Looking around cautiously, I walked up to the deck and made my way back inside, making sure May couldn't see me in the process. I made a mental note not to go back to the kitchen, where Jeff no doubt was maintaining his position. Sadly, that was the only place in the house where the sound and commotion was minimal, so I gave up and just sat on an uninhabited chair in the living room. I probably looked lame as all hell, sitting in the corner during a party, but at least it was more peaceful, trying to shut the world out.
"…Adam?" I heard a low voice ask, breaking me out of my trance. "No fucking way. Adam Watson?"
I lifted my head up and had a heart attack. In the middle of the crowd stood Kenny, Thomas and Isaiah, three guys who I knew all too well from middle school. While they never were the masterminds behind my bullying, as all middle school kids tended to do, they followed the leader and bullied me as they saw others do time and time again. They were a grade above me, so I got a years' worth of peace away from them, but I never thought I'd see them again after switching schools. I guess word of mouth got the announcement of a party pretty far.
As they approached me, I prepared for the worst and cringed. This only made Kenny laugh, which reminded me how mean-sounding his natural laugh was.
"Wow. This dude changed!" Thomas commented.
"He lost the fuckin' jewfro." Isaiah noted.
"Looks like he's been hitting the gym too." Kenny commented. "What the fuck are you doing at a place like this, bro?"
I hesitated, waiting to see if one of them would pull a punch or something. All three seemed drunk as hell, but not hostile. I stood up straight and nervously cleared my throat. "D-Dylan invited me. I'm a member of the student council now."
As if on cue, all three of the guys started hooting and hollering. "Woah, dude, you pulled a 180!" Kenny commented. "Looks like you're finally out of the nerd hole. Welcome to where the big boys play, man." He held out his hand. Still nervous, I shook it.
"Man…" Thomas muttered out loud, then went up to me and forcefully threw his hand around me, grabbing my shoulder. "This dude right here…" He loudly and drunkenly slurred. "This is Adam fuckin' Watson. He used to be like the lamest fuckin' dude. And now this shithead is partyin' with the top dogs. We need to get this fucker a beer!" People around him cheered as one person disappeared to the kitchen.
"No, really, guys, I'm…" I trailed off, noticing that through a window to the deck, I had a perfect view of May, and vice versa. With too much noise, she could notice me at any moment. "Uhh, guys, could you keep down the noise?" I added in a worried voice, not taking my eyes off of May.
"Wait…" Isaiah said, trying to process what was going on. "Why?" Through the crowd, someone handed me a beer. Again. I was too tired at this point to protest, so without any plans of even taking a sip, I accepted the can, my eyes still fixed on May.
Kenny's eyes followed mine and looked out the window at May. A grin soon spread across his dark-toned lips. "Oh, man!" He exclaimed, eyes now fixed on May as well. "He's been eyeing' the same chick we have, guys. Adam Watson is a play-aaa!" A chorus of 'Ooo's filled our crowd.
"No, it's not like that." I defended myself. "I don't want to get with her or anything."
"Why are you looking at her so much then?" Isaiah drunkenly challenged me with a grin of his own on his bearded face.
I sighed. For the umpteenth time, I explained the whole situation to a group of people that I probably shouldn't even have. The whole time, the three were at least smiling, blinking slowly. I'm not quite sure why I told them. Perhaps the atmosphere of the party was giving me a contact buzz from all of the drunk people, if that was even possible. When I finished my story, all three of them whooped in unison.
"Dude, fuck her!" Thomas all but yelled.
"What?!" I asked him in disbelief.
"If she acts like that, she's playing hard to get. She wants you to chase her, man. Green light, bro! Get her drunk like… Like right now, and she's ripe for fuckin'!" Thomas explained.
"I have a girlfriend. SHE has a BOYFRIEND." I reasoned.
All three guys looked at each other. "So?" Kenny finally asked. "Fucking is fucking. No one has to know what goes on here tonight, man. That's the beauty of these things."
Isaiah punched me in the arm. "We've been here before, bro." He reasoned. "Fuck her."
"If it's so easy, why don't you guys do it?" I asked.
"Dude…" Isaiah said seriously, making a disapproving face. "We totally could. But you couldn't get any ho here without a pocket fulla X. You need to ease yourself into the culture of these things, and the perfect way to start is with some good old-fashioned sexual tension."
"Plus, we can get any piece of ass we want." Kenny confidently added. To prove his point, he turned his attention back to the crowd. "Hey, Brittany!" He yelled.
A frankly slutty-looking brunette in a tank top whirled her head around to look at him. Kenny made a sex gesture with his hands, pointed upstairs, and showed her a five with his fingers. She grinned and nodded, then turned back to continue whatever she was doing. He turned back around to face me. "See?" He asked as if it were obvious. "We got these bitches 'cause we've been here before. But you need to start slow, bro. You're still kinda geeky."
"You have to fuck her." Thomas agreed, nodding. He pushed his blond hair out of his face.
"Why is it so important that I… f-fuck her?" I asked.
"Because we just told you to." Thomas replied smugly, leaning in close to me and grinning. "You at least have to talk to her, bro. You guys got history. It would suck if you just have to live out your days avoiding eye contact…"
"Fuckin' drama…" Isaiah commented.
"At least pretend you don't hate each other." Kenny added, shrugging. It was like this trio shared the same brain. "We just want you to have a good time, man."
"Two years ago that wasn't the case." I retaliated, folding my arms.
"Is it two years ago?" Kenny asked me. "Fuckin' no it ain't." He broke into yet another grin. "Just go with it and don't look at the past. We're helping' you get your game on, man. You're doing' a pretty bad job of saying thanks."
"Saying th-" I started in disbelief, but I held myself back. I was growing sick of these guys, even if they weren't treating me like they used to. "You know what guys, I will. I'm gonna go talk to her."
The three guys cheered and fist-bumped me in turn. "You won't regret it, man." Isaiah said cheerfully.
"I bet." I laughed. "Well… See you! Enjoy the party."
"Yup." Kenny replied, standing still. "See ya."
I waited for a bit. "Aren't you guys gonna… you know… Mingle? Go see other people? Go screw… What's her name… Brittany?"
"I don't think you're gonna do it." Kenny replied, a smug smile plastered on his face. "Plus Brittany has probably found someone else to fuck by now." He looked around the crowd. "Yup." He said to himself.
Jesus Christ. "Okay, fine, I'm actually doing it. But for the record, and I've wanted to say this for a while, you guys are assholes." I said with a sudden burst of confidence.
"You call us assholes now." Isaiah said in a phony, kind of racist Japanese-sounding voice. "But soon you will learn that we are the Great Teachers." The three guys burst out laughing. I rolled my eyes as I walked towards the deck, the full, unopened beer in my hand.
Why was I doing this? How the hell did the three guys manage to make me do this? It's like they were still bullying me, but found a new tactic to use. I hated everything.