D&J - Gratified Affair - 06/?
Gratified Affair
drake & josh. drake/mindy, josh/ofc. 3,376 words. general.
Mindy had managed to make it to the party, despite the tiny issue of having to sneak out of her bedroom window. It was moments like these she was glad she had parents who were heavy sleepers.
previous chapters
The tiny cell phone felt weighted and heavy in Drake’s palm and he’d stared at it for so long that the blue back light had gone off. Well really, he hadn’t been staring at the screen so much as staring at the number on the screen.
An idea had come into his head, not long after he’d said goodbye to Mindy the day before. Their project was nearly finished; she had promised to come over Sunday afternoon just to polish any rough edges to his speech.
That left Saturday night all to himself and Josh and the idea of throwing a party seemed entirely too appealing. After all, his parents and Megan were staying in Laguna Nigel over night and he had a sinking feeling that when his parents returned, there would be a fairly good chance he was going to be grounded as a result of school conferences. If he twisted his excuses enough, he might be able to convince them that throwing a party was their idea. When he was on, sometimes Drake could be just that good.
He’d wait to start the party until Josh left for work, of course. Less of a chance of being talked out of the party with his step-brother being the good, golden child that he was. Besides, it was much more fun to blindside him when he least expected it.
Drake had finished calling all the appropriate people and word was being spread like wildfire. In a couple hours, the house would be filled with people, music, laughter; it would be his last highlight before getting in trouble, he assumed.
The cell phone still lay in his hand with Mindy’s number flashing at him. He’d been debating for ten minutes whether to invite her or not, but with a decided sigh, he shut the phone. Drake had no doubt she was probably busy doing homework or babysitting her little brother or working on projects for future science fairs.
She probably wouldn’t want to come anyway.
--
Music was pulsating out of the huge speakers set up in the corner of the large living room as teenagers milled around while they danced, talked, and generally had a good time. And why wouldn’t they? They were at one of the hottest parties thrown by one of the most popular boys in school while his parents were out of town. It was the epitome of the teenage experience.
But when Josh walked through the door after working a double shift at The Premiere, all he saw was trouble. Trouble infiltrating the kitchen, trouble dancing next to the breakables, trouble creating a mess that he was probably going to have to clean up. And where there was trouble, Josh always knew where to find the cause of it.
“DRAAAAAAAKE!”
He saw the source of the problem, surrounded by a group of good-looking girls (as usual, Josh noted sourly), lift his head and wave over to him. Josh made his way toward Drake, angrily pushing people out of his way.
“Heeey, Josh! I didn’t know you’d be home so early!” Drake said as a broad grin spread across his face. He was leaned against the back of the couch with his arm casually draped over one of their pretty classmates, who happened to be staring at him with the adoration that only teenage girls were capable of. Drake’s other hand was occupied with a large plastic cup that he used to articulate whatever he was saying.
“Drake, it’s ten thirty. What are all these people doing here?” Josh asked, a mixture of worry, confusion, and anger all boiling in the back of his throat.
“Well, it’s Saturday night and Mom, Dad, and Megan are at Aunt Catherine’s, so I thought…PARTY!” Drake exclaimed, with the people in earshot cheering him on.
“But Drake what if the cops show up -” Josh was abruptly interrupted when Drake’s arm moved from the girl’s shoulders and his rough palm covered Josh’s mouth.
“Josh, Josh, Josh…Joshie,” Drake said, attempting a tone of reassurance. “Lighten up, man. It’s just a party! Dude, you gotta learn to loosen up a little man. Why don’t you go invite….whassername…” Drake snapped his fingers in realization as the girl next to him left to leave the boys to their conversation. “Mindy! Tell Mindy to come on over! You guys could both loosen up. A lot. And Lisa! Now she knows how to loosen up; maybe you can get her to take her shirt off again.” A smug smirk came over Drake’s lips and he had to resist the urge to smack it off.
Josh watched as Drake dropped his hand from his mouth and leaned back against the couch, his lips now twisted into a cocky grin. Something wasn’t clicking here, especially if Drake was actually in support of the idea of Mindy coming over to their house. True, they had seemed to be acting a lot more civil to each other lately, but actually being friends? He knew something had to be up and then it began to dawn on him…
“Drake, what’s in the cup?”
