Falling Into Bed Drunk
“I can’t believe you’re really going through with this,” Molly said, setting her curling iron down on my desk.
She had just finished fixing my hair for me, since I wasn’t very good at it and she was the only person I trusted to understand my plan for Zac’s birthday. After picking up a set of Star wars parody books that I thought he would really love, I found myself wandering around the mall until I ended up in one of those girly stores full of mini skirts and stuff. It all reminded me of Bella, but it made me think—if Zac really was attracted to her looks, what would he ever see in me? I decided it wouldn’t hurt to dress up a little more than I usually did for his birthday. Maybe then he would actually see me as a girl worthy of being desired.
I stood up, straightened out my snug fitting dress, and glared at Molly. “Yes, I’m sure. If this doesn’t make him notice me, nothing will.”
“I think everybody is going to notice you,” Molly mumbled.
“Fine by me,” I replied, stepping in front of my mirror to see just how I looked.
The dress was short and tight, covered in gold and silver sequins, with spaghetti straps and a nearly backless design. I had bought gold pumps to go with it, and I could almost stand in them without my legs wobbling. My hair was in soft curls thanks to Molly, and my makeup was heavier than I usually wore it—although not nearly as heavy as Bella had done it. Still, I thought she would approve of the dark lashes and tingly plumping lip gloss I’d bought just the occasion.
There was a loud knock at the suite door, and my heart leapt. I glanced back at Molly and shrugged. “Well, even if I wanted to change, it’s too late now. You go first, okay?”
“If you insist,” she replied with a shrug of her own and walked out of my bedroom.
I waited for a moment, listening at the door as she greeted Zac and someone who sounded like Elijah. Finally, I picked up Zac’s present, took a deep breath, and opened my bedroom door.
Zac spun around to face me, and his eyes grew comically large. I knew I looked different, but I hadn’t expected such an immediate reaction. I tried to look a little sheepish as I smiled and held his present out; I didn’t want him to know how pleased I was that he seemed to like my transformation.
“Are you—I mean, is this my birthday present?” He breathed out, stepping in closer to me.
“I, umm, yeah,” I said, holding out the package awkwardly.
He ripped into the package, hardly taking his eyes off me until it was open. When he did, his eyes grew even wider and he scooped me up into a tight hug. “See, I knew you would get me the best present!”
I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the books or my dress, but I really didn’t care.
Either way, Zac didn’t seem nearly as impressed by the rest of his presents, even though they were along the same geeky lines as mine. He didn’t get that excited again until Peyton brought out the cupcakes and somehow managed to squeeze twenty candles onto one of them.
Once he’d blown out the candles and we had all eaten a cupcake, we headed across campus for the less geeky part of the celebration. I doubted any of the crowd that seemed to fill the entire first floor of Sitlington even realized what the party was really about; few of them probably even knew Zac. They were just there because Taylor Hanson had invited them. But as Elijah had pointed out, there was alcohol. We were all still under twenty-one, so we didn’t have a lot of options for partying. Luckily for us, Taylor had no problem supplying to minors.
Sure enough, he was in his element when we walked in, showing off his mixing skills for a bunch of skinny blondes who looked like they were probably cheerleaders. When we walked in, all of his attention was diverted away from them—and onto my chest. Maybe Molly had been right about my dress. Then again, unlike his brother, Taylor seemed to have already noticed that I was a woman.
“Georgie Girl,” Taylor breathed out, drawing the nickname out so much that it almost sounded obscene. “What happened to you?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What? I’m not allowed to dress like a girl?”
“Never let it be said that I complained about you wearing less clothes than usual,” Taylor replied, handing me a drink I was fairly certain was intended for one of the blondes.
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Zac said, backing away quickly.
I glared at Taylor. “Can you not say stuff like that in front of him?”
“What?” Taylor feigned innocence. Lowering his voice, although the blondes had already lost interest and wandered away, he added, “Look, he’s gonna have a stick up his ass about this. Of course he is. He gets all pissy even when I just flirt with you, even before you gave in to my propositions. You just gotta ignore him.”
I crossed my arms and huffed. “It’s not that simple.”
“Oh, quit pouting,” Taylor said, nudging my hand up until the cup he’d handed me touched my lips. “Have a few drinks. Relax. Try to have fun.”
