Page 74 of Life of the Party

“Two.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

“Three.”

“Four.”

“Four.” Charlie set down her shot and cheered. A crowd was gathering around us. Alex was sloppily taking bets on who would win. I couldn’t stop laughing at thedisparaging remarks being thrown around the room. First I was the lightweight, then Charlie, and then we were both lightweights, and then the bet changed from one of us winning to either of us even making it past five. I was ramped up with excitement and in the mood to prove them wrong—the mood I was in, I would last all night. I poured us another shot and flipped it back.

“Five.” The crowd cheered.

“Five.” They cheered again for Charlie. There didn’t seem to be a favourite, as long as one of us was shooting back alcohol. I giggled and filled up the shots again, the bottle shaking in my unsteady hand.

“Six.”

“Six.”

Grey came to join us in the now-crowded kitchen. He came and stood behind me, resting his arm lazily around my shoulders. The booze was starting to hit me and I stared up at him, drunk and smiling. He bent down and kissed me. The crowd cheered as he did so, and I was smiling gloriously as I took my next shot.

“Seven.”

“Seven.” Charlie wasn’t backing down. She was talking and laughing and joking but could barely keep her eyes open, she was so drunk. She poured us the next shot, spilling whiskey all over the table as she did so.

“Eight.”

“Eight.” She hiccupped. I lit a cigarette, and my lips were numb as I blew the smoke out.

“Nine.”

“Nine.”

I knew I couldn’t keep this up much longer, but I had to outlast Charlie. I stamped my smoke out in the ashtray and poured our next shot, since she didn’t seem capable of doing it anymore. I swear she was asleep sitting up. Nearly everyone was in the kitchen, pressing in, loud and rowdy around us. Bets were changing rapidly as our motor skills deteriorated. I sat back a moment, a crazy perma-smile on my face. I just couldn’t stop grinning.

“Go for ten.” Grey whispered in my ear. “Come on, you got this.”

Still smiling, I flipped back the shot and swallowed, gulping the strong, burning whiskey. I set the glass down and knew I was done.

“Ten.” My arms were heavy and my vision blurred. I stared across at Charlie as best I could and wondered what she would do.

Everyone was champing her name. Charlie was totally dishevelled, red-eyed and bleary, but still managed to look beautiful. She rested her head weakly on her hand, smiled a moment, and then slumped over. Zack caught her before she fell, but Charlie was definitely out. I had won.

“Winner!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. “Woooooh! Winner!” Everyone was cheering for me. People were high-fiving me like crazy. I laughed and smiled and cheered along with them.

And then I fell off my chair.

One second I was upright and the next I’d fallen. What happened in between, I can’t recall. Everything went black for a moment and then I was on the floor, face down in a pile of laughter, and there was a second of stunned silence while everyone waited to see if I was okay.

“Hey, you all right?” Grey bent over me carefully.

“Winner!” I exclaimed again, this time from the floor. “Winner!”

Cheering and laughter erupted from around the room. I joined in, giggling like crazy. Grey was smiling, his blue eyes twinkling as he picked me up off the linoleum.

“Come on, winner.” He cradled me in his arms. “I think you’ve had enough.”

People were still giving me high-fives as Grey carried me out of the kitchen and down the hallway where it was quiet, away from the party.

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