Drake’s eyes shifted from one side of the room to the other, obviously caught off guard by the question. “Nothing, man. Just something to drink.”
“Can I have some?”
“Ew, you have cooties,” Drake replied, his lip curling in slight disgust.
“Since when? C’mon, just give me the cup,” Josh said, reaching out toward his step-brother. Drake kept the cup out of reach until Josh was practically on top of him with their stomachs touching as he tried grasping for the stupid cup. “Okay, fine! Keep it!”
Drake smiled and took a swig of his drink, proud of his minor accomplishment. But he watched as Josh took survey of the room and followed the other boy’s eyes over to where a group of people had gathered.
“Is that…a keg?!”
Drake rushed ahead of Josh to try to reduce what could be a major blow up, and not to mention a buzz kill, for the party.
“It’s not a keg!” Drake insisted as Josh gave him a look. “It’s not! It’s…a shiny foot rest!” Pushing his way past a few people, he grabbed an empty metal folding chair and sat down while propping his feet up on top of the obvious looking keg.
“A shiny foot rest?” Josh asked incredulously, crossing his arms over his red Premiere vest.
“See?” Drake gestured with his cup. “Look, it’s all shiny and…foot-rest-y.”
“Come here!” Josh took a hold of Drake’s upper arm, jostling him out of the folding chair and pulling him into the middle of the room. “Drake, do you see what’s going on here? Mom and Dad are going to kill us if they find out and I don’t want to be the one stuck covering for you again. Besides, didn’t Mom say something about being on your best behavior before they left?”
“Okay Josh, you know what I see?” Drake asked him, putting his free hand on Josh’s shoulder. “I see a party going on and people having fun. Lots of fun. And you know who should have fun? You! Don’t worry about Mom and Dad, I never get caught!”
“Yeah, but -”
“Just stop, all right? Try to relax and have some fun,” Drake said, exasperated. He shoved his cup onto Josh’s chest and wandered off, no doubt looking to find some amusement elsewhere. Josh sighed and took a sip of the drink, confirming his suspicions as beer burned a trail down his throat. He tossed the cup into a conveniently located trash bag and made his way to the kitchen to call for some reinforcements.
--
Mindy had managed to make it to the party, despite the tiny issue of having to sneak out of her bedroom window. It was moments like these she was glad she had parents who were heavy sleepers.
She entered the house cautiously, nervous as to what she might find. Josh had made it seem as though the house was seconds away from being set on fire, so she’d done her best to get over there as quickly as possible. But then again, Josh did take it upon himself to over exaggerate situations from time to time. Or almost all the time, to be completely honest.
But when Mindy entered the foyer, it looked like a pretty decent party was going on. Sure, the music was a little too loud (if you could even call that music), but that could be saved with a little twist of the volume knob. She began to scan people’s faces looking for Josh when he appeared in front of her, wearing a red striped apron over his blue oxford button down shirt and black work pants while clutching a mop rather tightly.
“Hey Josh. Looks like you got quite the shindig going on here,” Mindy noted, taking off her jacket.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Josh said with a mixed look of panic and frustration as his knuckles turned white around the mop’s handle. “What I’ve got here is a disaster! We are going to be in so much trouble.”
“Josh, it doesn’t seem that bad,” Mindy replied, trying to soothe his frazzled nerves. “Why don’t you take off the apron and loosen your grip on the mop.” She managed to wrestle the mop away from his hand and set it against the wall. “There, that’s better.”
“Not a disaster? Look at all these people!” Josh exclaimed. Before he could continue, Drake showed up at his side, throwing his arm around his step-brother’s broad shoulders.
“Hey Mindy, you made it!” Drake exclaimed rather enthusiastically. “See Josh, I told you to invite her and she showed up!” He looked back and forth between Josh and Mindy. “You showed up! Good for you! Good for her! Good for me!” Drake took a gulp out of the cup he was holding and flashed them both a big, goofy grin.
“See? This is a disaster,” Josh said, emphasizing his point by poking Drake.
