"TRISTAN!"

My name quickly became deafening, and I grinned. While I had never been popular, I was popular among my group of friends. Lee had kept his word, it seemed like. Everyone was shocked when I walked in the door.

I made my way through Easton's house. I felt famous; lots of high fives, hugs. When I got to Easton himself, he was jumping up and down, clearly already inebriated. We did the stereotypical, pull each other into a hug via clasped hands while patting each other's backs greeting, and then grinned at one another.

"My main man Trist!" Easton said just a smidgen too loud. I laughed. "What brought your ugly face back here?"

I laugh again and shove him a little. "Lack of employment, that's what."

Easton is trying so hard to focus his brown eyes on me, but it's impossible. "Well, I'm glad you're here."

I make my way back to where the drinks are; it's always the same setup—hard alcohol and mixers on the dining room table, beer and refrigerated drinks in the kitchen. I'm definitely a beer type of guy, so I make my way to the kitchen, Lee close behind.

Tonight, so far, has been the usual suspects. But as I enter the kitchen, I see my buddy Matt talking with someone I've never seen before. I don't think much of it, but then I find myself doing a double-take and giving him a quick up and down. He looks pretty plain, brown eyes, brown hair, some sort of Caucasian. Average build, jeans and a green t-shirt poking out from beneath a hoodie.

Nothing out of the ordinary, but then I catch his million watt smile. His entire face lit up, and he has dimples in both cheeks. His laugh is pleasant, loud, the sort of laugh that is kind of contagious, and I find myself smiling along with him. For just a moment longer I watch him; his voice isn't low, but it's not exactly high, either. It just is.

I turn around so fast I nearly knock into Lee, who was positioned behind me.

"Who's that?" I ask quickly and quietly.

Lee looks like he's about to smile, but then stops himself. "He's a friend of mine I brought along. Met him in college."

"Here?" I ask, for whatever reason surprised.

"No, at Harvard." Lee rolls his eyes. "Yes here!"

I try not to be rattled but I am. When I don't reply, and I make no effort to move, Lee grabs my arm and begins leading me over. I try to protest, but the kitchen isn't that big, and before I know it I'm standing in front of Matt and mystery guy. I immediately stop my protesting and smile.

"Tristan!" Matt greets, a huge grin on his face. "No way!"

"Hey Matt," I reply with a laugh, and we hug. "Not in jail yet, huh?"

Matt shoves me, laughing. "Fuck off, Tristan. I actually enrolled at AC."

I'm genuinely surprised. "No shit?"

Matt shrugs, taking a swig of beer. "Yeah. Decided I should get my life together."

"That's great," I say, and I mean it genuinely. I had always pictured Matt eventually joining one of those pyramid schemes as a job, or something equally absurd. So I was happy to hear he had enrolled in the community school here, Amarillo College. "Two year program, right?"

"Yeah, and then I'll transfer my credits."

"What're you going for?"

Matt laughs. "I'm just getting the Gen eds out of the way. I'll figure it out once I go to actual college."

"Hey hey hey," Lee barks loudly. "AC is an actual college."

Matt rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean."

Lee looks between Matt and the mystery man. "Wait—do you guys know each other?"

"Yeah," the guy says. "We're in the same math class."

"Oh," Lee says, "then let me introduce Tristan. Tristan, this is David."

"S'up?" David asks, extending his hand.

I don't want to be rude, so I have to stop myself from laughing. The way David greeted me was very awkward. It didn't seem natural at all. So instead I smile a little wider than normal as we shake.

"Tristan. Nice to meet you."

There's a moment of awkward silence. It's weird; I don't know what's making it uncomfortable. So I walk over to the fridge, grab a beer, and begin to enjoy my night.

It's kind of ironic that I was seeking solace from the very thing that broke my heart. But I came here with the intention of not remembering tonight. So one beer turned into two, two turned into three, then five, then eight, and then I was playing beer pong in the attached garage.

I was playing against David. He seemed to be just as drunk as I was. Then again, at this point it seemed like everyone was just as drunk as I was. I really had no idea though, seeing as I couldn't think straight, or hear straight, or concentrate on one thing for too long.

Which was good. That's exactly where I wanted to be tonight. If I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't think of anything. If I couldn't think, I couldn't think of a certain man from a certain band whose name started with 'O'.

I vividly remember at one point saying "fuck that guy", and I think it was about Orion, and I think I was talking to Lee. But then things got muddled in my head; I remember talking to Lee and Matt on the couch. Sprinkled in was more beer pong with David. And I remember having a hard time looking away from his eyes and his smile.

Then I'm talking to Lee again, and he's telling me David isn't straight. But I keep asking him over and over, because I know I'm almost blackout drunk and I don't want to make a pass at someone who's straight. My next memory is talking to David, and we're sitting on the couch.

I'm laughing a lot, and I remember thinking he was the funniest damn person I ever met. Then we're back in the kitchen, and he's stopping me from getting another beer. Memory skips again, and David and I are...somewhere? Bathroom? Closet? But he's all over me, and I can't feel my face, and I'm laughing.

Then he's leading me upstairs, and we're in someone's room. A part of me feels bad for doing what we're doing in someone else's bed. Another part of me feels even worse because I don't think I can do much of anything in this state.

"Do you have a condom?" David asks me, and I really don't know at what point I became dressed in only my briefs and David had become shirtless.

"No, do you?"

And David is laughing, and it makes me think of bells. He's lying next to me, and we're talking, and I'm trying to focus on what the heck it is he's saying, but I can't. At one point I think I may or may not have been crying, and I remember David looking down at me, bending over and kissing my head, telling me softly to go to sleep.

Then nothing.