C H A P T E R   S E V E N
drunken nights

pearl:
to drive the nose of the board into the water to slow down.

"Jessa please, we have to hurry up! Miranda is going to be here in a couple of minutes." I say as she was currently wrapping my golden blonde locks against the hot curling iron.

"Ainsley, I'm sure Miranda won't mind if were a couple of minutes late. It's your birthday after all and I want to make you look stunning." She says releasing the curl before applying a spritz of hair spray. "Okay all done!" She says spinning me around to face the mirror.

My long blonde hair hung over my shoulders, cascading down the side of my body. My tight black cocktail dress hugged all my curves perfectly, showing off my hourglass figure. My makeup, which Jessa did highlighted all of my facial features especially my bright blue eyes, which popped against the gold and brown eye shadow.

Jessa, on the other hand, was wearing a tight long sleeve white dress, her shoulder length blonde hair was straightened and framed her face. Her bright green eyes are almost electric due to the black background of eyeshadows.

The car horn echoes through the house as we scramble for our purses and shoes. Once downstairs I grab my red lipstick and apply it in front of the mirror in the front hallway. Just then another loud honk from outside rings through the house as place the lipstick tube back in my purse.

Jessa opens the door as the cool breeze blows against my body making me shiver as I close the door behind us. Miranda's white Honda Civic is siting in the driveway. Inside an impatient Miranda is typing furiously on her illuminated phone screen.

"Finally what took you guys so long? I was about to leave without you" Miranda's says placing the gear in drive before speeding down the street. "So I was thinking about heading to the tiki hut, what do you guys think?"

The tiki hut was another name for a party house which often hosted parties every weekend. High schoolers from all around the area would flock over to this house to engage in underage drinking and other activities which I avoided taking part in.

"Sounds good with me." I say as Miranda's quickly makes a right hand turn. "I can't even remember the last time I went out to a house party, let alone the last time I got drunk."

"Ains, you were drunk just last weekend at the beach party. Clearly you drank too much you couldn't even remember that." Miranda points out.

My two friends and I burst into laughter at that comment and that's how the rest of the ride went. We'd laugh at the randomness of things and would sing to our favourite songs at the tops of our lungs.

Once we finally arrived at the house it was around ten-thirty and my throat was already sore from all the prior singing, or should I say screaming. From the outside I could already tell that it was was going to be packed by the amount of cars which lined the street.

Guys were leaned up against the exterior of the house with beer bottles in one hand and girls in the other. And then there were those few, the ones who have had way to much to drink, they were sprawled out along the concrete.

After finding a parking spot about half a block away we made our way into the house. Green lights were shining around the dark room as music was blaring through the speakers overhead. The makeshift dance floor was filled with people "dancing".

Jessa grabbed mine and Miranda's hand and dragged me over to the kitchen where a makeshift bar was set up. The bartender finished serving t other partygoers and then asked us what we would like to drink. "Start us off with two rounds of shots." Jessa says over the music as we take a seat in the red padded chairs.

The bartender places two shot glasses in front of each of us. I look towards Miranda and Jessa. They both shout out "happy birthday Ainsley." As the grab their shot glasses and down the contents.

Here's to my birthday. I think in my head before following their lead. The liquid burns its way down my throat as I gag at the taste of it. I place my drink down onto the counter with a loud clink as the bartender turns around. "Another one please." I say with a smile as Miranda and Jessa follow.

After five shots, I am starting to feel the affects of the alcohol on my body. I stand up from the seat a little to quickly and almost trip over my heels in the process. I steady myself by holding onto the bar for dear life as Jessa and Miranda burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh shut up and come dance." I yell over the noise walking backwards until I am engulfed by the crowd. We sing moving our hips to the beat of the song as we throw our hands into the air.

Once the song finished we continued to dance to songs for several minutes. Miranda had met a guy and was currently dancing with him, and Jessa, I lost her somewhere in the corner. "I'm going to go grab another drink." I slur to Miranda as I point over towards the bar.

I stumble over to the bar which earns me a laugh from the bartender, who's name I learnt was Brian. "Hello again." I say flailing my hand around. "Can I have a coke and whiskey, or is it a whiskey and coke please."

"How much have you had to drink?" A voice says coming from my right. I spin around on the chair to face the person and get nauseous in the process. His hand finds its way onto my waist to prevent me from falling off of the chair.

"Hey I know you." I say grabbing his face and examining it. A smile has made its way onto his face as his blue eyes followed my every move. "Your my friend Bryson, or maybe Devon." I say with a giggle pinching his cheek.

"Yup you've definitely had way to much to drink." He says with a chuckle. "I'm Dawson not Bryson nor Devon. Love, i'm a little insulted that you don't even remember my name."

"Are you sure? I think I would have remembered someone like you!" I say retracting my hands from his face. "Are you the cute guy who always comes into the diner?" He nods a smile on his face.

Brian, the bartender then comes back with my drink and places it down on the counter in front of me. Before I have the chance to grab it Dawson pushes it out of the way. "Hey." I screech reaching across the bar for my drink. "I payed for that. Friends don't take their other friends drinks."

