“Well, who do we have here?” Brett says as he puts his arm around my shoulder. I roll my eyes just as Zeke wraps his arm around my waist.
“Now what’s a mousey little thing like you doing at a party?” Brett whispers in my ear.
“I’ve been here for not even five minutes and you’re already bothering me,” I deadpan.
“We can always spot what's out of place,” Zeke smirks.
“Oh, fuck you,” I snap. “Go bother someone else.” They both chuckle before walking away.
“Do you want to mingle with me?” she asks.
“No. I’m going to just people watch,” I say.
“That’s actually fun,” she laughs. “I’m going to mingle.”
I nod as she walks off. Most of the time, I’m okay with being by myself. I’ll get lonely but it passes, and I go back to being content as an introvert.
“I don’t normally see pretty girls sitting alone,” a guy says from beside me.
“Me? Oh. I was forced to be here,” I laugh nervously.
“Ah, I see,” he says. “My name is Fisher.”
“Alice,” I say with a smile. He turns his body to me and nods in Kaylee’s direction.
“Is she your friend?”
“Yeah,” I say, turning to look at Kaylee. She is laughing with some girls telling a story. I can tell because she talks with exaggerated hand gestures.”
“And she left you here all alone?” he asks with a devious smile. He is standing so close that I can smell his expensive cologne. I get bad vibes from this guy, so I turn and grab my cup before standing.
“Not alone,” I say. “I need to catch up with her.” As I turn, I run straight into Zeke, and I drop my cup.
“Oops,” Zeke smiles.
“Seriously?” I ask with a deadpan expression. When I turn, Fisher is gone. Thank God for Zeke being annoying. That guy creeped me out.
“Who was your friend?” Brett asks.
“Not my friend,” I say. “Weird guy who was annoying. What do you two want?”
“Come sit with us,” he says. “Kaylee is joining us too.” I look past them and Kaylee waves me over.
“Fine,” I frown.
“I’ll even get you another drink,” Zeke says. I watch as he steps away, grabs a clean cup, and fills it from the keg. Zeke turns and hands it to me with a smile. “For you, my lady.”
“Thanks,” I say. When I grab the cup, he doesn’t let go immediately.
“Don’t you ever take your eyes off your drinks again,” Zeke says in a shockingly stern voice that stuns me for a second.
“O-okay,” I stutter.
“I’m serious, Alice. You are fucking lucky I have no interest in seeing you get hurt.” I stare at him confused. My drink was always beside me. I only looked at Kaylee for a second and my hand was on my drink. His dramatic outburst is so confusing. Even more so when he softens again and smiles. “Come on.”
When we get over to a larger group, I see Kaylee and she smiles at me. I give her a confused look and she flashes her phone at me. I pull mine out as Zeke pulls me down to sit between him and Brett.
Kaylee: Zeke saw that douche drug your drink. Please keep an eye on your drink. If you ever question it, just get a new one. Don’t let people get you drinks unless you see it’s a new cup and it comes straight from the keg