“Drake, you wanted me at this party?” Mindy asked incredulously. Maybe Josh’s freak out on the phone hadn’t been for nothing. She’d seen Drake yesterday, so if he wanted her there, why wouldn’t he have said anything then?
“Well, yeah. ‘Cause you’re so preeettty,” Drake slurred, bringing the cup to his lips again. “Hey!” Before he could take another gulp, Mindy grabbed the cup out of his hands.
“Drake Parker, are you drunk?!” Mindy demanded, already knowing the answer. “What is the matter with you? I’ve seen you do a lot of stupid things, but this has got to take the cake.”
“You brought cake? What kind, can I have some?”
“There’s no cake!” Josh exclaimed loudly. A few people turned to look at him funny, but he pursed his lips and stared at them until they went back to doing their own thing.
“Okay, so cake or no cake, you and Josh should have fun! It’s a party!” Drake exclaimed as people cheered when they heard the word party. It was an ongoing habit Josh had noticed and it was a minor thing that he just mentally threw on top of his list of annoyances. “I had good inten…int…ideas!” He threw a sneering look at Mindy. “You’re not the only smart one.”
“Well, we know he’s definitely drunk now,” Mindy remarked, as Drake started to cling on to Josh harder. “Are there a lot of drunk kids?”
“No, a bunch of them left after I started taking keys,” Josh replied bitterly. “I never thought I’d be wrestling for a pair of keys with like seven hundred Hello Kitty key chains on it.”
“Yeah, you took that cheerleader down, man,” Drake interrupted, giggling at the thought. Josh looked down at him and back at Mindy, getting a desperate look in his eyes.
“Help!”
“Well, okay. Let’s try to figure this out,” Mindy replied, putting her hand on her hips. “Find anyone who’s sober and tell them the party’s over. Worse comes to worse, call Craig and Eric and see if they can come over and drive anyone home. And if that doesn’t work, start calling par-“
“Uh-oh,” Drake interrupted loudly, clutching his stomach and looking at the ground very intently, almost swaying side to side.
“Uh-oh?!” Josh and Mindy replied in unison, panicked.
“Uh-oh!” Drake’s arm slid off Josh as he took off, bolting toward the stairs, presumably toward the bathroom. Mindy and Josh looked at each other, worried, as Josh dragged his hand through his hair in exasperation.
“Headaches! ”
--
Mindy reached the top of the stairs to see Drake slumped over and sitting next to the closed bathroom door. It would’ve been kind of cute if he hadn’t looked so pathetic or if his face hadn’t been a lovely shade of green.
“If you’re going to be sick, it’s more effective to be near a toilet,” Mindy told him, making her way to stand next to him in the dimly lit hallway.
“I’m aware of that,” Drake spat back, as he lifted his head from his bent knees. His buzz from the beer was officially killed and he concentrated very deeply on trying to keep his head clear. “The door is closed.” Mindy stood for a second and then brought her hand up to the doorknob. With a twist and a push, she opened the door to reveal a dark and empty bathroom. Drake looked into the bathroom, up at Mindy, and scoffed. “Show off.”
“C’mon, I’ll help you in,” Mindy offered as she lent a hand, but Drake shook his head.
“No, I’m okay. I don’t want to take a chance of any sudden movements,” Drake said, letting his forehead rest on top of his bent knees.
“Probably a good idea,” Mindy agreed as she sat down next to him. “Wouldn’t want to projectile vomit or anything.”
“Gross,” Drake muttered as he felt her hand start to rub his back. He lifted his head quickly. “Hey, what are you doing?”
“Trigonometry,” Mindy replied dryly to his blank stare. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“I think you’re rubbing my back.”
“Well, that would be correct.”
“Why?”
Mindy sighed in exasperation. “I’m trying to be nice here, okay? Josh was really worried about you and I told him I’d check on you while he called people’s parents.” There was a moment of silence as he absorbed this new information. “Besides, my mom used to do this to me when I was sick. I thought it might help.”
They sat there in silence as Mindy continued to rub him; her fingers kneading into his sharp shoulder blades. The pressure felt good; it was taking his mind off the fact that the dull ache in his head would probably be spreading soon throughout his body.
“So is Josh really mad?”
