Yet another of my distant acquaintances was turning 21 tonight. I think thatâs the thirteenth this year and Iâm not afraid to say that Iâm more than a little over the endless speeches, which are all by now sounding very much the same, and the joyful reunions of friends forgotten, whom are also sounding very much the same as well. The free alcohol, however, was still remarkably appealing, thus I dragged myself off to the generic club where the party was playing out with the same old DJ playing the same old music under the same old lights and decorations. I made sure I arrived a good 90 minutes late this time to avoid those inevitable and mind-numbingly boring conversations people have when theyâre sober but have nothing to say. To top it off my girlfriend Shannon was not with me tonight, as is usual for a Friday night she was working behind the bar at the local pub.
Walking into the party as if Iâd done it a thousand times before I made a quick and utterly superficial presentation to the host before carving a beeline for the bar, making shallow comments and passing smiles to the familiar faces as I went. I ordered a beer, propped an elbow on the bar and turned to survey the prospects before me. The usual array of high school friends that had gone their separate ways had realigned themselves with their old school allies, milling around in packs of half a dozen or so bodies. Then surprised, my eyes fell on the far corner of the room. Filling that space alongside the DJâs speakers was Kristy Hamilton and her high school boyfriend, Steve Duran who was evidently also her current boyfriend. âWhat a wasteâ I said to myself. I was surprised to see them there tonight because Iâd never seen them at any of the previous school gatherings; in fact I hadnât seen those two since graduation. As far as I was concerned Kristy was wasted on Steve, he was a first class wanker and Kristy had the best body our school had to offer. She was also brilliant, finishing top of our grade and winning the prestigious Deanâs Scholarship to our countryâs leading university. Steve on the other hand was, in my opinion, borderline autistic and he seemed to think that wearing thick gold chains made his skin turn black and dealing small amounts of pot in the alley behind the mall counted as drug running in South America. What she was still doing with him was far beyond my comprehension; surely the rebellious appeal that counted for something in tenth grade had faded by now.
Over the top of my beer glass I continued to unassumingly stare at Kristy, she did in fact make it very difficult to keep ones eyes off of her. I noticed she was unseasonably lightly dressed in a low-cut, tight and long white skirt that was made incredibly sexy by a long slit that seemed to go nearly all the way up. Her flat stomach was left bare, showing off that controversial belly ring she had gotten in the ninth grade. The top she was wearing was a simple chocolate coloured strapless number that displayed her marvellously full breasts and her small nipples being kept erect by the cold climate. Her unblemished tanned skin and long flowing natural blonde hair made her Nordic pedigree show through in the most delightful way. My purview was suddenly and rudely interrupted by the shrill voice of possibly the most annoying person in the country, certainly in this room, in my ear.
âHey Tommo!â The voice had said.
Only my friends call me âTommoâ was what I wanted to say but instead kept myself to an amicable but disinterested âHey Ben.â
âSo whatâs happening Chief?â He persisted.
âJust enjoying a beer, mateâ
âYeah same here, raginâ party hey?â
âYeah⊠Oh look thereâs Zoe, gotta go say hiâ
Ben snorted his way through a giggle and said, âDonât worry mate, I wonât tell Shannon!â I was already half way across the dance floor before heâd finished the sentence, âDickheadâ I said to myself.
Zoe was a really close friend during school and being without partners at the time weâd gone to our senior Formal together after which she lost her virginity to me. We went out for a couple of months after that but it was never really going to work so we just agreed to disagree on basically everything and broke it off. After reacquainting ourselves with a brief hug and a kiss we found a table to sit at and chatted for a while. Zoe is always interesting but I found my eyes being inexorably pulled toward that corner of the room still filled with that marvellous example of human nature people called Kristy. Zoe wasnât stupid either, she saw where my attention was focused and kindly suggested we invite Kristy over for a drink so that I might get a better view of her tits. I thanked Zoe for always thinking of me and got up and meandered over to her corner, unfortunately Steve was still there as well.
âHey Kristy!â I beamed when I arrived to greet those big round blue eyes. Then, as an afterthought, I nodded in his direction, âSteve.â
âHey Tommo!â She replied in a more than satisfactorily enthusiastic tone, followed by a grunt from Steve that I loosely interpreted as an acknowledgment, it seems he didnât like me much either.
I suggested to Kristy that she should come over to have a catch up drink-or-two with Zoe and I.
âWeâd love tooâ she replied - unfortunately on both of their behalves.
We sat for an hour or so discussing our university courses, new part time jobs, and the good old days. Unfortunately Steve didnât go to uni, nor did he have a job, so in a noble attempt at including him in the conversation I inquired, âAnd howâs the drug trade, Stevo?â Apparently Zoe didnât care for my remark as evidenced by the firm kick she delivered to my right shin. The funny thing is that he took my question seriously and we were treated to about fifteen minutes on the ins and outs of trying to break into the harder drugs market. All very fascinating but my attention was still focused in one place. Steve continued to talk and I continued to steal glances at Kristy as Zoe generously engaged herself in conversation with Steve. It appeared Kristy was also unimpressed by Steveâs rantings as on more than one occasion my glances collided with hers and we locked eyes for a few moments, smiling and rolling our eyes at each other. After a while Kristy and I separated ourselves form Steveâs conversation and inconspicuously began speaking to each other at the other end of the table.
âSo youâre with Shannon now arenât you?â She asked, leaving me wondering how or why she knew this.
âYeah, things are good.â I replied nonchalantly but keeping my eyes locked on hers. âWeâve just moved out together.â
âOh yeah? Steve and I moved out about a year ago andâŠâ she leant closer to whisper, âI have to tell you it was the worst mistake Iâve ever made!â
She had moved close enough for me to smell her scent and I was utterly intoxicated, it took me several seconds to process what she had said. A surprised, âShit!â was all I managed in reply.
âYeahâ she continued to whisper, stealing glances back and forth from her boyfriend, making sure he was still engrossed with Zoe. âHeâs fucking useless, doesnât do dishes, doesnât do clothes, doesnât cook, and doesnât fuck real well either!â
I couldnât help but laugh out loud at her last comment, which immediately drew the attention of Steve and Zoe. Steve looked at his watch and Zoe glared at me as if to say, âStop flirting!â
âWeâre leavinâ babeâ he said, âI gotta pick up a qp.â Dealer-speak for a quarter pound of weed.
Zoe and I looked at each other with contrived expressions and I was pleasantly surprised to hear Kristy say, âNo, fuck off, I want to stay hereâ
âFine then, but donât be callinâ me to come pick you up tonight, Iâll be stayin at Jeffâsâ He replied as he got up and headed for the door.
As if on cue Zoe stood up and declared she was going to the bar to see what the apparently hot bartender had to offer, âIn the way of alcohol of courseâ Zoe feigned to satisfy our quizzical expressions as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and headed toward the bar. From experience I could tell Zoe wasnât prepared to go home alone tonight.