Might as well. Time to get slammed.

Well it's either this or head back home early and face a grilling off mom, you thought as you looked first at the bottle and then back up to Bryce's grinning face, And Christ knows that's the last thing I need right now!

"What the hell..." you decided, figuring this was probably the best offer you were going to get all night, "I could definitely use a drink!"

Giving you a hard clap on the shoulder and passing you the whiskey, Bryce enthusiastically exclaimed, "Fucking-a, Tim. Lets get wasted!" And so, attempting to do just that you snapped your head back and took a shot, not knowing quite what to expect (having never drunk whiskey before). "Jesus!" you croaked as you felt the smokey liquor hit the back of your throat, causing you to cough. "That's strong stuff."

"Never had whiskey before bro?" Bryce asked, laughing a little at you as you continued to cough. "Don't worry, you'll soon get used to it."

And that you did, not necessarily after the second shot, or even the third, but after the fourth and fifth (having downed a beer or two in between) it certainly didn't seem quite so bad and the two of you were soon well on your way to getting completely and utterly wrecked. Even though you hadn't really seen each other since the double date at the bowling ally, with the **** now loosening both your tongues and your inhibitions, you found yourself surprisingly at ease and for the next hour or so you were jabbering away like old buddies. You talked movies and TV shows, belting out quotes to one another and doing bad impressions of various characters. You made fun of your teachers, finding that Bryce had similar opinions on some of the more **** ones as you did. And as you polished off a good chunk of the whiskey, you even started honking the car horn and yelling God knows what at the odd student coming and going from the dance, caring little of the consequences.

"You know, you're a pretty cool guy, Tim." Bryce said, after the two of you had finally got done hurling **** at some fat little junior, having obviously reached the part of the night when your feelings came out.

"Thanks," you told him, trying to remain jokey, "I try."

"Nah, seriously. I mean it," he continued, looking you square in the eye. "Allison was a real bitch for dumping you. You deserved fucking better!" Although you had in someways made peace with the fact that your relationship had been crumbling beneath your feet for a while now and had just been too blind to notice, it did still hurt and you certainly did deserve better than to be dumped at a dance (especially if what he'd said was true and it was because she was off chasing older guys). Right now though it just seemed like a void had been left in your life and you honestly couldn't see yourself filling it anytime soon. Allison was your first and only girlfriend - if she didn't want you, who else would? "And I know you've had like a pretty shitty time of it late, you know with your friend...dying in that car accident..."

"...Randall." It was strange, after all this time, it still felt wrong pretending he was dead.

"Yeah, Randall," Bryce corrected himself, presumably having never actually met him (at least not as he was). "Anyway, I just wanted to say, forget about her. Those fickle fucking bitches aren't worth our time! And if you like ever need someone to hang out with or something, or just to fucking thrown back a few beers, you're more than welcome to give me a call."

"Thanks, Bryce. You're totally not the dumb jock I always figured you to be."

"Dumb jock? Fuck you!" he laughed, thankfully not taking offense, "Mr. 'I can't even take a shot of whiskey without looking like I'm going to puke!' Maybe you should give football a try and see how dumb it is then."

"Nah, I think I'll pass," you told him, giggling away as the somber moment past. "Besides I've heard how good you guys are at handling balls...Especially in the showers!"

Bursting then into laughter, Bryce couldn't help but do the same, telling you "Oh you are fucking funny!" as he playfully pulled you into a headlock and began rubbing his knuckles against your skull. Your hi-jinks were interrupted however by a loud tap on the window, followed by an extremely voice yelling "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THERE?!"

Getting the fright of your lives, Bryce quickly released you from the embrace and yelped "Oh shit!" as you looked up to see Coach Mullins standing there staring in the window, looking the exact opposite of impressed. "OUT OF THE CAR NOW!" he ordered, the look on his face suggesting there was no room for compromise.

Clambering quickly out of the passenger seat, sobering almost instantly as you did, you heard Bryce suddenly pipe up, nervously trying to explain. "Coach, listen...it's not..."