“I think it’s safe to say that you can keep your half of the best friends forever necklace you guys share,” Mindy answered sarcastically. “But I wouldn’t worry too much. He always forgives you.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty great like that,” Drake agreed, turning his head so that he was still resting on his knees, but looking up at her. “You know, part of this party was for him.”
“What?”
“Well…don’t get me wrong, it was mostly for me,” Drake back-tracked. “My mom is kind of angry at me about parent teacher conferences, so you know. One last party before I’m totally grounded. And Josh has been so busy with Lisa, and I’ve been so busy with you that we haven’t really seen each other that much lately. It’s better to just surprise Josh with this kind of thing.” He paused to rub a palm over his face and pinch the bridge of his nose as he tried to ward off the oncoming headache. “In a way, the party is kind of your fault too.”
“My fault?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking of this as a sort of mini accomplishment of having survived working with you for more than a week,” Drake told her wryly as he rested the side of his head on top of his jean-clad knees. “I wanted to tell you about it…” His voice trailed off as she shifted her legs so they were crossed at her ankles while her hand continued to rub patterns up his back.
“Why didn’t you?” Mindy asked softly. They briefly made eye contact before he shrugged.
“I didn’t think you’d want to come.”
Mindy paused before responding as she let the weight of his words rest heavily in her mind. She gave his back a few more rubs before dropping her hand into her skirt-covered lap. “We’ve both been through a lot lately Drake. And if I don’t get the chance to tell you later, I’m proud of the work you did.”
She leaned over to kiss him on his red-flushed cheek, but was met with a brush of his lips instead. They were soft and warm with the slightest taste of beer still lingering. It only lasted for a few moments, but Mindy’s legs felt paralyzed as her brain tried to figure out what she was doing.
Their minor kiss was over all too quickly as Drake was scrambled to get to his feet. He ran into the bathroom quickly and shut the door with a reverberating slam that vibrated through the wall that her back was propped against. Mindy sat quietly and felt confused while she was treated to the sound of Drake throwing up.
Funny, that’s what the butterflies in her stomach felt like doing too.
--
“Draaake! Get out of the bathroom!”
A few hours later, the pounding on the door was almost as intense as the pounding in his own head, starting somewhere between the middle of his eyes and working its way to the back of his skull. Drake slid down to the floor with his back flush against the bathtub and rested his head on the toilet seat.
“I am not getting out of this bathroom!” Drake yelled back as his throat tingled with uncomfortable soreness. “You can’t make me!”
“C’mon, get out of there! I need help cleaning and vacuuming before Mom and Dad get home!”
“Just go away, go far, far away,” Drake muttered, bringing himself closer to the toilet. The awful, burning sensation was creeping up the back of his throat again and he would have to lock himself in here all night if he had to. There was always the chance that Josh would get the idea to steal Megan’s lock picking kit, but at the moment it sounded like that idea hadn’t dawned on him yet.
“Fine, stay in there you bathroom hog! I’ll go clean up the mess - as usual!”
Although he felt a tiny pang of guilt as he heard Josh make his way downstairs, he was finally relieved to get some peace and quiet. The pain in his head wasn’t getting any duller and he’d never felt so si-
Ew. Drake would never get used to the feeling of throwing up, ever. This night would definitely go down as a reminder of when alcohol became too much to handle, in more ways than one. Sitting on cold tile with his body draped over the toilet, Drake couldn’t feel any worse.
And yet, there was a tiny ray of happiness that filled him, if only for a few brief moments. He hadn’t meant to kiss Mindy; it just kind of happened. As much as he was mentally cursing out whoever had brought that stupid keg over, he was grateful that he’d been drunk when he talked to her; that was an excuse he could certainly fall back on.
Something was nagging at him though; something that Trevor was always saying whenever they got together for a party. He would say it ceremoniously before taking his first alcohol-laden sip of the night and if only Drake could remember…
Remember kids, drunken sayings are sober thoughts!
Trevor’s words swirled around in Drake’s head as he continued to over-think his encounter with Mindy. He grabbed the edge of the toilet bowl when his stomach felt like it was churning and prayed for the chance to just pass out already.
