"Nothing," I told him, unconsciously resting a hand on his leg. As I looked around, I realized this was turning out to be rather lame as far as parties went though. There were eight of us in all, and everybody seemed rather inclined to break into our little groups and talk amongst ourselves. I thought about grabbing Rick and pulling him back to the bedroom. I was certainly horny enough, but I thought I might like to have a little fun first. After all, this was supposed to be a PARTY!
Forgetting my earlier decision to abstain from wishing, I reached down and grabbed the rock. "I wish some more people would show up," I whispered. There was a flash of light, and I felt the now familiar warmth. How many wishes had I made today anyway? I really couldn't remember, partially from my inebriated state, and partially because I wasn't sure I cared. That might also be because I'm drunk, I thought with a chuckle.
"Seriously," I heard a voice beside me. I turned and saw Rick looking at me over his bottle of beer. I immediately smiled. I wanted him so bad right now! "What is so funny?" He finally finished. He had a curious look on his face. "Why do you keep laughing?"
I was about to answer when the doorbell rang. Apparently caught off guard, Jill stepped away from her little clique and headed over to the door. She opened it. Thankfully the sudden noise had taken Rick's attention off of the question. I almost told him exactly why I kept laughing! The realization only made me laugh again.
"Can I help you?" I heard Jill ask.
"We heard there was a party here," I heard a masculine voice say. I wonder if he's hot? I thought. Wow, I really am turning into a slut! Look out Rosie!
"I wish Jill would agree to let them in," I whispered, once again clutching at the stone. I could see the look on her face as she glanced back at the group, and it looked like she might turn them away. I really didn't want that to happen. If we were gonna party, then we were gonna party! A moment later, she opened the door and four more people stepped in. There were two girls and two guys. The men, and they were definitely men! I thought with a sigh, looked like they were in their mid twenties. The girls could have been anywhere from my age to twenty. They all looked like they were ready to have a good time.
Thank God! I'd started to think we were just gonna sit here talking all night!
The newcomers looked at us and introduced themselves. "I'm Rob," the first one said. He was the hot one in the group, and for a moment I completely forgot about Rick. He had short brown hair and dark blue eyes. He was wearing a rather worn out looking white wife beater that gave a pretty good idea of his muscle definition, and a tight pair of blue jeans. He was holding a couple of bags. "This," he continued, "Is my girlfriend Violet." Violet was a definite Goth. She had long black hair and extremely pale skin. She was thin and dressed in a rather tattered looking black dress and matching boots. Her emerald eyes had the perpetually glazed look of somebody who'd done a little too much pot. She waved and smiled. Rob, whom my attention was continuously drawn back to, moved on to the next guy. His name was Tom. He was a little bit bigger around the belly. Not obese as such, just a little overweight. He was shorter than Rob by about three inches with long blond hair and a matching beard and mustache.
"Hey all," he said softly.
"And finally," Adonis continued, "This is Maggie." He pointed out a rather mousy looking girl with short red hair and freckles. She was a little more full figured then Violet, more of a body type match for Rosie. She didn't say anything, but simply nodded instead. "We live a couple of blocks over," he told us. "We were on our way home when we saw these guys show up with beer," he gestured at Bill and Gina. "Thought we'd stop by and see if we could contribute."
"Well, welcome," Jill said. It was clear she felt a little awkward. She looked down at the bag. You can put the drinks in the fridge," she told them, and went back over to Jim and Rosie.
For a moment, I didn't think it was going to work. I'd gotten the people here, but it seemed as though everybody was gonna continue forming their own little communities. I was about to make another wish when I watched Rob walk over to Bill, who was busy changing out CDs. "Hey," he said casually. "What we listening to now?"
"Got some Manson I'm gonna play," Bill said, setting the disc on the tray. He let it slide into the player and turned it up a little.
"Gotta play it louder than that," Rob said, cranking the volume. He took a long swig from his bottle. The music felt like it was gonna shake this ratty little home apart. This was awesome! I looked over at Rick, who was beginning to look a little unsettled again. I rolled my eyes. What a fucking buzz kill! I thought. Sure, he was cute as hell, but it didn't seem like he had a fun bone in his body.
