Chapter 21: Drunken Mistakes

Leila's POV

"I cannot believe I agreed to this!" I shouted into Sam's ear. I slumped down onto the kitchen stool and took the red solo cup from Sam's grasp. We've been here for thirty minutes so far and to say that I was barely enjoying myself was an understatement.

I needed to get drunk, drown my sorrows down with anything. I groaned deeply as I downed the drink in my cup, not bothering to ask Sam what was in it. I began to sway to the music, deciding that I needed to loosen up a bit if I wanted to enjoy myself.

Unforgettable by Swae Lee and French Montana blasted through the speakers and I spun around on the stool to face the counter littered with bottles of alcohol. I grabbed the one closest to me and brought it to my lips, ignoring Sam's and Midge's shouts of protest.

Along the way, I caught the attention of some students and suddenly there were loud chants around me, screaming for me to drink. I flickered my eyes shut tightly, wheezing at the burning sensation that trickled down my throat.

"Drink, drink, drink!" The chants continued loudly and I climbed onto the counter, kicking at the red solo cups at my feet and chugging down the entire bottle in my grasp. I knew I was gonna be in deep shit, especially with Blake but I didn't care.

I pulled the empty bottle away from my lips and shot my hand into the air before squealing loudly. The crowd that surrounded the table erupted into cheers and I squealed once again as a pair of strong hands wrapped tightly around my thighs and skillfully flew me over their shoulders.

As the person moved around the room I began to feel slightly dizzy. I could already tell that the alcohol was beginning to kick in and I fell into a giggling state, ignoring the peculiar eyes that followed us around the room.

Then the person suddenly set me onto my feet and I realized that we were in another room, surrounded by even more kids littered around a table, "I see you can handle your liquor. Let's see how good you are at beer pong." The mysterious guy said as he motioned towards the table.

I took this moment to check him out, realizing firstly that he was way bigger than I. He stood tall, maybe 6'2 or 1. He was muscular, from head to toe. His face was covered in hair, shaved neatly and he had a buzz cut, almost as if he were part of the army.

To say the least, he was rather handsome and I found myself giggling giddily as I turned towards the table and smirked, "come on big boy, let's see what you got."

I didn't know how long we were playing but I could remember downing multiple cups of whatever was inside. I knew I was being careless but I needed an outlet that wasn't crying. I needed a way to get loose and sadly if alcohol was the way then sign me up.

"Let's dance!" The mysterious guy exclaimed and before I could reply he gripped my hand and tugged me out of the room. We stumbled into what appeared to be the family room and he immediately pulled me into his arms.

Against my better judgement, I began to dance, giggling loudly as his arms slipped around my waist and we began to move to the beat of the song. The alcohol had kicked in already and for some reason, the room spun as if I were directly inside a machine.

I slipped my hands around the guy's neck to keep me balanced and he smirked in return. Before I could comprehend what was happening, he lowered his lips down onto mine. My eyes widened in shock and even though I could admit to myself that I was drunk I didn't plan on cheating on anyone tonight.

Before I could shove him off of me, he was suddenly ripped away from me. I stumbled backwards confusedly and peered up when someone tall towered over me. I expected it to be Blake for some odd reason but to my surprise. . .it was definitely not who I expected.

"Reese?"

He peered down at me for a few seconds before pivoting on his heels and marched away. I ran my hands through my hair frantically, trying to comprehend what the hell just happened. And then a hand suddenly fell onto my shoulder and I flinched away.

"I expected more of you, brat."

I spun on my heels towards the sound of his voice and immediately my eyes fell onto Blake who stood behind me, his hands shoved down his pockets. There was an unreadable expression on his face but I could tell he was frustrated.

I didn't get a moment to reply before he grabbed me by the arm and tugged me out of the room. "S-slow down you fool! Ha, fool t-that's funny." I slurred as we stumbled through the front door. He didn't reply for a few seconds until we sauntered onto the road.

What was he even doing here? Doesn't he think it'll be weird for kids to see their professor at a frat party?

"I expected more from you, seriously Leila. Getting drunk, dancing with a complete stranger and then kissing him? And worst of all, your boyfriend saw it, that can break people, Leila. Drunk or not you don't do shit like that." He scolded as he ripped his hand away from mine and tugged it back into his pocket.

We fell into silence and I only now realized that I was crying. I swiped my hand against my cheeks and turned towards him. "I'm sorry Blakey, don't-d-don't be mad. I didn't want to k-kiss him it just h-h-happened!"

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face me. He flashed me a dumbfounded look and scoffed, "me be mad? No, no, Leila your boyfriend is mad. The guy you claim to love, he's mad and you know what, you don't mess with love because it fucks you up!"

I stared up at him in confusion, racking my brain as to why he's taking this so personal. Then it dawned on me, this isn't about Reese and. It's more personal than that, he probably went through something familiar and got angry at me.

Is that it? Were you hurt Blake?

But as I stood there, I desperately wanted to clear my name, for him. I don't know why but his opinion of me mattered a lot, I didn't want him to think of me as some cheater who doesn't care about her boyfriend.

"I h-hate myself right now!"

And even though, deep down in my heart I knew that this probably ran deeper than anything I could comprehend, and he was lost in his own thoughts, filled with anger and frustration, it still hurt to hear the words that left his lips after even if I believed it wasn't directed at me.

"You should."