--
chapter 07 | apricot distractions
drake & josh. drake/mindy, josh/ofc. 3,376 words. general.
Mindy had managed to make it to the party, despite the tiny issue of having to sneak out of her bedroom window. It was moments like these she was glad she had parents who were heavy sleepers.
previous chapters
The tiny cell phone felt weighted and heavy in Drake’s palm and he’d stared at it for so long that the blue back light had gone off. Well really, he hadn’t been staring at the screen so much as staring at the number on the screen.
An idea had come into his head, not long after he’d said goodbye to Mindy the day before. Their project was nearly finished; she had promised to come over Sunday afternoon just to polish any rough edges to his speech.
That left Saturday night all to himself and Josh and the idea of throwing a party seemed entirely too appealing. After all, his parents and Megan were staying in Laguna Nigel over night and he had a sinking feeling that when his parents returned, there would be a fairly good chance he was going to be grounded as a result of school conferences. If he twisted his excuses enough, he might be able to convince them that throwing a party was their idea. When he was on, sometimes Drake could be just that good.
He’d wait to start the party until Josh left for work, of course. Less of a chance of being talked out of the party with his step-brother being the good, golden child that he was. Besides, it was much more fun to blindside him when he least expected it.
Drake had finished calling all the appropriate people and word was being spread like wildfire. In a couple hours, the house would be filled with people, music, laughter; it would be his last highlight before getting in trouble, he assumed.
The cell phone still lay in his hand with Mindy’s number flashing at him. He’d been debating for ten minutes whether to invite her or not, but with a decided sigh, he shut the phone. Drake had no doubt she was probably busy doing homework or babysitting her little brother or working on projects for future science fairs.
She probably wouldn’t want to come anyway.
--
Music was pulsating out of the huge speakers set up in the corner of the large living room as teenagers milled around while they danced, talked, and generally had a good time. And why wouldn’t they? They were at one of the hottest parties thrown by one of the most popular boys in school while his parents were out of town. It was the epitome of the teenage experience.
But when Josh walked through the door after working a double shift at The Premiere, all he saw was trouble. Trouble infiltrating the kitchen, trouble dancing next to the breakables, trouble creating a mess that he was probably going to have to clean up. And where there was trouble, Josh always knew where to find the cause of it.
“DRAAAAAAAKE!”
He saw the source of the problem, surrounded by a group of good-looking girls (as usual, Josh noted sourly), lift his head and wave over to him. Josh made his way toward Drake, angrily pushing people out of his way.
“Heeey, Josh! I didn’t know you’d be home so early!” Drake said as a broad grin spread across his face. He was leaned against the back of the couch with his arm casually draped over one of their pretty classmates, who happened to be staring at him with the adoration that only teenage girls were capable of. Drake’s other hand was occupied with a large plastic cup that he used to articulate whatever he was saying.
“Drake, it’s ten thirty. What are all these people doing here?” Josh asked, a mixture of worry, confusion, and anger all boiling in the back of his throat.
“Well, it’s Saturday night and Mom, Dad, and Megan are at Aunt Catherine’s, so I thought…PARTY!” Drake exclaimed, with the people in earshot cheering him on.
“But Drake what if the cops show up -” Josh was abruptly interrupted when Drake’s arm moved from the girl’s shoulders and his rough palm covered Josh’s mouth.
“Josh, Josh, Josh…Joshie,” Drake said, attempting a tone of reassurance. “Lighten up, man. It’s just a party! Dude, you gotta learn to loosen up a little man. Why don’t you go invite….whassername…” Drake snapped his fingers in realization as the girl next to him left to leave the boys to their conversation. “Mindy! Tell Mindy to come on over! You guys could both loosen up. A lot. And Lisa! Now she knows how to loosen up; maybe you can get her to take her shirt off again.” A smug smirk came over Drake’s lips and he had to resist the urge to smack it off.
Josh watched as Drake dropped his hand from his mouth and leaned back against the couch, his lips now twisted into a cocky grin. Something wasn’t clicking here, especially if Drake was actually in support of the idea of Mindy coming over to their house. True, they had seemed to be acting a lot more civil to each other lately, but actually being friends? He knew something had to be up and then it began to dawn on him…
“Drake, what’s in the cup?”