“Once again, easier said than done,” I replied, but took a sip from the cup anyway. It wasn’t bad; Taylor really was pretty good at mixing. Considering how bad his grades were, bartending was probably in his future anyway. Whatever it was that he had mixed together, it just tasted like Skittles. I couldn’t tell there was alcohol in it at all, but I was sure it wouldn’t be long before I felt it.
The party was so bustling and so full of people I didn’t even know at all that I had little to do but just lean against the kitchen counter and drink my drink. When my cup ran empty, it seemed Taylor was always there to fill it back up, until I wasn’t leaning against the counter to look cool but to keep myself from falling over.
Eventually, I decided to join the rest of the party. I had gotten myself all dolled up in shoes that would probably break my ankles before the night was over, but they weren’t doing me any good just standing in one spot. Even if things were still a little awkward between me and Zac, he obviously appreciated the effort I had put into my outfit, so why not put the same effort into socializing?
With that thought in mind, I tried to steady myself as much as possible, which wasn’t easy in those heels and with all that vodka in me, and walked out into the living room. Most of the furniture had been pushed against the walls to make a small dance floor and allow room for the beer pong table. Even in my inebriated state, it only took me seconds to locate Zac at said beer pong table, holding some tall blonde’s arm and helping her with what I was sure wasn’t a very complicated game. Between the way she was giggling and the stupid grin on his face, I thought I was going to be sick—and I didn’t think it was because of all the alcohol I’d had.
Why did I think Zac would ever want me? I could dress myself up all I wanted but I would never be that type of girl. He could obviously see right through the stupid dress and makeup and knew that deep down I was nothing special. But Barbie over there… no matter how fake certain parts of her anatomy might have looked, she was still more of a hot chick than I would ever be. So why did I think I could even try?
I scurried, as much as I could in heels and a skin tight dress, out of the room without waiting to see if Zac even noticed me. I ducked into the little alcove by Taylor’s bedroom door, although I decided to stay out of his bedroom. As upset as I was, I didn’t think it was a good idea to give him any reason to think I wanted sex. I really, really wasn’t in the mood.
After a moment, the room started to spin and I leaned my head against the wall to steady myself. If I focused on the dizziness, I could keep myself from crying, at least.
“George?” A voice called, and it took me a second to even realize it was Zac. I was even drunker than I had previously thought, I supposed, if I didn’t immediately recognize the object of my unrequited affections.
“Last time I checked,” I mumbled.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, standing in front of me and brushing my hair back so I was forced to look at him. “Not having fun?”
“Not as much as you seemed to be,” I said before I could stop myself.
“What, playing beer bong with that brainless chick?” He asked. “I mean, she was hot, sure. But I said something about racking and she thought I was talking about her boobs.”
In spite of myself, I laughed.
“Come on, George,” he said softly. “You know this isn’t the kind of birthday party I wanted. But Taylor cannot be reasoned with.”
“You can say that again,” I mumbled.
“But hey,” he said, stepping in a little closer to me and running his fingers through my hair again. “It was worth it to see you all dressed up for the first time in like ever. I mean, besides prom.”
I glanced down and blushed. “Yeah, well. I just thought I would try something different.”
“For me?” Zac asked.
“I… I guess you could say that,” I replied.
“Well, if you were trying to impress me… it worked.”
There was something strange about his voice, a low, husky tone to it that was totally unfamiliar to me. It made me tingle from head to toe. Although I was a little afraid of what I might see on his face, I raised my eyes slowly… and was surprised to find Zac even closer to me than I had realized, his eyes fluttering shut as he leaned in.
And kissed me.
He tasted like beer and he was a little too sloppy, but who was I to complain? The last time Zac had kissed me, neither of us had known what we were doing, and I was worried that French kissing would always feel kind of gross. While he might have been a little overeager, practically slamming me back against the wall, I still moaned when his tongue pushed past my lips.
Sure, I was drunk and so was he. Who cares? There was still no denying that Zac was kissing me. His hands crept onto my hips, pulling our bodies even closer still, and if I hadn’t known better—although I was beginning to doubt everything I had ever known—I would have thought that I felt something poking me through his jeans.
All too soon, he pulled back and stared at me, panting heavily. “George, I… I mean, do you think we can…”
I wasn’t entirely sure what he was trying to say, but the way he nodded toward Tay’s bedroom door and nudged me that way was a decent hint. My head was spinning at the thought, and from the alcohol, too, I supposed. I had heard of falling down drunk, but I supposed this was falling into bed drunk.
And I was about to fall into bed… with Zac.