I Think We Know How to Party, Too

A/N: Sorry about this late one. Ze boyfriend surprised me with a Valentine getaway before I finished writing. :/

It’s been almost two weeks since I bruised Luke’s chiseled abs. (Yeah, I just had to put that out there once more.) And he has spent a total of three nights in my apartment since then.

He always made me breakfast. Which was actually starting to spoil the heck out of me. And I have yet to be late whenever he was here (since we both had to go to the same building at the same time). All was doing fine. Until the post-exam batch party last night, that is.

I’d already told Luke about the upcoming party. I had wanted to ask him to come with, but I thought he might feel out of place since he hasn’t really gotten to know a lot of people in my circle yet. He had also said earlier he’d probably go and visit his brother then, so I figured I wouldn’t invite him altogether.

Friday arrived and everyone looked like a zombie that morning. You have got to understand, guys. A week in third year medical school does take its toll. Everyone’s been taking hits since Monday. And even though partying that night seemed like a very bad idea over getting some much-needed sleep with this zombified crowd, I knew everyone was gonna bring their A-game on tonight’s party. And I was not mistaken.

When the afternoon class was over, everybody went home. I bagged a couple hours of sleep before getting ready for the party. I donned a pair of black leather leggings, a sparkly tank top, and a pair of black high-heeled ankle booties. And when I arrived at Monica’s place, the party was already in full swing.

It was almost like a college party, really. Only with a bit older people with Latin vocabularies and better mixed drinks. The loudness, the dancing, they were practically the same. These kinds of parties are where doctors-to-be let loose and forget about just how a doctor-to-be should behave.

I found Anne and Olive dancing their feet off with Jack and Chris, and I zoomed towards them in an instant. “You guys! Where are the others?” I shouted over the loud dance music. That was me now. I never know who the artist is anymore, all I ever really know is when it sounds good.

“Getting drinks!” Jack answered. “Have you seen Monica’s bartender? Tall drink!”

I laughed, trying to get a good look at where Jack’s lips were pointing. Jack was bi, more recently veering towards the gay side, I think, with the streak of guys he has been going out with. He pulled it off, you know. He had brown hair, blue eyes, a lean physique, and an academic résumé that made him hotter than he already was. He literally had looks that appealed strongly to both sides of the spectrum, me included.

Jack usually hosts these parties in his house because he lived alone with just a maid for company. His parents are already based abroad and expect him to follow once he graduates. So basically, he could do whatever he wants. His parents were in the country this weekend, though, so the party couldn’t swing at his place this time.

“Why didn’t you bring Luke with you?” Anne asked while we danced. “Tommy brought Natalie. And Carmen came with Shane.”

“He doesn’t know a lot of people here!” I said defensively. Natalie and Shane were not medical students. But they have been dating my friends even before we started medical school. Naturally, we know them already.

“He could meet everyone here!” Jack interjected with an eye roll.

I considered his response for a moment, and figured he was right. “He was planning on going to his brother’s, though.”

“Oh. Too bad,” Anne said as she downed her drink in one gulp.

A couple hours into the party, I was already feeling disinhibition: I was laughing at stupid stuff, saying stupid things… well, basically enjoying the night. Beer pongs were happening, ridiculous dancing. The stamina of “my people” is simply commendable.

Anne was already getting drunk, too, by the looks of it. She brought me aside, asked me to go to the bathroom with her, and we both literally almost fell to the floor because of her drunken, mildly ataxic gait. We laughed victoriously when we arrived at the bathroom without having to kiss any of Monica’s carpets.

I asked her to hold onto my purse when it was my turn to use the bathroom. And when I got out, she was smiling maliciously at me.

“I did something,” she said, aiming at mysteriousness, but failing at it miserably. I saw she was clutching my phone in one hand, and both of our purses in the other.

“What did you do?” I started to panic. Anne was notorious at doing petty little nuances whenever she got drunk and careless. I love the girl and all; and we all understood alcohol made people (i.e. Anne) do things. But right now, I was worried at what she might have just done.