Drake’s eyes shifted from one side of the room to the other, obviously caught off guard by the question. “Nothing, man. Just something to drink.”
“Can I have some?”
“Ew, you have cooties,” Drake replied, his lip curling in slight disgust.
“Since when? C’mon, just give me the cup,” Josh said, reaching out toward his step-brother. Drake kept the cup out of reach until Josh was practically on top of him with their stomachs touching as he tried grasping for the stupid cup. “Okay, fine! Keep it!”
Drake smiled and took a swig of his drink, proud of his minor accomplishment. But he watched as Josh took survey of the room and followed the other boy’s eyes over to where a group of people had gathered.
“Is that…a keg?!”
Drake rushed ahead of Josh to try to reduce what could be a major blow up, and not to mention a buzz kill, for the party.
“It’s not a keg!” Drake insisted as Josh gave him a look. “It’s not! It’s…a shiny foot rest!” Pushing his way past a few people, he grabbed an empty metal folding chair and sat down while propping his feet up on top of the obvious looking keg.
“A shiny foot rest?” Josh asked incredulously, crossing his arms over his red Premiere vest.
“See?” Drake gestured with his cup. “Look, it’s all shiny and…foot-rest-y.”
“Come here!” Josh took a hold of Drake’s upper arm, jostling him out of the folding chair and pulling him into the middle of the room. “Drake, do you see what’s going on here? Mom and Dad are going to kill us if they find out and I don’t want to be the one stuck covering for you again. Besides, didn’t Mom say something about being on your best behavior before they left?”
“Okay Josh, you know what I see?” Drake asked him, putting his free hand on Josh’s shoulder. “I see a party going on and people having fun. Lots of fun. And you know who should have fun? You! Don’t worry about Mom and Dad, I never get caught!”
“Yeah, but -”
“Just stop, all right? Try to relax and have some fun,” Drake said, exasperated. He shoved his cup onto Josh’s chest and wandered off, no doubt looking to find some amusement elsewhere. Josh sighed and took a sip of the drink, confirming his suspicions as beer burned a trail down his throat. He tossed the cup into a conveniently located trash bag and made his way to the kitchen to call for some reinforcements.
--
Mindy had managed to make it to the party, despite the tiny issue of having to sneak out of her bedroom window. It was moments like these she was glad she had parents who were heavy sleepers.
She entered the house cautiously, nervous as to what she might find. Josh had made it seem as though the house was seconds away from being set on fire, so she’d done her best to get over there as quickly as possible. But then again, Josh did take it upon himself to over exaggerate situations from time to time. Or almost all the time, to be completely honest.
But when Mindy entered the foyer, it looked like a pretty decent party was going on. Sure, the music was a little too loud (if you could even call that music), but that could be saved with a little twist of the volume knob. She began to scan people’s faces looking for Josh when he appeared in front of her, wearing a red striped apron over his blue oxford button down shirt and black work pants while clutching a mop rather tightly.
“Hey Josh. Looks like you got quite the shindig going on here,” Mindy noted, taking off her jacket.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Josh said with a mixed look of panic and frustration as his knuckles turned white around the mop’s handle. “What I’ve got here is a disaster! We are going to be in so much trouble.”
“Josh, it doesn’t seem that bad,” Mindy replied, trying to soothe his frazzled nerves. “Why don’t you take off the apron and loosen your grip on the mop.” She managed to wrestle the mop away from his hand and set it against the wall. “There, that’s better.”
“Not a disaster? Look at all these people!” Josh exclaimed. Before he could continue, Drake showed up at his side, throwing his arm around his step-brother’s broad shoulders.
“Hey Mindy, you made it!” Drake exclaimed rather enthusiastically. “See Josh, I told you to invite her and she showed up!” He looked back and forth between Josh and Mindy. “You showed up! Good for you! Good for her! Good for me!” Drake took a gulp out of the cup he was holding and flashed them both a big, goofy grin.
“See? This is a disaster,” Josh said, emphasizing his point by poking Drake.
