I said. He laughed again, picking up another shot glass and filling it with the clear liquid.

'Alright. Whatever you say.' He picked up his shot glass and raised it to his lips. I took that as my cue to do the same. I put the cool glass against my bottom lip and tipped it up. I let the liquid rush into my mouth. As soon as it touched my tongue, I could feel a cold burning. I swallowed as soon as I could. That was horrible.

I tried hard to keep a straight face, but the taste was so bad that my nose scrunched up and I had to cough. I could hear Grayson laughing over my coughing.

'Why would you chose to drink that?' I asked. I finally managed to control my spluttering and looked up at him smiling down at me.

He was tall. I was quite tall for a girl as well. But he made me feel tiny standing next to him. He had broad shoulders and I could tell he had muscly arms through his hoodie.

'Do you want another one?' He turned towards the table and grabbed the tequila pouring himself another shot.

'No way.' I said. My head was already slightly spinning again. I placed my hand on the table for support. I watched as Grayson poured the tequila into his glass and took the shot like it was nothing. He slammed the glass down on the table.

'Fuck it.' I said, as I grabbed the tequila bottle and refilled my shot glass.