Well, maybe one fun bone, I thought with a smile. I stood up. "I'm gonna get another drink," I told him, purposely leaning down and offering him a nice view of my cleavage. "You want one?"
"No thanks, still got this one," he told me, holding his bottle up. It's still half full! I rolled my eyes, not really caring whether he noticed or not. I started toward the kitchen and nearly fell over when I ran into Rob. I looked up at him, pulling away a little slower than I probably should have. I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that," I gushed.
"No prob," he told me, and then he returned to his conversation with Bill. Things were starting to shape up, I thought with a rather self satisfied smile. I smiled back and continued to watch him for a moment as I continued on, and that's when I bumped into Violet. She had a rather scornful look on her face. I swayed a little as I pulled back, trying to hold my balance, but finding it difficult.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"You think I didn't see that?" She asked me in a rather confrontational tone.
I didn't like that one bit. "See what?" I asked forcefully.
"The way you were all over Rob just now," she said. She cocked an eyebrow, and I recognized the look of challenge in her eyes. "I'll say this once," she said in her soft voice, "Stay the fuck away from him. If you so much as lay a finger on him I'm gonna put my foot so far up your skanky little ass you'll be choking on the laces." Her point apparently made, she returned to the conversation with Rosie that she'd apparently broken away from to issue her threat.
"Fuck you," I whispered. At least, I thought as I tried to push the confrontation from my mind, It looks like people are starting to mingle a little. Rosie, Psycho Bitch, and Tom were all laughing, drinking, and having a good time. Even Jenny had found somebody to talk to in Maggie, who kept on casting me odd looks every so often. Jim and Jill were still talking, and it looked like there might actually be some chemistry brewing there.
"Way to go sis," I said softly. Glancing back at Rob the Greek God, and catching the snippy little look that the Ice Queen gave me when she noticed, I saw that he, Gina, and Bill seemed to be having a good time too. I couldn't really hear what anybody was saying because Marilyn Manson was too busy singing about all the beautiful people, but it looked like things were getting interesting. I was about to grab another beer when I noticed the small bottle of Tequila in the fridge. Why not? I thought, taking the bottle out. I was gonna grab a glass from the cupboard when I decided to throw caution to the wind. I opened the bottle and took a long swig. It burned my throat going down and warmed my body. A couple of people had turned to look at me, but nobody really seemed to be paying attention.
"Might wanna pace yourself a little Nat," Jenny said from her chair. Okay, so maybe one person was paying attention. I smiled at her.
"I'm fine," I finally said. As the fog in my mind grew thicker, I found that words were coming a little slower, although they were still arriving a hell of a lot faster than complete sentences. "I " I what? What was I gonna say? I dug in my mind. Tequila's strong I thought with a smile. I'll bet Rob's strong too, I mean, those arms. I started to think about what it might feel like to be wrapped in them.
"Nat?" I came back to reality when I heard my name. I looked and saw Jenny staring at me. On her face was a look that fell somewhere between confusion and all out laughter. Next to her the other new girl Maggie I recalled was wearing a similar expression. There was something else in her eyes that I couldn't quite grasp.
I nodded. "Yes," I said firmly.
"You were saying something?" the young blond asked, exchanging a glance with the red-head.
"I certainly was," I answered, turning toward the fridge again. I grabbed a beer, wondering when I would really start to feel the effects of the drinking. As far as I was concerned I was just fine. I headed back toward the living room. I stopped when I saw Violet. I turned and made my way over to her. I tapped her on the shoulder, and when she turned I glared at her. At least I think I was glaring. "You should You just need ta shut the fuck up," I told her.
She gave me a rather dismissive look. I was going to press the matter when I saw Rosie looking at me. She shook her head. I smiled and shook my head back. What a fun greeting! Completely forgetting about anything else, I walked back toward the couch. On my way, I saw Rob pull something out of his pocket. It was a small baggie. Bill was looking at it with approval, and Gina seemed interested as well.
I like Gina, I thought rather randomly.