“Drake, you wanted me at this party?” Mindy asked incredulously. Maybe Josh’s freak out on the phone hadn’t been for nothing. She’d seen Drake yesterday, so if he wanted her there, why wouldn’t he have said anything then?
“Well, yeah. ‘Cause you’re so preeettty,” Drake slurred, bringing the cup to his lips again. “Hey!” Before he could take another gulp, Mindy grabbed the cup out of his hands.
“Drake Parker, are you drunk?!” Mindy demanded, already knowing the answer. “What is the matter with you? I’ve seen you do a lot of stupid things, but this has got to take the cake.”
“You brought cake? What kind, can I have some?”
“There’s no cake!” Josh exclaimed loudly. A few people turned to look at him funny, but he pursed his lips and stared at them until they went back to doing their own thing.
“Okay, so cake or no cake, you and Josh should have fun! It’s a party!” Drake exclaimed as people cheered when they heard the word party. It was an ongoing habit Josh had noticed and it was a minor thing that he just mentally threw on top of his list of annoyances. “I had good inten…int…ideas!” He threw a sneering look at Mindy. “You’re not the only smart one.”
“Well, we know he’s definitely drunk now,” Mindy remarked, as Drake started to cling on to Josh harder. “Are there a lot of drunk kids?”
“No, a bunch of them left after I started taking keys,” Josh replied bitterly. “I never thought I’d be wrestling for a pair of keys with like seven hundred Hello Kitty key chains on it.”
“Yeah, you took that cheerleader down, man,” Drake interrupted, giggling at the thought. Josh looked down at him and back at Mindy, getting a desperate look in his eyes.
“Help!”
“Well, okay. Let’s try to figure this out,” Mindy replied, putting her hand on her hips. “Find anyone who’s sober and tell them the party’s over. Worse comes to worse, call Craig and Eric and see if they can come over and drive anyone home. And if that doesn’t work, start calling par-“
“Uh-oh,” Drake interrupted loudly, clutching his stomach and looking at the ground very intently, almost swaying side to side.
“Uh-oh?!” Josh and Mindy replied in unison, panicked.
“Uh-oh!” Drake’s arm slid off Josh as he took off, bolting toward the stairs, presumably toward the bathroom. Mindy and Josh looked at each other, worried, as Josh dragged his hand through his hair in exasperation.
“Headaches! ”
--
Mindy reached the top of the stairs to see Drake slumped over and sitting next to the closed bathroom door. It would’ve been kind of cute if he hadn’t looked so pathetic or if his face hadn’t been a lovely shade of green.
“If you’re going to be sick, it’s more effective to be near a toilet,” Mindy told him, making her way to stand next to him in the dimly lit hallway.
“I’m aware of that,” Drake spat back, as he lifted his head from his bent knees. His buzz from the beer was officially killed and he concentrated very deeply on trying to keep his head clear. “The door is closed.” Mindy stood for a second and then brought her hand up to the doorknob. With a twist and a push, she opened the door to reveal a dark and empty bathroom. Drake looked into the bathroom, up at Mindy, and scoffed. “Show off.”
“C’mon, I’ll help you in,” Mindy offered as she lent a hand, but Drake shook his head.
“No, I’m okay. I don’t want to take a chance of any sudden movements,” Drake said, letting his forehead rest on top of his bent knees.
“Probably a good idea,” Mindy agreed as she sat down next to him. “Wouldn’t want to projectile vomit or anything.”
“Gross,” Drake muttered as he felt her hand start to rub his back. He lifted his head quickly. “Hey, what are you doing?”
“Trigonometry,” Mindy replied dryly to his blank stare. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“I think you’re rubbing my back.”
“Well, that would be correct.”
“Why?”
Mindy sighed in exasperation. “I’m trying to be nice here, okay? Josh was really worried about you and I told him I’d check on you while he called people’s parents.” There was a moment of silence as he absorbed this new information. “Besides, my mom used to do this to me when I was sick. I thought it might help.”
They sat there in silence as Mindy continued to rub him; her fingers kneading into his sharp shoulder blades. The pressure felt good; it was taking his mind off the fact that the dull ache in his head would probably be spreading soon throughout his body.
“So is Josh really mad?”
