Buying Wine & Glasses

You only make it a couple steps out of the lecture hall before you realise that you’re going to run into a slight problem. You’re not 21 yet!

A couple of your friends had fakes in high school, and that was enough for you to get by without your own. But now that you’re in college, you’re going to need to figure out how to get **** again. Are there any juniors or seniors that you trust? You first think of Tatiana, but then remember that she’s the one responsible for enforcing the rules—and she’s apparently serious about it, too. If she’s out, Dom probably is too.

Maybe one of your older teammates on the soccer team? But you don’t really know any of them that well, and you don’t want to make a bad impression on them. The idea of Gina helping you briefly crosses your mind, but you laugh, dismissing the idea immediately. No way she would ever help her little brother out like that. Not without a really good reason. You think back, and remember that Christina held a pre-game in her room a couple days back. How did she get her alc?

You send her a text, and she replies within {if Christina > 80}seconds{else}minutes{endif}. Apparently, there’s a junior living in East Hall who’s very willing to resell **** to minors, and the mark-up is minimal. You get her contact info from her, and send a text to your new friend Emma, asking for a reasonable bottle of wine.

You anxiously wait for her response, and for a tense few minutes, it appears as if she’s simply decided to ignore you. However, your phone does eventually and go off, and Emma gives you the thumbs up, telling you to meet her by her room in an hour.

That would leave you with enough time to get the stool sample thing sorted out (probably), but you realise that you still need to get wine glasses. You head out and over to the nearby Target, hoping that they’ll have what you need in stock. You may be in a small college town, but you hope you can still find what you need. The hope proves to be well founded as you find exactly what you need in the Kitchen & Dining section, where you spy a neat four-set of wine glasses that looks tasteful and refined. It’s not gaudy—just a touch embellished.

It’s a quick walk back to East Hall from there, and you head upstairs, seeking out Emma’s room. You’re a couple minutes early, but hopefully that won’t prove to be an issue.

A head pokes out an open door as you approach, and you see a dirty blonde girl wearing denim overalls.

Emma

“Hey, you must be Alex! Come in, come in!”

You say a quick “Hi” to her and follow her into the room. She’s got her stuff spread out all over her desk and floor, and she lounges in her room in a way that makes it feel like she’d be much more comfortable in the great outdoors than cooped up in here.

“So you want a decent bottle, huh? Trying to impress someone tonight?”

“Maybe,” you say, and she gives you a knowing smile.

“What’s the occasion?” she asks. “You know I can’t give you the perfect bottle if you don’t give me a little more… information.”

So the girl’s a gossip as well as a saleswoman? Well, you don’t know all too much about wine yourself, so you figure it’s better to let her decide rather than make a fool of yourself. “It’s just having a little fun with a friend. Chocolates and wine, you know what I mean.”

“Oooh, getting all fancy now,” she says. “Who’s the girl?” She speaks as she rummages through the cooler that she keeps under her bed, apparently having quite a wide selection to choose from.

“Helen,” you say. “But she’s not in the Hall. You probably wouldn’t know her.”

“Good, good,” she says, pulling out a bottle of Alsace Pinot Gris. “Don’t date in the Hall, it never ends well. Anyways, this bottle should serve you well. Let’s say, $40 for the bottle?”

“Sounds reasonable,” you say, even though you have no idea how much she originally got it for. You Venmo her the money, and as soon as the transaction’s complete, you look up the original price on your phone. To your surprise, it’s only a couple dollars less. Not completely swindled, then, and it appears that the wine does goes decently with desserts.

You return to your room, and make a few last minute preparations, cleaning up some loose items before Helen arrives.

Emma +5