“I answered Luke’s call,” she giggled, showing off the phone and waving it in front of my face.

“And?”

“He’s coming over!”

“Why?!”

“Oh, don’t worry! I just invited him to come over if he wanted to.”

“Oh my God, Anne! Why would you do that? He’s probably at his brother’s!”

“He said he wanted to!” she assured me.

I had to run back inside the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. Ok, I still had my makeup on fine. And I still looked a bit on the fresh side.

“You look fine!” Anne called on me from the hall. “Hot, actually,” she said as she held the door open, looking me a once over from head to toe.

“He’s probably at his brother’s, Anne,” I scolded her.

“He said he could come.” She smiled and then took my hand and pulled me back to where the bar was. We both needed fresh drinks. I needed one for my sudden bout of nerves.

We found Jack at the bar. He had successfully taken the bartender’s attention. Turns out Stan was a friend of Monica’s and he was gay, and they were flirting to and fro, it was crazy.

Anne left to dance with the others after getting herself a drink. Me, on the other hand… my feet were already hurting and my head was kinda buzzing that I decided to just “thirdwheel” with Jack and Stan. They didn’t seem to mind. I was busy laughing with Jack at the hilarious joke Stan dropped before leaving us for a while to make some drinks when someone tapped my shoulder from behind. “Hi!” I greeted when I turned to see Luke.

“Anne invited me,” Luke answered, as though he needed to explain. He was looking at Jack and me alternately.

It took me a while before figuring out introductions were apt. I didn’t really know how to introduce Luke now that we weren’t so much strangers to each other as before, so I decided to keep it simple. “Jack, this is Luke. You remember him?”

“I remember. Hi!” Jack greeted with a wide smile and raised eyebrows, saving me from my awkward introduction.

Luke, on the other hand, just gave him a small smile. Apparently, simple introductions were NOT what was expected by both parties.

“Let me just slip away and let you two, uhm, interact,” Jack said.

I laughed nervously as I watched Jack “slip away” towards where my other friends were gathered.

“I didn’t want to impose, I’m sorry,” Luke said.

“You weren’t. You don’t have to be sorry.” I told him before giving him a peck on the cheek.

“It seemed you and Jack were having a good time,” he answered bluntly.

I was about to tell him about Stan’s joke when Anne and the others came over and I had to introduce everyone. “Hey guys, this is my friend, Luke. Luke, this is everyone,” I said before naming the guys in my limited social circle.

My friends were immediately loud, and I forgot about what Luke had just said for a while. Luke was a good sport with the non-stop teasing that erupted, taking on Lee and Tommy’s jests and keeping up with the relatively strange company. He was impressively at ease and was earning so many points for being in sync with my friends. He was being less accommodating with Jack, though, which I thought was weird.

When the clock struck two, the crowd started to thin out. The couples Carmen and Shane, and Tommy and Natalie were the first to leave, followed by Lee and Anne who were sharing a cab since they lived close to each other. I decided I was tired when Luke asked if I wanted to go home, too, and we said goodbye to Jack, Olive, and Chris at the bar.

Jack winked at me before we left, looked behind his shoulders towards Stan the bartender, and raised his eyebrows repeatedly. I laughed. That was his way of telling me he’s gonna get lucky tonight.

When we got outside, Luke gave me a helmet and helped me on his motorcycle. He was quiet during the short ride. My apartment was only a block away from Monica’s. He helped me off again when we arrived in front of my building.

I was waiting for him to go and park the bike properly so we could both go up to my apartment, but it seemed he was only waiting for me to go inside. “It’s too late already and you’ve had a drink. Don’t you want to sleep over?” I asked, prepared not to take no for an answer.

“Do you want me to?” he asked. He was still wearing his helmet and was still astride the black bike. He looked like one wrong move and he’d be off into the road.

“Yes,” I answered, wrinkling my forehead in confusion. I wondered why he was even asking. I had told him of my discomfort when he rode all alone late at night.

“Okay,” he replied. He remained silent until we got inside my unit. He was acting weird and I didn’t exactly know what was going on.