“I think it’s safe to say that you can keep your half of the best friends forever necklace you guys share,” Mindy answered sarcastically. “But I wouldn’t worry too much. He always forgives you.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty great like that,” Drake agreed, turning his head so that he was still resting on his knees, but looking up at her. “You know, part of this party was for him.”
“What?”
“Well…don’t get me wrong, it was mostly for me,” Drake back-tracked. “My mom is kind of angry at me about parent teacher conferences, so you know. One last party before I’m totally grounded. And Josh has been so busy with Lisa, and I’ve been so busy with you that we haven’t really seen each other that much lately. It’s better to just surprise Josh with this kind of thing.” He paused to rub a palm over his face and pinch the bridge of his nose as he tried to ward off the oncoming headache. “In a way, the party is kind of your fault too.”
“My fault?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking of this as a sort of mini accomplishment of having survived working with you for more than a week,” Drake told her wryly as he rested the side of his head on top of his jean-clad knees. “I wanted to tell you about it…” His voice trailed off as she shifted her legs so they were crossed at her ankles while her hand continued to rub patterns up his back.
“Why didn’t you?” Mindy asked softly. They briefly made eye contact before he shrugged.
“I didn’t think you’d want to come.”
Mindy paused before responding as she let the weight of his words rest heavily in her mind. She gave his back a few more rubs before dropping her hand into her skirt-covered lap. “We’ve both been through a lot lately Drake. And if I don’t get the chance to tell you later, I’m proud of the work you did.”
She leaned over to kiss him on his red-flushed cheek, but was met with a brush of his lips instead. They were soft and warm with the slightest taste of beer still lingering. It only lasted for a few moments, but Mindy’s legs felt paralyzed as her brain tried to figure out what she was doing.
Their minor kiss was over all too quickly as Drake was scrambled to get to his feet. He ran into the bathroom quickly and shut the door with a reverberating slam that vibrated through the wall that her back was propped against. Mindy sat quietly and felt confused while she was treated to the sound of Drake throwing up.
Funny, that’s what the butterflies in her stomach felt like doing too.
--
“Draaake! Get out of the bathroom!”
A few hours later, the pounding on the door was almost as intense as the pounding in his own head, starting somewhere between the middle of his eyes and working its way to the back of his skull. Drake slid down to the floor with his back flush against the bathtub and rested his head on the toilet seat.
“I am not getting out of this bathroom!” Drake yelled back as his throat tingled with uncomfortable soreness. “You can’t make me!”
“C’mon, get out of there! I need help cleaning and vacuuming before Mom and Dad get home!”
“Just go away, go far, far away,” Drake muttered, bringing himself closer to the toilet. The awful, burning sensation was creeping up the back of his throat again and he would have to lock himself in here all night if he had to. There was always the chance that Josh would get the idea to steal Megan’s lock picking kit, but at the moment it sounded like that idea hadn’t dawned on him yet.
“Fine, stay in there you bathroom hog! I’ll go clean up the mess - as usual!”
Although he felt a tiny pang of guilt as he heard Josh make his way downstairs, he was finally relieved to get some peace and quiet. The pain in his head wasn’t getting any duller and he’d never felt so si-
Ew. Drake would never get used to the feeling of throwing up, ever. This night would definitely go down as a reminder of when alcohol became too much to handle, in more ways than one. Sitting on cold tile with his body draped over the toilet, Drake couldn’t feel any worse.
And yet, there was a tiny ray of happiness that filled him, if only for a few brief moments. He hadn’t meant to kiss Mindy; it just kind of happened. As much as he was mentally cursing out whoever had brought that stupid keg over, he was grateful that he’d been drunk when he talked to her; that was an excuse he could certainly fall back on.
Something was nagging at him though; something that Trevor was always saying whenever they got together for a party. He would say it ceremoniously before taking his first alcohol-laden sip of the night and if only Drake could remember…
Remember kids, drunken sayings are sober thoughts!
Trevor’s words swirled around in Drake’s head as he continued to over-think his encounter with Mindy. He grabbed the edge of the toilet bowl when his stomach felt like it was churning and prayed for the chance to just pass out already.
--
chapter 07 | apricot distractions