One of my favorite parts of the school year was probably that first weekend. People are excited to be back. They want to cut loose with people they might not have seen all summer. Sophomore year, to celebrate being in our new house and out of the dorms, we had hosted a house party. It was small that first year, just us and a couple friends and a case of beer and snacks. The next year we had maybe a dozen friends and/or significant others stop by throughout the night. By the next morning, bottles were strewn everywhere and people were scattered throughout the house, in beds, on couches, and even a couple on the floor.
This year though we planned for something at least that big, if not bigger. Preparations were complete. Jake, one of my roommates, had gotten a sound system set up earlier in the week. One trip to Costco and then a liquor store later and we had all the supplies we would need. All told we had snacks, a keg, a couple cases of beer, a couple cases of soda, and a couple handles vodka, rum, and tequila.
Invites went out, word spread, and Friday night came along. The party had been going for a while and more and more people were trickling in. I was sitting on one of the couches talking to Jake when two girls walked in that I didn't recognize.
Pointing towards the newcomers, I asked him, "Do you know who those two are?"
He scratched his chin, "Hmm, no. I wonder who invited them."
I studied them and decided they were freshmen. They just stood in the foyer for a minute looking a little hesitant. Upperclassmen usually walked right in, confident enough at least to find the drinks. These two just looked around. Finally the shorter one seemed to recognize somebody, and the two of them made their way to Eric, one of my other roommates. Shorty was bottle blonde and dressed for a night out. She wore heels to make up for her height and a low cut dress. Shorty perked up, relieved to find someone she recognized in Eric. The two of them talked animatedly for a while.
Meanwhile Shorty's friend just sort of stood there. It always seemed to happen that way. Eric invited Shorty to the party, but Shorty wouldn't come unless she had a friend come with her. No way the shy one would have come to a party if it wasn't for her friend dragging her along.
Shorty's friend caught my eye. Taller than her friend, and slight of build, she was dressed more conservatively in a tight fitting t-shirt, capri pants, and a pair of flip flops. If I was being honest with myself, she was the cuter of the two. She had pale skin and shoulder length strawberry blond hair. Capri's stood there, one arm across her chest, her other hand twisting her hair around a finger. It was clear this wasn't exactly her idea of fun, but she was being a good sport. I decided to say 'hi'.
Walking over to their little group, "Hey Eric, who are your new friends?" They turned to me.
"Yo Sean, let me introduce you to Willow," he pointed to shorty. Willow smiled at me. "Willow and I have physiology together. I told her about the party and she decided to come....and bring her friend Haley."
I gave my broadest smile. Holding out my hand, I shook each of their hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Raising my eyebrow, "Can I get you two anything to drink?"
Eric had an answer ready, "Just grab me a beer."
I pointed to Willow, "Uh...a beer sounds good to me."
"Haley, what about you?" I asked.
She looked down for a moment, "Um...I don't know."
"C'mon. I'll show you what we have to choose from. I'm going to need a helping hand anyway," I told her.
She seemed to relax a little bit. I walked towards the kitchen and she followed. Dodging past a couple people chatting in the hallway we stepped into the kitchen. To one side there was a game of beer pong going. However our focus was on the counter top. On it was an array of booze bottles, cups, shot glasses, cocktail shakers,, and cans of soda. On the floor on the other side was our keg and a cooler with ice. Haley seemed a little in awe of it all.
"So Haley, honest question. Has a freshman like you had alcohol before?" I asked her.
She gave a small smile. "Well, after prom I had a couple beers, but that's it. This is my first real party," she said looking around her, still a little overwhelmed. "Wait...how did you know I was a freshman?" She looked up at me.
"Freshman just...have a certain bearing about them. After a while you just know. Okay, so your first real party means celebrations, and celebrations mean shots," I declared.
"Wait, well...okay. Are you sure?" she asked.
"Of course I'm sure. Now you haven't had a shot before, so you are going to need a chaser. Shots can burn, so you'll need something a little softer to sooth. I'll make you a rum and coke. Trust me. I make the best," I told her.
"If you say so," she said skeptically. "So what all is in a rum and coke...besides rum and coke?"
"Well, if you go to a shitty bar that's what they would want you to believe, but *I* add a little bit more love," I winked at her. Grabbing a shaker from the counter, I got to work on her drink. I worked my way around the kitchen gathering ingredients. Popping them into the shaker, I mixed them up and poured it into a cup with ice.
Handing it to her, I told her, "Take a sip."
She looked at it, and gave it a sniff. Deciding there wasn't anything objectionable, she took a sip. She pondered it for a moment, then beamed a smile at me, "That's...actually delicious."
"Of course it is, I made it. If you make one yourself, make sure to add some like and mint if you have it. Now let's get those shots." I grabbed a couple shot glasses and placed them down in front of me. "Now we've got three possible options: Rum, vodka, or tequila. Personally I like vodka for straight shots, so we'll do that for your very first."
At this point she had settled on a stool, "If you say so."
"I know so. Okay, now do it quick. If you sip at it it's going to burn even more. Just follow my lead and have your chaser ready," I told her.
Pouring the shots, I handed one to her. She looked nervously at it. Holding up three fingers between us, I counted us down. 3-2-1 clink and we downed the shots. I say downed the shots, but that isn't quite the case. I didn't have any issue, but Haley stopped halfway, coughed and finished it with a pained look on her face. She let out a big breath. I pointed to her drink in her other hand and eagerly she gulped at it. I had to laugh a little inside. I know I was the same way with my first shot.
Looking up at me, she smiled, a little embarrassed. She definitely seemed more relaxed than earlier. "That was...a lot."
"It can be your first time, but you did well," I told her, "Now let's see if we can get some drinks for Eric and Willow."
I poured some cups of beer from the keg. Handing a cup to Haley, we made our way back to the front of the house. The house had gotten pretty crowded at this point, as more and more people were trickling in. We looked around until we spotted Eric and Willow sitting on one of the couches. Handing off the drinks, Haley and I found a spot behind the couch to chat.
In short order I found out quite a bit about her: she was a townie, she and Willow live in the same dorm, she was double majoring in bio and public health, she was applying to work at the student union. I even invited her to our tailgate for the first football game of the year next weekend.
"Yeah, we get together before pretty much every game, grill out, have a few beers...and then go into the stadium to watch us lose," I said, "Maybe this year will be better, but I doubt it."
"That sounds like fun actually," Haley confessed, "I'll see if Willow would want to come. Hey, do you want to go get some more drinks? It's getting a little crowded in here, and I'm getting low." She shook her cup, now just with ice.
"Yeah, hold on," we left Eric and Willow behind as the two of us worked our way towards the kitchen.
The kitchen had fewer people much to our relief. My friend Joey had made himself the de facto bartender behind the counter. The two of us made our way there.
"Hey Joey! Could you get me another beer," and turning to Haley, "And refill my fine friend's rum and coke?"
She nodded, "That would be great."
While we were waiting for the drinks I grabbed a bowl and poured out some snack mix. Offering it to Haley, she picked out a handful and started munching away.
"Here you go little lady," he said handing over her drink, "And for you." Joey looked at me as Haley turned away, and raised his eyebrow questioningly. I gave a grin and shrugged. Joey rolled his eyes and mouthed, 'Good luck'.
Haley eyed the game of beer pong, "So how exactly is that played?"
I explained, "It's a simple game at its core. Throw the ball into the other team's cups. Do it better than the other team, and you win. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's it really." Turning towards her I asked, "Do you want to give it a shot?"
She twisted her hair around one finger again, thinking about it. "Okay, let's do it."
"That's the spirit. We've got the next spot in the queue!" I called out.
