For a long time I didn’t drink because the memory of my mom lying in bed drunk and her wretched screams were burnt into my soul. I drank a bit in high school. But when everything went to hell on prom night, I decided it wasn’t for me. Then one night in undergrad, Anna forced me to get drunk. I liked feeling lightheaded and airy. All my inhibitions were lost for a night and I could care less what the people around me thought. I soon learned that I wasn’t a monster like Mom, just an extra giddy, happy girl who danced really sexily, or so I’ve been told.
I head over to the kitchen, which is outdated with its brown cabinets and beige countertop. It’s dirty and grungy, but what can I expect from a bunch of men living together? A short guy with dark skin and dark brown eyes is lining up shots of tequila. He notices Anna and me walk in and gives us a nod. “Hey girls, would you like one?”
Anna and I stare at each other, and say at the same time, “Sure, thanks.”
We down the shots and walk toward the main foyer of the house. The place is already stuffed with a bunch of extremely drunk people. I see some girls I know from the sorority house and begin chatting with them. They’ve asked me to join the sorority a million times, but it isn’t my thing. I’m not a loner by any means. I just like to call the shots in my life, and in a sorority, everything is about the sisters. It’s too much for me, and besides, I have my sister Ashley, and I’ve got Anna. They’re all I need. Still, it’s fun hanging out, getting drunk, and forgetting.
There’s a swimming pool in the backyard of the frat house. It’s September, so it’s still warm enough at night to go swimming in Toronto. I saunter out back where a bunch of sorority sisters sit beside the pool on lawn chairs. No one is swimming; they’re just hanging out and drinking. Anna walks up behind me, clearly as drunk and swaying as I am. “Hey, Bandita, there you are. I brought us more shots. Here, take one.” She passes me the shot and almost spills it on my shirt.
“Thanks.” I feel its burn sliding along my throat. I’ve only had a beer and two shots, and I’m already tipsy as hell. I’m such a lightweight.
I practically fall over when I try to sit in a lawn chair beside the sisters. I turn around to see Anna standing on a table, her hands up to her mouth like she’s about to yell something. “So what do you say, girls? Should we take a swim?”
Leave it to Anna to come up with bright ideas and be the center of the party. She loves the attention. Some of the sisters like the idea, but there are about five of us who don’t have bathing suits.
“Anna, I’m not getting in that water without a bathing suit,” I whisper in her ear.
She whispers back, “Come on, Bandita, you only live once.”
I appreciate that she’s being quiet because I’m self-conscious of my naked body. And the scars on my back left from years of abuse. The place is crawling with drunk frat boys, and I’m not in the mood to get noticed.
“Come on, Lex. Just come swimming in your bra and underwear.”
As I’m contemplating, a few of the sisters get undressed, leaving their clothes, including bras and underwear, by the side of the pool. It’s late at night, but there’s enough moonlight to notice their naked bodies entering the water. Once they’re in, I can hear them laughing about what a good feeling it is to skinny dip. All of a sudden, Anna is standing naked on the diving board.
“What the fuck, Anna?”
She jumps in the air and does a perfect jackknife into the water. All of the guys who’ve come outside to see the naked girls begin cheering around us. It’s taking her a while to get back up, and I panic. I throw off my tank top and jeans and jump into the water. I need to save her. She comes bursting to the top of the water like a rocket.
“I knew I could get you in here.” She’s laughing her ass off.
I’m drunk and I think the alcohol has intensified the effect of my feelings. I hit the water, splashing her in the face. “That wasn’t funny. You scared the shit out of me.”
“For real, Lex? I was a competitive swimmer. Let’s not exaggerate,” she says with a bemused smile.
“Yeah, a competitive swimmer who’s drunk off her ass and just dived naked into a pool in front of fifty frat boys.”
She splashes water in my eyes. “Come on, Bandita. Let’s go have fun.”
We swim over to the shallow end. Some guys decided to jump in after the girls. Most of them are wearing boxers, but a few of the cocky bastards are in their birthday suits. We’re all having fun playing water polo and tag. I’m pretty drunk so I repeatedly get tagged during the game.
“Hey, girls!”
It’s Drake. He’s known to be a player, and I’ve slept with him once. He was good; he knows what he’s doing. We all turn around to see what he wants.
“Sorry, guys, the party is moving to the house.”
We all look at each other confused, assuming he’s being a drunk idiot. But then he opens a black garbage bag he has in his hands and starts filling it with all of the clothes we’ve left by the pool. We scream at him to stop. But no one wants to jump out of the water and fight with him. I’m usually not confrontational at all, but I get out of the pool. I’m wearing a blue bra and matching boy shorts so it’s not so different from a bathing suit. Drake checks out my wet body from head to toe, and I see heat in his eyes. I’m going to use it against him.
“Come on, Drake, just give me the bag.” I hold my hand out to take it from him.
Everyone around us has gone quiet, waiting to see what will happen next.
“No way, baby. Why don’t you come a little closer and get it?” Drake has a sly smile on his face. He’s challenging me and it’s hard to back away from it.
I take a few more steps toward him. He’s got a sexy smile splayed across his face and a sparkle in his blue eyes. It tells me that he’s got a plan up his sleeve. “Just give back the clothes, Drake.”
“Or what?” He’s holding the garbage bag in the air only inches away from me.
It takes me a second to think of a plan. When it hits me, I hope the sisters will follow through. “If you don’t give me that bag right now, every one of those girls will get out of the water and throw you in there themselves.”
He still has a smile on his face like he doesn’t believe it’s going to happen. I see Anna in the water, whispering in their ears. She’s probably getting them on board.
“Drake, I’m going to count to three.”
I’ve got this serious tone going on despite the slick smile he’s still holding onto.
I yell, “One, two, three, charge!”
The truth is, I can’t believe it myself. About ten naked girls jump out of the pool and aim for Drake. All of the guys around us are hollering and probably very jealous of the fact that he’s being swarmed by so many naked bodies. They grab the bag away from him. Janet, one of the sisters, tosses the bag my way. Then they create a circle around him, pushing him toward the water. When he gets to the edge, he starts pleading that we should at least allow him to get undressed. Anna looks back at me, nodding. I nod back and they push him into the water, clothes and all.
The girls and I take the bag and stroll back into the house. The guys are a little too excited right now. I’m just amazed how comfortable the girls are in their own skin. I wish I could be that confident, but my scars are a constant reminder that I’m not like them.
We all dry off and get our clothes back on. It’s not such a big deal that Drake is all wet because he lives in the house so he can head upstairs and change. Seconds later, he walks into the house soaking wet, and all of the girls clap. He takes a bow and heads for his room. A few minutes later, he’s back downstairs, all dried off and wearing a tight black t-shirt that shows off his built arms, and jeans that sit low on his waist. His mid-length hair is all wet and slicked back. He walks up to me. I think he’s going to give me a piece of his mind, but he’s all turned on. I can tell by the way his eyes are devouring my body.