"Promise me." He says sliding the drink towards me. "This will be your last one." I nod my head as he hands me the drink and I instantly take a sip.

"You want to know something?" I ask taking another sip of my drink to boost my confidence. "I like you Dawson, your a nice person." I whisper with a lopsided smile before bursting into laughter at his facial expression. "I'm not kidding Dawson, your a nice person. Your funny and even though your ego is huge, you still managed to care for me when I ran out. But don't tell Jessa that, she thinks I have a crush on you." I slur out.

"Oh Ains, we are just friends." He says as my smile falls. "Hey, its okay." Gently placing his hand against my cheek I look up allowing my eyes to meet with his. "I said I just like you as a friend for now, but things may change." Giving me a wink he takes a sip of his beer.

"Do you want to know something else?" I inquire waiting for a response. "I really want to go surfing again, but I can't because I can't betray her and break the promise that I had made"

He cocks his head to the side making sure that he heard me right. Just to be sure I repeat my sentence as shock is written all over his face. "Ainsley. Who is she? Who is this girl who is holding you back from surfing again?"

Concern was written all over his face as he dropped his teasing. He looked into my eyes trying to urge me to tell him more of my secrets.

"Forget it." I blurt quickly adverting the subject "Come dance we me."I say while I finish the contents in my glass trying to erase what just happened from my mind.

"Ha I see you've discovered one of my weaknesses love." He says with a small laugh. "I don't dance."

"Please daws, do it for me because it's my birthday." I say grabbing his arm before dragging him towards the dance floor. "I don't dance either, I just pretend that I know what I'm doing." I say with a giggle.

I don't know the song which is playing through the speakers but I move my hips to the beat and lead Dawson's hands down onto my hips. I turn to look at his face as his eyes lock with mine.

What would I be doing in this moment right now if I wasn't highly intoxicated? Would I still be standing here with him dancing, or would I be off somewhere with Jessa, dragging her away from whatever guy she's chosen for the evening.

The song continues to play as I find myself continuing to dance. A couple of times Dawson's hands have wandered further south on several occasions, when my body was pressed up against his due to people bumping into me.

I lean my head on his shoulder as he pulls me closer to his body. "I'm tired." I murmur as the smell of his cologne takes over my mind making my heavy eyelids close.

"Okay let's go." He says as we make our way towards the exit, his hand never leaving my hip as he guides me through the crowd of sweaty bodies.

Once we are finally out of that small space I take in a large breathe of fresh air. "Dawson." I quietly say. "Can you help me take these off." I point towards my heels which had now caused blisters on my feet.

Instead of taking my shoes off, he wraps his arm underneath my legs and holds me against his body as we make our way towards his truck.

I don't remember getting inside the vehicle or the ride over to where we were. I assume I had fallen asleep as soon as he placed me into the car. Dawson woke me up once we had stopped at a small cove.

"Dawson." I say trying to find him in the dark. My feet come in contact with the cool sand as soon as I step out of the truck. "Dawson." I say once again. "Where are we?"

Dawson appeared from the rear of the truck with blankets in hand. "Don't worry I didn't take you out here to kill you." He says with a small chuckle. "I decided that we can camp out in the back of my truck until you sober up a little and then i'd take you home."

A worried expression finds its way onto my face as I glance around at my surroundings. "But i'm drunk, and you're here and I can't have this happening." I ramble on pointing between him and I. "I don't make good decisions when i'm drunk."

"Hey enough with that." he says throwing a blanket down into the bed of the truck. "I may come off as a bit of a flirt or a player but I don't go messing around with girls for the fun of it, and I especially don't take advantage of those who are out of it."

"Thank you." I say quietly making my way towards the back of the truck as Dawson assists me up into the back of it as I wrap one of the blankets around my shivering body.

I lean back and look up at the millions of stars above me as I feel the bed of the truck sink down slightly as Dawson climbed up to join me.

He lays beside me, arms behind his head as he looks towards me. "What exactly are you looking at up there?"

"Well I was hoping that maybe I'd see a shooting star, then I could wish myself out of this predicament." I say bursting into laughter as Dawson shoves my arm.

"You are so very sassy when you are drunk, you're bruising my ego with those comments of yours."

"Your ego is large enough i'm sure a few sassy comments won't damage you too much. Maybe then it will make you a little more tolerable."

"And here I am trying to be nice to this girl who I find insanely attractive. You're making this extremely tough on me here."

"Me? Attractive?" I say as the giggles take over again. "Here I was thinking I was the one who was drunk too, you must have had way too much to drink if you are thinking that way."

Before Dawson had a chance to answer that I notice a streak of bright light and point up towards the sky following the path of the shooting star with my finger.

"Make a wish" He says quietly as he turns and looks at me, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

I close my eyes in an attempt not to give into his gaze  as I wish upon the star.

"So, what exactly did you wish for?" He says breaking the silence while propping himself up on his elbows making him taller than I.

"I don't wish and tell."

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Word Count: 2377

Authors Note,

Eep! What did you guys think about that chapter!!?? Let me know, do you think that Ainsley will remember this night or not?