I watched as Rob opened the baggie. He produced, what looked like two cigarettes, and handed one over to Bill. Bill didn't waste any time. I watched as he lit it and took a long drag. I noticed another aroma in the air, and realized it was the same thing I'd smelled when I'd walked into the place.
"That's pot!" I shouted, giggling afterward. Rob gave me a rather amused look and Bill and Gina smiled. I was laughing so hard I almost fell over.
Then I did.
"Dropped my beer," I said quickly, explaining the current situation as I fumbled around for the unopened bottle. Picking it up, I started to get up. That was about as far as I got in that particular endeavor. My legs and arms must have been getting tired, I reasoned, as though the term reason could be applied to anything going through my mind right now. Finally I looked up and saw Rob reaching down. I grabbed his hand and was yanked back to my feet. I stumbled for a moment, thinking I should probably take my heels off, looked down and realized I already had, and looked back up at him. Our eyes met.
"Got your beer back?" He asked with a smile, looking down at the green bottle in my hand.
"Yep," I said, once again nodding with authority. When I looked down at my hand I realized it was gone again. "Hey, where'd it go?" I whined.
"Other hand," Rob offered, trying not to laugh. I looked over and sure enough it was there.
"Excellent," I opined.
He shook his head. "How rude of me," he finally said. "You want a hit?" He held the joint up, but I completely failed to put two and two together.
"Don't like violence," I told him firmly, opening my beer. I felt like I could drink at this pace all night, and at the rate things were going, it probably wouldn't affect me a bit.
"I mean this," he said, offering me the joint.
I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever smoked pot in my life, but the way my body was reacting told me that it was probably an occasional indulgence. I was pretty sure that Jon had never done it, but the subsequent wishes I'd made tonight had already altered other parts of my life. The wish I'd made to be more comfortable around Jill's friends had altered my personality, so maybe I had. I thought I could remember doing it once or twice with Bill and Gina, but my already erratic memories were extremely out of focus. I was probably just getting tired.
Before I had time to consider this, I already had the tip between my lips. I took a long drag, pulling the thick, acrid smoke into my lungs. I instinctively held it there for a time before releasing it. I coughed a little when I exhaled, and I could feel my eyes watering a little.
"Wow," I whispered. I took one more long drag before I handed it back to him.
"Good stuff, huh?" he asked, taking his own drag.
I nodded, and the world seemed to slow down. I could see the blur of moment, almost like an aura as he shifted his attention back to Bill and Gina. Out of curiosity I reached out and tried to touch it. "Whoa," I whispered. My fingers passed right through it, like magic. I waved my hand around the weird distortion.
Before I knew it, I was sitting next to "Rick!" I remembered.
"Yeah?" he asked.
I looked at him for a moment. "Did whoa," I paused, "Did you just read my mind?" I stared at him in awe. I'd never had my mind read before, and I was impressed and worried.
"No," he said slowly, shaking his head, "You said Rick."
"Did I?"
"Yes."
"Cool," I told him, taking a long drink from my bottle. I could see several of the others dancing now. Even Jenny had come into the living room to join Bill, Rob, and Gina.
"She's not cool," I said firmly, shaking my head. "You think?" I looked at Rick. He looked confused, and I added his inability to follow a simple conversation to the list of flaws.
"What?" He asked, setting his beer down.
I lit a real cigarette, "So you think she is?" I asked indignantly. I couldn't believe he was siding with her.
"Who are you talking about?" he asked, turning to face me.
"First of all, don't turn so fast," I told him, "the blur is really hard on the eyes. Second, aren't you listening?" When he didn't answer, I gave him a hint. "Violet," I told him quietly. "She is such a " I tilted my head to look at her, "Bitch," I finally finished. I looked over at him. Apparently he was stupid too. "I... feel sorry for..." I paused. Why were names so rad to remember. "Rob," I finally said. "He could do so much... bed... better," I started, stammering over my words, "She's such a... such a..." What was I saying? "Slut," I finally finished, "and he's so hot."
I didn't even notice I'd picked up the rock, didn't notice I was holding it in my hand when I looked at Rick and said, "For God's sake Rick, I wish "
