Chapter 2

Social Butter

          “The party has arrived,” I shouted enthusiastically as I entered with shouts of greeting from a few of my fraternity brothers chilling on the couches in the front room.

          Michael, one of my fraternity brothers jumped up from the couch to greet me holding out his right hand.  I dap him up and pull him in for a bro hug.

          “You got the tickets,” I whispered in his ear hoping no one would hear over the bass.  You see ‘tickets’ is my codeword for edibles and Michael said he’d hook me up with the newest batch tonight.

          “Yeah I do,” he replied secretively as he patted the front pocket of his usual green hoodie with his left hand.  “Meet me in the restroom upstairs once you’re done working the floor.”  With that I nodded and released the embrace.

          Waiting patiently was Michael’s housemate James who is an alumni member of my fraternity.  When I first met him I was super intimidated, because he was definitely the body-building or football player type; African-American, about 6’4”, muscular as all get-out, and covered in tattoos, but he was a total music nerd like me.  In fact, last year he had even released an R&B Album with Conner and Michael.  Crazy shit!

          I dapped up with James as I did with Michael.  He pulled me in for a bro hug.

          “How you doing Steve,” James greeted cheerfully as he released the embrace.

          “Pretty good, bro,” I responded.  “Just living it up before it’s time to fail my finals.”

          “Bro, you’ve got this, man,” James comforted, “you’re a fucking legend.”

          It’s true, my brothers and friends saw me as legendary in the party scene.  I was invited to every single party that was thrown and was a star at each and every one of them.  I could certainly hold my alcohol.

          I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see who was trying to get my attention.  It was Elaina, and she had a stern expression.

          “I’m just reminding you not to get to crazy,” she said looking down into my eyes.

          “I won’t this time,” I reassured her with a smirk, “I swear.”

          “I’ll be watching,” she said as she turned away and walked into the kitchen where there was another conversation circle happening.

          As Elaina was confronting me I couldn’t help but notice a girl I didn’t recognize talking to Conner’s girlfriend Grace in the corner of the room.  This girl was pretty good looking, especially with the buzz of my pregame radiating through my system.  She was about 5’7” give or take, plus she was wearing 3” platform heels, making her roughly the same height as me.  She had beautiful bobbed auburn hair that landed at about the top of her shoulders and a nice face with green eyes and a reasonably pointed chin.

          I grabbed my shot glass which I had concealed in my hoodie pocket and headed into the kitchen to get some whiskey which Conner and I had split the pay on.  As I entered the kitchen I’d have to be blind not to see the 6’5” Conner leaning on the corner of the counter talking to Lauren, another one of our drum captains who regularly DDed for parties as she is an RA.  I had had a thing for Lauren in the past but she was taken at the time, I understand why.  She was about 5’4” with an athletic build and long straight platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.  Her skin kissed by the sun and her personality was amazing, she was the type that could literally converse with anyone.  

I needed to get some more alcohol in my system so I approached the two confidently, ready to spark up a conversation.

          “Hey Stephen,” Conner enthusiastically greeted as I walked up to him.

          “Oh, hey Stephen,” Lauren also greeted with a smile, turning to face me.

          “Yo guys,” I returned.  “How was y’all’s last day of classes?”

          “I mean, mine went okay,” Conner replied, “just two tests.  I hate how professors assign tests right before finals though, like for real, what’s even the point?”

          “No clue bro,” I responded.  I looked to Lauren expectant of a response.

          “My last day was very easy,” Lauren replied with a smile, “my only class on Friday is Marching Band and since performance season is over I had a free day.”

          “What, no way,” Conner returned, amused and bewildered.

          “That’s crazy,” I said with the same genuine response.

          “That’s lucky scheduling for you,” Lauren said cheerfully.

          After hearing Lauren I turned to Conner and said bluntly, “so I saw this girl over in the living room talking to Grace who I haven’t met and I am going to need some of my Social Butter.”

          “Say no more fam,” Conner said as he reached behind his body on the counter retrieving a half-sized bottle of Jack Daniels that was missing a small amount.  He gestured for me to hand him my shot glass.

          “I see you’ve already had a little bit,” I joked as I watched him fill my shot to the top.

          “Yes I have,” he replied, “actually hold up a second.  I want to shoot the shit with you.”

          “Damn, alright,” I said.  I loved drinking with Conner, it gave me another way to bond with a man who was both my big in band and a fraternity brother.  He finished pouring himself a shot and gestured for me to move to the center of the room.

          I complied, as a few people in the room let out a cheer of my name “STEPHEN!”  I was very well liked as the life of the party.

          Conner and I locked arms at the elbow in the middle of the kitchen and a chant rang out.

          “SHOOT THE SHIT!  SHOOT THE SHIT!”

          Conner counted down, “3… 2… 1… Shoot!”

          I felt the familiar burn of the whiskey as it was fired down my throat.  The crowd erupted into a roar of cheers and Conner and I proceeded to give out the avalanche of fist-bumps, high fives, and daps that came after somebody shot the shit.

          Feeling the whiz of the alcohol I decided it was time to go meet the girl in the next room.  As I proceeded to the doorway I was greeted by Kim and Grace, the girlfriends of Conner and one of his housemates Timmy.

          Kim was Timmy’s girlfriend.  She was a flirty, friendly 5’7” brunette who was the same year as myself.  We had a lot in common.  She had gone to high school in the same county as me but we hadn’t met until we got to college where we were in the same orientation group.

          Grace was Conner’s girlfriend.  Like myself she majored in music, so we saw each other a lot.  She is about 6’1” with a beautiful muscular build boasting a singing voice which could charm a rattlesnake.  She has a very up front personality and is really fun, but also very honest about things.  Grace has long, straight golden-blonde hair that lies at about her shoulder blades and gorgeous green eyes.

          “Hey Stephen,” Kim greeted as she came toward me, arms outstretched for a hug.

          “Hi Kim,” I returned the greeting as we embraced.  I could smell a mixture of alcohol and a sweet perfume as we held each other close.

          “Always good to see you,” we said at the same time.  With a laugh she said “Jinx.”

          I moved over to talk to Grace.

          “Hey Grace,” I said looking up to her gaze.

          “Hey Stephen,” she greeted, “how are you?”

          “I’m doing pretty okay,” I responded, “I’m really glad classes are over.”

          “Oh yeah.  Me too!”

          “So, if you don’t mind me asking,” I started, “who was that girl you were just talking to in the living room?”

          “Oh, that’s Micky,” she returned, “it’s funny.  I thought you two would’ve known about each other.  She was Conner’s band little before you.”

          “Really,” I inferred.

          “I can go introduce you if you’d like,” Grace offered.

          “That would actually be really helpful,” I said with appreciation as I looked over and saw Micky walking in our direction.  My heart jumped, she looked more beautiful than before.