Get on with it

“Look, babe.” Ethan shrugs, his liquor-soaked brain defaulting to the last thing he called her. “Just go for it.” He turns his attention to the boys, Bobby still giving chase despite looking ready to pass out. “I mean if it had to be somebody…” he shrugged. Bobby would never hurt his own sister, and Aaron wouldn't dare. If she broke them up it would be fine.

The girl looks at him, wide eyed. “B-But…”

Groaning, Ethan leans back, planting his palms behind him. “It’s either you now or Charlie later.”

“Ch-Charlie!?” The girl looks horrified, her jaw slacking. “Y-You and Charlie?!”

Ethen shrugs. Charlie mostly broke them up when they got too rowdy, but Ethan did pry one off the other from time to time. Right now, he was just too fucked up and figured trying would be more akin to a Three Stooges skit. “Yeah… She’s really good at it.” She had been keeping the two from killing each other for a while now, mostly whenever Bobby made comments about Aaron’s mom being a MILF.

The girl curls her lips inward, her cheeks turning red. “B-But, she seems so… aggressive. Why would yo-” she cuts herself off, not finishing the thought.

Ethan nods his head, barely listening. “Well, yeah, she needs to be. That’s how you’ve gotta be with boys.” Charlie never let any of them walk over her, and was a part of the group because she could more than hold her own.

The girl gave Ethan a sullen look, which he misses, her shoulder sagging.

“But, and I ain’t just sayin’ this…” he wiggles his head back and forth. “I’d rather it be you.” Charlie tended to yell. Right now Ethan didn't think he could stand noise like that. Watching the two boys now, it was starting to get pathetic. Both were crawling around, Aaron without a shirt, looking ready to puke. They were almost done. “You’ll lose your chance at this rate.”

The girl’s nostrils flair, her eyes hardening.

Focused on the boys, Ethan smacks his lips a few times. “Welp, I think they-” A black cloud rushes in, pressing itself against Ethan’s mouth, softness finding his lips. The **** of it knocks him flat on his back, a dark tangle of hair falling all around his face blocking the moonlight. The softness rubs against his lips, a strong flavor being transferred over to him: Strawberry. The kiss is rough and imperfect, a novice job at replicating what’s been seen but never done. And yet, Ethan can’t help but…

“What the fuck!” A familiar voice booms in the air, the darkness lifting from Ethan, a high-pitched voice letting out a small cry. Cranking his neck, he sees three figures entering the playground, their attention fixed on the still struggling boys. “What the fuck are you two idiots doing.”

“Charlie…” Aaron gasps. “He threw a bottle at my head!”

“He threw a bottle at my sister!” Bobby groans in retort.

“N-No, he didn’t!” A small voice next to Ethan calls out. “He threw it to me, not at me!”

“Where's your shirt?” Charlie barks, storming over.

Ethan squints at the girl next to him as he pulls himself up. “Hey… Did you?” He touches his lips faintly. "Strawberries..."

The sound of a scuffle pulls his attention back, Charlie hoisting Bobby up to his feet by his ears. “Ow! Fucking, stop it, Charlie!”

“I see the fucking tequila bottle, asshat. If you want to kick his ass fine, but don’t fucking throw glass in a fucking playground!”

“Uh…” Ethan glances over in the direction he threw the schnapps bottle, suddenly afraid he’ll get his ear pulled next. Turning to the girl, he puts a finger to his lips, silently begging her to not say anything. She looks at him, then nods quickly, the two of them not on the same page at all despite the agreement.

“Char,” a familiar feminine voice cuts in. Familiar, but… different. “Your friends are assholes, can we just…”

“Oh, right,” Charlie turns around, dropping Bobby to the ground. “The party continues! Come on! Show us the goods!”

The third figure, much shorter than the other two, lets out groan. “Fucking animals. Are we seriously sharing with these idiots?”

“We’ve got more booze! Woo!” Charlie declares, rousing Aaron and Bobby into warcry. Ethan joins in as well, peeling himself off the grass and running over, ready to savor the new-found treasure.

Alex sits back on the grass, watching the six older kids crack open their drinks and get even more shitfaced. Drunk on something else, she smiles ear to ear for the rest of the night, even when dragging her brother home. Her first kiss was not how she expected it to be, but it was something she would never forget.

Ethan blacked out and forgot most of the night even happened, having such a bad experience he would mostly remain sober for the rest of his youth. But, in the morning he had an inexplicable craving for strawberries.