Carolyn heard the knock then saw the brightly colored sheet of paper slide under her door and got up from her desk to get it. She stood there reading it as she finished getting dressed for classes. It was an end of term PJ party for the dorm only and it would be her first party with strangers since leaving home. She was excited by the idea of hanging around with the girls she shared her dorm house with, so many she had barely even seen since she got there. It sounded like a good break to the steady and constant studying and homework schedule she had been on. Working part time at the ice cream shop to afford things, left her little or no personal time to enjoy for herself.
She turned and looked at her pajamas and hoped they'd be okay for the party. She bought them for comfort, not for their looks, but it didn't state what kind, so she hoped they'd have to do and other girls wore some the same. It was hard fitting in and college wasn't any different than high school. Her best friends were books and the girls she did befriend, were just casual acquaintances at best. The last party she had been to was for a neighbor down the street from her and she was fourteen. Six years of mostly solitude had left her with little social skills, but this was a chance to be with girls and young women like her, ones finally leaving home and learning about the world on their own.
She finished getting ready and got her backpack full of books, leaving the invite on her desk and wore a smile of expectant fun about tomorrow night. It was enough that she could barely concentrate in her classes and was glad they were finally over. She dumped her pack beside the desk and picked up the flier again. B.Y.O.B. and a request to bring something to eat was in bold letters, so it was important she contribute. Drinking was something she had only done with her parents at family dinners and her nineteenth birthday. It was the worst birthday ever, having too much to drink and found herself spending most of the night hugging the toilet and unable to more from it. The headache and hangover reminded her that she should never drink like that again.
It was hard for her to decide what booze to buy and went across the hall to Lynette Graham's room. She seemed to be more of a social person in the house and she would know what to buy that the girls would like drinking. She could hear music playing, but there were other sounds that she couldn't quite make out. She knocked and the muffled sounds stopped.
"Who is it?"
"Hi Lynette, it's Carolyn."
The sounds of movement could be heard and then the voice was closer to the door.
"What's up?"
"I was wondering about the party tomorrow night and wanted to ask your opinion on some things."
"Oh, well, okay, just hang on a sec and let me straighten up a bit and put something on."
Carolyn was a bit surprised to find she was naked or in some sort of undress and never imagined it herself, not with her roommate. She always felt a bit uncomfortable being in the room with her alone when she was changing, the way she looked at her openly and didn't just turn away. The sound of a drawer opening and something tossed in quickly was heard, then shut with a slam. The door was unlocked and Lynette opened it, wearing a robe and fixing her hair back.
"Hi, hope I wasn't interrupting you?"
"No, no, just enjoying a little personal time alone."
"Oh, yeah, I know what you mean. I don't get much of that myself with Kelsey."
"So, come on in and tell me what you want to know about the party."
"Yeah, okay, thanks."
Carolyn sat in the old arm chair and Lynette sat on the edge of her bed and crossed her legs. Carolyn couldn't help but see the bare thighs and where they joined up. She averted her eyes and Lynette caught the movement. She looked down and noticed her robe wasn't covering her like she thought.
"Oh, sorry. Little pussy flash between friends."
Carolyn blushed even more.
"Yeah, kinda saw the whole thing."
Lynette moved so her legs were crossed and smiled at Carolyn with a bit of a cockiness.
"Nice looking pussy if I do say so myself."
Carolyn really blushed hard at that and Lynette laughed.
"If you say so. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about the booze and food thing on the invite."
"Okay, what do you want to know?"
"Okay, well, first off, I'm not a drinker, but I wanted to buy something that the other girls would like. I mean, I'll have maybe a drink, maybe two, but no more, that's my limit."
"Ah, bit of a lightweight, huh? That's okay, no sweat. What to buy? Well, can't go wrong with vodka and there's some really nice ones out there, flavored ones. Or, you could get a liqueur and we can do shots. Yeah, that would be better. Someone always brings vodka, so we'll have lots to make for shooters."
"Shooters? What are they?"
"Seriously? You don't know what shooters are?"
"No, really. I told you I'm not a drinker, so I don't really know any drinks or even what booze there is to buy."
"Okay, I can dig that. Bit of a strict upbringing? Parents go on about the evils of alcohol and shit?"
"No, they're okay with it. It was just my first time and I drank too much and spent the night throwing up in the toilet. Not a very fun way to spend your birthday."
"Yeah, no shit. Made the long distance call to God did you?"
"What do you mean?"
"When you were hugging the bowl and in between hurls, you'd keep asking God to make it stop and you'd never do it again if he only made it stop and go away."
Carolyn looked down and nodded, admitting that's what she had done.
"Hey, been there, seen it and done it myself enough times. I've called enough, I have a direct line to him now."
That had Carolyn ease up and not feel so bad about throwing up, finding a smile and a little laugh.
"Well, I'd rather not have to call him that way again, you know what I mean?"
"Oh yeah. Anyway, just take it easy and if you pace yourself and have a drink every hour, you'll be fine. Your body can absorb it and be back to normal by the next one."
"Yeah, I guess. Maybe I did drink too fast the last time. I was already feeling pretty good after the second one. I should have stopped there and waited until I had another one."
"How many did you have?"
"Five. The last one went down and not long after that, they all started coming back up and didn't stop until nothing was left in me."
"Helluva a way to cleanse the system, huh? I've done a few of those. Lost some much needed weight that way and fit into my clothes when I needed to."
"You drank so you would throw up and lose weight"
"Well, yeah. Better than a finger down my throat. At least I have a good buzz and enjoy myself before I do the recycle bit."
"You lost me, what recycle bit?"