"It's not what, Spencer? Not what it looks like...is that what you were going to say? Because as far as I can see, you two jokers have been consuming **** on school property. Or am I somehow just imagining all those cans sitting in the back seat there? Hm...AM I?" The sudden increase in his voice caused you both to tremble, Coach Mullins being generally a pretty okay guy but not exactly someone you wanted to mess with when he was angry - having not only an imposing, 6 foot plus physique, but a temperament to match. Quite literally you were fucked! What had seemed a good idea at the time and a good way to drown your sorrows now having turned into a very different experience altogether, knowing all to well that you were in for it now.

Thankfully though, before Mullins could unleash the full extent of his fury another voice chipped in, this time a much softer, more feminine one that you of course instantly recognized. "Coach Mullins...What's going on?" Randall asked, moving briskly towards the three of you with a confused, yet concerned look on his face, his heels clicking loudly as he walked. "I just got a report of a some student misbehaving out here."

"Miss. Card, you're just in time," Mullins said, turning to address him. "Mr. Spencer and Mr. Connors here have been drinking."

"Is...is this true?" Randall asked, looking squarely at you as if for explanation, his presence suddenly making this whole situation a lot more awkward than it had been. If getting an ear full off of Coach Mullins on his own wasn't bad enough, having your best friend in the guise of your teacher having to 'deal' with you as well was just a nightmare!

"We were only having a little drink, Miss." Bryce was quick to reply, trying his very best to get out of this, but his slightly slurred speech doing neither of you any favors.

"A little drink?! Look at the state of you both! Not to mention the fact that there is a half empty bottle of whiskey and at least half a dozen beer cans in there!" Mullins shouted, pointing the various evidence littering the back seat of Bryce's car. There was definitely no way you were going to underplay this now. "Do you think I'm some sort of idiot, Spencer, is that it?" he asked, putting this question directly to Bryce - having somewhat of a personal interest in him seeing as he was coach of the school football team. "For God sake, you should know better than this! You as well Connors! What the hell were you playing at?"

"I'm sorry, coach. We just had a rough night is all...Our girlfriend's ditched us."

Though remaining mostly stoney faced as he stood there listening to this back and forth between Bryce and Coach Mullins, once Bryce had dropped the bombshell you were almost certain you heard a little gasp escape Randall's mouth and watched as his eyes softened in sympathy. Of course...he didn't know yet! He'd been too busy dancing with Hanson and you didn't want to interrupt, so this was the first he was actually hearing about the breakup.

Coach Mullins on the other hand seemed totally devoid of sympathy, bellowing out instead, "Oh, so that makes everything alright then does it? You're both seventeen years old! Do you realize what Principal Johnson will say when he finds out? It'll be an automatic suspension for sure!"

Oh fuck, you thought - aware that this was going to be bad, but not expecting it to be this bad. Mom is going to fucking kill me!

"Wait a second, Coach. Perhaps we shouldn't be too hasty." Randall said, speaking up again.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this is a very serious matter and of course it should not be taken lightly, but as far as I'm aware Mr. Spencer and Mr. Connors aren't bad kids and this is the first time I've seen them do anything like this. We wouldn't want to involve the Principal and jeopardize the rest of their schooling simply because they let their emotions get the better of them."

Oh thank you, Randall, you though, breathing a sigh of relief that your friend was coming through for you, Thank you. Thank you!

Pondering this for a moment, Mullins replied, "Hm, I guess you're right. Spencer is one of the best receivers we've got and it would be a shame to lose him for the first half of the season...But that doesn't still excuse the fact that they knowingly brought **** onto the premises!"

Realizing that getting him on side was your only possible way out of this, Bryce chirped in, "We're really sorry, Coach. I promise nothing like this will ever happen again."

"Me too," you added, finally working up the courage to say something after remaining silent for so long. "I'm sorry. Please don't involve Principal Johnson."