Wesley, on the other hand, looked so cute. He had brown dog ears, a brown tail, and brown dog-paw slippers. He wore blue jeans, a brown long-sleeve shirt, and a red collar. I tried to persuade him into wearing a leash, but he wouldn’t go for it. After much argument, he finally let me paint his nose and draw whiskers.
“Hi! Come on in,” Jeremy said, opening the door wide. He had a patch over one eye, a black hat with a skull and crossbones, and a red-and-white striped shirt. He looked pretty cute, too, with thick stubble covering his chin, and he even had a silver-painted plastic sword at his waist.
“Hey, Captain,” Wesley said and held up a case of beer. Jeremy nodded and told him there was room in the fridge.
“What’s up, Toren?” Jeremy smiled and patted my back. Wesley took the six-pack of beer that I was carrying and disappeared into the kitchen. “I’m so glad you guys could make it.”
“Thanks. I’m glad we could come. Um, we had some leftover candy from last night, so I thought I’d bring it over,” I said, holding up a plastic tub of mini candy bars. “We didn’t get as many trick-or-treaters as I thought we would.”
“Cool. Thanks,” he said and took the tub that I offered.
He closed the door behind me and I looked around the large house. There were about ten people already there, some that I recognized from high school but didn’t know. Jeremy walked toward the kitchen and Alycia came running out, the fringe of her costume flapping with her movements.
“Hi, Toren! Oh my God, you look so cute!” I could tell by the pitch of her voice that she was already drunk. I laughed and looked her over.
“You look really good,” I said.
“Thanks. Watch this!” She twisted her hips and waist back and forth to make the fringe spin out. She wore a headband with a feather, a long string of pearls with a knot in it, and a red, low-cut, fringy flapper dress. She looked cute and I could tell Jeremy thought so too by the way he glanced at her at every chance. “And know what? All this fringe is glued and stapled on! Mom helped me.”
“Stapled?” I asked. That was my sister: the ghetto Martha Stewart.
“Hey, Alycia!” Wesley called from the kitchen. He walked toward us carrying two beers. “You ran right past me in the kitchen,” he complained with a pout as he gave me one of the beers.
“Wes! I’m sorry. Maybe I didn’t recognize you, though!” she said, giving him a hug. Wesley stood next to me and Alycia looked us over. “You guys are so cute! A dog and a cat! That’s adorable!”
Wesley rolled his eyes and I elbowed him in the gut. We went into the kitchen where most of the people were. Many greeted Wesley familiarly and glanced at me awkwardly. Most of them were popular kids in high school and probably surprised to see me at one of their parties. Wesley introduced me without giving up our relationship, which I was glad he didn’t announce, although the matching costumes were a dead giveaway. However, he didn’t act any differently toward me and after a little while, I was sure everyone knew we were together. When they didn’t say anything or act strangely toward me, I began to feel much more comfortable, but that could have been because I was already starting my second beer.
“All right. Beer pong in the basement and boxhead at the kitchen table,” Jeremy announced, waving over his head a case box with a hole cut out.
Wesley pushed me toward the kitchen table and took a seat. Jeremy and Alycia sat down, and three others pulled chairs up to the table. Some people went down to the basement, and the last few remained in the living room chatting.
“How do you play?” Alycia asked, sipping her beer.
“It’s a dice game and it’s a lot of fun. I’ll teach the rules as we go,” Jeremy said, picking up two dice and pushing a placemat to the center of the table. He gave a quick rundown of the game, the main point being if you rolled an eleven or twelve, you were the boxhead, wore the box, and were at the mercy of everyone else. Each combination of dice had a different meaning, like making up a rule, giving away drinks, and something called a “waterfall.”
“Basically, it’s just a game to get you drunk faster,” Wesley said, tipping back his beer and smiling. “And I’m gonna make sure you get sloshed.”
“Oh, absolutely!” Alycia chimed in, nodding.
“Just hope you don’t roll an eleven or twelve with these two,” Jeremy said.
And with that warning, I rolled an eleven on my second turn. Anyone could tell me to drink at any time, for any reason. I was seriously screwed, but I was more worried about what Wesley might come up with if I had to do anything he said.
I was the boxhead for more than half the game, and I lost track of how many beers I drank. I felt silly and light, like I was floating in water. Alycia was the next to roll a twelve, so I had fun exacting my revenge, as did Wesley and especially Jeremy. After her third or fourth beer, we decided to take a break, at least to let Alycia and me recover a little.
Wesley went outside for a cigarette and, for some inexplicable reason, I decided to have another beer. There were only five beers left of the case we brought, and I really had no clue how many I had. I shrugged with a grin and twisted the cap off.
“Hey, Toren. How you doing?” Jeremy asked, leaning into the refrigerator and taking out a beer.
“Pretty good,” I tried to answer soberly, though I
